Living for Others
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me”. ( Luke 9:23,). What does the cross stand for? It stands for death to self.
Last night my dear Wife Jill and I watched a DVD about the life of the Olympic runner Eric Liddell, depicted in the famous movie ‘Chariots of Fire’. After winning the gold medal at the Olympic Games in France, he laid all his glory down (the first Scotsman ever to win gold at The Olympic Games), got onto a ship and headed for China as a missionary for Jesus!
Remember, he was the man who refused to run on the Sabbath and the 100 meters was being run on Sunday. He was the fastest man in the world at that time and was virtually guaranteed to get a gold for Great Britain. Tremendous pressure was on him to run, even from the Royal family, but he refused. So they enrolled him in the 400 meters, which he had not trained for, and he came first by a huge margin and set a new world record! (Can't out bless the Lord) But he gave it all up, the fame and the glory, and went to China as a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. He died there at the age of 43.
What an amazing opportunity you and I have to live for others, just like Eric did, and indeed at a time such as this - with public morale at an all-time low and with the future looking so uncertain. It’s the time for Believers to shine for Jesus and to make a difference. Remember our worst enemy is ourselves, not the devil. When we can die to self and start to live for our fellow man, then we start to live the abundant life. John 10:10.
Kathryn Kuhlman, the woman who was so powerfully used by God to heal the sick, once said: If you’re not feeling well, go and find someone else who is more sick than you are and pray for them and you won’t feel so sick afterwards. The point is when you and I start to take the focus off ourselves and start living for others then everything changes, and we have the victory over depression, fear and anxiety. There are so many poor folks that need your love and prayers today.
God Bless,
Angus and Jill Buchan.
“It is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”