Behold Your God!

She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). Matt. 1:21-23

The birth of Christ… the coming of a Savior to deliver us from the bondage of sin… what a wonderful truth to celebrate and remember at Christmas!  And how fascinating to think that God’s purpose in all of this is to restore people to fellowship with Him… the mystery of the incarnation… God coming to dwell in human flesh… His ultimate desire to dwell eternally in the midst of His People and be their God!

Reading through the Old Testament prophets, I have been amazed to notice once again the emphasis upon God’s desire to dwell with His people!  Of course, the emphasis in the Old Testament is upon the nation of Israel, and they certainly have a special place in God’s redemptive plan, but how amazing to think that we, too, Gentiles who are in Christ, are welcomed into the same kind of relationship with God and will dwell eternally with Him in perfect fellowship because of the work of Christ that has made us co-heirs and fellow citizens of His Kingdom!

Below are some key passages from the Old Testament that emphasize the amazing truth of God dwelling with His people, fulfilled in the coming of Christ:

And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken…. Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!”  Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.  He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.   

Is. 40:5, 9-11

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, “Your God reigns.”
The voice of your watchmen—they lift up their voice; together they sing for joy; for eye to eye they see the return of the Lord to Zion.  Break forth together into singing, you waste places of Jerusalem, for the Lord has comforted his people; he has redeemed Jerusalem.  The Lord has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 

Is. 52:7-10

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.  In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. 

Jer. 33:14-15

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.  I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy.  I will feed them in justice…. And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.  And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them.  I am the Lord; I have spoken.

Ez. 34:15-16, 23-24

 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them.  And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore.  My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

Ez. 37:26-27

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. 
Dan. 7:13-14

You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and there is none else…So you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who dwells in Zion, my holy mountain. 

Joel 2:27; 3:17a

 

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.  Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel.  And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.  And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace. 

Micah 5:2-5a

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.  Hab. 2:14

Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel!  Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!  The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies.  The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil.  On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. 
Zeph. 3:14-17

Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion, for behold, I come and I will dwell in your midst, declares the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you.”  

Zech.  2:10-11

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.  I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. 

Zech. 9:9-10

Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.   On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward…. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him…. And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one. 

 Zech. 14:3-5, 9

But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings…. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. 

Mal. 4:2, 5

 God’s coming to earth in human flesh the first time was just the beginning.  We look forward to the day when He will come again to reign on the earth, and so we shall forever be with the Lord in perfect harmony and joy! 

 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 

Rev. 21:1-3

Walk Humbly With Your God

“…God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time.”  (1 Pet. 5:5b-6)

Reading through the books of Kings and Chronicles recently in my devotions, I have been struck by repeated reminders that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  There is example after example throughout the history of the kings of Israel, and into the captivity and return of the exiles to rebuild Jerusalem, of those who found favor with God because they humbled themselves and sought Him.  On the other hand, examples abound of those who grew confident in themselves or put their trust elsewhere and did not prosper.

The truth that God gives grace to the humble may perhaps be seen nowhere more clearly than in the life of Manasseh.  He started off very wickedly and did much evil in the sight of the Lord, yet when he humbled himself and repented, God showed him mercy and delayed the destruction of Jerusalem so that it would not happen in Manasseh’s lifetime (2 Kings 21; 2 Chron. 33).

Jehoshaphat demonstrated dependence upon the Lord when the Moabites and Ammonites came against him to attack him.  He sought the Lord and even proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah (2 Chron. 20:1-4).  Unfortunately, he seemed to be prone to make unwise alliances, however, and to depend more on these alliances than on the Lord, and in these cases he did not experience God’s blessing.  In fact, he almost got himself killed when he agreed to go to war as Ahab’s ally, in spite of God’s clear warning against it!

