God
has really been dealing with me of late on living a selfless lifestyle. Society
lives in a very selfish lifestyle, with a “me” attitude. I began to wonder, what if Jesus lived with
such an attitude? Where would we be? How would we live? How would we survive?
How would grace abound? It put me in a fearful state of bewilderment. I could
not really even fathom not being able to live a life without grace and mercy.
Without His mercy I am condemned to hell, and am not pure through anything. I
started to really come to a deeper understanding of how important Christ’s act
of love was, and how selfish I truly am. I say that I live for others, but most
times I unconsciously act selfishly. God has really tested me in this area just
this week, and I am so joyful for His testing. His testing is like a refining
fire that takes out all of my impurities, and in the end I get another
injection of Him in my heart. Testing really shows what a man is made of. Going
through things in life show people’s true character, and how much they truly
have faith in God. I cannot reiterate
enough how much I enjoy the storms. I know that sounds a bit obtuse, but
beloved we need to gain a revelation of His heart through testing. He tests us
so that in doing so, when we pass we can move on to greater things in Him.
Through each trial comes great victory, and through great victory comes an
inherited promise.
Gaining
an understanding of the love that God has for you really opens a door that leads
to a selfless lifestyle. The most used scripture John 3:16 has become so
watered down by society that people do not have the revelation of the weight
that it carries. John 3:16 is one of the most foundational principles of
being a follower of Christ, and is so loosely quoted. It not only sickens me to
the pit of my Spirit, but it breaks my heart to see such an impactful scripture
become a fading fad.
John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish
but have everlasting life.
This
scripture shares the most selfless act that was ever committed in this world.
God Himself showed us how live by example and not by word only. God gave His
Son whom He loved for us, so that we can have eternal life. God doesn’t even
know all of us. Do not get me wrong He knows all of us, even every hair on our
head, but there is a difference between knowing about us and knowing who we are.
What I meant by that is that He does not have a personal relationship with all
of us which is solely our fault. He had His Son die for us with the full
knowledge that some of the people that He did this for were never going to
appreciate the act, or even try to build a relationship with Him. If that isn’t
an act of selflessness I am unsure what is. People tend to do things for others
with an expectancy of getting something in return. God has pulled on my heart
towards doing things for others just to show them the love of Christ. Christ
went through one of the most horrendous deaths on the cross out of love for
people that He had never met. Wow! Think about that reality. Think about
putting yourself in that martyrdom position, dying for others that you did not
even know just out of a heart of love. He loves us so much He selflessly gave
His life up for all of us. I tell people that if I was Christ we would be
screwed. I am not going to lie I do not think I am at the point of going
through such a horrific endeavor for mankind. I would have quit after the first
two slashes of the whip. Christ was so selfless. We are so selfish that if
something doesn’t benefit us we won’t do it.
A
few examples of things God had me do this week include driving to go get
somebody whose car broke down and hour away, then proceeding to push that car
on a trailer all the while letting somebody borrow my truck which is a rarity
for me. Then He had me the very next day drive somebody to work, and pick up
their dogs from the groomers to drive back home. Normally driving does not
bother me , but living in the middle of nowhere means that you have to drive
close to 30 miles to get somewhere. Finally, today I drove somebody into town
again and on the way home there was a young lady whose vehicle was broken down.
I usually do not stop for anybody, due to my selfish mindset of “what an
inconvenience”, but the Holy Spirit unctioned me to stop so I did. She had ran
out of gas, so I drove back into town, stopped at Wal-Mart to let her get a gas
can, and then after we filled it up back to her car. Gas pouring down my hands
and pant legs, I filled her car up then it would not start. I refused to leave
her and her kids and mother stranded on the side of the road. I had no jumper
cables for after all of that her battery had died. So I proceeded to drive back
home to get jumper cables, but she called me and told me a police officer had
helped her. I say all of that to say that I did not want to do any of the
things above, but did them because I actually thought “I am going to be selfish
at this moment or live unselfishly?” I am by no means bragging or trying to
build any of you to believe that I am some great person, because really all of
those acts were nothing major compared to what He did for us. I can do nothing
compared to what He has done for me. I am just tired of living a selfish
lifestyle, and am burning to learn to live as selflessly as He did. I thank Him
for giving me opportunities to be tested in this area, and long for more
testing so that in doing so I can get closer to Him which in return makes me
like Him. My ultimate goal is to truly live for others as a servant to His
people as He had intended it to be. This does not mean I am to be walked over
or taken advantage of, but to be able to show people what the love of God truly
is. Back to John 3:16 for a moment, my favorite words in that scripture are
love and gave. When you love Him you love others. When you give time to Him you
give time to others. I want to walk in such fullness in Him that I live to love
and live to give. There needs to be a balance in that area of your life and
with testing will balance will follow.
