“Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” 1 John 4:16
“The Spirit of Adonai is upon me;
therefore He has anointed me to announce Good News to the poor; he has sent me
to proclaim freedom for the imprisoned and renewed sight for the blind, to
release those who have been crushed, to proclaim a year of the favor of
Adonai.” (Luke 4:18-19)
Jesus, having His eyes opened to what the Spirit was leading
Him into, sat down and proclaimed, “Today, as you heard it read, this passage
of the Tanakh was fulfilled!” (Luke 4:21)
This wasn’t a pride filled statement to glorify Himself but an
understanding gained of the good God had for Him to do in His ministry. He was fully embracing the revelation of it
and proclaiming it out.
What God had for Him was opposite of what we see Satan had
for Him. Jesus just came out of the
wilderness where He was tempted for 40 days with the opposite—to receive rather
than to give. First, he was tempted to
use His power to gain bread for Himself.
He refuted with “Man does not live on [to receive] bread alone.” (Luke 4:4)
Then He was taken up to see all the Kingdoms and told if He
worshipped Satan, that He would have power and glory for Himself and all the
kingdoms of the world would be His. In
refute, He answers Him, “The Tanakh says, “Worship Adonai your God and serve
Him only.” (Luke 4:9)
Then Satan took Him to the highest point in Jerusalem and
tempted Him to prove He was the Son of God by jumping off in faith and
believing God to protect Him, testing His love and protection over Jesus. Jesus answered, “it also says, ‘Do not put
Adonai Your God to the test.’” (Luke 4:12)
The temptations that Jesus received were all about receiving
for Himself. They were a temptation to
get Jesus to focus on Himself and what God had for Him. To receive.
Jesus refused to embrace this.
Rather, He kept turning outward. He moved towards embracing giving and not
receiving.
This is the biggest pull and temptation. Proverbs 11:2 says, “First comes pride, then
disgrace; but with the humble is wisdom.”
Pride has to do with exalting self.
It is all focused around making oneself center of one’s world and
feeding this self-centered focus. This
pride was the first sin, when Satan thought he would exalt his throne above God
and fell. Satan took his eyes of God and
put them on himself and his own gain.
This was also the temptation in the garden that Satan used
with Adam and Eve. He tempted them that
they could gain for themselves if they would only eat of the tree of The
Knowledge of Good and Evil that God told them not to eat of. He wanted them to turn away from looking to
giving with God at the center and instead look to what they could take and
receive.
“The humble” spoken of in Proverb 11:2 don’t think low of
themselves but think less of themselves.
Wikipedia defines humility “as being ‘unselved’, a liberation from
consciousness of self, a form of temperance that is neither having pride nor
indulging in self-deprecation.”
Jesus didn’t diminish what God could do through Him like
Moses complaining to God about his stutter, and talk about Himself like He was
inept. Rather, He embraced fully
anything that had to do with giving Himself away. He was completely humble as His heart was to
give and spend Himself rather than receive.
The humble are focused on what they can give out of the overflow of
their relationship with God and not to what they can get.
What tempts you?
What causes you to get off track?
Most likely it is rooted in seeking to receive rather than give. For me, it can be stepping into a role that would
give me significance of some sort. Sometimes I want significance over God and
think it is going to fill me. This
involves trying to accomplish something in my own strength.
In the upside-down way of the Kingdom, we take possession by
not possessing but by giving away. Righteousness is all about giving rather than
receiving. This is the path that leads
to life and true reward where what those seeking to gain for themselves are
illusory (Proverbs 11:18). The righteous
desire only good for others where the wicked hope to gain the advantage for
themselves which leads them offtrack and brings wrath (Proverbs 11:23).
Living out our lives in the purposes of God to love and give
ourselves away for others is the way of wisdom.
It is the place of provision and great gain in the Kingdom. Where living our lives out for our own
protection, self-satisfaction and personal gain is the way of the world and god
of this world (Satan).
Proverbs 11:24-25 says, “Some give freely and still get
richer, while others are stingy but grow still poorer. The person who blesses others will
prosper; he who satisfies others will be satisfied himself.” This is why the one who loves righteousness,
loves and seeks out discipline while the unrighteous hate correction. The righteous want to give more and are
willing to sacrifice to do so. The
unrighteous only seek what they can gain.
They don’t want correction in their lives because it is all about what
is for them, not for others.
Jesus is love and love gives freely and uninhibited without thought of gain. At the root of righteousness is a sense and desire to give forth of oneself where the root of wicked is a coveting and desiring gain for oneself. This is the flesh that Adam and Eve reached for in the garden – to not give and tend the garden out of love and devotion but to receive for themselves out of desire to gain.
