Here is another devotion from the book Kari got me "Voices of the Faithful" -- a book of devotions written by missionaries around the world. I actually want to post both the one from today and the one from yesterday. I don't know if I will have time to type out both right now, so I am going to just start with the one from yesterday.
Love ya!
Humble Beginnings
"Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though He was God, He did not demand or cling to His rights as God." Philippians 2:5-6 (NLT)
Another language blunder, but I never imagined it would be so meaningful. It was our fourth Christmas in China, and we had recently moved from a large capital to a more remote town.
Each Christmas we made a manger out of bamboo and filled it with hay, then we wrapped a doll in a blanket and placed it in the manger in our living room. A floodlight shining on the doll's face helped remind us of the wonder of Christmas.
I explained to a Chinese guest that when Jesus was born, He was placed in a feed trough. Instead of saying the Chinese word for "manger," I accidentally used the word for "toilet." My wife quickly corrected me, and we laughed at my mistake.
Reflecting later, it wasn't stretching it to say that Jesus was born and then placed in a toilet. The trough most likely didn't smell much better, and compared to the glory He had enjoyed in heaven, a feed trough surrounded by smelly animals probably did seem comparatively like a toilet.
I realized that the sacrifices made to live in this remote town were pathetically small when compared to those that Jesus made in leaving heaven to come to earth. I was encouraged, though, to think that moving to this town was in line with the Christmas message.
Jesus left a place of comfort to seek the lost in an uncomfortable and remote place called earth. it took a language blunder to be reminded that our relocation was merely our humble attempt to follow His example.
--A worker in China
Father, it is hard to grasp that Your Son emptied Himself to be made into the likeness of man. May I never forget the price He paid for me. May I always realize that my sacrifices are nothing compared to His. Amen
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