Hi Folks,
I hope you are having a great start week! Our devot. today is on having a servant's heart which is also grateful to God. Mark 9:35 and 10:43, Jesus sat his disciples down and had a talk with them on just this subject.
A mother of one of Jesus' disciples came to Him, asking that her each of her sons sit beside Him in His kingdom, one of the left hand, the other on the right, showing that they had authority to rule and reign as well. Jesus asked if they were prepared to endure what He would in order to receive this (in the context of this Scripture He meant torture and death, which He did endure.) These men, James and John said they were willing, and based on church history, they were martyred for their faith in Jesus.
Jesus told them that they would indeed endure what He would suffer, but it was not up to Him to establish this sign of authority, God the Father already had a plan of who would rule and reign.
The rest of the 10 disciples were not too happy that these other 2 guys wanted to rule and reign with Jesus, what about the rest of them!! Then Jesus said in Matthew 20:27-28, "but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (this was the ultimate point of service, dying so that others could be saved!)
Jesus served His disciples and the multitudes while on this earth, and was giving a general call to any who believed on Him to follow His example and serve to the point of giving ones life if necessary.
This Biblical concept ties in perfectly to our national holiday this week-Veterans Day. If you, a loved one, a friend has served our country, MANY THANKS from a grateful citizen! Those brave men and women who have served embody Jesus' call to servanthood to the point of giving one's life if necessary to save another.
Even those of you who are family to a vet, have served as well!! You have waited and prayed anxiously for your loved ones' safe return, missed quality family time, births, birthdays, special occasions as you faithfully supported the one you loved. Many thanks to you as well!
In light of day, I have included a link that brought tears to my ears and inspired me. As I just said, the families of military sacrifice as well and deserve to be remembered in our prayers for their service. This link is the short story of 3 amazing, heroic ladies who lost military loved ones in recent years and turned their grief into a blessing in a way to help others. My hats off to these ladies! https://video.foxnews.com/v/6101562864001/#sp=show-clips
As a closing note, if you, a friend, a loved one, co-worker has experienced loss, I know I've mentioned Grief Share before and what an amazing blessing it has been to my parents and I when we experienced the loss of a loved one 15 years ago. Other than our relationship with Jesus and His peace and presence in our lives at that time, the other thing that tremendously helped us heal and cope was going through Grief Share.
It's a 13 week faith based program that walks a person through the stages of grief, how to handle flashbacks, the loneliness, even dealing with the personal possessions left behind. I know many churches in the US host GF, and even host a special "Surviving the Holidays" GriefShare. (which we and others also found useful). Consider looking into one if you or someone you know has lost and hasn't dealt with it. I can promise you, you won't be sorry for looking into it. GF also offers free, daily devotionals via email that you can sign up for on their website as well. https://www.griefshare.org
I pray that as you consider the idea of being a servant, as Jesus was, and having a spirit of gratitude, the Lord would give you practical ideas of how you can live this out. Lord bless you and yours this week!
Devot. https://www.dayspring.com/daily-devotion/date/2019-10-20?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DaySpring%20Daily%20Devotion%202019-10-20&utm_term=DaySpring%20Daily%20Devotion. (Read and Share. Taken from https://www.dayspring.com/daily-devotion/)
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