An Encounter with Humility

Watch this series on video here.

Leslie Basham: Erin Davis reminds you Jesus’ teaching on greatness is radical.

Erin Davis: Jesus lays down some strange definitions here: The definition of greatness is service. To win first place, you have to be a slave. You get to be first by being last. Greatness doesn’t come through power, through wealth, or through accomplishments. It comes through service.

Leslie: This is Revive Our Hearts for Tuesday, May 13, 2014.

Nancy Leigh DeMoss: Well, I have so enjoyed having Erin Davis with us as a guest teacher here on Revive Our Hearts for the last several days, and I know you’ve been blessed to hear her insights and to study along with her as we’ve been looking at several of Jesus’ encounters with women.

It’s really a blessing to have women like Erin as part of the Revive Our Hearts team and ministry. We’ve shared with you that she’s our chief blogger at LiesYoungWomenBelieve.com. And, Erin, I’m just so thankful for the heart God has given you for young women. You get in a room of young women and they gravitate to you, you gravitate to them. How did that get in your heart? Did you always just have that?

Erin: In fact, I said to you when we were planning this, “Can we invite teenagers?” Because I prefer them to adults—no offense. But, yes, my heart truly beats for young women.

My husband and I spent twelve years in student ministry, and I think it’s just because we were in those trenches and saw the needs and how significant they are. Everyone always focuses on the challenges that young people face. That’s not the whole story.

I find young women to be extremely receptive to the Word of God, extremely open to His truth, extremely willing to obey Him when they understand what it is He's asking them to do. I don’t know that all of us grown women are equally willing in those areas.

I just love their hearts. I love their openness. And, yes, I do feel a sense of urgency.

Nancy: Why?

Erin: Because the culture is clamoring for them louder than I can, unfortunately. But there’s many of us that love young women, and I’m determined to stay in these trenches and fight for the hearts of young women as long as the Lord lets me.

Nancy: One of the things, when people support this ministry, what they’re doing is helping us call women to freedom and fullness and fruitfulness in Christ. So we have this broadcast for women. I write books for women. We have the True Woman blog. But also they’re helping support outreaches like the Lies Young Women Believe blog that are reaching the next generation of women.

Just speak for a moment to why that’s so important we do that.

Erin: Well, I remember just early on with True Woman. I don’t really know the circumstances, but I think maybe the first True Woman event had happened. Some of us gathered together to think that through, and I remember saying to that room of women, “You can invest in this all you want, but if the True Woman movement does not impact the next generation, it will be dead in a decade.”

And I really believe that’s true. It’s great for moms and grandmothers to believe in God’s Word and live it out, but if that doesn’t seep down to their daughters and granddaughters and to the next generation under that and the next generation under that, it’s tragic. So we have to find a way.

I know you’re really fond of Titus 2, as am I. I consider it sort of my life charge—women teaching women, which is God’s idea. Sometimes in a church we group by ages, and that’s okay, too. But really, God’s plan is for older women to be teaching younger women, and all of us are older than someone else, and all of us are younger than somebody.

So I don’t really think you have to have a specific heart for young women or be in youth ministry or be a mom of a teenage girl to feel a responsibility in teaching the next generation of women what God’s truth says and why it matters.

Nancy: Well, I’m so glad you’re doing that. God’s gifted you with a heart for His Word, and you’re committed to living out this truth as a wife, as a mom of three young boys. You’re blogging, you’re writing books, and this series that we’re listening to on Revive Our Hearts is based on a Bible study that Erin has written called, Beautiful Encounters. Eight chapters, eight women who encountered Jesus in life-transforming ways. So if you’ve missed any of the previous ones, go back to ReviveOurHearts.com and make sure and pick up on those.

Today we’re looking at a woman that I suspect maybe you’ve never heard taught on before, or if you have, I know that you’re going to find new insight today.

So, Erin, take us to the Word; take us to Jesus, and, Lord, I just pray that You’d open our ears and hearts to receive what You have for us this day. May we encounter Christ as we seek His encounter with this woman in Your Word. I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

Erin: Several years ago I wrote a Bible study about humility, and let me tell you, that is not a roller coaster ride that you want to buy a ticket for. Because in order to write about humility, you have to understand humility. And once you understand humility, you have to practice humility. All of this was very, very difficult for me and remains very, very difficult for me. I hope I’m not alone in that.

