Commentary on "Power Struggle"

MARK MARTIN

 

Day 4: Tuesday September 22, 2009

 

“Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, ‘If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all’ ” (Mark 9:35 NIV)

The important Christian principle is this passage is that greatness in the eyes of God is based on submission to His will and not our flesh-based ambitions. Living out John 3:30, Ephesians 2:10 and Philippians 1:21 should be our goal. We can follow this principle better if we deny our flesh and our filled by the Holy Spirit. It is a place of total selflessness and submission.

The problem with Diotrephes is that he has not submitted himself to the will of God rather he is being controlled by his fleshly ambitions. An application for us is that our real authority now is the Bible; and the question for ourselves is are we submitting to our authority (the Bible) with what we believe and teach or are we slandering what the Bible really says?

 

Summary

1. Whose will be done? Ours or His?
2. Do we desire to be filled by God’s Spirit to better carry out His will?
3. Are we submitting ourselves to God’s Word?

 

GO TO DAY 5

 

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