Thursday Devotional - Selfless King

Leading up to yesterday, I helped organize a big event here at work (the technology unconference). I tried to coordinate volunteers for the day. It was interesting how few people volunteered to be a volunteer. Then, only about half of the original volunteers actually volunteered. Thankfully, many of the volunteers did more than their share and took on extra tasks or went above and beyond what we asked them to do. Also, the planning committee shuffled around to cover holes.  

On the contrary, Jesus didn’t just volunteer to selflessly sacrifice 3-4 hours of his time, but was innocently killed for you and for me! He was crucified as “The King of the Jews.”

John 19:14-18         ¹⁴ It was the day of Preparation of the Passover; it was about noon. “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews. ¹⁵ But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!” “Shall I crucify your king?” Pilate asked. “We have no king but Caesar,” the chief priests answered.
¹⁶ Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified. So the soldiers took charge of Jesus. ¹⁷ Carrying his own cross, he went out to the place of the Skull (which in Aramaic is called Golgotha). ¹⁸ There they crucified him, and with him two others—one on each side and Jesus in the middle.

Jesus selflessly died, fulfilling God’s plans.

Death for someone else (especially someone who is innocent dying for someone who isn’t innocent) is the most selfless act of all!

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal King and Savior? No one else will ever do what He has already done for you. If Jesus is your King and Savior, how are you and I selflessly sacrificing so God can accomplish His plans through us?    

Alice

Doing More

Blessed are those who are generous,
    because they feed the poor.  Proverbs 22:9

In this time of annual giving, we are often reminded of those who are far less fortunate than ourselves.  Many of you do a great service to them volunteering time, money, and skill to help those in need.  Thomson Reuters does a great service volunteering thousands of hours to the community.  It makes me proud to work for such a place.  However, I had to ask a very startling truth.  What do I give to my church, and do I help the needy in my community with them?  Now I am not saying my church does not volunteer to help them.  However, maybe I am saying that I am not doing enough.  Or maybe if my church is not doing enough, it is because no one like me has made the effort to reach out to the community and help those less fortunate.  It strikes me as one of those moments where Jesus said, “Hypocrite!  First get rid of the log in our own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” (Matthew 7:5)  Is there more we should be doing within our church?  Is this not one of their primary functions?

We as followers of Christ are called to help those in need.  In doing this devotion, I actually stumbled across this verse while focusing on the beginning of the Beatitudes for Jesus’ Sermon On The Mount.  This is one of these instances where the Old and New Testament underline each other.  As noted by Jesus, He said, “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.” (Matthew 5:3)   Many who play it safe will point out that this refers to the poor ‘in spirit.’  However if you have been without financial means, you understand perfectly what it is like to be in need of God then more than at any other time.  While it can be uncomfortable for us to dedicate our time and resources to those in need, we are given a choice.  We can be safe and comfortable and just take in all that is needed to understand God’s plan for our lives, or we can be bold and courageous knowing God will both be with and teach us as we push to do more helping others.

There is nothing better than to give of ourselves in the service of others.  Whether it is a gift to a charity or organizing a volunteer day at church, we owe it to God to look out for those who are either less fortunate or even worse cannot help themselves.  Jesus says, “When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.” (Luke 12:48b)  Let us be willing to roll up our sleeves, and give of ourselves in the name of holy and righteous God who valued us so much that He gave His life so that we may live with Him for all eternity.  What more can you do for Christ where you are?  How can you be more involved in helping those in need?  My prayer is that we look at ways this new year to give to those in need because we can do more.  Amen, and Happy New Year!

