SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/27/2023 9:27 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 “Intro to Matthew 20:20-28”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew
20:20-28
Message of the verses: “20 Then the mother
of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a
request of Him. 21 And He said to her, "What do you wish?" She said
to Him, "Command that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one
on Your right and one on Your left." 22 But Jesus answered, "You do
not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to
drink?" They said to Him, "We are able." 23 He said to them,
"My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left,
this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by
My Father." 24 And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the
two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that
the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise
authority over them. 26 “It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to
become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall
be your slave; 28 just as the Son of Man
did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for
many.’”
I want to continue to write about one thing that we
see in these verses is pride. The day we
now live in is reminiscent of the time in history when at the height of the ancient
Greek and Roman empires pride was exalted and that meant that humility was
belittled. As we look back on both of
those empires it can be said that pride was one of the things that caused these
two empires to collapse. MacArthur
writes “Now society can survive the self-destructiveness of pride run rampant,
because every society depends for its perseveration and success of the mutually
supportive and harmonious relationships among its people. When a significant number of them become
committed only to themselves and to their own interests, with little regard for
their families, friends, neighbors, and fellow citizens, society
disintegrates. As self becomes stronger,
relationships become weaker. As
self-rights become supreme, the interpersonal bonds that hold society together
are severed.”
All
one has to do is turn on the radio, turn on the TV, or now we have the internet
to also turn on and what we will see is the promotion of self-esteem,
self-fulfillment, and self-glory as this has become a major industry that ranges
from exercise programs to motivation for executive success. What I am talking about is commercials for
products that are suppose to make you better off. This kind of stuff has made its way into the
church, and the church, which often seems determined to beat the world at its
own fleshly games. The Bible however
teaching of suffering and cross-bearing for Christ’s sake are either ignored
altogether or foolishly explained away, and this comes mostly from the health
and wealth gospel, which is not the gospel at all. “A weak gospel, easy believism, and
nonsacrificial Christian living are the reflections of this ‘evangelical’ selfism”
writes John MacArthur.
He
goes on to write: “Whenever the church
has been spiritually strong it has distrusted its own wisdom and strength and
looked to the Lord’s, it has shunned its own glory and sought only His, and it
has condemned pride and exalted humility.
Times of spiritual awakening are inevitably characterized by a sincere
sense of brokenness, contrition, and unworthiness. There is always reverential fear of the Word
of God, which working through genuine meekness, gives the church great
power. Like Paul, the church becomes
strong when it knows it is weak (2 Cor. 12:10).
One
more quote from MacArthur’s introduction and then we will continue to talk
about this issue of pride and humility in our next SD.
“Since
the first rebellion in the Garden, God has sternly resisted the proud (James
4:6; Ps. 138:6), brought them into contempt (Isa. 23:9), abased them (Ps.
18:27), judged them (Ps. 31:23), humbled them (Dan. 4:37), scattered them (Luke
1:51), and punished them (Mal. 4:1). By
the same token, God has always honored humility and meekness. ‘He regards the lowly’ (Ps. 138:6), hears ‘the
desire of the humble’ (Ps. 10:17), and values humility even above honor (Pr.
15:33). The Lord intends humility to be
part of His children’s daily clothing (Col. 3:12; 1 Pet. 5:5) and daily living
(Eph. 4:1-2). He seeks to bless that one
‘who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at [His] word’ (Isa. 66:2).”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Humility is something that when you think you
have it, you actually don’t have it, as you are proud because you are humble.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I am thankful that the Lord has caused me to
again be taught more of humility.
4/27/2023 10:02 AM
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