In humility consider others better than yourselves

Philippians 2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Have you ever noticed how people elevate themselves by trying to lower others. Given we are in the run up to the political primary season we can, regrettably, expect to see more of this.

There is a tendency, human nature if you will, to have a sense of self-importance. It is tied to that sinful human nature we have. It can be manifested in a number of very subtle ways. Even Christians can be caught up in it if they are not watchful. It starts with the thought of us doing more in ministry than others. And then criticizing the efforts or results of others. Gossiping is another pitfall to be avoided. The downward spiral can continue until we are lost or the focus of what we about becomes lost.

When we look at the life of Christ, two examples stands out to exemplify what humility is all about. The first is washing the feet of the disciples. A task normally left to servants, yet there is Jesus washing their feet. He tried to model the behavior the Disciples would need to emulate in all they did. He had observed how their behavior and decided that this one lesson was important to provide.  The second example is how the Son of God died on the cross. He died for the forgiveness of sins for all mankind. All can embrace that forgiveness. And He did all this for a bunch of sinners. He suffered the humiliation of the cross for you and I. That is humility. We can honor his sacrifice by also serving in humility. We do not serve to elevate ourselves. Rather, we serve to elevate others. That is the lesson Jesus wants us to take to heart. That is how Paul served in his ministry. We too can serve in humility, we just need to remember who we are serving.

PRAYER: Father, we struggle at times remembering who we are serving. We forget that we are not in ministry to raise up ourselves. We must remember that we serve others, and not ourselves. We must remember that Your Son served us and not himself. Strengthen our faith, develop our knowledge that we may have a better ability to serve in a manner that is pleasing to You. We serve out of love, and are saved by Your grace and not our deeds. Help us to share the love You have for all mankind. We ask this in the name of Your Son, who lives and reigns with the Father, and the Holy Spirit. One God, now and forever. Amen

Some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry

Philippians 1:15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.

Serving the Lord is full of adventures. You never know where you will be led. Because He is giving the directions if He is in charge of the ministry you are involved in. And His being in charge makes all the difference.

There are a multitude of reasons for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we see in Philippians 1:15 there are some who do so out of envy, some our of rivalry. And others who do so out of goodwill. I looking at moving forward with this blog I had to look into my heart to discover why I was motivated to do so.  Was it envy?  There are a lot of very, very good devotional writers out there who are much better than I at this craft. I suppose each started out from humble beginnings. And so after prayer I was able to determine that I was not doing this out of envy.  So what about rivalry? That implies you have some reason to brag or a desire to be better than someone else.  Again, that is not the case. So I am able, with confidence to say it is out of goodwill that I am doing this. It is a labor of love. It is an act of service that I am able to do freely and without expectation of reward. That is the most wonderful thing about grace. There is no pressure. I do not have a gun to my head in this act of serving the Lord. I am already saved through grace. I could write 10 devotionals a day and not be more saved than if I did 5 a week. The act of service comes from the heart, not from coercion. Faith without deeds is dead. But then grace saves is the premiere concept to remember. Why serve then if we do not have to? Because we are spreading the love of Christ out of love and not obligation. That impresses those being served much more than someone who is doing service as an obligation to earn their salvation. It is sad, but there are people out there who do not know they are already saved. There are people out there who have become convinced that they must serve to earn that which was already won for them when Christ died on the cross. That misconception exists in the world is my motivation to write. The lost need to be found. Those who have strayed need to be returned to the Shepherd. May all our efforts in ministry be blessed by Him who is our leader.

PRAYER: Lord God, Heavenly Father, You are the one we serve. Your Son saved us so that we could serve others with love, and in freedom. Help us, guide us, strengthen us in our efforts to share the Gospel. For if You are with us, who can stand against us. This we ask in the strong name of Jesus. Amen

Filled with the fruit of righteousness...

Philippians 1:11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.

Motivation to do something can be fleeting thing. In my case it is difficult to find motivation on Monday. I enjoy the weekends and do not want to be back at work. But then again I like to eat and play so off to work I go. How about you?  What motivates you?

I find comfort in this passage of scripture. My comfort comes from two statements. 1.) righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, and 2.) to the glory and praise of God. This comfort I find here is best explained in how something I could not earn on my own has been bought and paid for.  And the reason that I am doing what I am doing is to glorify and praise God. It is reassuring to have a purpose and motivation. We need that in our lives. We need to be doing something. Our efforts in life need a focus or we can go astray. A boat needs to be at anchor, or under power. Otherwise the boat will wander off or run aground. We can encounter people like that in our daily walk. They can be seen just drifting along without a purpose. Going from crisis to crisis with no direction in what they do. Or we can see people who have run aground and they are being thrashed on the rocks of life through addiction, hate, abuse, etc. But the righteousness that comes from Jesus Christ gives me hope that this life in not all that there is. Beyond this life there is an eternity of life that is only possible because God loves each and every one of us and wants us to be with him in heaven. That is why Jesus suffered the humiliation of the cross. It was to reconcile sinful man with the Father. The love of God brought us back together. We who were lost in sin could not make that leap. But God, who is faithful and just, built a bridge for us to cross. And it came in the form of a cross. We can praise and glorify God in all that we do by accepting his love and sharing that love with those who need to hear the Good News of the Gospel. We can help those who are lost to be found. We can also help fellow believers by staying in fellowship. That is how Christians stay on course. We share the love with believers, and non-believers. And for all this, may God receive all the glory!

PRAYER: Father, we take time today to thank You for giving us Your love. We sinners who were undeserving of that love were saved by the sacrifice of You Son Jesus Christ. The faith You give us through the Holy Spirit keeps us grounded and able to share that love with others. Guide us O God on our journey. Help us to shine the light of Jesus as a lighthouse pierces the darkness of the night. We ask this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen