Tag Archives: Service

SOAP – Day Four– Luke 22:24-27

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324904370_640Today is Day Four of our SOAP challenge.  I’ve head so much good feedback about this method, that I may continue doing it this way for a while longer.  I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Let’s start

S – scripture

Slow down.  No matter where you read this at, at work, at home, wherever, take this moment to breathe.  Take this moment to let the worries to this moment, the worries of tomorrow, the regrets of the past leave your mind.  Listen.  Listen to the Word of God.  Listen.

Luke 22:24-27:

A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those in authority over them are called benefactors. But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

O – observation

How leadership works in the world

The disciples are fighting about who will be the greatest in the kingdom that is to come.  And Jesus basically handles that question in two ways.  First, he poses the question, how does leadership work in the world?

It’s about power, prestige, and money.  He says, they lord over you. The leaders act better than you, more powerful than you, they use that power to get you to do what they want you to do.  You do what they want you to do, because you don’t have any choice.  You have to.  That’s what the kings of Jesus day did.

How leadership works in the church

Jesus then asked, what about us?  How should it be for us?

Instead of power being the driving force of leadership for His people, greatness for us does not come from power, but from service.  Jesus tells us, that for us to be truly great in God’s kingdom, we must serve.  To truly be great or a leader or respected in God’s kingdom, it’s about how we serve.  How we love.  How we forgive.

That’s what greatness looks like for us.

How Jesus lived

Jesus asks, in their culture, who would be “seen” as greater?  The one “reclining at the table” would basically be the one at the seat of honor.  Jesus says, what do I do?  I serve you.  And yet, who is more honorable that Jesus?  Who is greater than Jesus?  No one.  So, Jesus doesn’t just tell the disciples that they should serve and love, He actually does.

He is the greatest.   And He is the servant.

A – application

Am I using my “status” for my good or God’s?

God has you where He has you for a reason.  Your friends, your job, your connections, everything.  He has you there for a reason.  Are you using the place He has you for His purpose in your life, or for you own?  Are you using your resources for His good and His purpose, or are you using them only for your power, or position, or appearance.

He tells us that that’s what the world does. And He has told us that as Christians, that’s not what we are supposed to do.  How are we using all that God has given us?

Am I serving today as Jesus would have?

Jesus tells us to truly be great for Him, we have to serve.  Today, are we doing that?  Are we serving others?  Are we placing them ahead of ourselves?  Are we placing their needs, their stuff ahead of ours?  That’s were true greatness, true peace, true purpose comes from.  Not from living for ourselves, but for living for God’s purpose.

Jesus modeled that, He lived that, He showed that.

Today, as His followers, do we do the same?

P – prayer

Dear Father, today, help us to use everything that you have given us for your purpose and for your glory.  Help us to be truly great in your kingdom.  Help us to serve each other, as you served us.  Amen.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phone.

This World and the Next

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One of my favorite quotes is by my man CS Lewis.  This is what he says in his book Mere Christianity.

“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were precisely those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.”

I thought about that when I read today’s scripture from John 13:1-4

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.

nature_clouds_heaven_019281_In John, Jesus gets up, and He washes the feet of the disciples.  This is an act of great service, one of the greatest acts of service that any would could possibly perform, and our Lord and Savior willingly does it.

This is a great example to us.  Why did He do it?  Because He knew that the Lord had given all things into His hands.  And that He had come from God and was going back to God.  He knew that this world was not His home.

As it for us. This world is not our home. This is not where we belong.

We don’t live for this world.  We don’t live for this world’s praise or honor. We don’t live for this world’s recognition.

We live for our real home.  Our true home.  Our true place.

And because we know that this world isn’t our home, we can live with no fear.  Or worry.  Or stress.  The next world, that’s what we were made for.  And that’ where we are going.

So, live boldly. Live for your real home.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

The Little Things

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The Kingdom of God is in little things. The mark of faithfulness to God, the mark of obedience to God, is not the big things.

It’s the little things. It’s the small acts of faithfulness.

That’s where it all starts. That’s where it all begins.

With the little things.

Listen to what Jesus says today in Mark 4:30-32:

And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it? It is like a grain of mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth, yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and puts out large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

Mustard Seed FaithThe kingdom of God is like that small mustard seed that turns into a huge tree. The kingdom of God is the small things, that God turns into big things.

So often in our lives, we spend our time looking at “big” things that we should do for God. Don’t do that. Don’t wait for the “big” things to be faithful.

Be faithful with the “small” things. Because, there aren’t small things.

God, through His power, turns small things into big things.

So, today, serve, smile, laugh, care. Be friendly. Speak kindly. Show grace. Care. Pray. Read.

Small things. That aren’t small.

And when these “small” things are done for God, and His glory, He will do amazing things.

