greatness

Matthew 18:1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked,

     "Which of us is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?"



  2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.


3 Then he said,

      "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.

       4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.



  5 "And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me.

          6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.



  10 "Beware that you don't look down on any of these little ones.

For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.



humble, according to dictionary.com

1. not proud or arrogant; modest: to be humble although successful.

2. having a feeling of insignificance, inferiority, subservience, etc.: In the presence of so many world-famous writers I felt very humble.

3. low in rank, importance, status, quality, etc.; lowly: of humble origin; a humble home.

4. courteously respectful: In my humble opinion you are wrong.

5. low in height, level, etc.; small in size: a humble member of the galaxy.


You have to hand it to the disciples - they had some guts.

Asking the God of the universes which one of them, the disciples, is greatest in the Kingdom.

As my wife says, "Don't ask the question unless you're prepared for the answer."

I doubt the disciples were prepared for the answer Jesus gave.

Jesus starkly pointed out that those who simple & humble, like children, are those considered great in the kingdom.

Hmmmmmm... I wonder... if they REALLY absorbed that piece of information & owned it, how do you think that would make someone like Joseph Prince feels?

Or Benny Hinn?

Steven Furtick?

Rick Warren?

Joel Osteen?

Creflo Dollar?

Joyce Meyer?

Eddie Long?

Pat Robertson?

Jimmy Swaggart?

John Haggee?

And I'm sure the humility is the standard by which greatness is accredited in the Kingdom would come as a great surprise to most of us, too - you & me - if we really let it sink in.



I'm afraid we have a much bigger success orientation attached to who is great.

We've adopted the idea that big is better,

     that a "healthy self concept" (which, when I was growing up, was called an overblown ego) is preferable,

     and that greatness is measured by

           how many,
           how much,
           how brilliant,
           how smooth,
           how ____________ (you fill in the blank)


Jesus says here that the real measuring stick for greatness is a little bit different.



How should we then live is what Jesus said is true?

Think about it.

I'm going to.

practicalities

Paul, the apostle, who wrote half the new testament, always wrote a lot of practical instructions about how to live the life of a Christ follower. Here's some he wrote in Colossians...



Colossians 3:12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves,

     you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy,

     kindness,

     humility,

     gentleness,

     and patience.



13 Make allowance for each other's faults,

        and forgive anyone who offends you.

Remember, the Lord forgave you,

     so you must forgive others.



14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love,

        which binds us all together in perfect harmony.



15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.

        For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.


  16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives.

Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives.

Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.


17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus,

        giving thanks through him to God the Father.

Jesus is blunt

Jesus speaks bluntly to his disciples (& us) about our lives...



Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples,

"If any of you wants to be my follower,

     you must turn from your selfish ambition,

     take up your cross,

     and follow me.

There's a whole lot of difference in a person who "believes" in Jesus & someone who "follows" Jesus.

Satan & his demons believe in Jesus, but they don't do what He says.

We not only have to believe Jesus is the Son of God, but we have to be & do what He told / tells us to be & do.




25 If you try to hang on to your life,

        you will lose it.

But if you give up your life for my sake,

        you will find true life.

How many people do we know (besides ourselves!) who try to hold onto their lives, their own dreams, their own picture of what they think their life should look like?

I did that for way too many decades. Since I've truly let go of my life,& my own selfish concepts of what it should look like, my life has been VERY interesting. There's been a lot of times I've been totally clueless about what's going on & why I'm being & doing what I'm being & doing. But living a life of following / obeying Him sure beats anything I could come up with.




26 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

        Is anything worth more than your soul?

How many people do we know who are like that - people who have spent their lives gathering stuff, or fame,or power, or control?

What good does it do them now?

There are SO many people in my life that I've either said that verse to, or certainly want to.

And how many times do WE spend way too much time trying to accrue "the American Dream", or recognition from our friends, or just the trappings our friends & we think are important.



These are just some things I was thinkin' about as I read these verses....

who He is

Paul makes an extremely definitive statement here about who Jesus is & what He's about...



Colossians 1

15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

  He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,


16 for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see

  and the things we can't see—

      such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
 
Everything was created through him and for him.


17 He existed before anything else,

  and he holds all creation together.


18 Christ is also the head of the church,

  which is his body.

He is the beginning,

  supreme over all who rise from the dead.

  So he is first in everything.


19 For God in all his fullness

  was pleased to live in Christ,


20 and through him God reconciled everything to himself.

He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth

  by means of Christ's blood on the cross.


21 This includes you who were once far away from God.

       You were his enemies,

            separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.



22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body.

As a result, he has brought you into his own presence,

     and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him

          without a single fault.
  


23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it.

        Don't drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.

worry

Philippians 4

6 Don't worry about anything;

     instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need,

     and thank him for all he has done.

7 Then you will experience God's peace,

      which exceeds anything we can understand.

His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.



Yeah, I'm a worrier.

And I've been married for 31 years to someone with the gift of faith.

Worry is basically a lack of trust.

In the final analysis, we just don't believe God will come through.

God gave me these 2 verses to especially hang on to during the year 2005.

Boy, did I ever need them that year.

I can't tell you how many times I did exactly what those verses say to do.

And you know what?

God did just what Paul writes that He would do.

I think the key for me was thanking Him ahead of time for what He was gonna do.

Now, God didn't turn into a vending machine that year - or since.

But strangely enough, if we do what these 2 verses say to do, God does what these 2 verses say He'll do.


Now, have I stepped into a super-dooper higher level of holiness since experiencing these 2 verses active in my life in 2005?

Well, if you know me, you know better.  ;-)

But I DO worry less.

And when I tell Him what's on my mind & trust Him with it, His peace does follow.

The disconnect is if I don't trust Him with it, the peace doesn't follow.


Lynn & I are fixin' to step into another act of faith (like, this doesn't happen on a regular basis?!).

We're gonna have to...

     ...not worry,

     tell God what we need,

    thank Him ahead of time, (important component)

    & wait for His peace to carry us through.


I'll get back with ya on how that all plays out...

keeping on

Philippians 3:12b I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.


13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing:

Forgetting the past

and looking forward to what lies ahead,


14 I press on to reach the end of the race

and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.



For some reason, it would seem the words, "keep on," are being whispered to me these days.

And it would seem that the basic sentiment of "keep going,"  "move forward,"  "go," & "don't quit" are being impressed upon me.

What does it mean?

We all know that I've kinda sorta been livin' in the land called "Clueless" these last few years.

So I have no answers - only what I believe is being impressed upon me.

We'll see what it all means when I come out on the other side.


Anybody else feeling these things in there life?

All I can encourage you to be & go is to keep moving forward.

And let me know what's going on in your life when you know what's going on in your life.

as Jesus

Philippians 2:1 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ?

     Any comfort from his love?

     Any fellowship together in the Spirit?

     Are your hearts tender and compassionate?


2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other,

     loving one another,

     and working together with one mind and purpose.
  

3 Don't be selfish;

     don't try to impress others.

Be humble,

     thinking of others as better than yourselves.

4 Don't look out only for your own interests,

     but take an interest in others, too.
 

5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.


     6 Though he was God,
 
       he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to.

7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;

  he took the humble position of a slave

  and was born as a human being.

When he appeared in human form,

8   he humbled himself in obedience to God

  and died a criminal's death on a cross.


9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor

  and gave him the name above all other names,


10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

  in heaven and on earth and under the earth,


11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

  to the glory of God the Father.