Following Jesus

by Apr 10, 2018Missions

One of the things that I thought about recently as we discussed Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection is that He walked in such humility. He did not consider the cross as too big a price to pay but walked in such love – a love that we cannot even begin to fathom. It says in Phil. 2:3-8, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, Who being in the form of God did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bond-servant and coming in the likeness of man. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”  Then it goes on to say “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name. “ And as you know it also says His name is above every other name and that all men shall bow at the name of Jesus!

I could write several articles here on this one passage alone. Our pattern is Jesus. He is the most giving and humble man that has ever lived. We are wanting to have more of Jesus. So many songs that we sing admonish us. The way is to go lower. The key is to humble ourselves. We do not really want to hear that when we hear of so many messages that say we are the “overcomers”, we are the “precious ones”,  and we are given all authority in heaven and on earth! We are kings and priests unto our Lord. All of that is true. We need to be reminded again and again of who we are in Jesus. But, here is an important key. We are in Jesus. Jesus was the one who gave up all of His rights, all of His privileges, all of His honor, favor acceptance, and did what was required to win us back to the Father. He humbled Himself to the point of death and not only that but the cruelest of all deaths.

It says above in the verses quoted that Jesus took on the form of a bond-servant. Just to let you know a little of the history of bond-servants, they were slaves that declared to their master that they did not want to go free but instead wanted to serve their master for life. They did this of their own free will. They were dedicated to their masters for the rest of their lives. They were at the mercy of their master. Jesus put Himself in that place of a bond-servant to God the Father. I am seeing a picture here. God created us to be totally subservient to Him and to our Savior Jesus. If we say we are totally committed to the Lord Jesus, then we really have no more say over our lives than the slaves to their master. Oh, but what a master.  Like David said, “ I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.”

What are the benefits of humility? We can rest assured that God has our lives in His hand. So we can let worry, control, pride, bitterness, fear, and all of the other things go and rest in peace. As we dwell in complete trust and humility, then nothing can hurt us because we have laid down our rights to keep hurt, bitterness, and all of the other harmful things in our souls. So, we see that living as champions is not a contradiction to humbling ourselves, but the more we humble ourselves, the more we are lifted up.

James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”  We used to sing that song. If you know it sing along, but more importantly, let the scripture become part of you. Let me finish with this admonition from the word of God in Michael 6:8, “He has shown you, O man, what is good;  And what does the Lord require of you But to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

There you have it. Victorious life by humbling ourselves! By emptying ourselves as Jesus did and taking on the form of a bond-servant, watch what the Lord can do through us. Watch out world, you are about to be redeemed!

Written by: Joyce Euren- Bond-servant of the Most High God!
Published on 4/10/18

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