SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/15/2023 8:27 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-6 "The Precept of True
Greatness"
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matt. 20:26-27
Message of the verses: “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;”
I
want to finish up this section in today’s SD, and I mentioned that it will be a
shorter SD today as there is not much left in this section to write about.
We have been talking about true
greatness as we move through these two verses, and the cost of true greatness
is humble, selfless, sacrificial service. One of the things that I do in the mornings
from time to time is go over a little booklet that is entitled “Pray 938” “Give
a Month. Change the world.” It is put
out by Baptist Mid Missions, and organization that began in the church that I
attend. Our church has started two
different mission organizations, and the other one focuses on missions in our
country, something that is very much needed.
BMM’s mission is to go around the world sending missionaries to
different parts of the world. The first
place that the founder went was the “Central African Republic” and this was
over 100 years ago. I know a few of the missionaries
that are a part of BMM and the former three presidents of the mission attended our
church. One of them passed away a year
or so ago, and I can tell you that he and the other two presidents fulfilled
what I have highlighted in the first sentence of this paragraph. The man that is president now used to be the
Pastor of our church, as the Lord called him to leave our church as its pastor
and become president of BMM. I can say
that personally I miss him as our pastor, but I know that this is where the
Lord placed him. Missionaries are people
like other believers with the desire to want to serve the Lord through
sacrificial service as the highlighted portion speaks of.
Ok
it is time to move on so that I can finish the comments on these verses. Now the Christian who desires to be great and
first in the kingdom is the one who is willing to serve in the hard place, and
this also goes along with missionaries that I have just been talking
about. They too serve in the
uncomfortable places, the lonely places, the demanding places, the places where
they may not be appreciated, and sometimes even mistreated or killed for the
cause of Christ. They realize that “time”
is short and eternity is forever, they are willing to spend and be spent. They are willing to work for excellence without
becoming proud, to withstand criticism without becoming bitter, to be misjudged
without becoming defensive, and to withstand suffering without succumbing to
self-pity. Now these things that I am
writing about are qualities of missionaries, and the truth is that all
believers are to be missionaries in the world where the Lord has placed them.
John
MacArthur writes “When faithful believers have done everything they can for the
Lord to the limit of their abilities and energy, they say to Him, ‘We are unworthy
slaves; we have done only that which we ought to have done’ (Luke 17:10). It is
to such disciples that the Lord will say in return, ‘Well done, good and
faithful slave;…enter into the joy of your master’ (Matt. 25:21).
“William Barclay has succinctly commented, ‘The
world ma assess a man’s greatness by the number of people whom he controls and
who are at his beck and call’ or by his intellectual standing and his academic
eminence; or by the number of committees of which he is a member; or by the
size of his bank balance and the material possessions which he has amassed; but
in the assessment of Jesus Christ these things are irrelevant.’”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I must be trusting the Lord to work out
some issues that are going on in my life at this time, things that I battle
with most of the time, things that have always caused me troubles in my desire
to walk closely with the Lord.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord to help me to walk with Him in
a humble way, in a way that the enemy who has been tempting me every since I
became a believer over 49 years ago to be defeated.
5/15/2023 9:01 AM
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