We live in a culture that celebrates the elevation of self. The celebrities of our culture are people who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps and fought for what they deserved and clawed their way to the top. In a culture that screams, “It’s all about you!” humility is kind of this soft whisper that says, “Consider others first.” It’s hard. It’s extremely counter-cultural. It goes against the fiber of how we want to interact with other people.

And what’s so mind bending about Jesus is that He is the one person in all of the world who is wired and worthy for worship. If there was one person who could say, “I deserve,” it would be Him.

Revelation 19:16 tells us He’s the King of kings. He’s the Lord of lords.

We should demonstrate humility because we’re puny. We’re just specks in the span of humanity. But Jesus made everything. He will rule everything. And yet, we see Him demonstrate humility over and over and over.

I don’t doubt that that’s part of what agitated the religious leaders of His day so much, because they liked power. They liked authority. They liked worship. And here He comes on the scene and says, “I’m the Son of God,” but He did it in such a humble way. And that’s often agitating to our spirits.

We’ve seen His humility in every single encounter in this series. He was very humble as He healed the widow’s son. He was very humble as He interacted with Mary and Martha at the death of Lazarus. He was very humble in every story that we’ve told in this series.

But perhaps no more so than in the encounter we’re going to look at today, which is with Salome. She is one of my favorite women in all of the Bible, and I’ll tell you why in just a little bit. Let’s look at Matthew 20:20­–23.

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.”

Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

Let me lay the ground work a little bit here. James and John were the sons of Zebedee and Salome—how’s that for a pair of names? If we flip back to Matthew 4:20–21 we see them being called to be Jesus’ disciples.

Matthew 4:20:

Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

So following Christ had already cost this family a great deal. James and John left their dad to run the family fishing business without warning or explanation.

One minute James and John and their dad Zebedee are in the boat. They’re mending their nets.

Jesus appears on the shore. He says, “Come.”

They say, “Okay.”

And Zebedee is left there in the boat.

I don’t know if their parents were immediately on board or not. It doesn’t say. But I think so many times when Jesus calls our kids to something big, our first reaction is resistance because the cost is really high. So we have this idea of how our kids should serve the Lord, and it feels safe to us, and it fits into our picture, and most of the time it involves them living down the street from us. Then God calls them to something big and costly, and we go, “Oh. I’m not sure that’s the will of God.”

But here God calls James and John out of the boat where their father is sitting, and eventually, at least, Salome comes around to the idea because she becomes a follower of Jesus.

What do we know about James and John? Mark 3:17 pretty much sums them up: “James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder).” Jesus calls them the “Sons of Thunder.” I doubt they got this nickname by being the most docile and agreeable members of the group.

These are some guys with some fierceness. Right? These are scrappy dudes. These are guys that are presence. And they probably fought with each other like brothers do. And probably the reason I like Salome’s story so much is because I have some “Sons of Thunder” of my own.

I’ve been telling you in this series how sweet and adorable my children are, and that’s true when they’re in a still photograph. And they are cute, but, man, they are “Sons of Thunder.” They are boys through and through. They are strong willed. I tell myself many times a day, “Weak-willed children never change the world. Weak-willed children never change the world. Weak-willed children never change the world,” because I have “Sons of Thunder.”

I cleaned the house the other day, and I found nine sticks, all at least three feet long, in my house. And I’m, like, “Okay, boys. The sticks have to stay outside.” But these are boys who like to scrap and like to fight and like to assert their will.

And that’s how James and John were, I’m sure, because Jesus gives them this nickname, “The Sons of Thunder.”

In my house, I’m afraid the apple did not fall too far from the tree. I could probably be called a “Daughter of Thunder.” I’m a bit tornadic myself, but I can really see myself in Salome’s shoes.

She’s raised these boys. She just wanted to survive. She just wanted them to survive. They survived. They’re grown men. They’re fishing with their daddy. And then they get called to this dangerous calling, to follow Jesus. And they do it.

So Salome comes to Jesus, and she makes this request: “Can my sons sit to Your right and to Your left?” She obviously doesn’t know what she was asking, and Jesus shows compassion to her in His interaction with her. But she’s really asking for her sons to have power and prestige and authority because, as I’m sure you know, a lot of people expected Jesus to set up His kingdom there on earth.

So they assumed any day now He’s going to seize the throne, and He was going to be in charge. And she’s saying, “I want my boys to be Your right- and left-hand men when You do that.” She wanted her sons to have positions of honor.

Now, I’m going to assume James and John put their poor mama up to this because the disciples had already had this conversation once before.

If we look at Luke 9:46–48, it says this:

An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.”

So Jesus had already tried to teach them the bottom line of humility. He says, “For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” Jesus has this habit of turning things totally upside down. He flips it. And He’s saying if you want to be great, you have to be the least. I think the disciples collectively said, “Huh?” because they didn’t get it.

That’s what I would think. I don’t get it. How do you get to be great by being the least? How can I be at the top if I have to stay at the bottom? Jesus doesn’t really answer those questions. He just pulls a child on to His lap and says, “If you want to be great, you have to be the least.” And they’re going, “Uh, okay. I still want to be great. I don’t get it.”

So an opportunity arises a little while later, and Salome kind of asks the question again. James and John probably didn’t get it either, and they still really wanted those positions in God’s kingdom. So Salome does what any good mama does, she just boldly asks for what her sons, what she thinks her sons need.

You guys know about mama bears. Right? There’s this thing that happens in mamas when we feel like there’s something our kids need that just rises up. It’s not always pretty.

I took my son Eli on a field trip to the pumpkin patch with the school. Another five-year-old boy was being mean to him and not letting him on the slide. I was embarrassed by the mama bear who came up to him. I was, like, “You’re not being mean to my son, are you?” I mean, he’s five!

But that’s what Salome was doing. She’s got a mama bear thing here where she’s, “I’m going to ask for what my sons need.” Her sons were grown men, and it probably wasn’t quite as embarrassing, but anyway, Jesus responds with such humility in the face of that.

She was way out of line. She didn’t know what she was asking for. But He was so humble toward her. He didn’t embarrass her. He restrains His power. But He takes the opportunity to teach her, and all of the disciples, about humility.

Let’s go back to Matthew 20, and we’ll see how Jesus responds to her in verses 24–28.

And when the ten heard it [which is the other disciples plus James and John], they were indignant at the two brothers. But Jesus called them 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.”

Jesus lays down some strange definitions here. The definition of greatness is service. To win first place, you have to be a slave. And He isn’t talking about becoming a literal slave, but He does ask us to take on the mindset of a slave in putting others first. Greatness doesn’t come through power, through wealth, or through accomplishments. It comes through service. That’s what He’s teaching. He uses Salome’s boldness there to teach her and the disciples about humility. Of course, they had no idea what was right around the corner.

He says to them, to James and John, “Can you drink the cup that I’m about to drink?” And they say, “Sure. Where is it?” Of course, the cup He’s talking about is the cup that just a few passages later in the Garden of Gethsemane He says to God, “If it be your will, take this cup from me.”

They could not drink the cup He was about to drink, but they didn’t know that. They thought He was getting ready to set up an earthly kingdom. But Jesus taught them about what they did not yet know.

Verse 28 is an extremely powerful and life-changing verse. I would just encourage you, after listening to this, to read that passage over and over and over until you feel like it sinks in. It says,

Even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus—that we’ve been talking about in this whole series.

Jesus—whose divinity we saw in His encounter with Anna.

Jesus—whose compassion we saw with the widow of Nain.

Jesus—who models true friendship.

Jesus—who’s the King of kings and the Lord of lords, through Him all things were made, who’s Emanuel, who’s the Son of God, who’s the Prince of peace.

He says, “I didn’t come here so you could serve Me. I came here so I could serve you.”

So Salome bursts on the scene, and she says, “Can my sons have power in Your kingdom?” And He says, “Power comes through service. Greatness comes from being least. I didn’t come here so you could serve Me. I came here so I could serve you.”

James and John and Salome didn’t get what He was trying to tell them because their wicked hearts can barely process humility. Certainly at this level, I can barely process what Jesus was saying there, but He modeled it, and He called us to it.

So did Salome get it? Did she learn the lesson that Jesus wanted her to learn? Did she learn humility by proximity to Jesus? And did the teachable moment He used that day matter?

Let’s fast forward to Mark 15:40–41.

There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

Throughout the crucifixion process, Salome ministered to Jesus. I don’t know where her thoughts were or if hopes of her children sitting at His right and left hand were dashed at that moment. In fact, I doubt if she thought about that much at all that day. But she stuck with Him. She stayed by Him. The Bible says she ministered to Him during the crucifixion process. That’s humility.

Let’s look at Mark 16:1.

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.

Jesus endured an extremely graphic and painful death, and Salome stuck by Him and served Him however she could in that process, and then she bought spices to anoint His body. Buying the spices would have been costly and certainly anointing His body would have been tedious and gruesome. There would have been nothing glamorous about that job. There would have been nothing powerful about that job. It would certainly be a humble job, and she was prepared to do it.

