What’s In It for Me?
The beatitudes are the doorway into the narrow gate and the narrow way, Jesus Christ himself. He is the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father except by him. Jesus Christ is the word of God made manifest. To know God we must know our Lord and Saviour, for there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
In following Christ, there are two things we need to ask ourselves. The first is what’s it’s going to cost me? The second is, what am I going to get out of it?
The world has indoctrinated us to ask, “What’s in it for me.?” This “WIIFM” decision criteria focuses on self. The world says look out for number one, and you’re number one.
The world’s doctrine is upside down from the Word’s doctrine, the truth of scripture. Jesus said, in Matthew, continuing his sermon on the mount… You have heard it said, but I say…. The word of God is the opposite from the world’s doctrine.
Many people listen to Jesus’ message but they have not bought into following him from a heart of love. The world says, “don’t get mad, just get even.” They say, “God didn’t call me to be a doormat.” However Jesus said, if a person slaps you on the cheek, then turn the other cheek.
Any man can claim his rights and any demon will make sure he gets them. However, human rights are often Godly wrongs. People will understand whether I’m a Man of God by how I respond to adversity… by the decisions I make and the way I treat other people.
Jesus said, if we’re looking for reasons to get upset when we’re wronged, this will take our hearts away from a heart of following the Lord.
George Meuller said, There was a day when I utterly died to the world and my own tastes and will. I died even to the approval of my brothers and friends. My purpose when I died to myself was only to please my Lord.
The beatitudes begin with humility. Blessed are the poor in spirit… those who come to realize that in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. True life is only in the spirit of God in Christ in us. Blessed are they that mourn… Mourning over the sin that has separated our hearts from God’s heart produces true repentance… turning from my selfish self and unto God. Blessed are the meek… those who are humble of heart to recognize that God’s best interest is my best interest.
Ephesians says that God’s requirement for a servant is that he be found faithful. A faithful man faithfully serves God by serving others from a heart of love. Without the spirit of God we cannot love with the love of God. We can only love with God’s love because he loved us first… for in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. We love him because he first loved us.
We can either feed the flesh nature we inherited from Adam or we can feed the nature of the spirit we inherited when we were born again of His spirit. If we focus on self… on how unfairly the world has treated us and how others have wronged us, we will feed the god of the flesh… the god of self.
The root of the sin nature is in the same lie that the devil told Eve…. If you disobey God’s only command by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then you will be like God…. Go ahead and take a bite of the forbidden fruit. Your purpose is not about God, it’s about you. Live for your own self and you will be like God knowing good from evil. When Eve took the devil’s bait and doubted the Word of God and the Love of God, she turned her heart from God and toward her selfish sin nature.
When we feel as if our so-called rights have been violated, we need to ask ourselves, “why does this upset me?” Is it because my pride has been offended? In the daily decisions of life, why have I become embittered by circumstances and situations?
Pete recalls that he called the pharmacy recently and the pharmacy representative said, you need to call this number and check on your Medicare coverage for this prescription. Pete called the number and someone from a foreign country answered the phone. Pete couldn’t understand his accent. The man said, please hold on the line while I check your coverage. Pete waited and waited… After holding for 45 minutes, and Pete felt himself getting frustrated, he heard God’s still-small voice. “I’m giving you a check up from the neck up. When Jesus Christ was reviled he reviled not. You need to understand that the man on the line is not only trying to help you. He’s just trying to do his job to support his wife and children from a heart of love… You need to learn to recompense to no man evil for evil. You need to seek to bless others from a heart of love.”
The man answered after an hour, I’m sorrry but I can’t resolve your issue with your Medicare prescription coverage.
James Francis wrote and essay called “One Solitary Life” about the life of Jesus…. In an upside down world, God chooses the foolish things of the world to confound the wisdom of the world. According to this essay:
He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30. Then, for three years, he was an itinerant preacher.He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn’t go to college. He never lived in a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but himself.He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his garments, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend.Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. I am well within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned–put together–have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one, solitary life.
If you’re claiming that Jesus is Lord, this is the kind of life God has called you in following the Lord. Every moment of every day, God gives us opportunities to deny our selfish selves and to live for the glory of God in Christ….
… that we may ever live to the praise fo the glory of His grace,
Your brother in Christ,
Michael
