(T.T.E.P.) Spiritual Thoughts For Today - “Sometimes You Have To Put Yourself First”
Posted by DoubleTuff99 on October 24, 2018, 6:00 am
The Third Eye Perspective Christian Thoughts For Today:
Good Morning Peeps! How are you doing this “Humpity Hump, Hump” Wednesday morning, good I hope? Are you having a good work week so far, I sure hope so? Have a good and very Blessed day today and rest of the work week too! - May God Bless You and Yours In 2018 and Beyond!!! - “Are YOU 100% sure, that you are Saved and headed to Heaven when you die? Are you sure YOUR name IS written in the Heavenly “Book of Life?” Is there absolutely not a shadow of a doubt in your mind, that your Salvation is already secured and you’re just waiting on the good Lord to call you home to be with Him? If the answer is “No, Not Sure, I Think So, Maybe, or Probably, then you need to get busy right now working on fixing that. You need to be totally sure where your Soul will spend eternity!” And AMEN goes right here….
***Remember, if you haven’t purchased it already, my newly published book “The Third Eye Perspective” book of Devotionals is available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Xulon Press in Paperback, Hardback, also on EBook. Thank you!
#SalvationIsOnlyThruJesusChrist
“This is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it!”
The Third Eye Perspective: By Carlos C. Brown
Thought For Today – ““Sometimes You Have To Put Yourself First”
Are you one of those people who are always trying to put other’s first, trying to ensure that all is well in the universe at all times? Sometimes that can be a very daunting task of trying to make sure everyone else is ok, when in all actuality, you need to be making sure YOU are ok too. The Bible teaches us to be humble and also have a servant’s mentality doesn’t it? It is with this train of thought, or line of thinking, that it was placed on my heart this morning to talk about, “Sometimes You Have To Put Yourself First!” And AMEN goes right here! Think back to when Jesus actually washed the feet of all the Disciples. What if any, was the significance of that, do you know, do you know, do you know????? (Read John 13:1-17) occurred in the upper room, just prior to the Last Supper. For Jesus, it was the display of His humility and His servanthood. For the Disciples, the washing of their feet was in direct contrast to their heart attitudes at that particular time. For us, washing feet is symbolic of our role in the body of Christ. When Jesus performed this act, He was doing the work of the lowliest of servants. The Disciples no doubt had to be in shock, because in their minds, it should have been the other way around, with them washing His feet. Now how many of you would even think about washing some of your closest friends feet for them, without even being asked let alone if they were to ask you to do it? I’m sure most if not all of you would be ready to come to blows at just the thought of someone asking you to do that! LOL!! But to show how truly humbled Jesus was, and that He indeed did have a servant’s mentality, He did it willingly without being asked to prove that point. It takes a very humbled person to do something like this of Jesus’ stature doesn’t it? The closest equivalent I can come up with, would be for say the Pope to come to your house and wash your feet for you. I know some of you reading this would pass completely out if that were to happen. While the flip side to that is some of the people reading this feet probably smell so bad that the Pope himself might pass out LOL! It is a very noble act and the message it had to have sent to the Disciples was so powerful, they were too shocked at first to realize it. But Jesus said in Matthew 20:28 that He came “Not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” And
Per the Bibles instruction, we are supposed to put forth a genuine effort to serve others when given the opportunity. But also we have to take care of our own needs too. I try to be a servant in different ways, listening to, talking to, advising, encouraging, physically helping, and even at time financially, helping friends of mine in need without being asked to. And most of my friends would tell you, that I tend to cook occasionally and will share my bounty as pirates called treasure with my friends and co-workers. I guess I get that from my mother who had one of the biggest “servants” hearts” I’ve ever seen. Ironically, my grandmother had that same kind of heart too. They had never met a stranger and would help anyone in need. Never even considering the impact it may have on them. Could it be that they knew something a lot of people don’t either know, or realize? In that God would restore, replenish, and resupply all the needs that you passed out serving others. The problem with this, is that some people don’t give freely because they worry about if they are going to have enough for themselves left over, or they give with the expectation that they are going to receive appreciation, thanks, a pat on the back, etc… And when that doesn’t happen they become frustrated and bitter and then refrain from ever doing that sort of thing ever again. Both my mother and grandmother had a saying, “When you give or serve your fellow man, don’t do it expecting thanks or appreciation. If you get it that’s fine and dandy, but if you don’t that’s okay too because you are building up treasures in Heaven!” Both of them firmly believed that as they lived their lives to serve others without ever worrying about receiving thanks of any kind. Think about it from this perspective, when the wealthy man came to Jesus Christ asking Him “My Lord, what actions bring eternal life?” First Jesus advises the man to obey the commandments. When the man responds that he already observes them, and asks what else he can do, Jesus adds: “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven. Then come, follow me.” (see Matthew 19-16-30, Mark 10:17-31, and Luke 18:18-30). As you can imagine, how some of us would be, the young man wasn’t too thrilled at all to hear that he would need to give away all of his wealth he had accumulated, on top of following the commandments. Now don’t kill the messenger, LOL Jesus said to do this not Me! The moral of the story here from my point of view, is when you do become a servant of God in this aspect that God will ALWAYS provide for you and you will never go without your necessities. Notice I said “you would never go without your needs or necessities,” not your Mansion, you BMW, Lexus, Mercedes, Porsche, 100ft Yacht and huge bank account. LOL! And AMEN goes right here also!
God commands us to take care of others as Christians, but we also need to take care of ourselves as well. The only trick to this, is that if we do take care of others, God will take care of us. The wealthy man in the Biblical story couldn’t see this, because he was too focused on the notion of having to give up all of his wealth, to realize that had he did what Jesus asked of him and joined Jesus, he would have never had to worry about “needing” anything. And let’s be honest here, his real issue wasn’t about “needing” anything was it? A wealthy person has no “need,” they can buy anything that they need. Wants and desires are two totally different things, but needs can be acquired without a person having to be wealthy. There are so many different ways a Christian needs to put themselves first in certain situations. Now I’m not implying that we should be selfish, or self-centered at all. However in some cases, such as our personal health, mentally, emotionally, and even physically (Eat right, get plenty of sleep, take personal time to yourself doing hobbies, exercising a few times a week, finding something fun to do regularly), we need to place a lot of focus on that. Next, we need to focus on our Spiritual well-being (Bible reading, Spending quiet time with God, and attending Church service to Fellowship with other Christians), because God can’t/won’t dwell in an unhealthy temple! If you can try your very best to master these important points of focus on personal well-being on a regular basis, it will allow you to be more effective in the last phase of this deal, in being a servant. It will be hard to successfully be a servant if you neglect your most important “needs” as listed above, because you will wear yourself out to the point where you can’t focus on anything, except for not being able to focus on anything! Put yourself first in these instances, then do the work of the Lord and watch Him Bless you more abundantly than you ever have been Blessed. Now don’t assume that your “Blessings” will be in the form of financial riches, although they very well could end up being exactly that, but it might be in the form of other Blessings, like Peace, Happiness, Heart Fulfillment, and a longer healthier life as well. Can I leave you with a question to ponder today?
“After reading this Thought For Today, have you been taking care of yourself first in the important areas as stated above?”
Can I get an Amen?
“Today, choose to “Ride or Die” for Jesus Christ! Afterall, isn’t that EXACTLY what HE did for US on the Cross?”