Honoring Others Who Serve and Serving

Philippians 2:28-30

So I am all the more anxious to send him back to you, for I know you will be glad to see him, and then I will not be so worried about you. Welcome him with Christian love and with great joy, and give him the honor that people like him deserve. For he risked his life for the work of Christ, and he was at the point of death while doing for me what you couldn’t do from far away.

 Like Paul suggested with Epaphroditus, we should honor those who have served faithfully for God. They are true heroes for the kingdom. Children should be taught to revere them, admire them, and seek to be like them. We can learn from these warriors in the faith. They may not be the top leaders out in front. They may be a Christian janitor in a public school or an office assistant to a world-changing leader. They may be missionaries on remote outposts where no one sees the work they do and the sacrifices they make. Still, these faithful ones support others in the faith, they pray much for others and work throughout their lives for the good of the Kingdom of God.  They are the true heroes in the world.

Eve

Did she teach her children to respect, love and honor their father as well as others in the family worked tirelessly for God? Did she take pains to encourage any of her children whom she observed to be faithfully serving God and the growing family on the earth? As the matriarch of the human race, she could have been a leader in embracing and encouraging faith, loving service and real workers for God’s cause.

Mary

Mary was called to serve Jesus in a very special way. She was called to be His earthly mother. She gave everything to the cause of God and the Path that was spread before her as she understood God’s will for her life to be. Jesus asked John to taker her as his own mother, and Mary remained with John for the rest of her life when Jesus returned to Heaven.  We can  see parallels in her life to this believer, Epaphroditus, that Paul was speaking about to the Philippian church because she ministered of herself for the Kingdom of God and made many sacrifices to perform her labors of love.

My Prayer

Dear Lord, Our Father in Heaven,

I pray for two things, for the heart to respect and honor others who have given greatly to God’s work and cause and for the dedication to do whatever jobs of service that God will place in my path to do for Him and to minister to His people. Thank You that You can give me love for faithful servants and a focus for devoted service. You have a wonderful plan and I am so grateful that Jesus has provided a way for me to be a part of Your Kingdom. I pray this in His name.

Amen.

Helping Others--Being Part of the Team

Philippians 2:25-27:

Meanwhile, I thought I should send Epaphroditus back to you. He is a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier. And he was your messenger to help me in my need. I am sending him because he has been longing to see you, and he was very distressed that you heard he was ill. And he certainly was ill; in fact, he almost died. But God had mercy on him—and also on me, so that I would not have one sorrow after another.

No one should think their gift and contribution in life is too small to be significant if they have given their best. Those who help and assist others are just as needed as are the ones who they help and assist. Paul was in great need of special help while he was in prison when he wrote this letter to the Philippian believers. They sent Epaphroditus to Paul, and Paul said he was “a true brother, co-worker, and fellow soldier.” Any of us believers today would do well if someone could say the same about us that you and I are  true brothers, sisters, co-workers and fellow soldiers for Christ” in the last days before Jesus returns.

Eve

Since the beginning of time, women were created to help. Somehow, this role has been turned in our thoughts to a degrading status that must be shaken off our backs. The position of “help-meet” has been made to seem like something we must overcome in order to reach our full potential. How unfortunate is this thinking! While some of us have talents and opportunities that make us leaders, all of us can be a help to others.

Jesus has taught us that it is an honor to serve. In service, we are following His example (like when He washed the feet of the disciples and told them to do this type of service). Being a blessing brings blessings. When we use our opportunities, means and talents in service to others, our lives are fulfilled and blessed. Even doing the most menial service tasks that others need has been honored by the King and Creator of all by His own example!

Mary

When Mary believed what God told her and accepted the role as the mother of Jesus, she elevated motherhood as God intended it should be elevated. However, motherhood is a nurturing and serving role. Giving and caring needs our hands as well as our hearts. God has placed in the hearts of women a special gift for such nurturing.

Helping is a wonderful thing! The world does not go around without it! In the natural world, plants and animals work together for survival. In the human world, we each must help each other in order to survive together alive. Equality is not as important as the willingness to be a team player and do our part as it comes to us. Meanwhile, doing our part to help “the team” puts us on an equal playing field with every other human no matter what we do or what our part may be.

My Prayer

Dear Heavenly Father:

Thank you for showing us by this story of Paul and Epaphroditus that each of us is significant when we give our best to serve You through our service to others. Please help me today to do my part whatever it is with my heart. Help me to look to you and Your love so that I can be like You, like Jesus when He served as a human in this world and gave us His example to follow. Because of Jesus giving everything for us we can pray. Amen!

The Attitude of Jesus & What He Did: Philippians 2:5-8

Philippians 2:5-8

 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.

 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

I love to read this part about the beauty of Jesus’ humility, but that first thought that I must have the attitude of Christ Jesus seems like a tricky sentence unless I remember that what God tells me to do comes with His promise to provide for me all I need to accomplish it. Think about this promise! He will work this miracle in me and you that we can have the attitude of Jesus! To be like Jesus is an awe-inspiring thought and miracle.

I am so glad He is the One in charge because He is so loving and good. He knew He must always choose the hard and painful path in order to complete His plan and make a universe where everyone truly understood that He is fully trustworthy and loving. He continues to carry all the pain felt in this world until that time when He will say, “It is completed.”

Now even though I will not ever fully comprehend what Jesus has done and is doing and the sacrifices and suffering He endures, I pause and think on these verses. I am always amazed. I find volumes in the one above paragraph from Philippians chapter 2. I take it phrase by phrase and try to understand or at least catch a glimpse.

Eve

Would Eve despair if she saw the sufferings of Jesus? Or would she have had joy in the hope that He brought to this world through all of the things He endures for us? I see the mercy of God that she did not live to see just how bad things got in our world by the time Jesus was here. As it was, she lived through over 900 years of this world and saw much misery.

She had hoped and hoped to see Jesus come from her womb, but He did not. He waited until He knew the time was right, and none of us can really comprehend when the time is right for important world events like He can. He came and then returned to the Father with the promise to come again. We wait, work and live until that time.

Mary

What must life have been like for her before the resurrection when the scriptures about the Messiah made sense with the life of Jesus? She lived all of those years remembering that the prophet Simeon had told her in the temple that a sword would pierce her soul. She watched the life of Jesus and wondered that He really was God’s Son, but He lived a life of shame and humiliation in poverty. So many things she didn't understand, but many of them became clear after Jesus rose from the dead and she listened to the disciples discussing the prophecies together.

How wonderful it must have been to be with those disciples and the other women who believed in Jesus after He died and rose again. I am so glad that Mary had the chance to know the truth about her Son after those years of wondering and confusion. She understood the Lamb giving His life for sinners and the plan of salvation. She had trusted and obeyed through the years even though she did not understand, but joy must have thrilled her when she did comprehend the answers to those questions she had about Jesus’ life in this world.

My Prayer

Dear Lord,

I come to You in awe of You and Your love and humility. Please help me to let Your attitude inside so that I can be like You. This wonderful miracle is Your promise. Please help me to remember and think about all that You have done and are doing. The more I look to You the more like You I can become. Thank You for taking all the risks and suffering to make Your life and love available to me! Thank You that this love and life is available to all people who will accept the gift! Thank You, Jesus! Amen.