To Serve Is To Love

Acts 2:3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

Tuesday Gathering — 16th November 2021

Our Tuesday Gathering was led by His Presence to follow the theme of service. He is ‘The Servant King’, and although we did not sing that song, His servanthood was expressed over and over again by His Word. This brief meditation cannot hope to do justice to all that was shared, so only a part can be written here, but a list of the scriptures will be given in our ‘Meditate on these things’ endpiece.

This meditation is less a report on what we shared, more some thoughts that have occurred during the last few days, amid all the usual thinking turmoil which conspires to keep one from completing anything useful.

But Jesus called them to Himself and said to them, "You know that those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." [MARK 10:41-45 NKJV]

Here (and also reported in Matthew 20) is the story of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who ask if they can be seated at either side of Jesus in His glory. Jesus explains that such a thing is not in His gift, but for whom it is prepared. He then concludes with the words reproduced above in verses 41 to 45. The import of these words are set out in GALATIANS 5:13-15 …

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!

This lesson is another where Jesus turns our natural assumptions on their head, as we see in MATTHEW 10:39, He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. We are shown that if we are to declare the love of Jesus by our actions, it can only be done in humility, through service. To serve is to love.

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A HOLY CONDITION: Oswald Chambers on Joy
Strength In The Spirit

The joy of God remained with Jesus, and He said, “I want My joy to be in you.”
The wonder of communion is that I know and believe that Jesus Christ has redeemed the world; my part is to get men to realise it and then devote themselves to Jesus.
[from ‘He Shall Glorify Me’]

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“The Servant King” — Graham Kendrick

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‘MEDITATE UPON THESE THINGS’

SCRIPTURE VERSES CONSIDERED ON 16TH NOVEMBER 2021,
SHOULD YOU WISH TO FOLLOW HIM, ‘LINE UPON LINE’:
Acts 2:17-21
Luke 1:38
Galatians 5:13
John 12:26
Romans 12:1
Colossians 3:23-25
Mark 10: 35-45
Hebrews 9:15
Revelation 7:14-17
Psalm 85:10-13
Isaiah 55:11

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