Isaiah 55:8
God's Thoughts and Ways Are Not Man's Thoughts and Ways
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
John 18:33-37
Jesus' Kingdom is Not of This World
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
Matthew 11:18-19
Jesus Called a Drunkard and Glutton
18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.”
Philippians 2:5-11
Jesus Humbled Himself
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Luke 18:9-14
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
John 3:11-21
Jesus Comes from Heaven
11 Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. 12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.
Luke 18:31-34
Jesus Predicts His Death a Third Time
31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32 He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him; 33 they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
34 The disciples did not understand any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they did not know what he was talking about.
Luke 23:26-38
The Crucifixion of Jesus
26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said,“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: this is the king of the jews.
I personally think that Heaven is the greatest place, the highest point, the grandest of the grand places to be...And there is a King there and the King's name is Jesus...Jesus is a King and His Kingdom is from Another World, called Heaven...Jesus comes from this greatest place called Heaven and His Kingdom is Heaven...And He left there...For reasons of LOVE He came down from Heaven for us and to save us...To leave Heaven for a common man would be very difficult (and I think that is an understatement)...Jesus would leave His Great Kingdom for approximately thirty three years...To leave the greatest of places and come to earth and lower oneself shows the humility of our King and Savior...He came to earth with no reputation...He came to earth and just lived and dwelt among common, ordinary men...He left His Heavenly Mansion for earth...And while He was on earth, we do not read that He even had a house...We do not read about any of His possessions...I do not think He owned anything, He probably had no possessions...And He did not want any material possessions...He humbled Himself and became a Teacher of men, and a Servant for us, and would in the end die for us...And at anytime He could have called on His Kingdom and changed anything -including His suffering and death...Yet, He didn't...His mindset as Jesus was complete humility...And I often find this so difficult to grasp...And the only way I can grasp it, is believing that God so loves the world that He gave his One and Only Son to us, and whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life...For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him...Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s One and Only Son...
And knowing the power and the strength of Jesus, as well as the strongest mindset and all that He teaches us -we as mankind still more or less look up to the famous, the important, the great stars, the great athletes, the powerful, and those of influence...Jesus often left the big crowds after doing a good deed or one of His miracles...He did not seek to be famous or to be important...He often told people not to tell others of His miracles, when He helped them...He did not seek to be powerful and have influence...But He became all these things famous, important, powerful, and one of great influence...And He did it by serving others...Serving others was His way of teaching us how to live...And not only serving others, but to love others, while we are serving...Jesus never sought the famous, the important, the powerful, or those with influence...And as a King He could have rightfully asserted His power over these or any groups, but He did not...Jesus could have easily condemned us for our current, past, and future actions, but He did not...He is forgiving, so forgiving...And we killed Him on a cross...And He forgave us, before we nailed Him to His cross...And all along throughout His life, He knew this was going to happen, and predicted it three times...
God does not think like man, and His ways are not like ours...Jesus went from the best possible House and living place to maybe the lowest one or one of the lowest one, a manger...How many of us would do that?...His followers on earth tended to be the outcast, the lepers, the prostitutes, those on the fringe of society, the tax collector, and the sinner...He was always helping them, and including them around His ministry and very often ate with these groups...He taught this over and over about those who need help...And while He taught us about these groups and serving these groups, we sometimes still tend to look down on some people and still seem to seek out and watch, and want to be around the famous, the affluent, the celebrity, the powerful, and those of influence...These groups when we look at what happened to Him, wanted Him to keep going and keep ministering...It was the High Officials and the affluent who wanted Him to stop what He was doing and follow them and how they saw things...He continued to serve these outcast groups until His death...
So what do I think of servitude in His Great Teachings and serving others?...Serving is in most of His teachings...The glory on earth and Heaven is His...Just look where He comes from and how He lived when He was on earth...We cannot quite think like God...
I tend to still think of reputation and possessions as I live...And so for me one of the strangest things about His life, He started with nothing in His manger, and He died on the cross with nothing, as a criminal...Yet, He is the most famous of Men I have ever read about...How did that happen?...And even though He lived the greatest of lives ever on earth, I needed something more to believe in Him...Something needed to happen after His death, to change and/or assist the way I look at His life, and all His great teachings...The resurrection shows us the Grand Power of God and the power and the need of God resurrecting Him...God gave us another Grand Miracle...We needed the resurrection...I needed and need the resurrection...