2022-12-23
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Allow me to share the story of a discussion that arose among Christ’s disciples while sitting at the Last Supper. The Lord had blessed the bread and wine, and He had just prophesied that one of them would betray Him. This discussion is in LK 22: 24-32. Who is the greatest was the question, and this was the Lord’s reply: “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is the greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as One Who serves. You are those who have stood by Me in My trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as My Father conferred one on Me, so that you may eat and drink at My table in My Kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
‘Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.’” These words were followed with the prophecy that Simon [Peter] would deny Christ three times before the rooster crows. This different approach to their lives indeed has ramifications that also apply to our own modern-day ones. It is a hugely important message for us to have humility. Not all people are raised to have this trait, but our Lord certainly wants us to be humble, even if we must learn it on our own. People who are not humble and who are materialistic, concerning themselves only with money, are like Judas Iscariot, who had handled the money for Christ’s disciples; they are capable of betrayal and other evil acts. Christ had already said, MT 6: 24, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
More than humility is at stake when deciding if we will live God-led or led by material things. It is also a matter of accepting that even the most devout believers are susceptible to falling into sin. Simon Peter was very close to the Lord Jesus, a prominent person of faith. And yet, God’s plan had to go forward, in this case meaning Peter would deny Christ three times, possibly hoping to save his own life at the time that the Lord was about to lose His physical one. Those of us who have studied the Bible know that Simon Peter, the son of Jonah, eventually returned to his faithfulness and ended up leading the early church in Jerusalem. He became, “The rock upon which I [the Lord] will build My church” and will receive “the keys of the Kingdom” [MT 16: 16-19]. We all know that in his youth, Simon Peter was very reactive and impetuous. Yet in his latter years, Peter was wise and calm. That’s how the Lord inspired him to be.
As for Judas Iscariot, he was all business as he appeared. But he was one of these persons who had one personality that he showed, which was different than the one that was his real one. People like this, and there are certainly ones like this nowadays, are deceptive and capable of intense evil. Their evil is worked behind one’s back. If I sound cynical, it’s my life’s experience that has taught me to be to look beyond what a person appears to be. I like to think my approach is healthy skepticism. Their fate is most certainly a culmination of the negative consequences of their plotting and deceptions. MT 27: 3-8 reveals that he felt remorseful when Jesus was condemned and returned the thirty pieces of silver he had used as blood money to the temple. However, he followed this by hanging himself, and was later buried in the potter’s field or “field of blood.”
Each of us must decide if the Lord will lead our lives or material things. We will at God’s appointed time have to decide not only “Am I accepting the Lord’s leadership in my life, or not.” Eventually, we will need to ask ourselves, “What kind of legacy will I leave behind when my fate is acted upon by the Lord?” Do we want to be remembered for a life of demonstrating the gifts of the Holy Spirit [GA 5: 22-23], or will we be forgotten due to the evil we did? By now, you surely know the choice I hope we will make!
PRAYER: O Lord, the Bible passages we’ve looked at today are lessons the Lord gives us to begin self-examination that He wants us all to do. He is our King, and we are His subjects. This King has no evil in Him and wants us to move ever closer to Him [1 JN 1: 5]. He loves us enough to give us the Scriptures to study and to intervene when we need it. We can marvel at knowing the “nothing can separate us from the love of God” [RO 8: 38-39]. No human being has ever been perfect, as the Lord Jesus is. However, we know we have what we need to make right choices and live humble lives of obedience and faithfulness to the Lord. We thank and praise You for being the kind and wise God You are, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen,
NEXT WEEK: The Holy Spirit directs me to write about the holy and unholy trinities and how God and Satan can affect our lives. It’s really helpful if we memorize the nine gifts of the Holy Spirits. This should be done as reconnaissance in making decisions on how we will respond to stimuli we encounter. Our lives are designed for understanding and relating better as we mature to the Lord. EPH 2: 8-10 helps our perspective and approach. “For it is by grace that you have been saved, through faith—and not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” This truth is huge in our lives. It can tell us if we line up with the greatest or the least great, as we reach the throne of the last judgment. Our God is both great and generous, willing to forgive, and always fair and kind. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2022. All Rights Reserved.
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