Response In Times of Crisis

Introduction:-
Jehoshaphat was the 4th King of Judah (Northern Kingdom of Israel – He reigned for 25 years). Jehoshaphat was a wealthy and powerful King. He was also among the very few good and God fearing Kings that Judah had in its history. This is because, looking back to the history of Judah, we read that Judah and Israel was ruled by many wicked, ungodly Kings who dishonored YHWH. Among this entire wicked Kings, Jehoshaphat was one of the good ones.

Context:-
· 2 Chronicles 20:1 - 4; are set in the context of the worst crisis that Jehoshaphat faced in his 25 years of reign in Judah. It was when 3 of Judah’s enemies (the Ammonites, Moabites, and the people of Mount Seir) came to destroy Judah. Verse 3: Tells us how troubled the king got when he came to know that Judah is about to be invaded by enemies – Jehoshaphat realized how helpless he and the whole of Judah were in facing the enemies. This was when he realized that only God could help them and without God’s help, surely the enemies will trample Judah.
· The crisis that he was facing was a great one, but his response in times of crisis that matters the most for us today.

Response:-
1. He declared a fast (Vs. 3).

What is the significance of fasting? Today we fast almost everyday during lent. Some of us fast for few days in a week. However, have we actually asked why do we fast? Friends, fasting are a sign of total dependability on God. Here, when Jehoshaphat declared a nation wide fast, his gesture signifies that he and whole of Judah comes under total dependence of YHWH to help them to win the battle over their enemies.

2. They Prayed.

Verse 5-13 tells us that Jehoshaphat and whole of Judah prayed. They cried out to the Lord for His intervention. They realized that their military strength and all their means of effort would fail in facing their enemies. Their enemies were much greater than they were and Judah is sure to die unless God intervenes and saves His people. Judah’s state of helplessness is seen in vs. 12.

** As they were praying – we see the words of assurance coming from the Lord. In their powerless and hopeless state, as they earnestly fasted and prayed to God, God’s assurance comes to them. Verse 15 tells that God gives a “Fear not” oracle – for the battle no longer belong to Judah but it is Gods’.

3. They Sang and Praised (vs. 21).

All that Judah did on the day of the battle was to sing God’s praises. They did not take their spear or armor. All that they did was praising God. Verse 22 tell us that as they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against their enemies. The 3 enemies who came united to trample and destroy Judah started killing each other. Friend in times of crisis, if God intervenes, He gives us a complete victory. Verse 24 tells us that not even one of Judah enemies were spared in the battle – God utterly destroyed all of them and gave Judah the total victory in the battle.

Conclusion:-
·What is our response today in times of crisis? Whatever our crisis may be, no matter how great our crises are, how do we response in times of crisis?
· Are you facing crisis at work? Are you facing crisis in your family – is your marriage shaken up? Are your children straying away from the Lord? Are you in a serious financial debt? What is your crisis? – Turn to God, he is able to set you free from your crisis, he is able to liberate you from your crisis and give you a total victory over it. The God who saved Judah is also our God and no circumstances are too great for Him. He is El-Shaddai @ Almighty God.
· What is our response in times of crisis? Are we turning to God in total dependability as Jehoshaphat and Judah did or do we look first into all the other resources and depend on others for remedy?
· Friend, let us turn to God in times of crisis. The Psalmist says in Ps. 121:1 that he lifts up his eyes to the hills from where his help come from. Our God who is the creator of heaven and earth is able to deliver us from our crisis. Let us indeed earnestly seek him and be saved.

"The Regrets of Sin"

2 Samuel 12: 1-7 tells us that Nathan the prophet came to David to admonish David for sin. Though David was declared by God as a man after His own heart. Though David was the greatest king ever ruled over Israel, there was also the negative side of this King. He committed a terrible sin in the eyes of the Lord. As a consequence of his sin, David had to experience many regrets in his life. Friends, let us be informed that our God is an ever forgiving God who in His great mercy forgives and accepts us. However, the power of sin always leaves behind stain and regret that is beyond repair. That was what exactly happened to David.

