Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” – John 13:14

In a dry and dusty land, washing feet was pretty much the lowest of the low chores anyone could get stuck doing. Jesus did it voluntarily. On the very night He would be betrayed, Jesus got on the floor and washed the feet of His disciples. He even washed the feet of the man He knew would soon betray Him! In the eyes of the world, He humiliated Himself. Nonetheless, Jesus did this in full awareness of His power and authority. He knew He was the Son of God, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Jesus did this to teach all of His followers throughout all of time a crucial lesson.

We must serve one another. Joyfully, not grudgingly. We must love for one another. Practically, not theoretically. We must not consider anything beneath us. In Christ, we are exalted children of God! In Christ, we are brothers and sisters of the King of Kings, Jesus our Lord! In Christ, we are temples of the Holy Spirit! Because we have this exalted eternal status, we can get dirty. We can get messy. We can get low here on earth in order to care for and serve other people.

Is there something you aren’t willing to do to help, care for, or love another believer? Think carefully before you answer! Is there a form of godly service that part of you thinks is “beneath” you or is going too far? Jesus made clear there must not be. Every follower of Jesus must be willing to roll up their sleeves, change into work clothes, and love one another in ways that are practical, inconvenient, uncomfortable, and messy. Because Jesus did it, His Spirit within us makes it possible for us to do it. Because Jesus did it, we must do it. In the doing, we’ll discover the blessing that comes every time we walk in the footsteps of Jesus!

“Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” – John 13:1

What a radiantly beautiful expression of Christ’s love for His people! Betrayal, arrest, humiliation, suffering, death, and resurrection were all looming over Him that night. But Jesus loved His people to the end. He loved His followers, even the one who would betray Him, to the end. That is how Jesus still loves His people. If you’ve embraced Jesus as your Lord, this is how He loves you today! Jesus loves you to the end.

The love of Jesus never ends and never fails. It is faithful and steadfast through suffering, through death, and through all of eternity. The way that Jesus loves you is an expression of His divine grace. You didn’t earn that love and you don’t deserve it, but He loves you abundantly anyway! His love for you isn’t transactional in the flawed ways that we’re used to in this fallen world. He loves you because He is love. He proved His loved by His death on the cross for you, and nothing can break the power of that love.

Out of His great love for you, He calls you to a life of love. He calls you to love Him and obey His commands. Integral to those commands is the call for you to love others as He does. Because Jesus loves you sacrificially and perpetually, you’re able to love others sacrificially and steadfastly. Love, because Jesus has and will love you forever and ever!

“Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” – John 12:42-43

John 12 reports there were many who believed in Jesus, but wouldn’t admit it publicly. They believed Jesus was Messiah and Son of God, yet weren’t willing to risk their social status, friendships, and synagogue membership to say what they believed out loud. They desired the approval of earthly leaders more than they desired God’s approval.

Whose approval do you most desire? It’s easy to tell ourselves that we valued God’s approval most, but honestly, many Christians struggle with wanting to be liked, accepted, and approved of by fellow humans. Are you public about your faith? Are you willing to speak Scripture to a coworker, classmate, or neighbor who is proclaiming the latest earthly truth or trend? Are you willing to risk your social status, friendships, or even church membership to speak the truth of Jesus and the Bible?

As we navigate turbulent times, followers of Jesus need to think this over and commit to getting this issue right. We must mentally prepare ourselves for whatever it may cost to believe in Jesus, follow Jesus, and become ever more like Jesus (He got crucified after all). We need to prepare ourselves to lose the approval, applause, and respect of others we care about for the sake of receiving the approval of God. Set your heart and mind. Be willing to risk everything and pay any price to receive God’s eternal glory rather than the temporary glory of mankind!

“But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. Your dream and the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these.” – Daniel 2:28

We’ll seldom be blessed with a detailed vision of the future of world civilizations across centuries the way King Nebuchadnezzar was. Nonetheless, what Daniel says remains true – God knows everything about your past, your present, and your future and He will make some of that known to you if you ask Him to. While we might imagine we know our future (and often make elaborate plans accordingly), God actually knows our future.

It’s wise to periodically spend time in prayer seeking God’s guidance for our future. Too often, we make our plans then ask God to rubber stamp them with His blessing. That isn’t effective and it isn’t living under His Lordship. It’s far better to regularly devote time to fasting and prayer to seek God’s will and plan for your life. Ephesians 2 promises that God has prepared good works for every Christians to do. When you set aside precious time from your busy life to listen for God’s voice, He’ll often reveal some of those works.

If you’re willing to devote time to seeking God’s will, take that commitment seriously. Block that time on your schedule and guard it fiercely. Include time for personal worship and prayer. Include time for simply reading Scripture and time for quieting your mind and asking God to speak. Listen carefully for His voice as you pray, as you sit silent before Him, and as you read your the Bible. God is faithful and when the time is right and you’re listening, He’ll often reveal what’s been hidden from you.

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” – 1 John 5:4

There more you think about the world, the more you realize there is much to overcome. There are the obvious obstacles we must overcome in a fallen world: frustrations, delays, deprivations, disasters, hurtful people, horrible illnesses, physical bodies that inevitably break down over time, minds and emotions that can betray us, and ultimately death. The key to overcoming all of these forces is our faith in Jesus Christ.

Once we trust in Jesus as Lord, we are born again, made new creation, and adopted by God. Through our new union with Christ, we have the power to overcome the negative influence of these hindrances. We’re able to walk in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit regardless of our circumstances. We walk with the certain knowledge that Jesus Christ, Who understands our pain perfectly, walks with us. He strengthens us, empowers us, and sets our souls free to soar!

There are less obvious powers that we must also overcome. These are the reasonably good things which chain us in the world and distract us from God. The world encourages us to take our pursuit and enjoyment of these things too far until our hearts, minds, soul, and strength are firmly rooted and focused on getting more of them. Money, power, success, pleasure, comfort, achievement, fame, status, entertainment….

There’s nothing inherently wrong with any of these, but the more we have them, the more we tend to want them. They grow to dominate our mind, define our identity, control our emotions, narrow our vision for life, and turn our attention toward the world and away from God. Once again, the power to overcome these appealing temptations comes through faith.

Through a dynamic relationship with God we recognize that He alone is the Great that is infinitely superior to that which is merely good. Our faith helps us see and understand what our souls were truly made for – eternity in relationship with God. As we look more and more toward Him, our vision for those lesser things of the world dims and we are indeed overcomers!