Uzziah was another who sought the Lord in early years, and God caused him to prosper.  But when he grew strong, we are told that he became proud and self-sufficient, and it led to his destruction when he attempted to do that which was reserved for the priests (2 Chron. 26).  How sad that he allowed his God-given successes to make him confident in himself, yet how prone I am to do the very same thing when I am experiencing God’s blessing in my life!

Similarly, Hezekiah started off demonstrating great dependence and humility before the Lord, and he was greatly helped.  In his later life, when he became ill and humbled himself to ask the Lord for more time, God blessed him and gave him 15 more years. Yet, Hezekiah struggled at different times in his life with pride and self-sufficiency when things were going well for him (2 Chron. 32:25; 2 Kings 20:12-19).

In the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, I was struck again by how often I saw emphasized that these men depended upon the Lord entirely for success in their journey to Jerusalem and for the rebuilding of the walls and the temple, despite opposition from their enemies.  Ezra refused to seek protection from the king, because he wanted it to be clear to everyone that he was depending on the Lord to protect him.  God blessed him for this and granted him complete success on the journey.  Before Nehemiah ventured to make his request to the king of Persia to be allowed to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls, we are told that in that moment he prayed to his God before speaking to the king (Neh. 2:4).  What a good reminder of the importance of that moment-by-moment dependence, living in a constant attitude of prayer and deliberately bringing to God each and every need and desire, even before we voice it to anyone else.  I can’t help but think that this is the kind of attitude of dependence that Micah has in mind when he writes, “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).

Of course, this theme of dependence that God promises to bless continues throughout the Bible, illustrated in the lives of Daniel, Mary and Joseph, the disciples of Jesus, Paul, and many others – people who were small in their own eyes, but had a big view of God!  Oh that this kind of attitude would characterize my life every day, no matter how big or small the stuff I am facing may seem!

 “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God”  (2 Cor. 3:5)

“indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead”  (2 Cor. 1:9)

Sufficient Grace for All I Need

And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.  (2 Cor. 9:8)

In a recent study of the book of Ephesians, I have found it very interesting how many times Paul uses the words grace or gift in the first 8 verses of chapter 3.  The grace of God allowed the Gentiles to become fellow heirs and members of the Body of Christ, and that same grace enabled Paul to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ to them.  He humbly viewed his calling and ministry as a great privilege, a gift of God’s grace, not based upon any merit or worthiness of his own.  He also recognized that he was dependent upon the effective working of God’s power in carrying out this ministry.

I began to think about how I view the ministry opportunities that God has given to me.  How often do I truly think of them as gifts of His grace?  Am I relying upon Him by His grace to do His work through me?  His grace is both the source of these opportunities and the means by which they are carried out.  2 Cor. 9:8 tells us that His grace is given to us in abundance.  It is wholly available at all times that we might abound in every good work through His complete sufficiency – from a Greek word that Strong defines as “a condition of life in which no aid or support is needed” or “a mind contented with its lot.”

This word translated here as “sufficiency” happens to come from the same Greek root as the word usually translated “content” in Phil. 4:11 (“…I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content”).  Because Paul had learned that God’s grace was sufficient for him no matter what his circumstances, he had learned the secret of being content.  Recognizing every set of circumstances we find ourselves in as God’s gracious gift to us, rather than something that we deserve, and choosing to express thankfulness to Him for it, regardless of how we feel, is the first step towards being truly joyful and content in any situation!  It is not the situation itself that determines whether we will be content, but our attitude towards it.  God’s sufficiency is granted to His children already through His Son, by the working of His Spirit, so that we lack nothing.  Contentment, however, is a choice that we must make in response to the reality of God’s sufficient grace.  Or, as one preacher once put it, “sufficiency is God’s supply; contentment is my reply.”  So will I choose today to focus on God’s gracious sufficiency in every situation and thereby experience the fullness of His joy as I walk in grateful dependence upon Him?  The bigger my view of Him and His sufficiency, and the more aware I am of my own unworthiness, the more humbly grateful I will be for His grace day by day and, as a result, the more joyful I will be, regardless of the circumstances!