I. Sin Causes us not to Experience the Fullness of God’s Blessings(vs. 8)

I would have given you many more things. God in His great plan for David had in stored many more blessings for David – but David’s sin hindered that plans from being fulfilled. God is liberal in His gifts. When He has given much, He stands ready to give more. However, we miss the fullness of His blessings because of the nature of sin - James 1:14-15. Our covetous hearts display ungratefulness to God for His blessings.
* David was never able to build the temple of God – his son, Solomon did. The temple’s significance in Israel – David did not get the glory because of his sin. God’s fullness of blessing was hindered by his sin.

II. Sin Causes You to Experience the Loss of BlessingGod would take the blessings already given (Vs. 11)God would take the blessings already given (Vs. 11) - He would take David’s wives. It is untold the number of blessings that are lost because God’s people desire to show discontent by sin. It just doesn’t just mean a loss of potential blessings, but it can mean a loss of existing blessings.

* It can mean losing God’s presence in our lives – Psalm 51: 11

* It can mean a loss of the blessing of joy - Psalm 51:12

III. Sin Causes You to Experience Judgment in light of God’s Blessings.

David was still king in spite of his sins. He still had the promise of dynamic succession, but his family would never know peace (Vs. 10); his family would experience trouble within (Vs. 11)

a. Ammon raped Tamar

b. Absalom murdered Ammon

c. Absalom turned the people against David

d. Absalom attempted to take the throne.

e. Absalom lost his own life

Conclusion:

David would never experience the fullness of God’s blessings. It was because of sin. There were more regrets then joy for David in his kingship because of his sin. The story of David should alert us the damaging power of sin. Sin is able to strip us of peace and joy and above all slowly but surely separate us from God’s presence.

"if you believe"

A reflection from Mark 9: 17-27 - Jesus heals the epileptic.

This miracle took place right after Jesus’ transfiguration experience on the mountain top. Gospel of Mark records this as the last miracle in the Gospel. The story tells us that a man brought his son who was epilepsy due to demon possession to Jesus’ disciples to be delivered. But unfortunately, the boy was not delivered, thus the case was brought to Jesus.

1. The disciples were not able to cast out the demon in this boy because the boys father did not have enough faith. Vs. 19 tells us Jesus’ response to the father’s plea. Here when Jesus said you faithless generation, He was making reference to the boys father as well as the crowd.
In receiving God’s miraculous touch, what matter the most is the faith of the potential recipient than the servant of God who is administrating the healing. This was what exactly happened in this story. Even Jesus did not perform the miracle until the man believed.
Vs. 22 tells us the attitude of this man’s heart. His unbelief in belief. He said “if you are able”……… His unbelief / lack of faith annoyed the Lord (vs. 23). Jesus reinstates here that “All things can be done for the one who believe”. Interestingly, Jesus did not say “all things WILL be done, but instead He said, all things CAN be done”. What does this means. It simply means when we truly believe (100% without doubt) in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, than everything is possible or CAN be done for us. Our faith simply moves the hands of the Lord to perform miracle for us.

E.M Bounds in his book entitled “Power in Prayer” says, ‘that the prayer of righteous will move the hands of the Lord’ .

Friends if we claim that we belief in God, we better belief in His power 100% - because God can not work in the midst of our unbelief. Vs. 24 tells us the repentance of this man, he became totally dependent on the Lord and completely believed and subsequently the miracle took place in his son's life (vs. 25).

There are TWO things that I want to draw of from the text:-

Firstly, most of the times, our unbelief or lack of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ hinders us to receive healing and other forms of blessings in our lives. Sometimes, we claim that we belief in the Lord, but than we also have other alternate things to believe in that undermines our 100% belief in the Lord. So, we fail to receive from the Lord what is due to us. Unbelief will cripple a believer’s life. But FAITH makes all things possible for us (Mark 11: 22-24). The Bible tells us that without faith we can not please God (Hebrews 11:6), So, FAITH is essential not only to receive healing/blessings from the Lord but it is also essential for us to PLEASE God.