The Best In You

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.  Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.  1 Peter 4:10-11

I have done a number of presentations on the idea of utilizing your strengths.  It is my favorite topic this time of year because I first was enlighten by that very topic then. It has molded me in a number of ways. Various tests have told me that my greatest strength is my heart for others, and it impacts everything I do.  For example in high school, it took me forever just to write a 500 word essay. I’m guessing some of you who have read my devotions are laughing right now at that very idea.  Some have even outright told me, “Kent, you might want to shorten some of those down.”    However, the thing that has changed from my high school days to my devotion writing is what God has placed on my heart.  My best writing always comes when God inspires my heart to say things about His love and grace.  It is the relationship I have with Him that encourages me to love on others and challenges me when I want to distance myself from them.  That is my strength, and I do my best to release it to all who I come into contact with because they then see the best in me.  They see what God sees in me.

Our talents and strengths are a reflection of what God has instilled in us, and they are to be shared with the world.  Most of us choose to use our talents at work or display our strengths only at home.  However as the latter part of today’s verse clearly points out, it asks us to “Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies."  Not a lot of room for partial effort here.  Do you ask yourself are my spiritual gifts shared not only with family and friends but also coworkers?  Do you volunteer for causes that could benefit from your talent? These are questions I have asked myself only to realize that I fall short and need to take corrective action. You see, this is not optional for followers of Jesus Christ.  We must share our time, effort, and talent with our church and community for if we are not, we are unfortunately part of the problem.  If you are unsure what you can offer, do not let it discourage you. Just show up!  We will never know what we are capable of unless we just try something.  It could be as simple as helping a child in a reading program or as complex as constructing a church on a mission trip.  Whatever God inspires you to move on, act on it.

God created this incredible individual called ‘you!’  You are strong, beautiful, and a gift from an almighty God who we are humbled to be in His service and is indeed worthy of praise!  He has instilled in you gifts whether you realize it or not.  Our mission is to not shelter them for a select few.  Today’s verse says, “Use them well to serve one another.”  That is our purpose.  What gifts do you have to offer in your church or community now?  Will you stop hesitating and start trying to serve today? My prayer and challenge is that we stop sheltering ourselves and display what God sees; the best in you.  Amen.

A Change Of View

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.  Romans 12:1-2

How often do we see a problem and look to place blame on others.  For example, let’s start by looking at how children behave today.  There is a part of me that saw today’s children as being somewhat self-centered and narcissistic.  My thought went, “They only think of themselves.  Whatever happened to sharing and giving?  They only see the world as something they are entitled to, and they want everything right now.  That explains why they are so distant from the church, right?”  They must certainly be punished for this!  Then, I said to myself, “What if God did that to me?”  What if He looked and saw all of my flaws and imperfections and said, “Enough!  Kent is no good, and let him burn for all of eternity!”  Instead, He sent His only son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins with the hope we would come around and serve Him.  With that in mind, I took my own view and tried to see the world as God would.  What if children’s feelings of narcissism were not really the problem at all?  What if the issue is the world crushes their spirits such that they do not feel special?  Thus, the problem is no longer their focus on self.  The problem is helping them understand their own value and both lifting up and serving others as a greater than serving self.

When we give ourselves to God, we are offering everything including our minds so that we learn more of God’s plan for us.  We often look at what goes on in the world, and give up saying to ourselves that is just the way of the world.  We rarely believe that we can make a difference.  However in serving the one true living God, we must always remember to see things through His eyes and not our own.  Through our own grace, we gained something special and God inspired.  Someone you see begging on the street becomes the motivation to volunteer for a food drive, and seeing poverty motivates you to give time toward a troubled youth program to help uplift others from their situation.  We no longer see problems as an issue with the world.  Instead, it becomes something God can inspire action toward truly making a difference.

Each day that we walk with God gives us greater insight into His plans for our lives.  Today’s verses talk of God transforming us.  To do this, we must learn to toss away our worldly view, and learn to see the world as He sees it.  If we realize how much God gave us through the gift of grace, we can begin to see the depth of His love for us, and through that, we can love others such that it may transform them as much as we have been. What problem can stand a more godly view in your life?  How can you continue to push your thinking toward allowing God to transform you?  My prayer is that we take off our worldly view on things and allow God to change our view to His.  Amen.