1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:03,520 Speaker 1: Life Audio. 2 00:00:10,800 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Cross Squat devotional. We're glad to have 3 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,840 Speaker 2: you listening with us. Today's topic is why doing the 4 00:00:17,880 --> 00:00:21,840 Speaker 2: lowly task God leads us to do helps us express 5 00:00:21,880 --> 00:00:25,040 Speaker 2: the high form of love that Jesus models for us. 6 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 2: We'll return with the devotional after a brief message from 7 00:00:28,720 --> 00:00:45,920 Speaker 2: our sponsors. When Love Took the Lowest Place written and 8 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:50,519 Speaker 2: read by Whitney Hoppler. In your relationships with one another, 9 00:00:51,000 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 2: have the same mindset as Christ Jesus, who be it 10 00:00:54,840 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 2: in very nature. God did not consider equality with God 11 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 2: something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he 12 00:01:02,480 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 2: made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, 13 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 2: being made in human likeness and being found in appearance 14 00:01:10,120 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 2: as a man. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, 15 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:19,759 Speaker 2: even death on a cross. Philippians two five through eight 16 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:23,720 Speaker 2: and IV. When I was in college, I took a 17 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 2: job at a fast food restaurant to supplement the income 18 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,800 Speaker 2: from my journalism internship because I wanted extra money for 19 00:01:30,880 --> 00:01:35,240 Speaker 2: a trip. I quit after only three weeks as soon 20 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:37,279 Speaker 2: as I earned the amount I needed for the trip, 21 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 2: because I felt like the job was beneath me, But 22 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 2: reflecting on it, now I can see how that humbling 23 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:49,960 Speaker 2: experience was valuable, as you can imagine, cleaning a public 24 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 2: restroom in a fast food restaurant was never pleasant. But 25 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 2: years later, when God led me to clean a restroom 26 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 2: for a family member battling cancer, I was grateful. I 27 00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:05,320 Speaker 2: learned that sometimes the lowest tasks are connected to the 28 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:09,919 Speaker 2: highest ways of showing love. Sometimes we think that if 29 00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 2: we have power or status, we should use it to 30 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 2: make our lives easier. We may refuse to do lowly 31 00:02:16,680 --> 00:02:18,959 Speaker 2: jobs that need to be done at work or at 32 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 2: home because we have a higher job position than others 33 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 2: on our work chief, or a higher status in our 34 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:29,200 Speaker 2: family than others do. But Philippians two five through eight 35 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,000 Speaker 2: shows us a picture of Jesus that turns our ideas 36 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 2: of greatness upside down. Jesus had the highest power and 37 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:41,359 Speaker 2: status possible. He was equal with God. Yet Jesus didn't 38 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:46,040 Speaker 2: use that power or status for himself. Instead, he made 39 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:51,160 Speaker 2: himself nothing. In some translations, it says he emptied himself. 40 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 2: Jesus poured out his rights and his comfort so that 41 00:02:55,520 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 2: he could fulfill our greatest need. When Jesus came from 42 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 2: heaven to earth, he went from being in a perfect 43 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:05,640 Speaker 2: environment where he had everything he could ever want to 44 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 2: dealing with human needs in a fallen world where he 45 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 2: would experience the full range of suffering we go through here. 46 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 2: Jesus made that choice because of his love for his creation, 47 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:22,000 Speaker 2: including us. Love motivated Jesus to come to earth to 48 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 2: pay for humanity sins himself so he could connect with 49 00:03:25,639 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 2: the Holy God and be saved. When Jesus washed his 50 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 2: disciples feet, he was the highest person in the room, 51 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,360 Speaker 2: yet he chose the lowest task. Why did Jesus, the 52 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:41,160 Speaker 2: King of kings, become a servant? It was because he 53 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 2: saw us. Jesus saw that we were broken, lost, and 54 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:48,360 Speaker 2: separated from God by our sin. He knew that the 55 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 2: only way to reach us was to come down to 56 00:03:51,280 --> 00:03:56,280 Speaker 2: where we were. True humility involves thinking of ourselves less 57 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 2: and thinking of others more. Serving the others is something 58 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 2: we will naturally want to do if we're motivated by love. 59 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,720 Speaker 2: When we love people, we don't mind doing lowly jobs 60 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:10,600 Speaker 2: to help them. Parents don't mind changing diapers because they 61 00:04:10,640 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 2: love their babies. Friends don't mind driving across town late 62 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:16,800 Speaker 2: at night to help a friend in need because they 63 00:04:16,839 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 2: love their friends. Philippians two five through eight starts out 64 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:25,159 Speaker 2: by saying, in your relationships with one another, have the 65 00:04:25,200 --> 00:04:29,400 Speaker 2: same mindset as Christ Jesus. That's a challenge for us 66 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 2: every single day. But the more we ask Jesus to 67 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,080 Speaker 2: help us focus on what matters most from his perspective, 68 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 2: the more we can apply that wisdom to our relationships 69 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 2: with each other. When we choose the lowest place, we 70 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 2: end up in the highest place we can be, which 71 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:50,040 Speaker 2: is close to God's heart. God's core nature is love. 72 00:04:50,960 --> 00:04:54,239 Speaker 2: Jesus shows us what God's love looks like in action, 73 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:57,720 Speaker 2: and we can see from Jesus's life on earth that 74 00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 2: God often expresses his love throughout humble service to others 75 00:05:02,320 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 2: by doing simple tasks with great love. Jesus shows us 76 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,200 Speaker 2: that taking the lowest place is an important way to 77 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:14,159 Speaker 2: move higher in our relationships with God. Intersecting faith in life, 78 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:17,640 Speaker 2: as you consider how taking the lowest place in love 79 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:21,640 Speaker 2: can help you move higher with God, reflect on these questions. 80 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,840 Speaker 2: When you feel above a certain task or person, what 81 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,640 Speaker 2: does that reveal about your heart? Jesus let go of 82 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,479 Speaker 2: his heavenly rights and comforts to serve us on earth. 83 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,840 Speaker 2: What's run right or comfort you find difficult to let 84 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 2: go of. How does knowing that Jesus chose the Cross 85 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 2: out of love change the way you view your own struggles? 86 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:47,720 Speaker 2: Who is one person in your life who you can 87 00:05:47,760 --> 00:05:52,160 Speaker 2: relate to this week by practicing having the mindset of Christ? 88 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,720 Speaker 2: Why is love a more powerful motivator for service than 89 00:05:56,880 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 2: just feeling a moral obligation to do what's right? Further 90 00:06:01,400 --> 00:06:07,640 Speaker 2: reading Matthew twenty twenty eight, John thirteen fourteen through fifteen, 91 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:15,200 Speaker 2: Galatians five thirteen, one, Peter five five, Mark nine thirty five. 92 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,000 Speaker 1: The Crosswalk Devotional is a production of Life Audio and 93 00:06:23,080 --> 00:06:26,919 Speaker 1: Salem Media. If you liked what you heard today, please 94 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:29,359 Speaker 1: take a second to rate and review this podcast in 95 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,840 Speaker 1: your favorite podcast app so that more listeners like you 96 00:06:33,120 --> 00:06:38,000 Speaker 1: can find the show. For more faith filled inspirational podcasts, 97 00:06:38,640 --> 00:06:48,240 Speaker 1: visit us at lifeaudio dot com.