| Subject: Devotional #22; August 21, 2001 (sorry it's up late...my computer wouldn't go online! >_<) |
Author:
Gail
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Date Posted: 21:20:23 08/21/01 Tue
Topic—Servant Leaders
Power Point—Jesus left heaven to serve us. He demands no less from us.
This Week’s Memory Verses—Matthew 20:27–28
Access Database—Matthew 19:16–30
Leave Everything
by Eric Partin
The first step in being L.A.S.T. but not least is to Leave Everything. When I first became a Christian, I was a sail maker by trade. I made sails for sailboats and raced yachts for a living. Then, I got radically saved. One of the first things I did was to change professions. The reason was two-fold. The first was all the drinking. No, not at work! At the yacht clubs and the races there were always large quantities of alcoholic beverages on hand. When you’re trying to live your new life for Christ, it’s tough to stay in that kind of environment. Secondly, sailing had become my god. It was everything I lived for. I ate, slept, dreamed, and for the most part, lived my life for sailing. It consumed me. My life completely changed when I met Christ. I realized I could not serve two gods; and therefore, I laid the one down to serve the other.
This is no less and no more than what Jesus demands of His disciples. Peter and Andrew left their fishing nets to pursue Jesus. James and John left the family fishing business to follow Him. Jesus declared that in order to be His disciple, one had to pick up the cross of His Father’s will and follow Him. Jesus told the rich, young man in Matthew 19 to sell everything he had, give the money to the poor and to follow Him. Some people read this and erroneously believe that God doesn’t want us to have possessions. No, it’s that God doesn’t want our possessions to have us! This is the condition the rich young man was in. His trust was in his belongings; therefore, he went away sad. What he didn’t know is that when you delight yourself in the Lord, He gives you the desires of your heart. He also didn’t know that when you give, it is given back to you. However, the most important thing he didn’t know was that his trust would have been no longer in material things but in the living God.
Leaving everything causes us to put our trust in God instead of earthly things. There is a reward for those who leave behind family, friends, fame and earthly treasures for the pursuit of God. We will discover what those rewards are tomorrow.
Now go back and read Matthew 19:16–30 one more time.
Identity Matrix—Disciples of Christ...
Know God—In what way did God reveal Himself to you as you read His Word?
Live for God—What one lifestyle change is God calling you to make?
Love Others—In what way is God calling you to minister to someone in need?
Bear Fruit—In what ways will you set the example and the standard for others to follow?
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