“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.” Philippians 2:1-11
As men and women (mankind), we’ve struggled with letting God be God. Just about in every way we can, we try to take over His reign and rule upon the earth. Since Eve in the garden, we’ve tried to fill our empty caverns with anything but God Himself. We fill our heart with things like work, good deeds, relationships, power, greed, pride, and more of ourselves, and when we do, we feel that familiar emptiness of fear, sadness, hopelessness, and on and on. So often we don’t realize how much we war with God to be God. Indeed, this is often what sin is. Every time we don’t really come when He calls, this war exists. But, He is longing for your whole heart.
Jesus, however, who was God, did not want to make Himself like God. In fact, He made Himself nothing. He is the image of what a man fully submitted, with a whole heart, looks like.
A few weeks ago, my pastor spoke about Judas and Peter and about how they both denied Jesus. Check out Luke 22 and 23 to read more. These two men paint a beautiful portrait of us in our humanity. We are all striving to be like Jesus, but on this side of Heaven, we will more be like one of these two men, each with their own fears, insecurity, and empty heart caverns.
Both Judas and Peter denied Christ. In a sense, both are betrayers and both are being sifted by Satan. In a sense, you and I betray Christ each day too. One sought to fill the caverns with more of himself, and in doing so, he allowed his faith to fail, and he died a violent death, taking his own life. He never turned back to Christ to be healed from the darkness that resided within himself. Peter was being sifted by Satan too. Did he sin? Yes, he denied Christ, but he turned back. He let Christ fill His emptiness, and He went on to become the Father of the church.
Whether we like it or not, we get to choose if we will make ourselves nothing, so Christ can fully reign within. We daily decide what kind of warrior we will be, one who keeps living in the dark or one who allows Christ in the empty places so that light resides within and flows out into the dark world around us.
Sometimes, when I am sifted, I am like Judas, choosing the darkness over the light, but Jesus is praying like He prayed for Peter that my faith with not fail. Do you believe that Jesus longs for your faith not to fail? If not, I am praying for Jesus to help your unbelief. We have an opportunity to be like Peter, allowing room in our hearts for Jesus to reside again and the darkness to be cast out.
This is one in a 31 day series of Seeking Jesus. If you’d like to keep up with each post in this series, subscribe here.
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