Follower?

 ”And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”"   Mark 8:34-38 (ESV)
The cross was the purpose Jesus came. He created me with a purpose, and today I have a choice to ignore His purpose for me by listening to this temporal bundle of feelings and emotions, or to deny myself and purposely align myself with God and His purposes for me.
If I am to follow Christ, I must deny myself, pick up my cross, and follow.
I will either listen to God and live or listen to me and wish I lived. For now, the choice is mine.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

One day, we answer to God.

The next day the common people who came to the feast, having heard that Jesus is coming into Jerusalem, took the branches of the palm trees and went out with a view to meeting Him. And they kept on shouting, Save now. Let Him who comes in the name of the Lord, the One who in times past has been eulogized, be regarded as such at present, even the King of Israel.  John  12:12-13  (Wuest) The crowd saw Christ's exceptional power and authority and wanted Him to act on their behalf now. This crowd would soon change from wanting to crown Him to wanting to crucify Him. What makes a crowd change its mind so quickly? Propaganda soon focused on the truth, and Jesus was in the crosshairs. If the people believed Jesus, the religious establishments were history. Therefore, religious leaders began to fight for the right to control their subjects. Jesus offers freedom. Religion offers repression. Jesus offers hope. Religion offers fear. Jesus gives life purpose. Religion is its own purpose. We mu
Read more

It is good that God does not depend upon our ability, faith, or goodness

When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the riverbank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go." So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took t
Read more

Hope in a King?

And the Lord said to Samuel, "Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them." 1 Samuel 8:7-9 (ESV)   Sometimes, God gives us what we whine for, which is not good for us. When we reject God, we reject God's people. When we reject God, we reject common sense, dignity, and purpose. When we reject God, we choose to live in hopelessness.   We are deceived whenever we choose to know/follow God through a person rather than through His Word. The Scriptures give us a clear understanding of what now happens to this nation as they put their hope in a king, like the other nations, rather than i
Read more