So as we see Salome’s story, we see this clear pattern of growth, and I take such comfort in that. I think we have this idea that when we come to know the Lord, we’re supposed to get it. We’re supposed to just be who He wants us to be, and we’re supposed to understand everything He wants us to understand. But that’s not what happens with Salome.

She’s already a follower of Christ, and He’s teaching her about humility. And when we see her a little later on in her story, she’s got it. She’s living out humility. She’s ministering to Jesus as He’s dying. She’s willing and able to anoint His body after He’s dead. And the last time we read about her in Scripture, she’s totally devoted to Him, and she’s serving Him in such humble, unassuming ways.

Jesus modeled humility at every turn, culminating in His death on the cross. His encounter with Salome forces questions about our own hearts.

• Do we seek to be great through service to others? Or do we seek to be great by being great? Which doesn’t work—that’s what Jesus was telling us. 
• Do we want to be first? Or do we see the value in being last? 
• Do we come into our families, our work places, our relationships expecting to be served or to serve?

Now, you guys know what answers you’re supposed to give. You know you’re supposed to say, “I expect to serve.” And maybe you do.

• But is your heart keeping an account of all that you do for others? Because that’s not humility. That’s just behavior modification. 
• Do you feel resentment when people don’t give to you like you give to them? Because that’s not humility either. 

I suppose it’s possible for us to do humble things without being humble.

I literally wrote the book on humility, and I still struggle with it, probably most at home. I said I’m the only woman in a house full of men, and they don’t care about dirty houses at all. They don’t even see it. They don’t care if we eat easy-mac every single day. And so I can get into this mode where I have the sense of entitlement that my kids and husband will serve me because don’t they see all that I do for them.

I’m afraid Jesus would have sat me down, or would like to sit me down and have a conversation with me like He had with Salome, herein: “You get to be first by being last. Look at My life. I didn’t come so that people would serve Me. I came so that I could serve them.”

It’s essentially the same climb for power that Salome was doing when I do that. I want to be noticed. I want to be in charge. I want to have authority. I want people to pay attention to what I’m doing. And Jesus would encourage us to model humility.

Let me be really clear that humility is not the by-product of thinking poorly of yourself. Humility is not the same as low self-esteem or self-hatred. Instead, it is understanding your true position before a holy God. Salome learned that lesson through her children, through her “Sons of Thunder.”

And my “Sons of Thunder” are teaching me a lot about humility, too. And I hope when my story is told, they’ll say, “Well, Erin struggled with humility, and her ‘Sons of Thunder’ challenged her on it, but she got it. When we look at the end of her life, she served others instead of expecting them to serve her.”

So my question for you is: What is God using to teach you the beauty and power of humility? There is no better lesson than His own life.

Nancy: Let me get a mic if we can, and let’s just interact if we can a little bit about what we’ve heard here. You’re never more like Jesus than when you’re serving. And we’re never less like Jesus than when we’re grasping for power and trying to be in charge and the winner and on top. This just goes to the heart of, I think, where we all wrestle.

This is a huge issue with God. It’s a huge issue in our own lives. So I’m just going to ask: Is there an area in your life where you’re tempted to want to be served rather than to serve? Now, the answer for all of us is, “Yes.” So, is there anybody here who would be honest enough to share an area in your life—maybe as a mom or as a teen? Is there an area where you want to be on top, you want to be in charge, you want to be served? And where you see this kind of pride cropping up its head in your life?

Woman 1: Sometimes you wish your kids were more helpful. You’ll get home, and you swore there were no dishes that were dirty when you left, but there’s a whole sink full of dishes that somehow materialized when you were gone. At that time pride usually speaks up because I think it’s unfair that I have to do dishes again. Why can’t they pick up after themselves? They’re not little kids, so they can do that kind of stuff. So that’s probably more prideful than not.

Nancy: Okay, now, don’t misunderstand us here. We’re not saying you shouldn’t teach your kids to pick up . . . there’s both sides of this. But God knows the heart. Right? And is my heart resistant to where I’m called upon to serve. We all want to be a servant until we’re treated like one. Right?

Can you think of someone that you know who models that servant, humble heart, whose life challenges you to be more like Jesus in humility? Who comes to mind?

