Our Attitudes

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:”

Philippians 2:5 (NIV)

How we act and react to the people and events that enter our lives should reflect Jesus. We have to shed ourselves of ‘us’ and take on His way of dealing with events, even if tend to upset us.

Jesus showed compassion on the crowds who met Him as he traveled. He tenderly healed the woman who was ill for twelve years. Christ took pity on the 5,000 men and their families and fed them.

I had a worry growing in my mind. This concern dealt with my husband of 41 years. When I went to do business at my bank and mail some letters, mostly bills. I decided to go on over to the church office and take care of something there.

As I finished the actual business there, I shared with one of the secretaries what I had heard from Hubby. As I shared with her, I told her that several years ago a friend his had problems of the same kind. But I couldn’t finish the thought. She understood. I felt better after I talked to her. She showed compassion.



Jesus showed mercy and forgiveness. When the angry men brought the adulterous woman to Him, He bent down and wrote something in the dirt. This caused the men to wander away from the scene. He looked at the woman and asked if any of her accusers were still hanging around. She replied that they were gone. His answer showed mercy along with forgiveness. When He saw those who came to Him to be healed, he looked on them with compassion. He might have been worn out from a day’s journey or from dealing with strong-willed people but He chose to display compassion to those who came to Him seeking help.

Shouldn’t we emulate Jesus when people approach us, seeking help of whatever kind?

Interests

Each of you should look not only to your interests

but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 2:4 (NIV)





Paul spoke to a diverse church. Some were converts from Judaism. Others were from other areas, Rome, Greece, and who knows where else. There could have been a Roman jailer who worked in this colony for the empire. Each believer had a different background.

Even today, we see people from different backgrounds come together to form a body of worship. In our protestant church, we have several people who have a Roman Catholic background. We have a family where the husband/father grew up in a home where his parent’s native language was spoken. He is first generation American. I have heard that he can speak that native language of his parents.

We have people who come to the Lord as adults and have no Christian heritage to guide them. They learn of the Lord each day of their walk. Some people return to the Lord after they realize their need of a Savior and King.

Sometimes, people working in a church encounter people who have been accused of transgressing the law of the land. Some of those we encounter are relatives of those who are paying a debt to society.

We have to show Jesus to all we meet and with whom we work. As we strive together we learn to keep God uppermost in our lives. If those who are different from us have needs, we are to try to bring that need to a resolution. When the body of Christ works together, it works together not caring who amongst them gets the credit. They give that credit to Jesus.

Not from Conceit

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,

but in humility consider others better than yourself.”

Philippians 2:3 (NIV)





Paul told the Philippian believers to forget self and remember they were not number one. He tells them to put others and their needs before the needs they had. This flies in the face of the “me” generation. Also, Paul’s guidance would cause people to deal with the mindset of recent years that ‘it’s all about me.’

Over 25 years ago, I started worshipping at a small church about a half mile from where we live. One of the older ladies of the church once told a group of us a way to handle ministering to others and basically how to live our lives; she used the word JOY. She said it meant *J*esus, *O*thers, *Y*ourself.

As we travel through this season of Lent, let us all prayerfully reflect on what it means to follow and to emulate Jesus as we walk in this world.

Dear God:

Please show us how to show Jesus’ love to those we meet as we walk this earth. Help us to put others before ourselves in our daily business. Let us worship and follow You as we prepare ourselves for the time we will be with You in Your home. In the name of Jesus, we pray. AMEN

Like-minded

“. . . then make my joy complete by being like-minded,

having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.”

Philippians 2:2 (NIV)


Paul tells the Philippians to be of similar minds. This thought could be understood to have two meanings. 1. Every one who works for the Lord should understand the thinking of those with whom they minister. 2. All who minister in the name of Christ should have His mind.

To have the same heart that of Jesus Charles Sheldon wrote a classic, In His Steps-What Would Jesus Do? The story told of a church that had an unusual visitor one Sunday. Something happened that caused the pastor to re-evaluate his walk with the Lord. The entire congregation was invited to enter into this project of asking themselves, “What would Jesus do?” before they made any decisions. Asking that one question changed the lives of a lot of the people.

Paul challenges us to be “one in spirit and purpose”. Here he speaks of unity. Again our souls should be melded into one with each other and with Jesus Christ. A hymn written by Peter Scholtes in the 1960’s speaks of this concept. “They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Love” The first verse starts out, “We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord. . .” That verse ends with the line, “And we pray that all unity may one day be restored.” The writer has some wonderful thoughts in the verses that follow.

Periodically, God’s children should ask if we are of the same mind as Jesus. When we do this exercise, we should go back to the basics of our faith and search our hearts for the way God wants us to live. If anything that displeases God comes to our hearts and minds, we need to make things right with Him.

One In The Spirit And In Purpose

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ,

if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Holy Spirit,

if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete

by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

Philippians 2:1 (NIV)



Paul writes to the Philippians, he encourages them to look into their hearts and consider their stance with Christ. He points out that they should receive a building up, an empowerment, from being in His presence. The apostle then spells out what he means by the Lord strengthening them.



