In His Word – 4-26-2021
So, I read some more in the Word today and thought about different
things. I almost went back for an old one but then I remembered I had posted
about a verse that talked about how Jesus wanted us to behave on Instagram. Thinking
on that whole idea I came up with what is below.
If we are supposed to do as Jesus does, according to the WWJD
movement back a few decades then we need to be treating people a bit better
than we do.
1.
We need to feed the hungry and do it humbly. Do not be picky about
who you invite to the party, but honor those who are not the most famous
people over those who are quiet and unknown.
When Jesus noticed that all who had come to the dinner were trying to sit in the seats of honor near the head of the table, he gave them this advice: “When you are invited to a wedding feast, don’t sit in the seat of honor. What if someone who is more distinguished than you has also been invited? The host will come and say, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then you will be embarrassed, and you will have to take whatever seat is left at the foot of the table! “Instead, take the lowest place at the foot of the table. Then when your host sees you, he will come and say, ‘Friend, we have a better place for you!’ Then you will be honored in front of all the other guests. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Then he turned to his host. “When you put on a luncheon or a banquet,” he said, “don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. For they will invite you back, and that will be your only reward. Instead, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. Then at the resurrection of the righteous, God will reward you for inviting those who could not repay you.” Luke 14:1-14
2. Pay attention to other’s needs, not just your own.
So,
they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. But many
people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran
ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. Jesus
saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them
because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So, he began teaching them
many things. Late in the afternoon his disciples came to
him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send
the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy
something to eat.”
But Jesus said, “You feed
them.”
“With what?” they asked. “We’d
have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these
people!”
“How much bread do you have?” he
asked. “Go and find out.”
They came back and reported, “We
have five loaves of bread and two fish.”
Then Jesus told the disciples to
have the people sit down in groups on the green grass…. Jesus
took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them.
Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the
disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish
for everyone to share.
3.
Treat others how you want to be treated, but not just so that they
will treat you nicely, because they probably will not.
So, if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who
ask him. “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the
essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. Matthew 7:11-13
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only
Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal
life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the
world through him. John 3:16-17
4.
Give your all for them.
This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
John 15:12-14
Then, calling the crowd to join his
disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up
your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will
lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good
News, you will save it. And what do you
benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Mark 8:34-36
It is right there in the Word of God, we are
to be like Jesus is, love others, treat them better than ourselves, and love
them with our all! Give up our lives for them. In other words, take the
spotlight of ourselves and put it on those around us because it is not about
us, this life that we live, it is about doing what He wants us to do. Sometimes
we can get caught up in the way the world is going, we can get mad, angry, and overwhelmed;
sometimes all at once! The thing is once we stop looking at the problems it
gives us, or puts on us, and try to help someone else then we are doing the
thing that God wants from us. We are putting them first. Now once we have done
that we will forget that we are upset about in the first place, most of the
time. God is good, He will help us figure out if we are in the right spot in
our walk and He will help us to get over ourselves in order to do His will when
we get bent out of shape. We just have to remember to obey His Word and follow
His examples. In Jesus’ name.