A few years after I became a Christian, I was driving home from work, and the
Lord said to me, "John, do you know I esteem you better than Myself!" I could
not believe what I had heard Him say. How could He esteem me better than
Himself? He was the One who created the heavens and earth. He is God! So I said
to Him, "Lord, I cannot accept this unless You give me three scriptures out of
the New Testament to confirm what You are saying to me." He did not rebuke me,
because out of the mouth of two or three witnesses every word is established. So
He said, "What does Philippians chapter 2 say?" I opened the Bible and read as
follows:
Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of
mind let each esteem others better than himself (Philippians 2:3).
The Lord said, "There is your first scripture." I responded, "Lord, You're
speaking of Your relationship to me. Paul was writing the Philippian Christians
and telling them to esteem each other better than themselves." He responded,
"John, I don't ever tell My children to do anything I do not do Myself." That is
why there are so many problems in Christian homes. The parents tell their
children not to behave a certain way and yet do it themselves. We tell our
children not to fight and then we fight ourselves. Then our actions speak louder
than our words, and children grow up imitating what they see rather than what is
taught. I still wasn't too sure about this so I said, "That is only one
scripture. You still need to give me two more!"
He then said, "John, who hung on the cross, Me or you?" I melted when He said
that. He said, "I hung on the cross bearing your sins, your sicknesses and
diseases, your poverty, your judgment, because I esteemed you better than
myself!" He never committed any sin. As a matter of fact, He did not even have
to come to earth. He could have let us all go to the everlasting lake of fire
with the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41) . He came not for Himself but for
us! The following were the second and third scriptures:
Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to
sins, might live for righteousness-by whose stripes you were healed (1 Peter
2:24).
Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving
preference to one another (Romans 12:10).
He said, "John, I am `the first born of many brothers"' (Romans 8:29). I did not
realize the depth of His love until then. I knew then, if only one person had
been lost, He would have willingly come and done the same thing. This kind of
love is the foundation of the kingdom of God. It is what we are to be rooted in
and how we are to treat each other!
Bevere, John. The Voice of one Crying. Apopka: Messenger Press, 1993, p.
122-123.
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.