Friday, March 5, 2010

Jesus’ Attitude






And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself and became obedient

to death even death on a cross.”

Philippians 2:8 (NIV)



Jesus humbled Himself. He asked God three times to not let Him go to the cross, but the ending of His prayer was “not my will but your will be done.” He knew it was His Father’s plan, accepted it, and obeyed.

Crucifixion was the Roman way of dealing with the most severe of criminals. It is thought to be the most horrible of deaths at that time. But Jesus had done nothing to deserve it.

He had to learn obedience in order to achieve what God wanted for Him. He became like us in order to guide us through our days here on Earth. He took upon himself the sin of us all. He bore every cross word, bad thought, lie, broken promise, tidbit of gossip and misconception we ever had or gave.

He chose, for our sakes, to be obedient to the Father. He did these things because of His great love for us.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

A Servant’s Nature

“ . . .but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.”

Philippians 2:7



Jesus chose to not play up his heavenly position he left for the likes of us. Could we envision it, Jesus telling Mary Magdalene in a haughty attitude that He was the Son of the King and He came down from heaven and all he found were sinners, thieves, and prostitutes? I think not.

He came to Earth to save us and to serve us. God planned it for Jesus to preach and to enlarge His Kingdom. But in order to do this the Son took it upon Himself to serve those who were close to Him.

God’s children should follow His example. They aren’t to bandy it about that they are Christians. His spiritual children are to let their lives and ways show it. Their beliefs will come through to those to whom they minister.

It’s the small things in life that seem to matter to people. People who band together to meet a need will be rewarded by Jesus. A friend told a group of us that she read about where a small bunch of people did an astounding deed. The lesson that came through was “People can do anything, as long as no one cares who gets the credit.” That’s one reason we give glory to God.

He came to Earth to save us and to serve us. God planned it for Jesus to preach and to enlarge His Kingdom. But in order to do this the Son took it upon Himself to serve those who were close to Him. Jesus became a servant to His followers and to us. As we emulate Him we are to learn to serve others.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Authentic




“Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality

with God something to be grasped,”

Philippians 2:6 (NIV)



Jesus chose not to boast that He was God’s Son. He went about what He was supposed to do while on Earth. Jesus didn’t laud it over the ones He met.

I worked with a lady who had earned a doctorate in education and could have insisted that she be called, ‘Doctor’ but she introduced herself with her first name. She had been in education before she took the job at the library. Her advanced degree studies were in reading education. If you didn’t see her name tag, you didn’t know she possessed three earned degrees. She knew her job and did it well.

We see people who wish to be treated as regular, in spite of their advancements. Some pastors answer to their title, some seem comfortable being called by their first name. I had a counselor who told me to call him by his given name. I felt comfortable with him.

In walking through our world, we want to appear genuine to those we meet. We try to do this in ways that don’t burden those we are trying to get to know. Coming from a background that is difficult to talk about, I prefer not to tell all my deep feelings about things in my past. But I try to be pleasant and understanding of their situation.

As children of God, we are not exempt from the travails of this life. We should always try to realize that we are no different than the next person who walks down the street.

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...