I was made a servant of this Gospel by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power. (Eph. 3:7)

And he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9)

Witnesses Serve God Wherever They Are

“Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes…” Luke 12:37

God is looking for faithful servants who are obedient, dependable, and consistent as they wait for Christ’s return!  There are many things that can distract and hinder us from faithfulness to Him, among them possessions, jobs, other people, laziness, and wrong priorities.  But if we really get to heart of the matter, Jesus states it quite plainly in John 14:15: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  It seems that the real problem, therefore, is that too often we love something or someone more than God, and this keeps us from being fully and consistently obedient to Him.

I had the privilege of attending a Voice of the Martyrs conference recently, and I was truly challenged by the countless stories of Christians who have chosen to put obedience to Christ first, at great personal cost, thereby demonstrating the depth of their love for Him.  On the way to the conference, I was thinking about how little we know of the true cost of discipleship in this country and couldn’t help wondering how much we who have never had to truly suffer for the sake of Christ miss out on in our relationship with Him.

God used the very first speaker at the conference to speak to my heart about this very thing.  He shared stories about believers suffering persecution in many different countries as faithful witnesses for Jesus.  Then he brought it home by giving some biblical characteristics of all witnesses for Christ, regardless of where in the world they are or what their circumstances may be.  His second point, and that which really struck me, was that witnesses serve God wherever they are.  In God’s sovereignty, He has chosen to place me at this time in this country and for some reason has kept me from experiencing the heat of persecution, at least for now.  This is not something I deserve any more than anyone else, but certainly something I should be thankful for!  Additionally, however, I was challenged to consider that with great privilege comes great responsibility.

I have been blessed not to have to face persecution in this country, but this means that I have an opportunity, yes, a responsibility, to minister to those who do experience it on a regular basis!  I have been blessed with such abundance, for the very purpose of being able to share with those who have much less!  In the Body of Christ, when one member suffers, we all suffer together, and this extends to the Body of Christ spread around the world!  Hebrews 13:3 exhorts us to “remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.”  In 2 Timothy 1:8, Paul tells Timothy, “Don’t be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, or of me, His prisoner.  Instead, share in suffering for the Gospel, relying on the power of God.”  As we remember those who are suffering and lift them up before God in prayer, we are in a very real sense identifying with them and participating in their suffering!

Someday, Christians here, too, may face much more intense persecution – that day may be coming sooner than we think.  Regardless, my responsibility wherever God may place me is to be faithfully obedient, no matter what He asks me to do, and this includes identifying with my family in Christ around the globe in their sufferings by praying diligently for them and giving of my time and resources to be an encouragement to them.  There are many tangible ways that this can be done, and the Voice of the Martyrs is one organization that has facilitated serving our persecuted brethren.  Their website www.persecution.com offers many such opportunities to get involved. 

To whom much has been given, much will be required!  May we each be found faithful in using all that we have been given for the glory of God, by being effective witnesses for Christ right where He has placed us and by upholding those who are paying a great price for their testimony!  May the blessings and freedoms we enjoy not cause us to become spiritually lethargic or apathetic, but that we would be diligent and alert in serving the Lord, so that when He returns He may find us ready to meet Him with joy!

Simplification Vs. Accumulation

Recently my Sunday School class has been taking an in-depth look at what Jesus has to say in the Gospels about money and possessions.  One of the passages we have looked at is Luke 12:31-34, where Jesus talks about selling your possessions, giving to the poor, and laying up treasure in heaven.

I have always understood the real focus of this passage to be not so much on possessions, but on our heart’s attitude toward our possessions.  Certainly, God is not saying that possessions in and of themselves are wrong, is He?  They are a gift from Him to be used for His glory, are they not?