Woman 2: My mom. I think she definitely demonstrates that on Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm one of six children, and she has all of us back to her house, and she cooks and cleans and prepares without a complaint or fuss. We help along, but she definitely has to do the brunt of that work.

I see in her the humble service. She is always willing to invite people over to our house. My friends, when I was a kid, my friends when I’m an adult, and she opens up her house and shows the hospitality of a servant.

Nancy: Hospitality is a great area—a tough area sometimes—but a great one where we can show, not to show off and impress, but to serve and be a blessing to those that come into our home.

Someone else. Who do you know who has that humble, servant heart of Jesus? Right here.

Haley: My mom’s like that, too. She gives and gives and gives, and she doesn’t expect anything back. My little brothers often want to spend all of her money, and she will give them her last cent to make them happy. She doesn’t really have time for herself because we have friends over all the time. She cooks and cleans, and she runs everywhere for everyone else. She rarely ever has time for herself. She just gives and gives and gives.

Nancy: Well, let me ask you, Haley, she sounds like an amazing woman. Is your mom here?

Haley: No. She’s at home.

Nancy: Okay. She’s at home working.

Haley: My twenty-one-year-old brother is at my house right now, and she takes care of him right now.

Nancy: Some people would hear that and they’d go, “That sounds like a miserable woman.” I don’t know your mom, but does she, is she happy to serve that way?

Haley: Well, sometimes she’s, like, “Get out of my face because I need time alone.” Because she’s been running and running for so long.

Nancy: Okay. So there’s a balance needed that we’ve got to take in from the Lord and get Him to fill our cups so that we have something to give out to others. Right? The more you take in from Him, the more resources you have to give out to others.

Who else do you know who’s a humble servant? You guys are making me get my exercise.

Erin: While you’re getting there, I’ll just say that we hear from young women all the time that they don’t want to be moms. That’s something I’m so concerned about, and this is why: because humility is not appealing to them, and certainly motherhood requires humility. So I think maybe one way to get young women to embrace motherhood is to get them to embrace humility as a good thing, not a prison sentence.

Nancy: Right, right, right. Kaitlyn?

Kaitlyn: I would have to say my grandma. She just passed away this past January, but since I was a little girl, if ever there was a problem within the family or outside the family, she would always put others before herself. She would just always have a phone call just to see how we were doing. And if there was something bothering her, if we asked, then she would tell us. But she would focus more primarily on others than on herself. She would always open up Christmas and invite us over. She lived in Minnesota, so we would always visit her. She was one of the many role models in my life, and she had a really warm heart.

Nancy: And it points us to Jesus, doesn’t it?

Kaitlyn: Yes.

Nancy: Thank you, Kaitlyn. Pass that to Kim if you would.

Kim: I have to say my daughters. I’m very blessed to have two daughters, and they’re both here with me today. Just recently I had shoulder surgery, and I didn’t even have to ask them to do things around the house. They willingly helped me out with laundry and cleaning the house and doing the meals.

My oldest daughter here spends most of the summer volunteering and serving other people. Actually, last weekend was serving with some other teens at some other function and ran into somebody that she met through the summer. She said, “They’re going to think that’s all I do.” I said, “Well, honey, a lot of times that’s what you do. You do serve.”

I’m thankful for the heart they have for the Lord and wanting to serve other people.

Nancy: That’s great.

Woman 3: I would say my aunt. We have a family of eight. She lives in Michigan, and every single time we come over, she’s says, “Oh, come. You can sleep here. Go in the pantry, and you can eat anything you want.” She’s just always so willing to have us over even though we have teenagers. I mean, my brother, he’s twenty-one, and he eats like none other, and she had him over for the whole summer. He was working for my uncle, and she was just so willing just to have people over. It’s amazing.

She was actually supposed to be here but my cousin has a few health problems, and she just works around that. She does Bible study. She has two little kids. I don’t know how she does it, but it’s really amazing how she just is willing to have people over—yes, she loves people.

Nancy: And love is what it gets down to, isn’t it? If you have a heart of love, then you’re going to be willing to humble yourself to serve.

One more—Jeannie?

Jeannie: I hate talking in front of people. I would have to say my husband, actually, because our life is very full with homeschooling and kids. You know how that is. But it’s not unusual for him to come home from work and just see that I’ve gotten a little behind on the laundry or there’s a sink full of dishes.

We moved here from Georgia, and so when we got here, it was a little colder here than what we’re used to. A few minutes before I would go to bed, he would disappear. When I went to bed, I’d get under the covers, and they would be nice and warm. He had gone upstairs with the blow dryer and blow dried between the sheets so that when I got in, they’d be nice and warm.

