Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  2024  Day 120

April 29;       Philippians 2:4;        176/260;        ‘Others Minded’

Philippians 2:4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

How foreign this is in a world that majors on self.  How normal this was and is for the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus left heaven and willingly died for us.  He told us that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for another.  Jesus did it literally, we can do it by always looking for opportunities to bless others.  There is a cost involved, time, effort and caring.

The Bible teaches us in this chapter that because of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on our behalf, God the Father blessed Jesus and raised Him to heaven, giving Jesus the highest seat in the universe at His right hand.  When we are ‘others minded’ God the Father will bless us also and raise us above the cares of this world.  Our Lord, Jesus, still is ‘others minded,’ He is constantly praying for us.  Caring only for yourself gets old pretty quick.  How many selfies do you need?  People are sadly much more interested in looking at and concentrating on their cell phone than looking at and concentrating on someone else.  John 10:10 tells us that the Lord Jesus came so that we could life and that life more abundantly.  Jesus, by His Example, showed us what life was all about – ‘others minded.’  Jesus taught the people, healed their sick and prayed for them.  Every day of His three year ministry was an adventure of helping, blessing and caring about others.  After washing His disciples’ feet, Jesus told us He gave us an Example and we would be blessed if we followed it.  The Example was that Jesus served His disciples.  ‘Others minded’ is what life is all about.