The People of God

Today's post is being brought to you courtesy of our pastoral staff. Pastor Jason Sharpe, our youth pastor, is providing today's devotional. If you have kids under his care, you already know what a blessing he is to have in our church family. If you have kids that aren't there yet, you have something great to look forward to.

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As the celebration of Easter approaches, I can’t help but stop and think about what the Master has done for us! He has chosen to come to this earth to give His life as a ransom for our sins. He chose to come and pay the price we should have had to pay. The awesome thing about the Lord is, he knew none of us could have handled it. So he chose to be the one who died for us.

We can be glad that Jesus was humble and came to earth as a servant. If He were thinking first about Himself, He probably wouldn’t even have come to earth. If He looked at us and said , “Of course I’m better than them, I’m God! I don’t want to help them!”, where would we be? If He looked only to His own interests and didn’t care about us, He would never have allowed Himself to be put on the cross to die that painful death. But He did choose to die for us to bring us back to God...He did choose to value us, and care for us.

Jesus didn’t worry about His appearance or whether He was respectable enough for others. He just followed Father God and lived His life. He didn’t come in a way we would have expected God to come to earth. He didn’t look the way we might have thought God would look. Jesus was born in a dirty room where the animals were kept...even earthly kings were born into better than that! Isaiah 53:2 tells us that He was not handsome or special to look at, He was not popular - many people were against Him. He spent time with the poor, the sick, sinners - people who were too lowly for earthly kings. Then after all that, He died a shameful death - like a criminal would these days. But Jesus knew who He was - nothing more...nothing less. He knew He was God, and didn’t need to prove it. He didn’t feel the need to make Himself look bigger, or better than others because he was secure in Himself in God.

To be “humble” is to be who you really are - nothing more...nothing less. It is to be simple and modest - not pretending to be something that you are not. To be humble is to see ourselves as nothing without God - but able to do anything with Him. To treat others with humility is to respect, care for, and value them. Jesus is our example. He wants us to walk in Humility, not in pride. He wants us to have our reputation in God, not in ourselves. He wants us to care for, respect, and value each other.

Here are some scriptures that we must hold to:

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Colossians 3:12

Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 1 Peter 3:8-9

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus Philippians 2:3-5

We must always remember that without Christ, we are nothing. Therefore we must continue to strive to a be a body that shares the love of Christ with all that we come in contact with, just as He did, we must share the hope that Christ brings to each of our lives, and then we can truly experience the freedom that comes only from Christ. I am praying for revival at our church, but it will not come unless we can humble ourselves before an Almighty God, and allow Him to move in our lives. Let’s have a great week in the Lord!