John 12:23-28
New
International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be
glorified. 24 I
tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it
remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 The man who loves his
life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for
eternal life.(E) 26 Whoever serves me must
follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.bb My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27 “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save
me from this hour’? No,
it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your
name!”
Then
a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it
again.”
How many of us love our
lives? There are times, when things are
going the way I want them to that I love my life more than I should. Then there are times that I wonder why I am
still here on this earth, those are usually the times that things aren’t going
so well. Those should be the times that
I say like Jesus,
“it was for this very reason I came to this hour.”
It is so easy to get entrapped into
this world and the ways of the world. I
have heard it said about birthdays, “It is better than the alternative!” but is
that really true? I would think not! II Corinthians 5:8, “We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be
away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=II%20Corinthians%205:8&version=NIV1984)
To be absent on this earth is to be
present with the Lord. Yet, if the
reason we have been placed here on this earth has not yet been fulfilled we must
stay a little longer so the Father may be glorified. Paul says it well in Philippians 1:21 “For
to me, to live is Christ and
to die is gain.” (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Philippians%201:21&version=NIV1984)
What is most important for us to understand is
that even in our lives we need to die to ourselves. Unless we die to ourselves we cannot produce
the fruit the Father so much wants us to produce. While we are here on this earth we need to be
doing the will of the Father, believe in His name, believe in His power,
believe in His control, believe in His Son, so that we can have eternal
life. Often times we get caught up in
the world, we begin to believe in other things rather than trusting God. We begin to believe more in ourselves than
we do in knowing that only through God we are able to get out of bed each morning. We begin to complain about our circumstances
rather than give God the glory because it is His will not ours. I don’t know where you are at in all of these
situations but I know that I need to apply the practice of Paul in my own life,
Philippians 3:12 “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made
perfect, but I press on to
take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
As you seek Him, may you
remember Philippians 2:3, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain
conceit, but in humility
consider others better than yourselves.”
That is how Christ lived His life and He did it
not just for us but more importantly to glorify the Father. Is the Father being glorified through you
today? We need to think about it and
remember that this life is not about our own ambitions but about the will of
the Father.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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