Let’s be faithful with the “small” things. And God will do amazing things.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Greatness

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The world has an image of what greatness looks like. In the world, greatness is about power. It is about might. It is about being in control and being about the tell others what to do, and how to do it.

Because after all, you’re the boss. You have the strength. You have the power to bend others to your will.

Might makes right, after all.

That’s what the world tell us. That’s what the culture tells us. To be great, means to be in control. To have others do what you want. To be a the top of the food chain.

As Christians, through, what does it mean for us to be great? What does greatness look like for us?

I mean, I don’t know about you, but I want to be great. I want to do the very best that I can do. I don’t want to waste a moment of this day that God has given me, and I want to be the absolute greatest that I can be today!

So, what does that look like? Listen to what Jesus says today in Matthew 20:25-28:

But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

He says to be great in the kingdom, you must serve. You must place others ahead of yourself. You must place them before yourself.

In the world, leaders have power that they exercise over their followers. He said is not so among us. We must serve. We must humble ourselves. We must place them before ourselves.

That’s the example that He showed us. Jesus didn’t come to be served, but to serve. He is the very nature and power of God, He sat at God’s right hand, and yet humbled Himself and came to earth to serve us and set us free.

And because of that, God has glorified Him and made Him Lord of all.

So, for us, we find that if live only for our “stuff” or our greatness, we find that we aren’t really living. We feel empty and without purpose. We may have what we want, power, fame, success, but it feels empty.

When we live for others, we find life. We find greatness. We find our purpose.

Today, don’t live for yourself. Live for God. Live for others. Live to serve and glorify God.

And in doing that, you will find the greatness you were made for.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Doing our Part

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I sometimes think of what Dr. Bryson, one of my professors at Mississippi College, used to say about Paul. He said, sort of jokingly, that we as preachers would rather preach on Paul than Jesus. He said Paul was hard understand, so we could preach for hours about Him.

He said Jesus wasn’t hard to understand. He was just hard to follow. It’s not hard to understand loving your enemy. It’s really, really hard to do.

Today in Philippians 2:12-13, we have one of those Paul passages that can be hard to understand at first.

Listen to what it says:

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Is Paul telling us that we have to earn our salvation? That our salvation is up to us? That its something that we have to “do?” He says to work it out.

But then, notice what he says right after, it’s God that works through you. For His will and good pleasure.

So, well then. Which is it? Do we work it out, or is it God that is at work?

Yes!

We do our part. We are faithful. We put ourselves in a position to hear God speak and move in us.

One of my mentors used to always say – pray, read your bible, and go to church. That won’t make everything easy or perfect, but it will put you in a position to hear God.

So, we do our part. We put ourselves in a position to hear God and know God.

And God moves. God speaks. God changes us. God saves us. God works on us.

So, we’ve done our part. And God does His. We don’t earn it. It’s not about anything we can do. It’s about all that He has done and is doing.

And, the very fact that we have the desire to know Him, to follow Him, to love Him, to put ourselves in that position?

That desire comes from Him. He is at work. Even in the acts of faithfulness. He is at work, calling us to be faithful.

So, today, let’s do our part. And let’s know that in that, God is at work. And He will be working on us for His good pleasure.

Let’s be faithful. And let’s see what God will do in our lives!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

Tuesday of Holy Week 2012

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On Tuesday of Holy Week, we see Jesus do a lot of teaching. On this day, Jesus spends time teaching.

He teaches the disciples. He teaches the crowd. He teaches even the scribes and the teachers of the law. He knew that His time was drawing short. He knew what awaited Him. And He knew that in these last few days He needed to leave the people with core and the truth of His teaching.

So, on this Tuesday, He teaches on a variety of things. But listen to He really stresses today in Mark 12:28-31:

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

Someone asks Him what is the most important of all the commandments. That’s a big question, there are a lot of commandments. But this is what He says in response.

Love. Love of God. Love of neighbor. That’s what the Christian life is supposed to look like. Love.

We are to love God with all that we are. Chase after Him. Seek to know Him better through study, through prayer, though worship. We are to seek to love God with every fiber of our being.

And then we are to take that love that we feel from God, and love each other in the same manner. Love each other, serve each other, forgive each other.

Love of God. Love of neighbor. That sums of the Christian life. The sums up the 10 Commandments. That sums it all up.

Today, may we take this teaching and apply it to our lives. May we love. May we love God. May we love our neighbor. And in doing that we find life, and may we live the way that our Lord intends!

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

An Example

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Jesus Christ is Lord of all. He is the very Son of God. The Bible tells us in Colossians that everything in all of creation was made by Him and through Him. He holds everything together. He is the source of life, the source of strength, the source of everything that is good in life.

