January 10th 2021
Jesus expects His followers to be willing to be servants to all of God’s people!
Matthew 20:25-28 (NIV)
Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
What does Jesus expect from those who have chosen to follow Him? Jesus expects His followers to be willing to be servants to all of God’s people! If you desire to react in a way as though you know WWJD, He told us “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve!” To be a great leader you must first become a follower of Jesus Christ, which automatically makes you become His servant. Only then can you be able to be a servant to all of God’s people.
To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5:1-4).
Today in the USA it is not acceptable for anyone to consider themselves to be a servant of anyone else. To even think that way is unacceptable by most other Americans. And to consider yourself to be a slave will cause your neighbor to want to avoid you, if possible. Therefore, it is becoming unacceptable to be a practicing Christian in the USA today. In my experience this has always been this way, but the number of people who still cling to being followers of Jesus Christ are now far outnumbered by those who want to be free to sin without anyone or any god from disagreeing with their desire to keep sinning. Most people today are not willing to wait for Jesus to come back so “you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” Most people today in the USA do not believe there will be a second coming, thus they want their reward today from the federal government in the form of money for them to maintain their selected lifestyle.
Paul wrote about how becoming a follower of Jesus Christ will change your outlook on this mortal life by giving you hope that there is more to come in the next life that is not mortal but immortal. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:21-23). There is that word again as freedom is available ONLY when you become a slave of God, “now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God.” If you chose the worldly lifestyle over following Jesus Christ, then the “wages of sin is death.” This death is describing the second death when your immortal soul descends into hell when your mortal body dies.
Today we may be wondering why the violent actions against the leaders of the USA occurred yesterday. Where is all this violence coming from and why is there such untrust and even hatred being shown against the current governing bodies, and such resistance to changes that were voted by the people. Is such violence really unexpected? Since sin first came into this world mankind has been prone to reacting violently when we are disagreed with. That first sin caused mankind to have a sinful nature that causes us to be prone to violent thoughts, which is why a Savior is needed to quell these sinful thoughts.
Violence is not a new thing in this world. History shows us that murder is one of the oldest sins to occur. Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man." (Genesis 4:1). The first man born into this cursed world became a murderer, as he killed his brother, who was the second man born into this cursed world! John wrote about this terrible sin and warns us about the cause of it. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. (1 John 3:12). Satan represents evil in this cursed world and when Satan or any god or gods are followed, we see violence instead of love to guide the actions of mankind.
An adage was formed based on what Paul wrote to the church in Rome, and for us, “When in Rome do as the Romans do!” Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:17-18). Paul was saying we need to try to get along with everyone by trying to see things from their perspective. In doing this we can then have less conflict. Of course, this perspective must be tempered to not allow us as followers of Jesus Christ, to not try to plant a seed in non-believers so they can become believers in Jesus Christ. If all of mankind believed in Jesus Christ and followed Him there could peace on the earth! This will not happen in this world because of the curse of our inherited sinful nature.
How can we show mercy to others, as God has shown mercy to us? Forgiveness starts with love, and love emanates from God! God showed mercy to all of mankind by giving us a Savior. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8). Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:36-37).
I do not have any answer to what happened in the nation’s capital yesterday. We all need to feel that we share in the problems that brought about such a violent urge to the people who willingly participated in the destruction yesterday. This escalation of violence should not be such a surprise to us, as we have seen similar mob violence occur in most of the so-called peaceful marches in recent months. There are armed prepared groups that follow the peaceful marches to steal stuff for their personal gain, or to destroy the businesses of individuals or companies. This destruction is felt by every person who still loves the USA.
I do not have any quick response to this, but it certainly changed what I planned to write about in this VOW. Maybe next week may be more normal! It seems important that we all share in this problem, and that we pray for God’s guidance on the terrorist actions that just occurred and will likely be repeated during this election change over time. Pray for Jesus’ mercy on this nation!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Matthew 20:25-28 (NIV)
Jesus called them together and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
What does Jesus expect from those who have chosen to follow Him? Jesus expects His followers to be willing to be servants to all of God’s people! If you desire to react in a way as though you know WWJD, He told us “whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve!” To be a great leader you must first become a follower of Jesus Christ, which automatically makes you become His servant. Only then can you be able to be a servant to all of God’s people.
To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. (1 Peter 5:1-4).
Today in the USA it is not acceptable for anyone to consider themselves to be a servant of anyone else. To even think that way is unacceptable by most other Americans. And to consider yourself to be a slave will cause your neighbor to want to avoid you, if possible. Therefore, it is becoming unacceptable to be a practicing Christian in the USA today. In my experience this has always been this way, but the number of people who still cling to being followers of Jesus Christ are now far outnumbered by those who want to be free to sin without anyone or any god from disagreeing with their desire to keep sinning. Most people today are not willing to wait for Jesus to come back so “you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” Most people today in the USA do not believe there will be a second coming, thus they want their reward today from the federal government in the form of money for them to maintain their selected lifestyle.
Paul wrote about how becoming a follower of Jesus Christ will change your outlook on this mortal life by giving you hope that there is more to come in the next life that is not mortal but immortal. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:21-23). There is that word again as freedom is available ONLY when you become a slave of God, “now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God.” If you chose the worldly lifestyle over following Jesus Christ, then the “wages of sin is death.” This death is describing the second death when your immortal soul descends into hell when your mortal body dies.
Today we may be wondering why the violent actions against the leaders of the USA occurred yesterday. Where is all this violence coming from and why is there such untrust and even hatred being shown against the current governing bodies, and such resistance to changes that were voted by the people. Is such violence really unexpected? Since sin first came into this world mankind has been prone to reacting violently when we are disagreed with. That first sin caused mankind to have a sinful nature that causes us to be prone to violent thoughts, which is why a Savior is needed to quell these sinful thoughts.
Violence is not a new thing in this world. History shows us that murder is one of the oldest sins to occur. Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man." (Genesis 4:1). The first man born into this cursed world became a murderer, as he killed his brother, who was the second man born into this cursed world! John wrote about this terrible sin and warns us about the cause of it. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. (1 John 3:12). Satan represents evil in this cursed world and when Satan or any god or gods are followed, we see violence instead of love to guide the actions of mankind.
An adage was formed based on what Paul wrote to the church in Rome, and for us, “When in Rome do as the Romans do!” Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Romans 12:17-18). Paul was saying we need to try to get along with everyone by trying to see things from their perspective. In doing this we can then have less conflict. Of course, this perspective must be tempered to not allow us as followers of Jesus Christ, to not try to plant a seed in non-believers so they can become believers in Jesus Christ. If all of mankind believed in Jesus Christ and followed Him there could peace on the earth! This will not happen in this world because of the curse of our inherited sinful nature.
How can we show mercy to others, as God has shown mercy to us? Forgiveness starts with love, and love emanates from God! God showed mercy to all of mankind by giving us a Savior. God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8). Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:36-37).
I do not have any answer to what happened in the nation’s capital yesterday. We all need to feel that we share in the problems that brought about such a violent urge to the people who willingly participated in the destruction yesterday. This escalation of violence should not be such a surprise to us, as we have seen similar mob violence occur in most of the so-called peaceful marches in recent months. There are armed prepared groups that follow the peaceful marches to steal stuff for their personal gain, or to destroy the businesses of individuals or companies. This destruction is felt by every person who still loves the USA.
I do not have any quick response to this, but it certainly changed what I planned to write about in this VOW. Maybe next week may be more normal! It seems important that we all share in this problem, and that we pray for God’s guidance on the terrorist actions that just occurred and will likely be repeated during this election change over time. Pray for Jesus’ mercy on this nation!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
|
|
|