Nancy: You’re going to make every husband feel bad, really bad. That’s hard to beat.

Jeannie: He’s a good one. Every morning when I get up, the coffee’s already made because he’s usually gone to the gym or to work or whatever, but he always has my mug sitting there with the cream and sugar in it ready for me just to pour my coffee. We have four girls, and I love it that our girls are seeing that example in him, too, just the way that he loves us by serving us so selflessly in giving of himself.

Nancy: Great. Thank you, Jeannie.

Let’s just sum up this lesson we’ve heard with another New Testament passage. It’s a familiar one, but it came to mind, Erin, as you were teaching on Salome and the example of Jesus. Here in Philippians 2: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit” (v. 3).

You think there was some of that in Salome when she first went to Jesus and said, “Give my sons the exalted place”? There was some selfish ambition there. Right? Not just for herself, but for her sons.

Here Paul says not to do anything from that heart, but here’s the heart you want:

In humility count others more significant than yourselves. Look each of you not only on his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped (one translation says, “He didn’t cling to His rights as God”), but instead he emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross (vv. 3–8).

Now, that’s not where that passage ends. Some of you were talking about how examples of people who serve and serve and serve, and some people could listen to that and say, “You’re nuts. Who would want to have that life?” Well, look how it ended up for Jesus. He humbled Himself; became obedient; died on a cross,

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow (vv. 9–10).

That’s why the New Testament says repeatedly, “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and in due time, He shall lift you up.” The way up is down, and that’s something Salome learned. I love seeing that progression in her life from first she wanted to be up. Then she realized you’ve got to go down to serve, and that’s the way that you experience true exaltation.

Thank You, Lord, for such a sweet lesson from Your Word, and I pray that You would grant us humble, serving, compassionate hearts that are centered on Christ, centered on others. Give us a servant’s heart and know that, as we serve others, we’re serving the Lord Jesus to whom we owe everything. And we give You thanks, in His precious name, amen.

Leslie: We’ve been hearing from Nancy Leigh DeMoss, our guest teacher, Erin Davis, and some members of our audience. They’ve been talking about Jesus’ upside-down definition of greatness.

I don’t know about you, but I never heard the two mentions of Salome in the Bible pulled together like that before. Erin writes about Salome and many other women who encountered Jesus in her workbook, Beautiful Encounters.

We’ll send you a copy today and tomorrow when you support Revive Our Hearts with a gift of any size. Ask for it when you call 1–800–569–5959 with your support, or visit ReviveOurHearts.com.

You can get Erin’s workbook anywhere, but when you donate to Revive Our Hearts, you’re making a big difference. Here’s Nancy to tell you more.

Nancy: Does the Lord really need Revive Our Hearts? Well, the answer is, “No.” He can accomplish His purposes any way He wants. But is the Lord choosing to use Revive Our Hearts to accomplish His purposes in many women’s lives at this time? Well, I’m convinced the answer to that question is a resounding, “Yes!”

We hear from women all the time telling us how the Lord has used Revive Our Hearts to help them experience greater freedom, fullness, and fruitfulness in Christ.

Now, if you’ve seen the Lord working through this program, if he’s used it in your life or in the lives of others that you know and love, I want to encourage you to consider partnering with us and helping us tell women around the world about the truth that sets them free.

As we’ve been sharing with you over the past couple of weeks, the month of May concludes our operating year. We call it our fiscal year-end. We’re asking the Lord to help us end this year in the black. Doing that is really important as we head into the summer months when giving is often lower.

So, as I’ve been sharing, we’re asking the Lord to provide $435,000 or more in donations during the month of May. Now, $70,000 of that amount has been pledged by a number of ministry friends who want to match any gifts given this month from first-time donors. So if you’ve never given to this ministry before, now is a great time to make that first gift because your donation will be doubled.

So, would you help us continue spreading the truth that sets people free? You can call us to make your gift at 1–800–569–5959. If you want to write a check, you can send your gift through the mail to P.O. Box 2000, Niles, MI 49120, or you can always visit us online at ReviveOurHearts.com.

Leslie: Thanks, Nancy.

Well, tomorrow Erin Davis will be back to tell you about one more woman who encountered Jesus. This was the encounter that changed everything for her. Please be back for Revive Our Hearts.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss is an outreach of Life Action Ministries.

All Scripture is taken from the English Standard Version.

 

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.