John 10:10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (abundantly). 

• A Compelling Vision
• Relentless Conviction
• Courageous Action
• Anointed Authority

Confident humility

Ephesians 4:2

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 

Philippians 2:3

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 

Smallness Ditch—nobody deserves a trophy

People, “are flesh, they can savor of nothing but the flesh; therefore, freewill can avail only to sin.” In reality, no matter how good we seem, we are each nothing, “but rottenness and a worm.”

-- Martin Luther

The ditch of bigness: everyone deserves a trophy

“You cannot hang out with negative people and expect to live a positive life.”

“Other people do not determine your potential.”

Confident—assurance that something is true and will happen, nothing to prove. Opposite would be insecure, afraid.

Humility—letting go of self-serving power and position in order to leverage your power and position for the benefit of something good or someone else.

John 13:2–5

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. 

John 13:12–15

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 

Because Jesus was confident in who He was and why He was there, He could perform the lowest job without hesitation to achieve a higher purpose.

John 19:7–11

The Jews insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. 

Because Jesus was confident in who He was and why He was there, He didn’t leverage the power at his disposal to serve himself, but to achieve a higher purpose.

 Add notes

He could perform the lowest job without hesitation to achieve a higher purpose.

He didn’t leverage the power at his disposal to serve himself, but to achieve a higher purpose.

The abundant life comes through the surrendered life.

The greatest hindrance in our spiritual life maybe we will only look for big things to do. Yet, Jesus took a basin and a towel.

A spiritually vigorous saint sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him.

-- Oswald Chambers