Philippians 2:1-11
These
verses are beautiful!!! Unfortunately, they are not always lived out
by Christians. This past year, I had to learn them the hard way! I had a
friend (who I still, greatly love and consider a friend by the way) who
seemed to constantly try to hurt me whenever we saw each other. During worship I heard God say, "If you really
want to lose weight, lose the excess baggage of what others think of
you." (I had put on a few and was trying to lose them) Through this
experience God led me and taught me from these verses.
Verses 6 & 7 KJV says,(6) "Who being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (7) But
made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant,
and was made in the likeness of men:
I would like to write about two of the words
in these verses, firstly Servant and secondly Reputation.
Being a "Servant" has been given a bad name
because man (humans) have abused those they consider to be "servants".
Some look at a "servant" as though they are of a lower class than
themselves, sometimes not even considering that "servant" to be a human being. That is ugly, cruel and
IS NOT GODLY AT ALL!! If you are in Christ Jesus, you have become a
servant of God
as Christ Jesus Himself was while He was upon this
earth. There are even Christians who call themselves a "servant of God"
and yet end up thinking this is being a "servant of man". They, even
though their heart is right, are wrong in their perception of whom they
are serving. When you are a "servant of man", let me assure you, you
are always trying to please man, and this is IMPOSSIBLE most of the
time. When you are a "servant of man", there are limited resources and
boundaries, and man will make more demands on you than you can ever
fulfill. When you are a "servant of man", you will only be able to give
from natural resources. Every time you see the words "servant" or bond
servant" pertaining to being a Servant of God, this is what it means;
you SERVE GOD as His children - UNTO and INTO man. HUGE DIFFERENCE!!!!.
Father God, Abba, my Daddy, is already pleased with you and me, because
of what our Christ Jesus accomplished on the Cross and through His
blood, not anything we do. There is no one or position any human holds
that He thinks that person is GREATER than another. He will never put
more on you than you can handle, He may stretch you out of your comfort
zone, a lot, but He has already equipped you to accomplish that which
He's asks you to do. His resources are limitless and supernatural and
always filled with Love for you and the man (human) He has asked you to
give to, OH PRAISE GOD!!! So there's the difference, if that word
"servant" makes you cringe, quit it, you and I are a child of the MOST
HIGH GOD, that serves HIM unto man. Christ Jesus left everything of His
former position in Heaven and came to earth and became a Servant, but He
ONLY served His Father in
Heaven and gave unto man kind and look at the
great works He did, He healed the sick, raised the dead, cast out
demons, fed the multitudes, loved the unlovely, went to the house of
sinners and these are just some of the many ways He served God unto
man. He also served God by NOT stoning the woman caught in adultery,
and of course He served God
our Father unto all mankind by pouring out
His precious blood and
hanging on the Cross. We serve an incredible
God!!
Secondly let's deal
with the words "of no reputation". John 2:24,25 KJV says (24) But Jesus
did not commit Himself unto them, because He knew all men, (25) And
needed not that any should testify of man; for He knew what was in man.
The word "commit" means this in Strongs "to have faith (in or upon with
respect to a person or thing)". God has called us to lose OUR
reputations and "put on Christ Jesus". If we really want to lay our
lives down and pick up His we truly have to lose our reputation with
man. God doesn't give us "reputations", He has given us a new
identity. A reputation is just mankind's way of placing a label on you
which either causes you to be accepted by them or rejected by them.
Most people spend their lives trying to have a good reputation because
it means someone or a group isn't rejecting them and when they are
always trying to be accepted and not rejected then have within
themselves a fear that is not of God. Rejection HURTS, I understand,
especially if you were born with a parent or parents who have done this
to you all your life, or maybe you've been rejected by a spouse, or
maybe even a child, a friend or friends, and God forbid a church. If
this is you, oh how my heart breaks for you, I tell you the truth when I
write, on some of these, I understand. But let me promise you this,
my friend, God has NEVER rejected you, God IS LOVE! I will also tell you
this, if ANYONE has rejected you, even a Christian, they most probably
have been rejected themselves and are dealing with issues that have
nothing to do with you. Most Rejectees become Rejectors, God showed it
to me and called it "A chain of rejection". In the name of Jesus, break
that chain off of you, and do not allow it to hold you any longer, nor
start a new chain with you. These who reject have a spirit of fear
within or upon them and are trying to get the person who rejected them
to accept them, so they go through their own lives rejecting others.
Don't allow them to cause you to fall or stumble, forgive them and allow
God to heal you in your hurt, and pray for them to be healed from their
hurts and fears. Those who have rejected you are actually to be
pitied, they have so much pain themselves. We are called to love even
when it hurts to do so. Read and allow Holy Spirit to allow Colossians
3:1-12 come alive within us and walk it continually. When you lose your
reputation and choose His identity, you are easily led by Holy Spirit,
jealousy loses it's hold and when another gets promoted or blessed you
can greatly rejoice with them.
I will end with this, please reread
Philippians 2:1-11 again and the next time, you feel the "need" to be
the one who must be heard, or the only one who prays for someone, or the
"need" to be the object of attention, or even to give a harsh word
"from God" to someone, this isn't how God's Word given here tells us to
behave. Take a moment to see who or what is leading you, and what are
your motives for doing it. I have to tell you there is a "spirit of
competition" that can come into a group of Christians, and it comes with
a "spirit of jealousy" and a "spirit of disunity", and they are all
rooted in a "spirit of fear", this is not of God. I've witnessed these
first hand, and I've also watched how Holy Spirit was grieved at these
Christians behavior. Please hear this, I speak these words out of Love
for you all, His Body, His Church, His Bride, BE UNITED IN HOLY SPIRIT
and do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility
consider others better than yourself. Let the mind of Christ Jesus, our
Lord, be in you. Love you all!!!!