Christian living in Mark and James
Mark 9/ James 3
What does a servant look like? Someone just like you or me that tries to do God's will, and in the power of the Spirit imitate Jesus, the Divine Son? Could we make theological statements ( Jesus said to them, " Who do you say that I am? "They replied, " You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the kergyma of which we find the ultimate meaning in our inter-personal relationships" And Jesus said, " What?" or would it be just better to go what our Lord , the writers of the Epistles say to us? ---that is the actual words of the Bible. That would be better, than guessing in words of ?
Interesting the word servant is actually diakonos...dia- thorougly , konis-dust...in other words, raise up dust , they are moving to serve and minister. They had been talking about who would be the greatest while He had just told them about His Cross, death, and His resurrection. "Then He took a child and set him in the midst .....and when He had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, ' Whosover shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me..."
What other vs come to mind when we think of servants? 9:35 " And He sat down , and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all." This was the position , sitting, to call attention to it as the Teacher , and the rabbi's way of saying something important. Life Without Limits Ogilvie
2 Timothy 2:24 comes to my mind about servants, " And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves..." How hard it is to do this with some . We encounter all kinds of persons in our lives. As the government said, " I am from the government and I am here to help you." This is not always true, is it? Some present a helpful attitude but inwardly they are not doing that but unfortunately are " enemies of God" James 4
Some as James points out use the same tongue to bless and curse others. This comes from " bitter envying and strife in your hearts..." The wisdom from above is" first pure, then peaceable, gentle.....full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality , and without hypocrisy." James 3
Erdman said this, " An evil tongue is the sign of an evil nature. Unkind, bitter, impure speech suggests the need of a new birth; it is an indication that the speaker, whatever his position or profession , is not filled with the Spirit of God. His faith is dead, his religion is not true. The use of the tongue is a test of life. Unless controlled by the power of Christ, the gift of speech may prove a deadly peril to the soul."
If we were to take our lives before Christ and ask, " How have we grown in spiritual maturity?" What would we say to the mirror that James talks about earlier? Are we truly looking at who we are?
This is why we do not skip the self- examination and confession before taking Holy Communion. Even a time of silence and silent confession is better than just saying words sometimes too.
Make a list? Those things we still retain of our old selves we may not know. Others may be helpful in saying what they are seeing....if we wish to get better and learn more the meekness and gentleness of Christ in our lives.
Are we more holy? Do we yearn for the kingdom of God to come on earth as it is in heaven? Do others learn about us or Christ from our conversation? Do we tell the truth which is the mark of the believer? Do we strive to keep the 10 commandments and live the " royal law"James talked about in our message last week?
If we think we have arrived we probably have not. We are not going to arrive until we go to heaven where there is no more sin, no more crying and no more death. There we will see God and Jesus and the kingdom will be truly in us completely. We will have no need of confession there for we will be with God and His people forever in His presence.
There will be no more chats about who is the greatest in the way there, for Jesus is great. WE are His and He is ours. We are wed to His love and grace and lowliness of mind is our clothing. In His presence there will be joy forever. I can hardly wait, can you? " To live is Christ and to die is gain."
What does a servant look like? Someone just like you or me that tries to do God's will, and in the power of the Spirit imitate Jesus, the Divine Son? Could we make theological statements ( Jesus said to them, " Who do you say that I am? "They replied, " You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the kergyma of which we find the ultimate meaning in our inter-personal relationships" And Jesus said, " What?" or would it be just better to go what our Lord , the writers of the Epistles say to us? ---that is the actual words of the Bible. That would be better, than guessing in words of ?
Interesting the word servant is actually diakonos...dia- thorougly , konis-dust...in other words, raise up dust , they are moving to serve and minister. They had been talking about who would be the greatest while He had just told them about His Cross, death, and His resurrection. "Then He took a child and set him in the midst .....and when He had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, ' Whosover shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me..."
What other vs come to mind when we think of servants? 9:35 " And He sat down , and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all." This was the position , sitting, to call attention to it as the Teacher , and the rabbi's way of saying something important. Life Without Limits Ogilvie
2 Timothy 2:24 comes to my mind about servants, " And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves..." How hard it is to do this with some . We encounter all kinds of persons in our lives. As the government said, " I am from the government and I am here to help you." This is not always true, is it? Some present a helpful attitude but inwardly they are not doing that but unfortunately are " enemies of God" James 4
Some as James points out use the same tongue to bless and curse others. This comes from " bitter envying and strife in your hearts..." The wisdom from above is" first pure, then peaceable, gentle.....full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality , and without hypocrisy." James 3
Erdman said this, " An evil tongue is the sign of an evil nature. Unkind, bitter, impure speech suggests the need of a new birth; it is an indication that the speaker, whatever his position or profession , is not filled with the Spirit of God. His faith is dead, his religion is not true. The use of the tongue is a test of life. Unless controlled by the power of Christ, the gift of speech may prove a deadly peril to the soul."
If we were to take our lives before Christ and ask, " How have we grown in spiritual maturity?" What would we say to the mirror that James talks about earlier? Are we truly looking at who we are?
This is why we do not skip the self- examination and confession before taking Holy Communion. Even a time of silence and silent confession is better than just saying words sometimes too.
Make a list? Those things we still retain of our old selves we may not know. Others may be helpful in saying what they are seeing....if we wish to get better and learn more the meekness and gentleness of Christ in our lives.
Are we more holy? Do we yearn for the kingdom of God to come on earth as it is in heaven? Do others learn about us or Christ from our conversation? Do we tell the truth which is the mark of the believer? Do we strive to keep the 10 commandments and live the " royal law"James talked about in our message last week?
If we think we have arrived we probably have not. We are not going to arrive until we go to heaven where there is no more sin, no more crying and no more death. There we will see God and Jesus and the kingdom will be truly in us completely. We will have no need of confession there for we will be with God and His people forever in His presence.
There will be no more chats about who is the greatest in the way there, for Jesus is great. WE are His and He is ours. We are wed to His love and grace and lowliness of mind is our clothing. In His presence there will be joy forever. I can hardly wait, can you? " To live is Christ and to die is gain."
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