Philippians 2:8 says, "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death of the cross."
Ok, so to sum up the last 4 days, I need to get rid of my selfishness, humble myself and count others as better than myself. I need to not only look at my own needs but consider others needs, no matter who it is. The reason that I need to think this way is because this is the mindset that Jesus had and He is God. I'm just a sinner. I have no rights. If Jesus, who deserves everything, can humble himself to the form of a man and die for our sins, something He who was blameless certainly didn't deserve, than I, who deserve death but receive life and forgiveness, can most definitely humble myself to serve without receiving attention and put others ahead of myself and of more importance than myself.
Ok, now to add on today's verse: Philippians 2:8. Jesus didn't deserve death. He is God. He is blameless. He is The spotless Lamb. We deserve death; we are sinners; the wages of sin is death. Jesus knew that we could never bridge the gap between ourselves and God on our own. On this earth, we can never be perfect. The sacrifice needed to be from The spotless Lamb. Jesus wasn't exempt from pain just because He is God. Dying on the cross took obedience. But His love for us was so strong that He endured the pain for us, even the pain of torture and death on the cross.
This may seem silly, but it's comforting to know that Jesus had to be obedient. He understands obedience. He made a choice to be obedient. Right now, as trivial as it sounds in comparison to Jesus dying the death of a criminal on a cross, I'm having to choose obedience. Since I was 11 years old, I have felt God calling me to serve in Africa. I have always referred to it as a heart tug. I'm in love with Africa. I have always dreamt about Africa. My heart breaks for the people there and longs to be there. I came home from school when I was 11 telling my mom that I was going to Africa. So even though I shouldn't have, I came into IGNITE with the very narrow mindset of going to Africa. I wasn't really open to anything else. I kept saying I was "open to wherever God wanted to place me", but all I wanted was to go to Africa. And eventually I realized because I was holding on so tightly, it had become my plans and I wasn't trusting God with His plans anymore. I had a feeling at the beginning of my time here that because I wanted so badly to get out of Guatemala, this was exactly where He was going to put me. And I was right. I am staying in Guatemala for my 6 months of field time. But God has been doing an amazing work in my heart. I am excited to be here. I am sad to not be going to Africa but I still have hope that the calling God placed in my heart so many years ago will happen some day. It's just not His timing right now. It's hard but the more that I give it to God, I realize that I so wasn't ready for Africa. My heart wasn't in the right place. I was relying on my own strength. Placing me in Guatemala makes me have to completely rely on Him for strength and trust in Him. It's terrifying and hard and exciting. I know that God has an amazing plan for me here. I just have to give up my plans and let Him work it out. Instead of getting scared and relying on what I want and what I think should happen, I need to choose obedience. I need to remember that God's ways are so much higher than mine. Jesus asked God to change His plans if there was any other way to accomplish His will. But ultimately, He gave up His fears and what He wanted, and was obedient to God's will. Even though it's minuscule in comparison, I want to give up my plans and let His will be done, because it's way better than mine anyways.
Ok now that I just took 5 million rabbit trails and (in the words of Katie) word-vomited, let's wrap this up. Jesus loves us and set an amazing example of selflessness and obedience. My goal is to let Him live through me so that I can live out His example. I cannot be selfless or obedient on my own but I want to. So I am giving up my selfishness and my will. Can I just say that it blows my mind daily that Jesus knew that I would know about Him and what He has done for me, choose sin, and He still chose to die for me so that I could be forgiven, have access to God and spend eternity in Heaven, even though I so don't deserve it. How great is my God…
Application:
Today, I will pray that God would take my plans and help me to trust Him this year. I am going to post Philippians 2:3-8 on my door so that I will remember the example that Jesus has set for me.
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