Grateful or Self-Interested? | The Dinner After Lazarus Was Raised | John Giftah | Christian Sermon

0:01 Speaker 1: Do you ever look around and think, Wow, the world is a crazy place and it just seems to get crazier and crazier. Ease your mind and take a break. This is Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We're a hub for inspirational Christian sermons, practical keys for Christian living, in Christian discussions and interviews. You'll be inspired to live the life that you were created for. Your host is a top ranking podcaster, best selling author, world record holder, aerospace engineer, life coach, evangelist, and founder of John Gifta International.

0:41 Speaker 1: Welcome to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta.

0:46 Speaker 2: Hello everyone, Welcome to this solution of the Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta podcast. Today, I'm going to talk about something I believe is very important for us to take note of from John chapter twelve. Here's the thing. This is a chapter right after John chapter eleven. Jesus raised lasses back to life, and in honor of that, they have decided to give a dinner. This is what it says in verse too. Here a dinner was given in Jesus's honor. See, I want you to understand something here. A lot of times when we get the miracle, we are like, oh wow, thank you Jesus, and then we forget.

1:19 Speaker 2: But here's an example of how after the miracle they wanted to honor Jesus with a dinner. You know, I want to ask you this question. You've been waiting for the miracle, You've been praying for the breakthrough. You've been you know, asking the Lord to show up and show up in a certain area of your life, and then finally got showed up, finally got to the unthinkable, finally got to a miracle. My question is after that, what did you do? Did you honor him? Did you say thank you to the Lord? Did you have like a thanksgiving program or a service?

1:54 Speaker 2: That's exactly what they did. Right now. I'm not saying go and trumpet it to the whole world in a sense of show being like a show off, But what I'm saying is having that attitude of gratitude and expressing that gratefulness in the best way possible. And here's the thing. When they were doing this is when Mary comes in and pours the expensive perfume on Jesus' feet and the whole place is filled with a fragrance, and Judas carry it comes out and says, why wasn't this perfume sold and money given to the poor?

2:30 Speaker 2: It was worth a year's wages. And the Bible also says in verse six, he did not say this because he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself with what was put in it. Here's the thing I wanted to understand something. Here. Judas was now sitting in this dinner, this feast, this great program. Now, he did not say, why you spending money on giving this? Now? Why are you doing this? You could just give all the money to the poor. He didn't say that.

3:06 Speaker 2: He was enjoying the food in the dinner, and then he's complaining about maybe giving this perfume or pourting the perfume out on Jesus. Here's the thing, here's the thing I wanted to understand. Sometimes you would have noticed about people, right, they're okay with something as long as they get something out of it. Like Judas was also enjoying the meal in the feast. Right, that's why he was. He was not complaining about the meal. Right, if his intention was save all the money and give it to the poor, if it was genuine, you wouldn't even come, I mean, like to a feast.

3:41 Speaker 2: He would have said, guys, don't don't give to the feast, okay, like, don't spend money on that. Give all that money to the poor. You know, he would have said that. But here's the thing. He enjoyed the feast. He enjoyed the food and the you know, this dinner that was laid out for Jesus. He enjoyed all of this. And then when he realized that the perfume was something he could not enjoy it was only for Jesus. He had a problem with it. You see, some people have this attitude where they're okay as long as they get something out of it, but the minute they realize that they don't benefit out of it, they have a problem.

4:17 Speaker 2: You get know what I'm saying. They have a problem. And there's so many things we can unpack. I've thought so many things about this passage, and I want to talk more about it than the days to come. But today I want you to just think about this. Are you like Judas in this case where you're okay as long as you get something out of it, but you have a problem when you realize you don't get something, but only God gets the glory. When God wants to just use you as an instrument, but you don't get any benefit through that.

4:45 Speaker 2: Are you okay with that? You know? One other things I want to share and close in this episode is that over the years in ministry, I noticed that God has given me this gift of connecting people. A lot of times. Even two days ago, I was able to, by the grace of God, connect someone with another person and that was like a divine connection for them. It was like, you know, described as how I was like the Cobbo who was able to connect the Joseph with the Pharaoh. You know, that is how it was. And I was like, God, you know what, I'm happy about this connection.

5:18 Speaker 2: And I've connected so many people, Like there's so many connections, so many clients for people, so many things like that. God, I wish I would get a divine connection like that. I wish, you know, sometimes I feel like, oh, why should I do this for other people? Like I mean, I've done this so much. I'm not getting a divine connection myself. Nobody is thinking of it like that for me. Why am I not getting? But then I had to remind myself like this. Am I going to be someone who's only going to connect people as long as I get something in return?

5:47 Speaker 2: Or am I going to be someone who's like you know what, let God's name be glorified. If I'm not getting anything in return, it's okay. If Jesus is getting it, that's all that matters. Even if I'm in the negative spot or in the sense of I'm at a disadvantage or I'm not getting the credit or I'm not getting any benefit, even if I'm being crushed or anything, or even if the ministry is not growing, God, it's okay. As long as your name is being glorified through this, as long as somebody is receiving your word, as long as somebody is shining the light for your kingdom, building your kingdom in some way together with that collaboration, as long as somehow your name is being glorified, that's okay.

6:28 Speaker 2: Today, I want to ask you, are you going to be like Judas, who's only going to be like okay as long as you get something a benefit for yourself, Or are you going to be okay even if you don't get anything for yourself, but it's all going to give the glory to Jesus. Are you okay to be a channel or a medium for His Kingdom? Amen? God bless you.

6:53 Speaker 1: You've been listening to Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. We hope you were blessed and inspired to live the life if that God has for you. Make sure to subscribe to the John gifted YouTube channel for regular uploads of sermons, skits, interviews and more. Follow John Gifta on Instagram for regular inspirational posts, and don't forget to check out the best selling books written by John Gifta, Who Am I which will help you understand your identity and the latest number one best seller Unveil your Purpose, helping you discover your purpose and to start walking in it.

7:27 Speaker 1: Make sure to leave a rating and review and be sure to share it with your friends and loved ones. If you'd like to donate, you can find the PayPal link in the description. And if you'd like to invite John Gifta to speak at your event or to get more details, go to the website at www Godjohngifted dot com. See you on the next episode of the Fuel for the Soul with John Gifta. God bless you