Be Humble

Help/Serve Others
   Mark 9:35 – “If anyone desires to be first, 
                        he shall be last of all and servant of all.” – Jesus
   Mark 10:43-45 – ⁴³ Whoever desires to become great among you 
                                    shall be your servant. 
                               ⁴⁴ And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. 
                               ⁴⁵ For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”

“Me first,” is not just something that little kids say.
It’s a heart attitude that many people struggle with.
Jesus told His disciples if they wanted to be first, they should be last and serve everyone.
How can you turn from “me first” to “me last”? How can you serve others?

Use Your Gifts for Others, Not Yourself
  1^st Peter 4:10 – Each of you should use whatever gift you have received
                            to serve others.
  God has given everyone different gifts, not to use for themselves, but for others.
  What gifts has God given you? How can you use them for others?

Mimic/Model Jesus to Others
   Philippians 2:3-11 – ³ Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit,
                                      but in lowliness of mind
                                      let each esteem others better than himself. 
                                    ⁴ Let each of you look out not only for his own interests,
                                      but also for the interests of others.
                                    ⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 
                                    ⁶ who, being in the form of God,
                                       did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 
                                    ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation,
                                       taking the form of a bondservant, 
                                      and coming in the likeness of men. 
                                    ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
                                       He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point
                                       of death, even the death of the cross. 
                                    ⁹ Therefore God also has highly exalted Him
                                      and given Him the name which is above every name, 
                                    ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
                                       of those in heaven, and of those on earth,
                                       and of those under the earth, 
                                    ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
                                       to the glory of God the Father.
When we come to Jesus as believers, we are to be like Jesus.
Jesus was a humble servant.
How are you mimicking Jesus to others? How can you model Jesus to others?

Be Honest With Others About Your Mistakes and Sins
  James 5:16 – Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another,
                        that you may be healed.
We all sin (Romans 3:23).
We don’t have to hide that from others and try to look like we are awesome.
How can you humble yourself and share your mistakes and sins with others?

Listen to Others
  Proverbs 12:15 – The wise listen to advice.
  Humble people listen to others. How can you be a better listener?

Edify/Build Up Others
  Romans 15:2 – Each of us should be concerned for our neighbors’ good,
                           to build them up (edify them).
  Humble people look for ways to build up others. How can you build others up?

P.R.A.Y.

This week, I am reading through the Sermon on the Mount along with my church through a method called F260 (which I love and highly encourage). Part of the Sermon on the Mount was Jesus telling how to pray through a very familiar and often memorized passage called "The Lord's Prayer." Now this prayer was not meant to just be memorized and repeated, but was to be a model of prayer. There is a great acronym (you know how I love those) that helps me remember how to pray and is great to teach our kids.

P - Praise

R - Repent

A - Ask

Y - Yield

P - Praise God for who is He and what He has done in my life. 
      God has so many names and so many attributes/qualities/characteristics.
      He is Accessible, Creative, Eternal, Forgiving, Gracious, Holy, Immutable (Never Changes),
      Just, Light, Merciful, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Peace, Righteous, Sovereign.
      I could go on an on with names and qualities of God. 
      Ex. "God, You are Accessible. I can come boldly to You anytime, anywhere, with anyone,
      about anything. I am so thankful that because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross,
      I do not have to go through someone else to get to You."
      Of course, you can probably sit and write a long list of all the things God has done in your life.
      That is thanksgiving or giving thanks to God. 
      Ex. "Lord, I am so thankful for how You have provided for my family during this time.
      Thank You!"
      "Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your name." (Matthew 6:9)

R - Repent of my sins to God.
      I don't know about you, but I haven't lived a single day without sinning.
      If I do, I will let you know (but then that would be pride and that's a sin LOL!). 
      Sometimes I am very aware of my sins, but at times, I need God to reveal them to me. 
      Ex. "Father, Please search me and show me any sins in my heart, my mind, my words, 
      my attitude, my actions, my temptations, my walk. Please forgive me for ___________.
      I am having a hard time forgiving __________. Please help me forgive them."
      "And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.
       And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." (Matthew 6:12-13)

A - Ask/Petition God.
       I would assume this is the part of prayer most of us are "good at." 
       We bring our list to God and ask Him to meet those needs.
       This is when we pray for ourselves, our (future) spouse, our (future) marriage,
       our (future) kids, our (future) parenting, our family, our home, our finances, our school,
       our friends, our neighbors, our church, our ministries, missionaries, our country, our world,
       lost people, sick people, and needy people.
       Ex. "Lord, I pray for ___________ and their need for __________."
       "Give us this day our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11)

Y - Yield your plans/will to God's.
      "Prayer connects my heart/will/plans to God's heart/will/plans."
      Ex. "Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
      For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." (Matthew 6:10, 13)

  

J.O.Y.

Are you struggling to find JOY?
Do you feel like you even know what JOY is?
Do you struggle to explain to your children what JOY is? 

Well, it is my prayer and hope that this short little post will encourage and equip you to experience and explain what true JOY is.

First of all, JOY and happiness are not the same thing.
Happiness is based on what happens to us. Happiness is temporary and fleeting.
Joy is based on something (actually Someone) that (actually Who) is eternal and unending.

True, everlasting, unending, eternal JOY comes from the Lord.

JOY comes from His presence (Psalm 16:11).
JOY comes from the hope only He can give (Romans 15:13).
The JOY of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10).
The enemy comes only to steal, kill, and destroy our joy,
but Jesus came to give us life to the fullest (John 10:10).
The JOY of the Lord helps us to endure in tribulations (Romans 12:12).
Because God is always with us, we can and should be JOYful at all times 
(1st Thessalonians 5:16).

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice! (Philippians 4:4)

I heard a great acronym (I am a sucker for acronyms) for JOY a long time ago.

J - Jesus

 O - Others

   Y - Yourself

We've already seen that true JOY comes from having a relationship with Jesus.

Second to that comes putting Others before yourself. Jesus said that after loving God (#1), we should love others as we love ourselves (#2) (Matthew 22:37-39). Something that always stands out to me is that Jesus didn't have to tell us to love ourselves. He already knows how in love with ourselves we are. LOL! There are countless Scriptures about putting others before ourselves (perhaps that will be a future blog).