However, if God is really my greatest treasure, then my desire will be to invest as much as I possibly can in the things that matter most to Him, and I will be eager to give away what I have to others.  Somehow, we seem to have this tendency to accumulate stuff… it just happens.  The more stuff we have the easier it can be to become distracted by our stuff from what is really most important.  So when Jesus talks about selling your possessions and giving to the poor, one way to understand this might be that we should make a choice to live with less, not more.  This is, of course, a highly counter-cultural idea that is no more popular today than it would have been when these verses were written.  I think the point, however, is that if God is truly what we treasure the most, then we will have no real problem parting with some things in order to have more opportunity to invest in eternal treasures. 

My pastor challenged us with the principle of simplification, encouraging us to think through practical ways of simplifying our lives with fewer possessions so that we have more resources to give to others.  Most of us would have to admit if we are honest that our houses are crowded with a lot of stuff that we either don’t use, don’t really need, or is not really important.  So how can we take that over-abundance with which we have been blessed and use it to bless others, and in so doing simplify our lives to allow for greater eternal investment?

I began to look around my apartment and almost immediately came across things here and there that have just been sitting in a closet or on a shelf and have not been touched for months.  Now, I am by nature not a junk-collector, and I like to purge as often as possible anyway, but yet stuff has a way of collecting nevertheless!  After a quick perusal around my house, I had a “Stuff, Etc.” bag full of things that I knew I was not using and could sell.  I have done this before and usually end up using the money to buy something else for myself.  But why not instead save that money and use it to help others as opportunities arise?

As I thought more about all of this, it occurred to me that the idea of simplifying can apply to more than just the “stuff” in our lives.  It can apply to how we spend our time, too.  If I can learn to simplify the activities that I have going on and try to keep the things I do as simple as possible, rather than too elaborate or time-consuming, I will have more time for the things that really should be most important, like developing my relationship with God and serving others with my time.  My use of both money/possessions and time reveal a lot about what I truly value the most!

“But seek His kingdom, and these things will be provided for you.  Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom.  Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money-bags for yourselves that won’t grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Luke 12:31-34

The Time is Now!

“You don’t have to wait until you grow up to serve God with your life – He can use you right now to serve Him by _____________.”  This is something I have said to my 3^rd grade students as we talked about how God might use each one of them to do different things for Him in their lives.  Yet even as an adult, I tend to dream of the future and long for the unique opportunities to serve and minister that another phase of life might bring, all the while despising or failing to recognize the opportunities that God has given me to serve right now! 

Every phase of life has its own unique opportunities and challenges, yet God’s purpose for us is the same no matter where in life we find ourselves – to bring honor and glory to Him and to become more like His Son, so that we might point others to Him!  That means that we must keep our eyes on Him and, as Paul says, “press toward the goal” of knowing Him more (Phil. 3:8-14)!  If we can learn to view everything in life as a means toward that end, then we can freely and joyfully embrace the life and the opportunities that God has given us right now!  As the master Designer, He is weaving together the details of our lives in a way that might not make sense to us, but we can be sure that it is all working together for His good purpose of conforming us more and more to the image of His Son, Jesus Christ! (Rom. 8:28-29)

So what opportunities do I need to seize right now?  Is God waiting on me to be obedient in something that He has given me to do?  Whether it is a relationship that needs to be cultivated, a person who needs to hear the Gospel or be discipled, someone who needs to be encouraged, a class that needs to be prepared, or any other opportunity that I have been given… truly, the time is now, and there is no better time to invest faithfully in whatever God has placed before me!

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace.”