The true character
of a man comes when nobody is looking. I do not personally like praise from
others, because it allows too much pride to come into my life as if I did
something great. It is God that graces me to all things through Him, and He
deserves all credit for anything I do in my life. It is only through Christ
that I could act unselfishly this week. Trust me, my human thought process was
against it all, but in God I am an overcomer of all things. Selflessness is not
something I want to do for a week, but I long to live this way for a lifetime.
It is going to take much testing and if I lose sight of Him through that
testing I will more than likely fail. It is only when we keep our eyes fixated
on God that we can overcome adversity, and we will be greatly rewarded for it
later.
Hebrews 6:10-12
10 For God is not unjust to forget
your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you
have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
11 And we desire that each one of
you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end,
12 that you do not become sluggish,
but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
13 For when God made a promise to
Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
14 saying, "Surely blessing I
will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you."
15 And so, after he had patiently
endured, he obtained the promise.
God
has really highlighted this scripture to me this week as well as John 3:16. I
know this scripture is a bit off topic, but bear with me. It says in verse 10
that God never forgets are works of love that we do toward His name. I love how
it puts the word love in there. It does not say that He doesn’t forget your
works, but your works of love. We must do everything with a loving heart out of
selflessness. We are to do all things unto the Lord not unto ourselves (Philippians
4:13). We are to do acts of love to the Lord to minister to others. The
word minister in the Greek in Hebrew means to serve. To be a minister is to
serve. I think a lot of ministers need to gain that revelation. I do not have
the time or space to really touch on that but just know to minister, which all
of us are to do, is to serve. Then Paul states in verse 11 that he desires for
us to keep this servant of love mentality until our very death. Living
selflessly is not just a whimsical moment, but a lifestyle. Verse 12 states
that we are not to get lazy, or become as an illegitimate child as it says in
the Greek and Hebrew. We are to not be unrighteous in our walk or serving, but
if we do slip away to look at those and imitate who through faith and patience
inherit the promises of God. I want to be an example for others how to walk in
faith in patience to obtain His promises for us. I do not want this for selfish
purposes, but that in doing so I can show others who Christ is in hope of
changing this world. We are to not grow impatient, but to trust that God sees
all that we do and do everything with a loving heart. Paul then uses Abraham and
his life as an example how to do so. Abraham had a promise from God and
patiently waited 25 years to obtain the promise that God had for Him. What an
example! I do not know if I could wait 25 years to obtain a promise from God. I
guess I would have no choice, but I am sure I would not do it with such a
patient enduring heart.
I
love each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart, and I thank you for
being patient with me while I allow Him to have His perfect work in me. I long
for each of you to chase Him with as much passion as He chases you with. I long
that each of you throw yourselves on the altar so that He can replace you with
Him. I urge you to get into the Word, which is the book of Promises and Life.
Through knowledge of the Word no storm can shake you. Yet again I love y’all.
Be blessed.
God
is so good. I just want to thank Him and give Him all the glory again for
allowing me to be tested in this area which I lack. I pray that all of you
being to gain this revelation that He longs to share with us on how we can live
selfless lifestyles of love for other through action and not word. Allow your
hearts to be open to taking time out of your day to do something that benefits
somebody else instead of yourself, and what how God begins to bless your life.
He longs to bless us! He longs to love us! We just need to allow Him to have
His perfect work in us. I pray again that You search us thoroughly God, test
and try our heart. Break us, shape us, and mold us into the vessels that you
see us as, perfected in You. O, how I love God. O, how I long to see every
beautiful facet that He has for me to see. He is the wonderful One, the King of
Kings, the Lord of Lords, the High and Exalted One, the One who sits on the throne;
He is the God of Promises, and the Alpha and Omega.
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