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deng-li-xin32 — Mother of James and John: Greatness
Published: 2016-08-26 06:43:06 +0000 UTC; Views: 362; Favourites: 7; Downloads: 0
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I thought you had come to bring success,health, wealth and all the rest.
I thought you had come to fulfill all our dreams,
restore our nation to greatness,
grant prosperity.
I thought you chose my sons
to lift them into power,
helming your revolution with you,
mighty and glorious in your splendourous reign.
How disappointing
to be turned away.
But here at your cross
I understand.
I sought greatness, fulfillment and glory -
you taught the path of selflessness.
I wanted God to grant me my wishes -
you chose humble obedience.
I wanted power -
you carried the cross.
I wanted to win -
you freely chose loss.
I was serving myself,
while you served God
and served us all
through your self-denying love.
Here at your cross
I understand
that the first will be last
and the last will be first;
that greatest is she
who makes herself small -
for the Lord of all Lords
became servant to all.
Here at your cross
I understand,
as God is revealed
in godforsakenness,
as a weapon of torture
becomes your throne,
as your shame becomes your glory -
I understand.
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Comments: 7
I like the message here! That power and material goods don't equal glory, and sometimes selflessness is more glorious than any other kind of feat! I also like the concept of being revealed the truth through Jesus sacrifice! May God bless you!
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This really got me thinking. I've noticed this with my own parents. They constantly strove for material wealth when I was growing up and talked about how I'd do all these great, creative things and really "be somebody". I'm even taking film classes because I would like to make films, but I've found that I get the most fulfillment out of the simplest everyday interactions I have at the library I work at. However we are called to express it, we are being most Christ-like when we humble ourselves to help others and put our ambitions for this world secondary. After all, this life is temporary and all the possessions, fame and power will all fade away, but God and people are eternal. So let's focus on what's eternal.
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True! ^^
Sometimes we also put too much pressure on ourselves trying to reach "greatness" or the "extraordinary", even expecting that God would / should give us success if our faith is right - and then we end up feeling like failures if it doesn't happen that way, or start thinking we didn't "believe enough", or even that God isn't keeping his promises, etc etc... I feel we need to have our eyes open to how God does great things in small things - it gives much more peace to be happy in humility than to strive after a greatness which God might not really want us to have on earth!
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Yes, I completely agree! I've seen this a lot, with people believing that they must not have enough faith if they are struggling with health or finances. The problem is when the church reinforces this idea, making people feel like failures, when we are clearly called to humble ourselves and serve others, not to build up our own greatness, but for the glory of God. Someone could be homeless and serve God better than the wealthiest and healthiest person. I've even read about many people who spent years in conversion therapy trying to change their sexuality and ended up believing God had abandoned them because their faith and desperate prayers did nothing to change how they felt. But God isn't a wish granting genie, so sometimes the answer is no and that may be hard for us, but struggles bring perseverance and faith, if we let God mold us.
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That's what I find sad too... that we sometimes fixate ourselves on a certain idea of what God wants (e.g. God wants all people to be healed, or God wants everyone to be heterosexual), and then if we fail in attaining that (e.g. not getting healed, or conversion therapy not working out), we blame ourselves or lose faith, instead of questioning our assumptions about God's will. Maybe God doesn't want everyone to get well again! Maybe God doesn't want all gay or lesbian Christians to have their sexuality "fixed"! Maybe God thinks quite differently from us! Sometimes God says yes, sometimes no, and sometimes He wants us to backtrack and think again about what His will actually is.
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I defiantly agree that we need to step back and ask what God wants for our lives and not make assumptions. It also raises a bigger issue, one that has upset some Christians I've spoken to. It's the idea that God uses hardship and struggles. Some argue that makes it sound like God creates evil, but I think that's the problem with our thinking. Whenever something doesn't go how we want, we blame Satan or sin. After all, if it seems bad to us, it can't be anything else than bad. But I believe that sometimes we really need a little kick and it's not terrible to struggle. In fact, I've found a faith untested tends to be weak.
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