Tag: Devotionals

³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ~ Philippians 2:3–4

Looking out for others’ interests over our own interests is easier said than done. We see people as selfish and self-pleasing, trampling on us to get what they want with no remorse or apologies. So, it’s difficult to value those types of people above our own selves. After all, they don’t value us at all. It’s not fair.

Well, it was not fair that Jesus had to come and die such a horrific death in order to save us. It is not about being fair; as someone once said, “Life is not fair.” We do not do it to be fair. We do it because we are commanded to, and if we are obedient, we will gain a great reward. Why suffer for all eternity because we refuse to humble ourselves when if we humble now, we will be free for all eternity? The tradeoff is no comparison.

Is it easy? No, but if we make this a matter of priority and a matter of prayer, it will become easy and will become second nature. As Confucius once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step.” Take it one step at a time. Take it one person at a time, but take the first step and not look back, but pray for strength.

Do not just read devotionals like these or listen to messages like this and think, “Ah, that was good,” but not put it into action. If you would only put things like this into action, you would grow in Christ.

So, this New Year, make it your resolution to grow in Christ. Grow in the things of God, and draw closer to Him every day, so that we will build up treasure in heaven.

Heavenly Father, strengthen us and give us the desire to draw close to You, even if it means we are humiliated because we value others higher than ourselves, even those who place no value on us at all. Help us to bear hardships and trials with the hope of spending eternity with You. In Jesus’ Name, amen.

Scripture Reading

³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; ⁷ rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!

Philippians 2:3–8

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²⁴ Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” ~ Matthew 16:24

The phrase “dying to self” may not actually be explicitly mentioned in the Scriptures, but it is without a doubt alluded to as a theme throughout the New Testament. It is splashed across the pages printed in both Red Ink and in Black Ink. It is this very thing Jesus was speaking of when He said to deny yourself and pick up your cross and follow Him.

It is not a very popular theme because it does very little to generate shouts and amens and does even less to fill the church coffers. It is a hard teaching to implement when we live in a me, me, me generation. From ads to even the churches promote that sort of thinking. There was a time when the Church almost fell into error with the name it and claim it gospel. Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I’m not against the prosperity teaching. I believe God wants us to prosper and be in good health, but it’s only as our souls prosper.

God is more concerned about our souls prospering than for us to be rolling in the dough. Jesus, Himself did not shrink from self-denial, for He Himself took up His cross and was obedient even unto death. If you are going to see great miracles, you must die to self. Meaning you no longer do what pleases you but what pleases God.

It is not that miracles have ended when the last Apostle died, but rather, self-denial ended when the last Apostle died. Christians no longer pray through the night. They no longer pray, period, because they have become way too busy. There is work. There is family life. And then there is, of course, football, basketball, and hockey. We can’t do without our sports. We are a sports family, and Jesus would never want me to miss the big game.

Jesus is, in fact, saying, “Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me. Because I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to Father except by Me.” Now, with that said, how can we not but implement this dying-to-self concept into our lives? We must stop doing what is self-pleasing because it is self-pleasing and be God pleasers because it pleases God, whom we must all stand before, and who will either pardon or condemn.

Father, please help us to be self-deniers and to pick up our cross and follow You. Give us the strength to do want pleasers You and shrink from what is self-pleasing. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.

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⁶ For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the Lord; the Lord swore to them that He would not let them see the land that the Lord had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. ~ Joshua 5:6

Each and every year, time seems to speed up. Days and nights are getting shorter and shorter. And tonight, at the stroke of midnight, the year will be over, and a new one will begin. If you were to look back at this year in great detail, would you be proud of your actions? Did you achieve your goals? Did you accomplish any of your New Year’s Resolutions? So many of us didn’t do all we had planned to do at the beginning of this year. This was the year so many of us, including myself, said things would be different, but the strongholds of the previous years still have a grip on us. Why?

I believe it’s because we never address the root of our strongholds that keep us from moving forward. So many of us try to put a band-aid over our deep wounds instead of tending to the wound directly. Some of us have spirits of rejection, fear, shame, rebellion, and guilt that keep us from our God-given call. The Israelites were in physical bondage for 400 years. When they were set free from this physical slavery, they walked into physical freedom, still spiritually enslaved. The Israelites were physically free, but they were still in spiritual bondage. Their bondage, their root stronghold, was fear, which was probably even more rooted in rejection.

They were the chosen people, yet they felt rejected by their God, whom they felt had rejected them. This spirit of rejection led to the spirit of fear. Fear caused the Israelites to not only fall back into the slavery of idolatry but also to physically miss out on their promised land. We can only go around the mountain so many times before we run out of time. What if this was your last chance to stop going around the mountain? What if this was your last year to have the opportunity to enter into your promised land? I challenge each and every one of you to look deep within yourself and ask, what’s your root stronghold? What caused it? Then I want you to give it to God. I know that sounds cliché, but it’s our promise from Almighty God that whom the Son sets free is free indeed. Therefore, go to the LORD in prayer. Bring an offering of fasting at His feet so that when this new year comes to an end, you won’t look the same. Instead, you will be entering or have entered your promised land.

Peace. Love. Go Forth and Find Out What’s Keeping You Around The Mountain.

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