What does it mean to be humble?

"......God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble."


One of the things people find it hard to believe that Jesus was with His disciples. He showed true humbleness when He got up from the meal, stuck a wrag around His waist and proceeded to wash each of their feet. [John 13:4-5]

Can you imagine the reaction of the disciples. Here is the Son of God actually washing their feet. This was a job for the lowliest servant of the house to be doing. I wonder if Jesus was trying to tell the disciples something, what do you think? It wasn't very long before this that they were all asking Jesus who would sit on His right and left hands.

Aren't we all in our own human way trying to be the most important. Aren't we all wanting to be able to say I'm better than you are? You should listen to me because I know more than you. I went to University or Theological college while you didn't get past secondary school. I own a nice big house, a modern expensive boat or car, but you don't. Or I go to a church with 2000 members while you only go to church that has 50 members so we are closer to God. Now I don't say that this applies to all but I, based on my own humanistic feelings, I can be quite sure that it applies to some. We are a very much so a people that applies these things to our lives. But Jesus, the Son of God, Prince of Princes, King of Kings, shows us an example that to God we are all important. It is an example that shows us that we are all to be servants to one another.

O.K. lets find out the dictionary definition for humble:

concious of one's failings, unpretentious, deferential or servile, meek, modest,
unassuming.

Jesus had no qualms in being a servant. Just like Jesus we have to have a humble heart. He certainly didn't let such a thing as pride get in His way. Jesus had no problem with being any of he above things. One of our great failings is our pride. Now here is our Lord & Saviour portraying these characteristics with not so much as a backfire on my bike.At times we don't understand that being proud is just not he way we should be and that we should care for others' situation before we do our own. More often than not we do it the other way around. Part, and only part of it is not our fault, as society has taught just this point, tha we should have every-thing we want. Satan loves it when we fall for this trap of his, but does not like it when we change with the help of Jesus and start to serve others in His strength, especially those who are down and outs.. Don't forget when we turn to Jesus we die to our old selves and are born anew. We have Jesus in us so what is so hard to try to be more like Jesus everyday of your life. If He can look past His pride why can't we. How many are here out there that need help that we could assist if we didn't think it below us, or that they smell and are dirty or might hurt us in some way.

Now let's see what the dictionary definition for to serve is:

to render or be of service to a person, aid, assist, attend to, be in the service of,
be of assistance, minister to, oblige.

Let's see, it is my opinion that that is just what Jesus wants us to be like.When I look at all these points above I see that thry all apply to what Jesus did at Calvary and by the Resurrection. He certainly rendered assistance [service], He was certainly in the service of His Father, He ministered to you and me by His actions, He obliged us by dying for us. He did it all and He did it willingly.
Don't forget He was the Son of God. The reality is that He really could have not done it but he obeyed His Father to fulfill the Scriptures, and to form the bridge between us and the Father. How much more of a servant can you be than that. The Bible tell us tha no greater love has man than to lay down his life for another.

So what have we found so far.

1. Jesus was our example of why we should be humble.

2. Jesus was our prime example of service.

And that when these 2 principles are in you heart and you allow Jesus total control He will do mighty things through and there will be souls won for the Kingdom. If we allow our pride to control us, all we will be doing is allowing the world to take back what does not belong to it.

What Is An Important Sign Of A Leader?

What is a servant? Let us look to the dictionary & Thesaurus and see what the world says it is.

Angus & Robertson Dictionary & Thesaurus:

a person employed to work for another, esp. one who performs househould duties.

attendant, domestic, drudge, help, helper, lackey,menial, retainer, servitor, slave, vassal.

I think we can see that the world's idea of what a servant is not one that many of us do not relish the thought of of being the one on the end of the servant. But Jesus came to serve not to be served. What else can you call His crucifixion but the ultimate show of servanthood. He came to die so that mankind would not have to. Think about the disciples in the upper room when the Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, The Messiah wrappd a cloth around His waist and did the most menial task and washed their feet,Remember out on the road when a man stole one of the disciples coat and Jesus told the disciple to give him his other one.

Christlikenesss leads to servanthood. That is if we truly wish to become like Jesus we need to become servants of our fellowman. Servanthood is not slavery but given freely. True servanthood is when you think more of someone elses happiness or needs more than your own. You know Jesus had the complete authority of heaven but chose to take the form of a servant. [Phillipians 2:5-7]

Matthew 20:26: ..........you know that he rulers of the world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt thir authority over thos over them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave.

Here we see our Lord Jesus describing servanthood and leadership from a completely new perspecticve. We are no longer to make people serve us but we are to serve them. Jesus came and died with a real servant heart freely. A real leader must also of necessity have a real servants heart. They also appreciate others worth, and a real leader realises that there is no job below them, if something needs to be done it gets done. That is the reality of the servant heart if we truly love Jesus we will serve in whatever capacity He calls us to no matter what that may be.

How do you feel? Do want to grow more like Jesus each day? Do you want to take up the mantle of servanthood and be there to help your fellow man in his christian walk or to maybe help the non-believer, the alcoholic, the one in prison, the sick, the lonely, the disenfranchised, the drug addict without thinking about it. You can be sure if Jesus was here today He certainly would. But guess what? He surely is here today, right there in you, because He has given you a servantheart and a Holy Spirit that will guide and empower you.

Lord, please open my servantsheart that I might serve your people as you served me upon that cross at Calvary. Allow your light to shine through me in a world where much is darkness and may my life be an example that will draw people to the Good News and ultimately to you. Dear Lord Jesus I ask that you help grow closer to your will each day. Amen

What did Jesus mean when He told us to love one another?

John 13:34 :

So now I am giving you a new commandment. Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love one another. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.

