BIBLE:
Jesus KNEW that the Father had given Him authority over everything and that He had come from God and would return to God. So He got up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel He had around Him.

After washing their feet, He put on His robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call Me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I HAVE GIVEN YOU AN EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the TRUTH, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them. (‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭3-5, 12-17‬ NLT)

ME:
Because Jesus knew His greatness and knew His reward in God, He was able to humble Himself and wash the feet of others. The feet are usually the first to get soiled, the most difficult to keep clean and the lowest aspect of the body. The Greatest Being was washing the lowest part of man. Absorb that…

So many of our popular pastors in the media, they pump and prime us to believe we deserve to partake in the greatness, success,and entitlements of Jesus. Even though it is true, we are certainly promised that. Unfortunately, these “pastors” they are not teaching the complete Truth. Jesus here teaches us that we follow His example, even though we have a great reward and entitlement waiting for us, we live as humble before others as we can, we die to ourselves and we serve others, putting them first in all things. Washing and drying their soiled feet and soiled lives.

We need to be cautious of “teachers” not living the Life of Christ. Seeking platforms, special lighting, hipster clothes, gelled hair, security guards, gated communities, you know the type. We are clearly taught by Jesus Himself, we take the lower seat, we serve, we wash, we humble ourselves.

Spend a season in your life being taught by Jesus. Learn from Him. Study His Words. Learn Jesus from the Holy Spirit, talk about Him with your friends. Seek first the Kingdom. Your eyes will be open to a new reality. A New Life, and a Life more Abundant!

Loving Your Teen More Than Your Toddler. You know that crazy, all consuming love we feel for our newborn or toddler, it’s the best feeling on the planet. We just love to look at those sweet chubby cheeks and big glossy eyes. It’s an awesome feeling. I am always heartbroken to see parents not enjoying their teen/adult children and not continuing to feel this sense of adoration.

God’s design is that we look at our tiny tots and get a rush of pleasant emotion and find them adorable so that we want to protect them, guard them and provide for them. God knows if they looked like skinny baby robins it would be slightly more challenging to be so completely enamored with them. They are a lot of hard, tiring work. Somehow, we totally get through it because of their dadgum cuteness.

Unfortunately, as our kids grow and mature, parents honestly grow less enamored. This isn’t how it should be. Our love for our kids should deepen and expand, especially as the extensive physical labor of caring for them lessens and they have the ability to ease our work load. This is the magical time we get to see them for who they truly are. Their personality comes to life and we bond with them not only as parents but as mentors and even better, as friends.

But, what is happening? Why are most of the parent/teen relationships not maturing into this level of depth? Truth? Most parents stink at parenting and mentoring. It’s a lost skill. As our world became industrialized, our great grandparents didn’t truly parent our grandparents, our grandparents didn’t truly parent, our parents didn’t truly parent us and we are not truly parenting our kids.

Good news? This can change in one moment, in one single beat of your heart. How? Facing the truth, being honest with yourself that you do not know how to truly parent, being honest with your kids about it, and being honest to God about it. Then you humble yourself to yourself, to your kids and to your God. You ask for forgiveness from God and your kids. Get eye to eye with your teen, ask them to step out of the rage for a minute and just hear the words you are about you are about to say. Admit you are wrong, you have been wrong, you have failed them, sincerely apologize. Your child needs to hear this, and hear it often. Sure you may get eyes rolled at you. But honestly your child will see this moment of weakness, truly as a moment of great strength. Then from there, you just say, “I’m going to try to get this right, we need to approach this and learn from each other. What kind of parent do you truly want me to be? This is what I truly want to see from you as my child.”

Honesty, Humility and Truth don’t take away our strength, they make us STRONGER!

Scripture: Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, and before honour is humility. (‭Proverbs‬ ‭18‬:‭12‬ KJV) And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (‭John‬ ‭8‬:‭32‬ NLT)

Live Clean, Live in Truth, Live Good, Love Good…Come alive by dying to yourself, and live more abundantly! This is the Good Stuff Here!