Secondly, I want to draw our attention back to Mark 9: 23. Jesus did not say “all things WILL be done, but instead He said, all things CAN be done”. What does this mean? Though faith is the trigger point for God to work miracle in our lives but remember the Bible tells us that it CAN be done and Not WILL be done. Which means it is still under God’s prerogative whether to do it or not. Healing or blessings that we ask or plead of God is still subject to His Will. I am very much convinced that we should at all times ask God with Faith. Because our faith determines God’s answer. However, I will not twist the arms of the Lord since ultimately it is all according to His WILL and not ours. We can only ask and belief. God has the ultimate power to decide whether to give/heal or otherwise. A good Christian is a person who will have 100% faith when he prays but at the same time he /she will be submissive to the WILL of God. Just as Jesus submitted to the WILL of the Father in the garden of Gethsemane, “Not my will but yours be done”.

So, friends lets us achieve and receive great things in life by completely trusting or having faith in Jesus in all our undertakings. At the same time, let us also learn to submit ourselves to the perfect WILL

Youth Adventure Camp

On the 8th February the youths of my church attended an Adventure Camp at SUFES Campsite, Tapah. I had to follow them and basically babysit them. However on the way back, we as a family took a short trip to a nearby waterfalls. It was indeed an awesome sight. Lata Kijang waterfall, located in Tapah (visible from the North South Expressway).

My dear Sophia posing at the carpark...actually this photo is taken in the middle of the jungle. I drove in my car through the narrow path in the jungle to a point that is no longer accessible for my MPV and send off the youth for their adventure in the deep jungle.

at the waterfalls...Lata Kijang

An evening by Morib beach

In the recent Chinese New Year break, i had a short holiday with my family back home in my hometowm, Banting. We decided to take a drive to the beach together with my mom.

By the way, this is my beloved mom..taking a walk by the shore

Though it was a very short break, we really enjoyed being away from town, and other forms of ministerial commitments. Thanks to God who grants us rest to take our minds off the busy routines of ministry.

The faith of the Magi

I preached this sermon during the 2008 Christmas Service. The message challenged me and many others who heard it. Just want to share it with all. God Bless.

What do we really know about the wise men / the magi? Not much when you examine the scripture. Where did they come from? “The east” you say. But where in the east? How far east? Africa? Or where? We know they came from the east and they came from a long way away, but we don’t really know where they came from.How many of them were there and what kind of men were they? Again, we don’t know. In the second century, a church father named Tertullian suggested that these men were kings because the Old Testament had predicted that kings would come to worship him. He also concluded that there were three kings based on the number of gifts mentioned, gold, frankesence and myrrh. And the manufacturers of nativity scenes caught on and so in every nativity scene, you see three kings or wise men. But the Bible doesn’t tell us who they were or how many of them came.We don’t even really know that they were wise. In the original manuscripts they are called the “magi” from an ancient Iranian word, “magoi” which was used to describe people who acted in very strange ways, were captivated by astrology, spells and incantation and dressed in a very bizzare manner. The latin word is “magi” from which we get words like “magician.”
So we don’t know who they were, where they came from or even how many of them there were. Why not? Why doesn’t Matthew tell us any of this information? I’m not sure I know with certainty, but I’d suggest that all of this detail is left out of the picture in order that the full emphasis may be placed on the one thing that is central to this story, namely their statement, “we have come to worship.” That’s the main point of this particular story as Matthew tells it to us. “We have come to worship.” And as we look at what Matthew tells us about these men, although they may have been strange little men who dressed weird, they really were wise men.And the challenge for us today, is whether we will be wise men and women. I believe that wise men still seek him. Wise men still serve him and wise men still worship him. Let’s read the text.