To me what we are being told is that by doing this we are a witness to the world of Jesus and all that He has done and will do.What better example can we be than this. We can talk all we want but that really doesn't mean a thing. How many times have you said one thing and then done another, I know I have. Some people grab a Bible under their arm and then out they go and tell people all about a man called Jesus that they follow because He loved hem and forgave them and a day or two later they are seen having an argument wih someone or doing something that is definitely not being done in love.

Jesus is calling us to Unity, to be as one no matter what or who we are. It doesn't matter what church we go to, the question to ask is do they follow Jesus as Saviour and Lord. If the answer is yes then we have to work towards that Unity that Jesus set us towards. The realitywas that to love others really wasn't a new commandment. It appears in Leviticus 19 and 18.

If the love of Jesus is seen in action by unbelievers then it will not only bring unbelievers to Christ it will keep strengthening the believers. It will keep them strong and united in this world that seems so bent on being hosile to our God and His people. See, Jesus died on the cross as an example of God's love for us, therefor we must be a living example of Christ's.

For us to do less demeans our Lord and Saviour. It's the same when we talk about being forgiven [how many times have we seen christian bikers [and christian bikers are not the only ones I am talking about it is just that I am a christian biker with the "forgiven" patch on their jacket and they get in a traffic jam or an accident or some other stress situation and when they get home they rant and rave about how it was the fault of personthat caused the accidnt or whatever that made them late for work or for an appointment or made them late for the movies]. How can we expect to go to God and ask for forgiveness for our sins when we don't forgive those that may inconveniencemor hurt us. This is one of the things that holds a lot of Christians back in their walk with the Father.

Forgiveness is another way to show an example of Jesus's love to non -believers.

Jesus loves us regardless our strengths and weaknesss. It is grace motivated and I find that very humbling whe I realise that Jesus picked me because of my faults. He didn't care He loved me anyway. And that's exactly the way He wants us to be like that too, to see through people's faults and love them as He loves us. We can't do it in our own strength but we can in His and it's there for the asking.

Remember the day is coming I don't know when but is coming when we will stand before Him and He is going to ask us what did we do with all the opportunities He has given us.

In Matthew 25:45: it says

And He will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.'

In the previous verse He spoke of being hungry or thirsy, or a stranger, or naked and I was sick or in prison. I don't know about you but I reckon that describes just about everybody in the world that does not believe in Jesus as Lord. Yes we have to look after and help our fellow Christians but Jesus doesn't want it stop there . He has given us a purpose to help non-believers as well as believers. What are you going to say on Judgement Day to Jesus?

I am sorry just won't cut it.

Mal [Pastor]
Remnant In Christ Ministries Auatralia Inc.

What is real love?

As I go about the street ministry we are setting up in Queensland I am very fortunate in that I get to meet a wide variety of people from all walks of life. I have also been fortunate enough to have been invited overseas to preach [Penang, Malaysia}. One of the things that stands out no matter where I go is that the one thing that most people are seeking is love,real love. But some people say I already have that, I've been married or with my partner for years. What more do I need. If that really is the case why then do people often keep changing partners [both married or non-married] with such ease. We tend to find that some of the reasons are: one of the partners no longer recognises their partner as the one they met, their partner no longer satisfies them, they tend to believe they can do better, they no longer seem to communicate satisfactorily or they just feel plain trapped. We tend to have what feels like a big hole in our stomach that nothing seems to fill. We start to find that the material things of the world no longer matters.

There are three types of love that are available for us to receive and they are

1. eros - worldly love - always conditional - always trying to find it in many different ways - in
a lot of cases just out of reach
2. philo - brotherly love - to love another as we love ourselves - can be very hard to do
3. Agape - which is God's love - freely given in grace [undeserved]

So what is Love? According to the Angus & Robertson Dictionary/Thesauruswe see it is

"to have a great attachment to and affection for"

"God's benevolence attitude towards man"

so we see great attachment and affection , as well as benevolence attitudes are factors in love. Attachment and affection are well understood but what is benevolence

"to do good", "an act of charity" [in other words free]

So we see that there is a real love, one that can fill us up and satisfy us all the time not just part of the time. It's here for usfor all time, we don't have to struggle to look for it, it's not hard to find , we don't have to a be a University Professor or a Doctor, a Judge, a Lawyer although if we are that's all right too. I ride a motorcycle like a lot of my friends and we found this all encompassing love I am talking about. so it's there for all and all we have to do is ask. Think about it, it is the one thing in the world that doesn't cost. God loves all of us and His book the Bible is full of verses and chapters where Love is the theme.

"Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. love each others as
brothers and sisters." 1 Peter 3:8

"most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of
sins." 1Peter 4:8

"Don't pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is
good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honouring each other."
Romans 12:9-10

We as a people in he most case I think would say that we have learnt how to be courteous to others, to speak kindly, avoiding hurting people's feeling and even be able to pretend to an interest in what is happening to them. Be indignant when we hear of an injustice. But God says we should be real and to show genuine love, not to be just hypocritical or polite just to get what we want out of someone. It means giving up your time and talents to help other people to become better people

In John 3:16 - 17 we are told "For God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only son. so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world but to save the world through Him."

Sitting here I can't help but to think just how deep and all encompassing the love of God is. I know that no matter what I do I don't deserve that love given so freely and lovingly. If you are a parent could you give up your child to save someone else. I know I couldn't I'm not even sure that in my own strength I could love some of my neighbours as God does. I am sure that at times I still envy, I'm sure I still see fault in people, but I know that the love I need to fill me and envelope me is already mine, it's called the love of God and makes me part of His family, for He has told me so and He has proved it over and over in many different ways.

So if you are looking for that something you just don't understand or that you fill is missing in your life, let me suggest that maybe take out the old Bible and start reading and let God talk to you. If you don't have one then I am sure your local Church can help you out.

Mal