THE GREATEST

The Bible says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.

Grace and Peace to y'all this day in The Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from the evil in this world, according to the Will of God our Father.

Amen

Yesterday at the hospital we had a farewell luncheon for one of our Neurologists who is moving to another state and taking a position of promotion.

The food was set up and about a good fifty people began to lobby around the doors of our small library to come in and eat and wish our doctor well.

Our lovely chair secretary yelled, "Let The honoree come in and eat first!"
Like always he humbly stepped back and insisted that everyone else come in before him and fix their plates.

I don't know if it was false humility, true graciousness, or just the etiquette and manners that he was raised with, but it has always been his character for the time that I have known him to yield to other people.

Not passive, humble and also smart enough to know the effects of stress on the body.
There is a difference.

As I stood and looked at all the white coats and scrub pants who were there including me who was about the fourth one in line I thought about Mark chapter 9.

It's recorded that as Jesus and His disciples traveled on the road to Capernaum the disciples got into a discussion about who would be the greatest.

I guess the LORD heard this but He didn't ask about it until they arrived at their destination.
He didn't hold up the caravan to get into that discussion, He kept pressing.
That's a lesson right there.

When they reached the house that they were to lodge at The LORD asked the disciples what was it that they had been talking about on the way there.

They had been having a deep discussion about who would get all of the honor or who would be the right hand man of the Messiah.
Somebody always wants to be the pet, that's where envy and strife is born, nobody wants to share.
I'm not talking promotion, I'm talking sharing the spotlight, people will gladly share what they are being blamed or punished for with you, but who will share the glory?

Jesus shares His glory with us because we are glorified in Him and He in us.
Amen

The Bible says that the disciples argued about who would be the greatest among them all.
People do that today.
The LORD Jesus, The Rabbi that He is sat them down and taught them saying,
If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.
Mark 9:35
Now we don't take this and use it as a work mule wagon that we hitch to folks to get them to do things.

The Lord wasn't telling them how to be the greatest so that they would now be stepping over each other in competition.
Because they couldn't be the greatest, Jesus is.
No man can do what Christ did.

The greater works are collective works of one body, not one natural man.
So Mega church or mini church the body is what God sees.
Baptized 5,000 or 5 you are doing the part that your member does.

Well Lord knows that I was not the greatest yesterday at the luncheon because I didn't offer to fix the doctor a plate.
I fixed my plate gave him a card wishing him well and a hug and beat it out of there back to my office to eat and burn patient studies to a DVD. LOL! :)

I will miss him greatly and I left quickly so that I wouldn't get emotional and start crying and all of that jazz.

I said all of this to say that many people desire to have the spotlight, they like the chief places and the titles and to be seen and congratulated of men, but this doctor didn't walk in the room like he was Napoleon, he stood back and his desire was to see us fed and enjoy.

There is nothing wrong with being honored and receiving congratulations until we begin to expect it with an attitude of pride.
Stay humble because grace rests upon that.

God's Grace is so amazing that it would rather honor those who seek to honor it.

This is how the Lord Jesus feels about us.
He served us with His life and His desire is to see us enjoy our lives, because it pleases Him.
Christ Jesus put Himself last that our needs might be met first.

Thank You Lord!

The Lord Jesus left His throne in heaven and came down to earth to give Himself a ransom for us.

Glory to God!

Consider these scriptures today.
Galatians 2:20; James 4:6; 1 Timothy 2:1-6

Love Y'all