1 Pet. 4:10

1. 1 Peter 4:10 : Rom. 12:6, 7; 1 Cor. 4:7; [Matt. 25:15]
2. 1 Peter 4:10 : Luke 12:42; 1 Cor. 4:1, 2; Titus 1:7

“It is required of stewards that one be found faithful…” 1 Cor. 4:2

Truth We Can Cling To

Have you ever been placed in a situation that from a human standpoint really did not make sense?  Have you experienced a disappointment so great that it was hard to regain perspective and continue living life with a smile on your face and a song in your heart?  Have you found yourself asking, “Lord, what are you doing? I don’t understand!”  Sometimes there are no easy answers, and God is not obligated to give us an explanation for why He does what He does in our lives.  However, I know from my own experience that God has used times like these to teach me some of the most valuable lessons.  He has reminded me in these times that my contentment must not be in any set of circumstances, but in God Himself.  Perhaps through these situations, He is trying to keep me from becoming too comfortable, so that I continually cling to Him in dependence, as my constant, unchanging Rock!

No matter what the circumstances of my life, I cannot live by what I feel – my emotions are entirely unpredictable, subject to irrational changes, and completely unreliable!  No matter what is going on in and around me, what I must constantly look to and cling to are the unchangeable truths of God’s Word.  Then and only then can I experience perfect peace and abiding joy in Who He is, regardless of the circumstances of my life.  He has recently been reminding me of some of those timeless truths, through song and the written Word… truths like the following:

 “Sometimes all we have to hold onto is what we know is true of who You are; so when the heartache hits like a hurricane, that can never change who You are.”

Ps. 90:2b – “… even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.”

Ps. 7:13-14 - “Your way, o God, is holy; what god is great like our God?  You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples.”

“When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest in His unchanging grace…”

2 Cor. 12:9 – “… My grace is sufficient for you…”

“Every blessing You pour out I’ll turn back to praise; when the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say: Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be Your glorious name.  You give and take away… my heart will choose to say: Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 

Job 1:21 – “… The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.  Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

 “Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord…You are the everlasting God…”

Is. 40:28-31 – “Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired.  His understanding is inscrutable.  He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power… those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.”

 “Wonderful, so wonderful is Your unfailing love...”

Ps. 86:13 – “For Your lovingkindness toward me is great…”

“In Christ alone my hope is found; He is my light, my strength, my song; this cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm.  What heights of love, what depths of peace, when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!  My comforter, my all in all – here in the love of Christ I stand.”

Ps. 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God…”

Ps. 91:2 – “I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust!”

Rom. 8:35 – “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?”

“Complete in Thee – each want supplied, and no good thing to me denied; since Thou my portion, Lord, wilt be, I ask no more, complete in Thee.”

Ps. 84:11 – “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

Col. 2:10 – “ and in Him you have been made complete.”

 How wonderful to know that through the changes, disappointments, and trials of this life, there is one thing we can cling to and trust in that never changes – our faithful God and His faithful Word!  He wants to use the unsettling times in our lives as opportunities to strengthen our faith and increase our dependence on Him, as well as our thirst for Him, as the only One Who can truly satisfy our hearts!

Is My Attitude Like That of Christ? (Part 2)

When thinking about the topic of humility and self-denial, our minds naturally go to Philippians 2, where we find one of the clearest descriptions of Christ’s own humbling of Himself.  We are commanded in verse five to “have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”  A closer look at the context of this passage, however, is helpful in understanding more fully what God through the apostle Paul is teaching us here.  The verses immediately preceding this passage are about relationships within the Body of Christ and the unity and humility that are to exist there.  This is important, because putting self to death always takes place within the context of relationships.  It is in this context that our own selfishness becomes most evident, and it is this concern for self that all too often hinders or even destroys the relationships God has placed in our lives.

