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Exalted! - Luke 14:7-11

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Then Jesus noticed that some of the guests were choosing the best places to sit. So Jesus told this story: "When a person invites you to a wedding, don't sit in the most important seat. The person may have invited someone more important than you. And if you are sitting in the most important seat, then the person that invited you will come to you and say, 'Give this man your seat!' Then you will begin to move down to the last place. And you will be very embarrassed. So when a person invites you, go sit in the seat that is not important. Then the person that invited you will come to you and say, 'Friend, move up here to this better place!' What an honor this will be for you in front of all the other guests! Every person that makes himself important will be made humble. But the person that makes himself humble will be made important." (ERV)   Full Text

Key Thought

Most of us detest self-promotion when we see it in someone else. However, each of us has a strange ability to find "reasons" why we "need" to promote ourselves. Jesus wants us to give up on our self-promoting ways. He calls us to be humble and then let God do the exalting. We shouldn't be surprised when the apostle Paul held Jesus up as the perfect example of humility -- didn't cling to position, emptied himself of self-promotion, was obedient to God and God exalted him at the proper time (Phil. 2:5-11). Pride is destructive, selfish, and poisonous to Christian service and maturity. Let's humble ourselves before God and trust our time for being honored to him.

Today's Prayer

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Father, I confess to you that I feel overlooked and under-appreciated. Part of me longs for the spotlight and the accolades that come with it. Yet, dear Father, I know that it is foolish pride grabbing my heart. I know Satan longs to use that pride to incite envy, pettiness, gossip, vanity, and a host of other unholy traits in me. Humble me gently Father, for I do trust the estimation of my value to you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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Today's Verses in Context

Then Jesus noticed that some of the guests were choosing the best places to sit. So Jesus told this story: "When a person invites you to a wedding, don't sit in the most important seat. The person may have invited someone more important than you. And if you are sitting in the most important seat, then the person that invited you will come to you and say, 'Give this man your seat!' Then you will begin to move down to the last place. And you will be very embarrassed. So when a person invites you, go sit in the seat that is not important. Then the person that invited you will come to you and say, 'Friend, move up here to this better place!' What an honor this will be for you in front of all the other guests! Every person that makes himself important will be made humble. But the person that makes himself humble will be made important." Then Jesus said to the Pharisee that had invited him, "When you give a lunch or a dinner, don't invite only your friends, brothers, relatives, and rich neighbors. At another time they will pay you back by inviting you to eat with them. Instead, when you give a feast, invite the poor people, the crippled, and the blind. Then you will have great blessings, because these people cannot pay you back. They have nothing. But God will reward you at the time when good people rise from death."

— Luke 14:7-14 (ERV)

 

Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.
 
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God is high and lifted up. God lives forever. God's name is holy. God says: I live in a high and holy place, but also with people that are sad and humble. I will give new life to the people that are humble in spirit. I will give new life to the people that are sad in their hearts.
Isaiah 57:15 (ERV)

In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus. Christ himself was like God in everything. Christ was equal with God. But Christ did not think that being equal with God was something that he must keep. He gave up his place with God and agreed to be like a servant. He was born to be a man and became like a servant. And when he was living as a man, he humbled himself by being fully obedient to God. He obeyed even when that caused him to die. And he died on a cross. Christ obeyed God, so God raised Christ to the most important place. God made the name of Christ greater than every other name. God did this because he wants every person to bow for the name of Jesus. Every person in heaven, on the earth, and under the earth will bow. Every person will confess (say), "Jesus Christ is Lord (Master)." When they say this, it will bring glory to God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11 (ERV)

So be humble under God's powerful hand. Then he will lift you up when the right time comes.
1 Peter 5:6 (ERV)


 
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