[Read Matthew 2.1-2]

1. First, wise men still seek him.

It’s likely that these magi were descendants of the ten tribes of Israel that remained in Babylon after the time of Daniel. Many of the Jews did not return to their homeland but rather chose to remain behind in Babylon. There they were assimilated into the culture and probably adopted many of the religious practices of the pagans. So these magi may not have been very orthodox in their faith, but still, they were looking for the coming messiah. They took literally the statement from Numbers 24.17: “A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” And so they searched the skies for hundreds of years looking for a sign that the messiah had come. And when they saw the star, they rejoiced and came seeking the one who was born king of the Jews. We don’t know exactly how far they traveled, but it is likely that they came from 500 to 1000 miles away. Imagine traveling that far on the back of a camel. And it was a long and difficult trip across the desert. They really wanted to come and worship Jesus. They were serious seekers. They went all out to seek for the Messiah.Contrast them with the chief priests and teachers of the law. They were not the least bit interested. They didn’t care about the star. And they wouldn’t travel 6 little miles down the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to check out what was happening. They knew the right answers. They just weren’t willing to make the effort to see if what they had heard was true. Let me give you a little background about this gospel at this point. Matthew is writing this gospel to Jewish people who are living away from Israel. His purpose is to convince them that Jesus is the Christ predicted in the Old Testament. That’s why he makes so many references to it. And what he is saying to these people to whom he is writing is that they should be like the magi, not like the Jewish religious leaders. Wise men still seek him. Check him out. Do what ever it takes to convince yourself that Jesus really was born King of the Jews.Wise men and women still seek him. What about you? Are you seeking for something to fill the void in your life this morning? What are you seeking for this Christmas? Let me suggest to you that there are a lot of ways to fill that feeling of emptiness. But there’s only one way to fill it in a way that will last. That’s to realize that the emptiness is caused by God in order to bring you to himself. God sent Jesus to fill that void. To built the bridge between God and man. The bridge that was broken because of human sin and disobedience. Jesus brought about the reconciliation and filled the emptiness that was caused by sin. So, Jesus is the best gift for this Christmas. Let us ask ourselves who or what are really seeking for this Christmas.

2. Secondly, wise men still serve him.

The magi came to worship. They stopped in Jerusalem to find out exactly where Jesus could be found. There they met King Herod. He must have been enraged by their question and statement. “Where is he who is born king of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.” “Born king of the Jews?” Kings are not born. Herod had to murder, commit acts of deceit and treachery in order to become king. Who in the world could be born a king? And why would he have a star? And why would these men want to worship a baby? Herod must have been beside himself. But he kept calm and tried to make a deal with the magi. “Tell me where he is so that I too, can come to worship.” The magi knew through supernatural means that he was lying to them. But now they had a choice. Who would they serve? The little tiny helpless baby born king of the Jews or the full grown, murderous treacherous Herod? After all, if they served Herod, he might reward them greatly. Jesus was just a baby. Maybe they could worship and serve him later is life. Maybe they could serve Herod now and Jesus later. Maybe they could have the best of both worlds, have their cake and eat it, too. But that’s not what they did. They went to worship this little tiny baby. And then when God warned them supernaturally in a dream and they understood what he wanted them to do, they were faithful to serve him regardless of the danger of disobeying the murderous King Herod.Wise men still serve Him. Are you serving Him? What has He called you to do? I don’t claim to know specifically, but I do know that serving God involves serving others. There are a lot of opportunities to serve others especially at this time of year. In fact, this year we are serving to an even greater extent than we have in past years. We as Pastors truly believe that God has called our church to serve the poor this time around. Many social activities and funds have been channeled towards this cause. Take this festive season as a great opportunity to serve the poor. By serving the poor and marginalized we serve God (He who gives to the poor lends to the Lord)
But doing good for others doesn’t end with the Christmas season. Again, as part of our commitment to live a life that really matters, we will call ourselves to serve God by doing premeditated acts of kindness to those around us. We’ll call ourselves to give time to serving God either through our church or other avenues of service. God blesses those who serve him. Wise men still serve him.