He sets the example for us. The word Christian means a follower of Christ, or sometimes “little Christ.” As Christians, we are commanded and called to live as Christ would have us to live.

And, lucky for us, Jesus set the example for us. He showed us what we are supposed to do. Look at what we see in John 13:12-15 today:

When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

What did Jesus do? He served. He served in the must humiliating, demeaning fashion. He served His disciples. He washed their feet. He set an example.

Today, our command as Christians is not to walk around beating our chests. It’s not to act like we are better than others. It’s not to look down our noses at others. It’s not beat other people up.

It’s to serve. Our calling today is to serve others. Our calling today is to follow the example of Jesus and place others ahead of ourselves and serve them, serve their needs, love them.

In loving them, we show them Jesus’ love for them. In serving them, we show them their worth. In serving them, we follow the example set by our Lord.

We will not be able to argue someone into the kingdom of heaven. But, we can love them in. We can serve them in. Jesus showed us that example. He showed us what we are to do. He served His disciples.

And He calls us to serve each other. Today, in your life, find a way to serve someone. And in doing that, you will be showing Jesus example of love. And in that, He will be glorified, and folks will know His love.

Today, he set an example for us. Today, may we follow.

Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.

What Faithfulness Looks Like

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God doesn’t expect perfection. He just expects faithfulness. He doesn’t expect us to be perfect or move mountains. He expects us to be faithful.

Ok, nice. But what does that look like? What does being faithful look like? What are we supposed to do?

Are we supposed to move to Africa as a missionary? If that’s God’s plan for us us, sure.

Are we supposed to enter the full time ministry? If that’s God’s plan for us, sure?

But today in this Matthew 10:40-42, we see an image faithfulness that is not about leaving home, not about changing jobs, not about doing anything crazy huge.

Listen to what it says:

“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

In this passage, we see what faithfulness looks like. Jesus said that even a cup of cold water given in His name is a picture of faithfulness.

It’s about doing great things. It’s about doing small things in His name. For when it’s done in His name, everything thing is a great thing.

In His name, every word, every gift, every comfort, every thing, when done in His name, can be used in powerful ways that our minds can’t even fully comprehend.

Today, God wants you to be faithful. To be faithful to Him. What does that look like?

D o it all in His name. Everything. Do it to glorify Him. Do your work to glorify Him. Do your school work to glorify Him. Do your hobbies to glorify Him. Be with your family to glorify Him.

Do it ALL in His name. And in doing that, we are being faithful.

Go

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Jesus calls His 12 Apostles together in this passage, and He gives them a simple; yet profound command.

Go.

Listen to what He tells them in Matthew 10:5-7:

These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Go out into the world and proclaim the Good News. Go and tell them that the Kingdom of God is at hand. Salvation has arrived. Hope has arrived. Peace, mercy, and a plan for life has arrived. Go and tell.

Now, there are reasons why we could talk about why He didn’t send them at this time to the Gentiles and Samaritans. There are reasons that Jesus did what He did when He did it. After the resurrection, He specifically sends them to the Gentiles and the Samaritans. But now, at this time, that is not where they are going.

But, they are going. They are going out. They are leaving the comfort zone. They are going out telling the Good News. They are going.

Today, so should we. We are too go. Leave our comfort. Leave what we have always done. Go.

Go to where there is hurt. Pain. Loss. Confusion. Go. Take His good news. Take His hope. Take His peace. Take His plan. Take His life.

Go.

And maybe the place you need to go isn’t across the world. Maybe it’s across the road. Across the room. Across the cafeteria. Maybe the place you have to go isn’t far.

But for you it might be. Go. Take the Good News. And know that God goes with you.

May We Pray

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Today, you’ve been given a great gift, and a great responsiblity.

Today, in every moment of your day, you have the chance to make a difference. Today, for you, if you use it wisely, there will be no wasted moments.  Today, there will be not idle times.

Today, you can truly impact everyone that you talk to, that you see, that you pass by.

Today, you can make a huge difference in the lives of so many people.

How?  How can you do this? Through prayer.

Today, you can impact so many through prayer.  Listen to what Paul writes in 1 Timothy:

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.

Pray for all people.  That guy that passed you in the hall that you don’t like?  Pray for him.

That lady that cut you off in traffic today?  Pray for her.

That person that was disrespectful and rude? Pray for them.

Who knows what could be going on their lives?  Who knows what troubles they may be facing. Who knows what trials they may be going through?   They could be in the most dire need of prayer.

And that’s our job. As Christians we are called to pray. Pray at work. Pray at school.  Pray in our families. Pray as we travel. Pray as we walk.  Pray.

Today, you have the chance to make an amazing difference in everyone that you meet.  Today, pray.

That is God’s calling for you today. And that is your gift you give to everyone that you come into contact with.

Today, may we pray.