Did they receive “any comfort from his love”? Do we receive any consolation from His grace? If any of us have gone through the loss of a loved one, we have benefited from that great love He has for us.

For those of us who have dealt with depression, Jesus has stayed by our side and comforted us. Maybe Christ guided us through a deep valley by showing us how He helped in times past. He could have sent someone to us who had experienced similar feelings or circumstances.

What about “fellowship with the Spirit”? Jesus promised us a comforter to help us through this life after He ascended into heaven. By doing this for us, He remains close to us, especially when we face difficulties or even events we don’t understand in our lives.

Were the Philippians filled with “tenderness and compassion”? Do we possess these traits? Do we respond to people who hurt or those in grief as though we are led by the Lord or by the thoughts of society? As I write this, a thought comes to mind. It goes like this, “Always use tender words because sometime (we) might have to eat them.”

The word compassion comes from two Latin words, cum-meaning ‘with’ and pathos-meaning ‘suffering’. Have we needed to ‘suffer with’ a friend recently? When we display compassion, sometimes it’s as simple as listening to another person as they talk. Other times, we sit with them in a hospital. Or we carry in food to their home.

Servant Called of God

Read Isaiah 49:1-7



“‘And He said to me, ‘You are my servant, O Israel,

In whom I will be glorified.’” “It is too small a thing that

You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob,

And to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also

give you as a light to the Gentiles, that you shall be my salvation

to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:3, 6 (NKJV)


God called the Servant to come to earth to instruct the people who had strayed from His ways. He called this servant from the womb. It was His plan to call His son to the task of dealing with the world and its sin. The Lord created the Servant to speak truthfully, to call things as they are.

The servant was disliked by the nation Israel. The prophet Isaiah received the same treatment. (Isaiah 30:9-11) Jeremiah also received scorn and ridicule. (Jeremiah 26:7-8) God’s own Son, Jesus, received the cruelest rejection from the people He came to help.

God promises He will display his splendor in this servant. He will make the Servant a light for the Gentiles to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

Our Lord chose to have Jesus bring the light of salvation’s message to the world. He also displays His glory through the Son. “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he looks at the one who sent me. ” John 12:44-45

How much did the Pharisees dislike Jesus? As we read our Bibles we see they watched Him for the slightest transgression of the Mosaic Law. Christ’s walking through a field and pinching off some heads of grain on the Sabbath was an illegal act in the eyes of the Pharisees. Jesus’ followers were hungry and he did what he felt was right. The teachers and the lawyers tried to trip our Lord several times as he healed people. They waited to see how He would answer questions because either way he responded, they were ready to deal with Him.

Dear God:

We thank You for sending us Your son to teach us of Your ways. We thank You for loving us so much that You did this for us. Please allow us to learn of You and Your Son, the Servant who took all our sins upon Himself in order that we may one day live with You in heaven. We give You the glory. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN

Views of the Servant

“He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. Isaiah 53:2 (NIV)


In this verse we see two views of God’s servant. The Father saw the servant as a vital life-giving organism that would mature and produce fruit, bearing witness to the Father. God also compares Him to a root, a strong rhizome to give support as well as nourishment to those for whom the Servant will work.

Man viewed the Servant as not special in looks, nor majestic. He had nothing attractive to draw people to Him. Whenever I read this passage, a metal picture of Jesus as the soldiers led him down the Via Dolorosa as depicted in The Passion of the Christ.



“He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before his shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.” Isaiah 53:7 (NIV)



Here, we see the world’s treatment of the Servant. The people of Jerusalem turned into an ugly mob, they taunted Jesus. They spat upon Him. He bore a horrible beating. The soldiers gambled to see who would get his robe. They beat Jesus to the point that He couldn’t stand up under the cross arm of a cross. But He never said one word in complaint. Jesus willingly gave up His life for you and me. The crowd treated Jesus as nastily as anyone can treat another human being and yet He later asked the Father to forgive them.

One of the most meaningful passages of scripture to me is where Jesus prays at Gethsemane. He knows what lay ahead for him. He asks God to not let it happen, “If at all possible, take this cup from my mouth.” Yet Jesus then gives Himself over to His Father’s will. Nevertheless, not what I will but what You will.” Mark 14:32 (NKJV)


In this passage the Son turns His over to the Father and willingly sacrifices His life for you and me. No one else in this world has done such a thing like this for us. The people of Jerusalem chose to take Jesus’ life in the most horrible way know to man at that time. And yet, He didn’t complain. He was silent before His accusers. This behavior was not according to human nature.


Dear Jesus:

We sometimes forget how you chose to go to Calvary for us. We neglect to focus on the fact that you didn’t defend yourself before the powers of the nation. Please draw us closer during this Lenten season and help us to learn more of You. We will give You the praise. AMEN