What spirit is driving you? As we have seen time and time
again, Christians can operate out of the wrong spirit. They can do ministry with a desire to gain
something for themselves – recognition or wealth. In doing this, they will struggle with
pride. Or they can do ministry with a
desire to give themselves away fully.
It reminds me of a picture I had of the senior pastor at my
church some time ago. He was dressed
like a Jester in the King’s court. He
was wearing red and white tights, signifying holiness and also the covering of
the blood of Christ. His jacket was green
felt, speaking of standing in the place of mercy for the poor and oppressed. He had three red hearts across the back of
his jacket signifying divine love for our body through the Trinity and big
yellow, pointy shoes that curled up signifying the joy of being a fool for
Christ that he was standing in. He
gives himself away weekly so that the body of Christ can have more.
So it is with the leaders, so it will be with the
followers. Like the verses from last
week out of Mark 16:14-17, Jesus commissioned the disciples to, like Him in Luke 4:18-19 to “announce Good
News to the poor;” “proclaim freedom for the imprisoned and renewed sight for
the blind, to release those who have been crushed, to proclaim a year of the
favor of Adonai.” They were not only to
do this but it says that those signs will follow those who trust as a
result. They will be life bringers to
others rather than takers. He makes
known to us the path of life that leads to our abundance (in giving not
receiving). It is the way of love.
In Matthew 24:45-51, Jesus compares the faithful and
unfaithful servant. He said, “Who, then,
is a faithful and wise servant? It is the one that his master has placed in
charge of the other servants to give them their food at the proper
time. How happy that servant is if his
master finds him doing this when he comes home!
Indeed, I tell you, the master will put that servant in charge of all
his property. But if he is a bad
servant, he will tell himself that his master will not come back for a long
time, and he will begin to beat his
fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkard (take and seek his own
gain, indulgence and blessing). Then that servant's master will come back
one day when the servant does not expect him and at a time he does not know.
The master will cut him in pieces and make him share the fate of the
hypocrites. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.”
This is a warning to leaders and the unfruitful churches
that do not bring people along the path of life to multiply the Kingdom but
rather are stuck in seeking gain for themselves in their own blessing after
blessing and honor after honor. It is
the warning of Balaam, the sorcerer, who pulled on other spirits to receive personal
gain (wealth and honor) to achieve his own advantage rather than walking in
devotion, loyalty and love to God in faithfulness. Balaam’s heart was not right as it was
self-seeking.
The fruit of a tree speaks for itself. As the saying goes, “But wisdom is proved
right by all her children.” Large or small, there are churches that are
stagnant and not flowing outside their walls bringing life to others but trying
to obtain it for themselves and those who do give freely, multiplying the
kingdom of God as it flows out into the world around them.
When John started to doubt, Jesus told the disciple to “Go
back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight,
the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, and the dead
are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.” (Luke 7:22)
This is the evidence of the gospel. People not only receive their sight, the lame walk, deaf hear, dead raised, leprosy cleansed, and good news proclaimed, but as noted last week, Jesus said this is the evidence that they trust - that those who receive the gospel, give it away freely in the same way. With the same passion they are ministered to, they minister out to others. It can't just be a stagnant pool of receiving and never giving. I say this to myself as I sometimes fall into wanting to receive and be ministered to rather than entering the joy of ministering to others. When I become gluttonous for receiving, I become stagnant.
As the reading for yesterday to pray over the youth of my
church notes, “Generosity is at the heart of Christianity; Jesus reiterates that message, ‘Give away
your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back – given back
with bonus and blessing. Giving, not
getting, is the way. Generosity begets
generousity.’” (Luke 6:38) [1]
Lord, I long to have more to give. Forgive me where I have sought my own gain,
even out of spiritual hunger, rather than having more to give away. I see now where this tempts me off course. Teach
us the way of love. Like Jesus, let our
hearts break with compassion for the lost, helpless and oppressed. Let us walk
in the fullness of all that You have for us by the Spirit. Help us today, “with every person [we] encounter,
to bring good news, to have a heart of compassion and to seek to minister to
others, as Jesus did.”[2] Let us give freely
as we have received freely – proclaiming the good news, opening the eyes of the
blind and bringing healing and deliverance to all in need.
1. 1. Gumbel, Nicky. Bible in One Year 2022: Youth. Day 86. YouVersion Bible Plan.
2. 2. Gumbel, Nicky. Bible in One Year 2022: Youth. Day 87. YouVersion Bible Plan.
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