3. And finally, wise men still worship him.

These men had once come all this way with one purpose in mind. That purpose was to worship the one who was born king of the Jews. They came to worship the Son of God. They did it with confidence. They did it with the certainty of hope. Look at some of the language. “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.” They didn’t just set out for a leisurely ride in the desert, show up in Jerusalem and say, “we heard something was going on in this area. What’s happening? We saw some bright stars and thought maybe they meant something. What do you think?” No. They were definite and they were certain. “Where is he? We have come to worship him.”And they brought with them expensive gifts, gifts fit for a king. They brought gold, a gift of wealth for royalty, frankenscence, a gift for a man living a hard working life, and myrrh, a gift to suited for one’s burial. Did they appreciate the significance of their gifts? We don’t know. But what we do know is that they didn’t just wander out, find a little baby and then decide that they needed to find a mall to pick up a gift. They brought gifts, expensive gifts, because they knew they were going to worship a king. Wise men still worship Him. Are you a wise man or woman? Are you spending time worshipping him? I’m not just talking about attending church. You can attend church and still not worship. Worship involves praising God both in speaking and in singing. Worship involves hearing the word of God taught and responding by changing our lives. And worship involves giving of our gifts to God. How are you doing in your worship? Are you taking time to praise, to confess, to study and to grow? Are you giving generously, extravagantly to God’s work? Giving is an act of worship. As we come to the end of this year, I want to simply ask you whether you are giving gifts to your church that are sacrificial and worthy to be given to the one born a King? In faith they gave gifts to a baby. In faith we give gifts to our risen Lord.

Conclusion

The magi really were wise men. And today, wise men still seek him. Wise men still serve him and wise men still worship him. My prayer for us is that we will be a church of wise men and women, seeking him, serving him and worshipping him as he leads us every day to become more and more a growing family of believers being transformed to wholeness and joy. May this Christmas be celebrated with Christ being our focus. Let us celebrate by seeking Him earnestly, serving Him faithfully and worship Him in truth and Spirit.

Why did He do that? (Jesus washed the disciples feet)

I once preached about the story of Jesus washing the dirty feet of His disciples (John 13: 5-17) in the church where i am currently serving. As i was preparing the sermon, i felt very unworthy of myself. In fact i did mention that as i began to preach. I praise God that many were deeply touched and ministered through the preaching. Many reconciled with others who they were having difficulities with. So, i thought it will be a blessing for all of us if i would upload the sermon here.

Introduction:
Jesus washing the feet of the disciples is only mentioned in the Gospel of John. Washing feet in such a situation was the role of the most menial or unskilled of servants. Why was it necessary for feet washing before a meal? In understanding the context of the narrative, Jesus and His disciples lived in the Middle East. Geographically filled with deserts and sandy grounds. Thus, it is unavoidable for a person who walks in this situation to avoid collecting dust on their feet. So, when Jesus and His disciples sat down to dine (the dinning table was not as high as ours. The height of the table was only 1 feet from the ground.) Thus, the food that is served on the table is very much exposed to the dust that is collected on their feet. So, in such a situation it was the role of the most menial / unskilled of servants to wash clean the feet of the guest who are about to dine. Normally a servant would have been present to perform this task, but there were none present in the upper room since it was a secret meal. The disciples did not want to wash each other's feet since they had just been arguing about which of them was the greatest (Luke 22:24).Here Jesus reversed normal roles and assumed the place of a servant rather than that of a rabbi. He even dressed Himself as a slave (cf. Phil. 2:6-7).

Transition: When Jesus stooped to wash His disciples’ feet He showed us several important truths about serving others. The first thing that caught my attention is in the first verse, Jesus shows...

1. The Priority of Serving

v. 1 "It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love."

What would you do if you knew you would die a violent death in about 12 hours? Would you want to be alone in prayer? Record some final thoughts? Would you spend time with those you loved? What would you want to emphasize? Jesus, the Bible says knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and so he took off his cloak put a towel around His waist and washed the dirty feet of His disciples. Who’s going to waste time on that when the end is so near? Jesus. Why? Because He wanted to show them how important it is to humbly serve one another.

Philippians 2:3-5; Paul tells us that we should "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself..."

He humbled himself why? In order to demonstrate His love as verse 1 says He now showed them the full extent of His love. Jesus by His actions showed us that nothing indicates love more clearly than humble service to others. And note with me that the Scripture notes both before and after the description of Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet that of all people Judas was there. Judas, having decided already that He would betray the Lord, was among them and received the humble demonstration of Christ’s love.Lest we think that we have no responsibility to love and serve those who don’t reciprocate (respond) our efforts and love, Jesus washed the feet of Judas too. A person who never returned any good to Jesus but only caused harm to Him.

