Our paragraph topic is: (Humility according to Christ's example) Part 7.
Whoever wishes to be first shall be your slave is what Christ told his disciples. Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant. And they did not understand his meaning. He spoke in parables. He spoke in riddles. He spoke in words that had one meaning on the surface and a different meaning on a deeper level.
They wanted to be great. They wanted to be known. They wanted all the things that they saw exhibited by the leaders of their time and that was their example. So they assumed that he would follow the example of the day and lead them to be great leaders of the new order. But his example had one meaning on the surface and another meaning on a deeper level.
On the surface they were repulsed at the thought of being great with being a servant. They definitely did not want to become a slave in order to be first. But on a deeper level Christ was telling his disciples not to be like the leaders of their time. He was telling them to be humble, to be obedient. He wanted them to understand that greatness comes from the Father and that it is rewarded through humility. He told them that even he who is lord of all, came to be a servant: "Even as the Son of Man has not come to be served but to serve."
Follow his example. Listen to his words. Walk in his footsteps and know the will of the Father. For we are but his servants, here to spread the good news of our redemption to all who have not heard, to all who do not know, to all who are blinded by the world. Love is the key to what we do. For we are all his children. We are all brothers and sisters. We all come from the same tree of life that he created. And we are all created in his likeness and his image.
We are not black or white, Asian or Latin, Native Indian or immigrant. We all belong to one family. We are all the same. Beneath the skin of the flesh, beneath the muscle and bones of the body, we are all living spirits created in his image and likeness. And we all have one Lord, Jesus Christ, who came to serve and not to be served. For he loved the life that was in us. He came to restore that life because it was lost. And through the knowledge of the spirit within us we can come to know and come to see that which he gave to us.
Follow the example. Humbly seek that which has been given you. We all have a purpose. We all have a place. And we all are loved by the Father who knows our hearts desires. He will provide. He will protect. He will listen to your needs. But you must open the heart to believe in him. You must act on him. You must know, with everything that is within you, that he will take care of you. Practice the patience of heaven. And in that patience is the proof of who you are in him. Open the mind! Open the heart! Seek the truth that is within you and you will know the truth of who you are in Christ. God, your father loves you.
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.
Whoever wishes to be first shall be your slave is what Christ told his disciples. Whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant. And they did not understand his meaning. He spoke in parables. He spoke in riddles. He spoke in words that had one meaning on the surface and a different meaning on a deeper level.
They wanted to be great. They wanted to be known. They wanted all the things that they saw exhibited by the leaders of their time and that was their example. So they assumed that he would follow the example of the day and lead them to be great leaders of the new order. But his example had one meaning on the surface and another meaning on a deeper level.
On the surface they were repulsed at the thought of being great with being a servant. They definitely did not want to become a slave in order to be first. But on a deeper level Christ was telling his disciples not to be like the leaders of their time. He was telling them to be humble, to be obedient. He wanted them to understand that greatness comes from the Father and that it is rewarded through humility. He told them that even he who is lord of all, came to be a servant: "Even as the Son of Man has not come to be served but to serve."
Follow his example. Listen to his words. Walk in his footsteps and know the will of the Father. For we are but his servants, here to spread the good news of our redemption to all who have not heard, to all who do not know, to all who are blinded by the world. Love is the key to what we do. For we are all his children. We are all brothers and sisters. We all come from the same tree of life that he created. And we are all created in his likeness and his image.
We are not black or white, Asian or Latin, Native Indian or immigrant. We all belong to one family. We are all the same. Beneath the skin of the flesh, beneath the muscle and bones of the body, we are all living spirits created in his image and likeness. And we all have one Lord, Jesus Christ, who came to serve and not to be served. For he loved the life that was in us. He came to restore that life because it was lost. And through the knowledge of the spirit within us we can come to know and come to see that which he gave to us.
Follow the example. Humbly seek that which has been given you. We all have a purpose. We all have a place. And we all are loved by the Father who knows our hearts desires. He will provide. He will protect. He will listen to your needs. But you must open the heart to believe in him. You must act on him. You must know, with everything that is within you, that he will take care of you. Practice the patience of heaven. And in that patience is the proof of who you are in him. Open the mind! Open the heart! Seek the truth that is within you and you will know the truth of who you are in Christ. God, your father loves you.
Read the sign of the times! Read the Highlighted New Testament Bible and lift the scales from your eyes that you may see, that you may know, that you may find the truth of who you are in Christ. Read it as though you would read a good book, from cover to cover, and see for yourself. Do not study it in parts reading one passage and then skipping to another, but read it for understanding. Read it for knowledge. Read it for faith. Read it that your eyes may be opened, that your ears may hear, that your heart may be filled with the light of Christ. The Holy Spirit awaits you. Christ seeks to know you. Open the door and let him in.
