“[He] emptied Himself, taking the form of
a bondservant, and being made in the
likeness of men. Being found in
appearance as a man, He humbled
Himself by becoming obedient to the point
of death, even death on a cross.
Philippians 2:7-8
In order for the incarnation to take place
Jesus emptied himself of his godliness and
became as a human, “taking the very nature
of a servant.” (See vs. 7 NIV)
Jesus voluntarily and willingly shed his
divine nature to take on the human nature
and become the ultimate sacrifice to satisfy
the requirements of the law for us. He gave
his life that we might have life and have it to
the full. (Jn. 10:10)
If Jesus had to empty himself to become
human, is it reasonable to believe we must
also empty ourselves of our humanness to
become godly?
Before a recent meeting I set up the coffee
pot with coffee grounds and water but did
not turn it on. I will wait just awhile longer
and turn it on, I thought. However, seeing
the grounds in place but no water in the pot,
someone else came along and tried to pour
in more water. As might be expected…it
overflowed!
Here is the point. You cannot fill what is
already full. Brilliant! Great observation,
eh?
Ready for the “spiritual” application?
To be “filled” with the Spirit, we must
voluntarily and willingly empty ourselves of
“self.” We must shed our sinful nature to
take on the Spiritual nature! They cannot
occupy the same space!
Jesus made this clear: “If anyone would
come after me, he must deny himself and
take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23
Take note of the three steps!
(1) Deny self: yield our will, our desires and
our plans to that of the Lord’s.
(2) Take up our cross daily: Dying to self is
a daily commitment and process. (Because
we struggle with giving up self.)
(3) Follow me: Following Jesus requires
submitting to His will, His leading, His
desire for our lives – daily. We surrender to
His Spirit.
Jesus put it another way: “For whoever
wants to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for Me will save it.”
Luke 9:24
Want the Godly, Spirit filled life?
Then, give up the worldly one!
Blessed by you…….Bro. Sherman
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