ILLUSTRATION: Mother Teresa visited Phoenix in 1989 to open a home for the poor. During that brief visit, she was interviewed by KTAR, the largest radio station in town. In a private moment, the announcer asked Mother Teresa if there was anything he could do for her. He was expecting her to request a contribution or media attention to help to raise money for the new home for the needy in Phoenix. Instead, she replied, "Yes, there is. Find somebody nobody else loves, and love them." Serving others, demonstrating our love in tangible ways is of first importance. Jesus considered it a priority.

The second thing Jesus showed us by washing his disciple’s feet is His...

2. Confidence in His Identity

vv. 3-5 "Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him".

The Scripture says that not just in spite of but because He understood who He was, that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet.It takes an understanding of our identity to be able to humble ourselves. The world tells us that we need to make ourselves look good in front of others, that we need to exalt ourselves, but Jesus said that "whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted (Matthew 23:12)."If we don’t understand who we are in Jesus we will be unwilling to humble ourselves until the Lord Himself humbles us.Jesus, was the Lord of the Universe. If anyone didn’t have to humble himself to wash the feet of farmers and fishermen, He didn’t. But because he knew he was Lord of the Universe, because He knew He was not diminished by showing his love in humble service, he took up the towel and basin and stooped to serve.

The third thing Jesus showed us by washing feet is found in today’s conversation with Jesus, the exchange with Peter in which Jesus makes clear our...

3. Our Need to Be Served by Him

vv. 6-9 "He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.""No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.""Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"

Peter demonstrates a little false humility here. I don’t think it’s true humility but embarrassment that He hadn’t thought of it first that causes him to reject Jesus’ offer to serve Him. But when Jesus makes it clear that being served by Him is one of the conditions of having a relationship with Him then Peter has a change of heart.I think there is clearly some symbolism here. Jesus is saying not just that Peter must let Him wash his feet but the reference is to the more thorough washing that Jesus will perform the next day when His blood is shed for Peter’s sin and for ours.Just like Peter it is pride that often keeps us from letting Jesus cleanse us. We want to be self sufficient. It shames to admit that we can’t overcome sin in our lives. Truly unless we let Him cleanse us, we have no part with Him. Our resistance to Jesus’ intervention into our sinful ways simply shows of our wrong understanding about ourselves and about Christ Himself.
We must first understand that we are totally deprived by our sinfulness. Which means we can not help ourselves by any means or efforts to come into a right standing before God. Second, we must realize that it only takes the blood of Christ to wash us from the guilt of sin and lead us into the sanctification process. Even once we are saved we a desperate for His ‘prevenient grace’ that will help us to prevent from sinning. Unless we recognize the mistake of our pride--the mistake that says, "I’m good enough on my own" then we make no room for Jesus. Unless we confess our need, confess our sin and humbly ask his forgiveness, trusting that His death on the cross paid the price for our sins, we are doomed to an eternity without him. Just a moment’s thought about that prospect should be enough to make us like Peter to drop the false humility routine, to say, "then Lord, please clean me, make me acceptable to you"

There’s one final thing that we can see in Jesus’ foot washing object lesson...

4. Our Need to be Servants

vv. 12-17 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me ’Teacher’ and ’Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.Jesus says, if I your teacher, your Lord, your Master, found it necessary to serve you, then you should serve others.

In fact, to serve is what it means to lead. We cannot call ourselves followers of Christ and be unwilling to serve in humble ways. That doesn’t mean that we don’t have individual gifts and places of service, sometimes very public ones, roles of leadership, but each of us should be willing to humble ourselves, to demonstrate our love for those we serve. You see foot washing isn’t about foot washing, it’s about serving others at personal sacrifice, humbling ourselves when we don’t have to--because we don’t have to. Verse 17 tell us the end result of this command – we will be blessed if we do them. Our God is truly a God who honors our sacrifices. Thus as a result of obedience to God’s word, when we humble ourselves and serve others, when we consider others higher or greater than us, when we do good to those who even betrays us and wash their feet, indeed we will be blessed.