Humiliation

Humiliation

John 19: ¹⁷ And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, ¹⁸ where they crucified Him, and two others with Him, one on either side, and Jesus in the center.

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Late for a meeting, I hurried to use the restroom. To my dismay, I slightly wet my light colored pants just enough for it to be visible. “You have got to be kidding me!” I shouted. In haste, I grabbed paper towels and wet them, trying to get rid of the drops on my trousers. I made it look like I had just bypassed using the toilet at all. My pants were wet and I had to go to the meeting.

• Sometimes I feel humiliated.
• Sometimes I feel embarrassed.
• Sometimes I feel like everyone is going to laugh or have a negative opinion of me.

JESUS was forced to carry HIS cross in front of everyone so HE could be humiliated. To add further embarrassment, HE was placed in the middle of two criminals, drawing attention to HIM as being the largest offender. HE had to go on the cross.

• JESUS faced humiliation from many just for me.
• JESUS faced embarrassment just for me.
• JESUS faced a painful death just for me.

Humiliation never feels good. BUT GOD went through it as an example to HIS followers. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of ME. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

JESUS gives me another way to look at the insults and embarrassing situations. HE tells me to persevere when I am insulted because I am trying to teach or preach about HIM. Looking forward to HIS reward calms the sting of the embarrassment.

• Have you been insulted because of your relationship with GOD?
• Have people pulled away from you because you are trying to speak about JESUS?
• Will you persevere, looking forward to the reward GOD has for you?

I Can and I Will

Matthew 16: ²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. ²⁶ What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done.

²⁸ “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

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“What will they think of me?” was my question when asked to go to church. I was the life of the party for a change. I had been “Goody-goody” for a long time. It seemed like I should be able to do some sinning for a while.

“What will they think of me?” was my question when asked to send a simple faith filled voicemail throughout the company. I mean I was the leader of a very large and influential portion of the company. I had to protect my perception right? Wrong!

• I have been embarrassed to speak about JESUS.
• I have been too filled with sin to speak about JESUS.
• I have been so proud of my accomplishments that I did not want to risk losing “my” position to speak about JESUS.

GOD says to me “If you are ashamed of ME then I will be ashamed of you” and I was truly ashamed of HIM. Human standards got in the way of my living for CHRIST. I bowed to the thought of “You can’t pray here” or “We don’t want you to even speak about JESUS here” even though no one said those words to me.

• JESUS wants me to shine my light before men on a daily basis.
• JESUS wants me to be salt in a world where salt is rejected.
• JESUS wants me to take up my cross by denying myself.

Losing my life means a lot. It means I can pray for all who pass me in the hallways. It means I do not have to be angry at “those” people, instead I can ask GOD for “our” forgiveness. It means I can open my home to my neighbors for JESUS’ purpose instead of hiding my affiliation with HIM.

GOD wants my family, my business, my job, my school, my house, my car, my clothes, my wealth, my desires and lastly my health. HE can do with them as HE pleases and I should learn to praise HIM when I try to hold onto any of them. HE can pry them from my hands in a hurtful way or I can freely give them to HIM, praising HIM along the way.

• What are you holding onto?
• Can you give GOD your home or your office or your school by inviting others into it to learn from HIM?
• Will you take GOD to work with you today and pray for all who pass you?