email : Webview : Duane Brooks - Every Day with Jesus

August 1, 2017

Matthew 20:26-28

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

New International Version (NIV)

What is the path to greatness? Opinions vary. People will stop at nothing to become great. Jesus' early disciples competed fiercely to gain the position of greatest. It looked like it was down to three of them, Peter, James and John. The latter two, who may have been relatives of Jesus, decided to pull rank by asking their mom to ask. She asked Jesus for her sons to sit at his right and left in his Kingdom. This would effectively cut Peter out of the equation. Courageously, Jesus told her no.

Jesus taught his disciples that true greatness is paradoxical. To be great you have to serve. Paradoxical, I know. Machiavelli wrote that might makes right and the end justifies the means. Come up on the other person before they come up on you. It is a dog eat dog world after all. Jesus had not read Machiavelli (and apparently Machiavelli had not read Jesus). Were the disciples embarrassed when Jesus demonstrated his servanthood by washing their feet? What did they think when he ascended Calvary and stretched out his arms to become a ransom for them?

Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us that we can all be great because we all can serve. Who will you serve today? Ruth Harms Calkin speaks to this subject in her poem entitled, "I Wonder." She writes:

You know, Lord, How I serve You
with great emotional fervor in the limelight.
You know how eagerly I speak for You at a Women's club.
You know my genuine enthusiasm at a Bible study.
But how would I react, I wonder,
if You pointed to a basin of water
and asked me to wash the calloused feet
of a bent and wrinkled old woman
day after day, month after month,
in a room where nobody saw and nobody knew?

Pray with me:

Heavenly Father, we remember how your son, the mighty Son of Man descended from heaven to serve us. Forgive us for our entitlement, demanding that the world recognize our importance. Teach us to serve as Jesus served. Once we have learned to serve, help us to put it into practice. In the name of the One who came to serve. Amen.

I want to invite you to join me in memorizing 52 passages this year from the 2017 set of Fighter Verses. You can find the Fighter Verses App at the App Store on your phones or via this link http://fighterverses.com/the-verses/fighter-verses/. As we study the Bible this year, let's look at each text and learn what it says about God.

Joyfully,

Duane

Manage your preferences | Opt out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.

555 Tallowood Road
Houston, TX | 77024 US

This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.