{"id":12393,"date":"2015-02-25T09:31:53","date_gmt":"2015-02-25T14:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=12393"},"modified":"2015-02-25T11:57:11","modified_gmt":"2015-02-25T16:57:11","slug":"the-destitution-of-service-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=12393","title":{"rendered":"The Destitution of Service"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 class=\"entry-title\">\u2026though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. \u2014<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?version=31&amp;search=2+Corinthians+12%3A15\" target=\"_blank\">2 Corinthians 12:15<\/a><\/h1>\n<p><!-- .entry-meta --> <!-- .entry-header --><\/p>\n<section class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"post-content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fF61jnKDyGg\" width=\"620\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><br \/>\nNatural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, but also that I may be able to get you to God.\u201d \u201cFor you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor\u2026\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=2+Corinthians+8:9\">2 Corinthians 8:9<\/a>). And Paul\u2019s idea of service was the same as our Lord\u2019s. He did not care how high the cost was to himself\u2014 he would gladly pay it. It was a joyful thing to Paul.The institutional church\u2019s idea of a servant of God is not at all like Jesus Christ\u2019s idea. His idea is that we serve Him by being the servants of others. Jesus Christ actually \u201cout-socialized\u201d the socialists. He said that in His kingdom the greatest one would be the servant of all (see\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew+23:11\">Matthew 23:11<\/a>). The real test of a saint is not one\u2019s willingness to preach the gospel, but one\u2019s willingness to do something like washing the disciples\u2019 feet\u2014 that is, being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God. It was Paul\u2019s delight to spend his life for God\u2019s interests in other people, and he did not care what it cost. But before we will serve, we stop to ponder our personal and financial concerns\u2014 \u201cWhat if God wants me to go over there? And what about my salary? What is the climate like there? Who will take care of me? A person must consider all these things.\u201d All that is an indication that we have reservations about serving God. But the apostle Paul had no conditions or reservations. Paul focused his life on Jesus Christ\u2019s idea of a New Testament saint; that is, not one who merely proclaims the gospel, but one who becomes broken bread and poured-out wine in the hands of Jesus Christ for the sake of others.<\/p>\n<p>____________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>February 25 2015<\/p>\n<p>Journal Entry for Today<\/p>\n<p>Father God, thank you for this devotional and the introspection it provides. You guided us to the lesson that all service is good as long as you are in it. And you spoke to us about \u201cmaking a difference\u201d\u2026.a statement and a question about our priorities. In addition to our lives, families, careers and personal goals, are we committed to making a difference as well?<\/p>\n<p>Thank You for this reminder. Please help us be connected with Jesus, and directed by You to make a difference in the lives of others this day. Help us make this a part of our daily hour by hour, minute by minute living.\u00a0 Help us stay aware of the homeless, a stranded motorist, or someone that just needs a smile. Help us be a difference today and every day as we understand that serving others is just one more part of living a transformed life of abundance.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2026though the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved. \u20142 Corinthians 12:15 Natural human love expects something in return. But Paul is saying, \u201cIt doesn\u2019t really matter to me whether you love me or not. I am willing to be completely destitute anyway; willing to be poverty-stricken, not just for your sakes, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12393"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12393"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12393\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12397,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12393\/revisions\/12397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12393"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12393"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12393"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}