John 7:2-4 Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths, was near. Therefore, His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.”
As we consider these verses, I want to bring something Jesus said into view that shows an important, stark contrast between Jesus and most everyone else.
John 5:30 “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
John 5:41 “I do not receive glory from men;
John 5:44 “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?
Jesus wasn’t seeking to be known publicly, but His brothers assumed that was Jesus’ ambition. Jesus had one ambition: to reveal and glorify His Father by doing His will on a moment by moment basis.
May I encourage you to have the same ambition as Jesus today? Our purpose is essentially the same as His: to glorify God by revealing that Jesus still lives to glorify His Father. We do this by loving with Him. We aren’t trying to be good Christians so we will have a good reputation with the public. We’re not trying to be publicly known. I was struck by a quote from Nikolai Ludwig von Zinzindorf in Living Life Backwards by David Gibson. “Preach the gospel. Die. Be forgotten.” There’s no self-ambition or self-significance driving those words. May our ambition today be to glorify God, to live for His pleasure, by loving with Jesus, preaching the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit.
I invite you to become a partner in our ministry. Would you pray about becoming a regular supporter of Elijah Ministries and the Live to Love with Jesus ministry? I hope you will receive the joy and benefit of "giving it forward," so others may receive encouragement to turn their hearts to God and to live to love with Jesus. You may give online or send a check to the address listed at www.spiritofelijah.com/donate.