Romans 12:3 is a similar passage, in which we find an exhortation to Christ-like humility within the context of relationships in the Body of Christ.  The context immediately preceding this verse is the familiar call to present ourselves as living sacrifices.  Verse 1 begins with “Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God….”  This offering of ourselves, then, seems to be the natural response to what Paul has been talking about in the first 11 chapters of Romans – namely, the Gospel!  This takes place as we renew our minds through the Word of God so that our thinking is more like that of Christ and less like that of the world.  One of the primary means by which this offering of ourselves in service to God is worked out practically is through the relationships He has put within the Body of Christ, which Paul goes on to talk about in the rest of this chapter.  At the very beginning of this section, however, is the reminder that we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought, which greatly impacts the way in which we view others with their unique gifts and personalities and the way that we serve others.  If I am thinking too highly of myself, I will be much less likely to honor others before myself (vs. 10), to give generously to others (vs. 13), to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (vs. 15), to associate with the lowly (vs. 16), or to return good for evil (vs. 17-21).  Having the mind of Christ and a proper view of myself is the only way that I will truly be able to exhibit these characteristics of a servant as I relate to others around me.

So once again, I must ask myself, “Is my attitude like that of Christ?”  I need to be renewing my mind daily by spending time with Him, so that my thinking is less conformed to the world and more like that of my Savior!

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus…”  (Phil. 2:5)

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”  (Rom. 12:2)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Is My Attitude Like That of Christ?

If someone were to ask me, “Do you want to be like Jesus?” I would readily agree that, yes, I do want to be like Jesus!  In fact, God’s purpose for me is to conform me more and more to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29).  Philippians 2:5 tells us that we are to “make [our] own attitude that of Christ Jesus…,” and the passage goes on to describe Christ’s selfless humbling of Himself to the point of death on a cross for us.  Mark 10:45 tells us that “even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  A true disciple of Christ, therefore, will share in Christ’s attitude of humility and selfless service for others.

I have found that a look at some of the “one another” passages in the New Testament, as well as a study of Christ’s own example of service, can help me to identify some key characteristics of a servant.

For example, a servant is someone who…

Serves others tangibly…

-          John 13:1-15 – Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, then told them to follow His example.

-          Gal. 5:13 - “Serve one another in love”

-          Gal. 6:2 -  “Bear one another’s burdens”

-          1 Pet. 4:9 – “Offer hospitality to one another “

Is focused on others…

-          John 19:25-27 – Even on the cross, Jesus is thinking of others!

-          John 13:34-35 – “Love one another “

-          Rom. 12:10 – “Be devoted to one another”

-          Rom. 15:17 – “Accept one another”

-          1 Cor. 11:33 – “Be considerate of one another”

-          1 Cor. 12:25 – “Have concern for one another”

-          1 Cor. 12:26 – “Sympathize with one another”

-          Eph. 4:32 – “Be kind and compassionate to one another”

Prays for others…

-          John 17:6-26 – Jesus prays for His disciples and all who will believe on Him in the hours immediately preceding His crucifixion.

-          James 5:16 – “Pray for one another”

Denies self and puts others first…

-          John 4 – Jesus puts the spiritual need of a Samaritan woman before His own physical needs.

-          John 18:11; 19:17 – Jesus endured the suffering of the cross for our sake!

-          Rom. 12:10 – “Honor one another above yourself”

-          1 Cor. 4:6 – “Don’t have pride toward one another”

-          Eph. 5:21 – “Submit to one another”

-          Phil. 2:3 – “Consider others more important than yourself”

-          Phil. 2:4 – “Look out not only for your own interests but also for the interests of others”

-          James 4:11 – “Do not slander one another”

-          1 Pet. 5:5 – “Treat one another with humility”

Shares truth with others, even when it is costly or uncomfortable…

-          Matt. 10:21-25; John 6:60-66 – Jesus repeatedly taught truths to His disciples and the crowds that would have been very unpopular, but He loved them enough to be honest with them!

-          Rom. 15:14 – “Instruct one another”

-          Col. 3:16 – “Admonish one another”

-          1 Thess. 5:11 – “Encourage one another”

-          Heb. 10:24 – “Spur one another on towards love and good deeds”

This is just a sampling of the many passages that speak about the attitude we should have towards others, but it is clear that we ought to be growing in these things if we are truly becoming more like Christ! 

What does my attitude towards others and my service reveal about Christ to those around me?  When they see me, do they see Him?