27 September 2020
Two-Minute Features | 04 October 2020 | 20 September 2020

God Gifts Us So We Enjoy What We Do (TMF:1470)

Friday, October 02, 2020
Peace to Live By: God Gifts Us So We Enjoy What We Do (TMF:1470) - Daniel Litton
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       I really believe that Jesus enjoyed his time here on the earth, and God’s call on his life. I believe it came from his heart. He did what he did in serving us, and serving the people then, from his heart. Undoubtedly he liked to teach, he liked to come up with his sermons and his parables, he liked to go from place to place and share the Good News. He wanted to do the things he was doing, and be pleasing to God. And it is the same way with us. God gifts us to serve him in such a way that we will enjoy and want to do whatever it is that we are called to do for him. If we don’t have that drive from the heart, if our work is not coming from an inner-heart desire to do it, then I think it’s safe to say that God hasn’t called us to do it. But God places desires in our hearts to want to do things for him. So, Jesus says that the one who is a servant is the one who is a slave. Now, obviously, a slave virtually had no say in what he was doing when he was working. He did whatever his master told him to do. That’s the true attitude of a servant.

Jesus' Way of Who's Greatest, Part 2 (TMF:1469)

Thursday, October 01, 2020
Peace to Live By: Jesus' Way of Who's Greatest, Part 2 (TMF:1469) - Daniel Litton
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       So, what is it that makes the disciple great? Well, Jesus says here in the most basic sense that it is he who has become a servant, and really, servant of all. Now, before we are turned off too much, I think there are some things we need to consider here. There is also the danger here to become immediately legalistic and prideful at the same time. We learn later in the New Testament that God in fact gifts each believer with varying gifts that they then use to serve the body of Christ. It is through the way God has gifted us that we become a servant. So, that being said, serving, or even becoming a servant of all, is not something that is to be dreaded or something that is to be done in a legalistic, frowning, or unenjoyable way. That’s where a lot of brothers and sisters falter here with this passage. No, we can in fact be servants of Christ, and even servants of all, while having a good time. I really believe that Jesus enjoyed his time here on the earth, and God’s call on his life. I believe it came from his heart.

Jesus' Way of Who's Greatest, Part 1 (TMF:1468)

Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Peace to Live By: Jesus' Way of Who's Greatest, Part 1 (TMF:1468) - Daniel Litton
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       Before Jesus tells us what he expects from us as his disciples, he talks about the way the world works. And I think all of us are familiar with the world’s ways. We know how government is set up, we know how our military works, with the differing ranks among the soldiers. We know how our workplaces are set up, as most of us are either boss or have a boss we answer to, and even most of the bosses answer to bosses, and that unless your the owner or the chief operator. So, we know how the world works when it comes to perceived greatness—to perceived power. Interestingly enough, Jesus here says that his disciples are not to operate this way. Or, at least, they are not to think in this way as it pertains to who is greatest. Jesus says that a person does not become greatest in his eyes by reaching a command over the most people. Jesus says things are to work differently with his disciples.

God Loves to Give Us More Things (TMF:1467)

Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Peace to Live By: God Loves to Give Us More Things (TMF:1467) - Daniel Litton
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       God loves to give us more things, he loves to bless us with abundance. He likes it when his believers have cups running over. Our problem, a lot of times, is that we either have wrong motive, like the early workers in the parable, or we just have a problem with unbelief. But there is great comfort in knowing that God chooses to give to us as he wishes. I think often times when we haven’t received what we want yet, we worry we’ve done something wrong, but many times it’s just that the right time hasn’t come yet for us. Now, for the final passage we are considering in hard sayings from our Lord Jesus—and this one is one of the hardest—let’s jump down here in Matthew 20 to verse 25. We read: “But Jesus called them [his disciples] to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles Lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28, ESV).

Being Happy with What God Has Given (TMF:1466)

Monday, September 28, 2020
Peace to Live By: Being Happy with What God Has Given (TMF:1466) - Daniel Litton
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       The key for us is to be happy with what God has in fact given us, to be thankful for it, and if there is anything else we want him to give us, we need to ask him for it and keep a patient attitude. It is true that for most of us God has already given us a great deal of things, most of which we cannot even count. He has given us salvation, the guarantee of Heaven when we die, his Holy Spirit to help us in life, his very presence with us at all times, and on and on the list goes. He has given many of us, if you stop and think about it, an overflow in relationships, both family and friends. And as far as material possessions, he has given us a great amount of things. Most of us have much more than we could ever really need on this earth. Many of us have a variety of possessions, at least some money, and usually whatever we want to eat. And if there are things we want God to give us, if we need more things, or more money, or would like to eat better—whatever it is—God tells us to ask him for it and to believe he will give it to us.