Many years ago, I was on my motorcycle in Manila and
witnessed a four car accident…each vehicle coming from a different direction!
It was not high speed, (Which is impossible in Manila anyway!) but all four
vehicles kissed each other in the middle of the intersection. Immediately I
witnessed 4 individuals jumping out of their cars, fingers pointing at each
other! How human…everyone else is to blame!
I have been watching
what has been going on right now, and am seeing the same thing. Everybody is
talking about how uncivil and hostile we have become…which is true…yet; all are pointing their fingers at others!
I am sure there are
many more reasons for this than I could name, however, I do believe at the core exists a basic Truth that we all must face.
I am very political
by nature, but have chosen to silence myself in these matters because my
priorities are elsewhere. It seems senseless to me to clean and bandage a wound
when the patient has a terminal disease that is not being treated!
Still, I sense from
the Lord I should endeavor to challenge our thoughts about which system we are
operating from, so the next few Devos I will deal with that.
Jesus identifies the
two systems that we operate from in John 12.
John 12:23–27 Jesus
replied, “Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel
of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will
produce many new kernels—a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world
will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it
for eternity. Anyone who wants to
serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father
will honor anyone who serves me. “Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I
pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came!
In this Devo I will lay
some groundwork, and then take the passage apart in following devotionals.
Jesus points to two systems in play:
The world’s & The
Lord’s.
We interact with
both: Notice the differences:
* The World’s: Its
Goal is accumulation of Power, Money, Fame, Pleasure, and Things. Relationships
that feed our self-esteem, it operates on sight…you see what you want and ways
of getting it…MAYBE! (No guarantees) 
* The Lord’s: His Goal is transformation of you. It operates on Faith. You see a path of question marks that lead to Jesus. The only thing you know you are going to get is Him! You don’t know whether a path will turn, stop, go on or blend into another path.
* The world’s end
product is GAIN
* The Lord’s end
product is SURRENDER
* The world’s reward
is Temporal
* The Lord’s reward
is Eternal
The So What: Which
system are you operating from? Do you get so caught up in the events of the
day, that you lose your perspective of what God thinks is important? Do you
really believe one person, or a political party can fix what’s wrong?
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