Tag: follow me

Posted in Bible study, Devotion, From the Insideout, Journey Through The Word, Know These Truths, Lent, LGG Study, Quiet Time

Faith’s Demands

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Based on the Love God Greatly Study, Lent: A Season of Drawing Closer to God!

Scripture: Matthew 6:16-18; Mark 8:31-38 / SOAP: Mark 8:34-35

Then Jesus called the crowd, along with his disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me and because of the gospel will save it.

Mark 8:34-35 NET

Following Christ is a choice, however, the choice comes with three distinct demands that we must be aware of. Jesus makes the demands known, not only to His present disciples but to the crowd of people who had gathered. Jesus opens His circle of disciples by extending an invitation to the crowd, saying: “If anyone wants to be my followers, he must …” Whether we are new followers of Christ or seasoned disciples, Jesus wants us to understand that our choice to follow Him comes with costs. Mark records three in chapter eight

  • Deny himself (refuse rights and privileges that get in the way of God’s kingdom)
    • The commentary, gotquestions.org explains the demand of “denying oneself” like this: “Jesus spoke repeatedly to His disciples about taking up their cross (an instrument of death) and following Him. He made it clear that if any would follow Him, they must deny themselves, which means giving up their lives—spiritually, symbolically, and even physically, if necessary. This was a prerequisite for being a follower of Christ, who proclaimed that trying to save our earthly lives would result in our losing our lives in the kingdom. But those who would give up their lives for His sake would find eternal life (Matthew 16:24–25; Mark 8:34–35). Indeed, Jesus even went so far as to say that those who are unwilling to sacrifice their lives for Him cannot be His disciples (Luke 14:27).”
  • Take up his cross: (or ‘bearing one’s cross’ – meant one was about to die, and that one would face ridicule and disgrace along the way [gotquestions.org])
    • “When a person carried a cross in Jesus’ day, no one thought of it as a persistent annoyance or symbolic burden. To a person in the first century, the cross meant one thing and one thing only: death by crucifixion. To carry a cross was to face the most painful and humiliating means of death human beings could develop.
    • Two thousand years later, Christians view the cross as a cherished symbol of atonement, forgiveness, grace, and love. But in Jesus’ day the cross represented a torturous death. The Romans forced convicted criminals to carry their own crosses to the place of crucifixion (see John 19:17). Bearing a cross meant one was about to die, and that one would face ridicule and disgrace along the way.
    • Therefore, Jesus’ command to “take up your cross and follow Me” is a call to self-abasement and self-sacrifice. One must be willing to die in order to follow Jesus. Dying to self is an absolute surrender to God.”
  • Follow Jesus: (walk, live, love like Him)
    • To truly follow Christ means He has become everything to us. Everyone follows something: friends, popular culture, family, selfish desires, or God. We can only follow one thing at a time (Matthew 6:24). God states we are to have no other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 5:7; Mark 12:30). To truly follow Christ means we do not follow anything else. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” There is no such thing as a “halfway disciple.” As the disciples demonstrated, no one can follow Christ by the strength of his own willpower. The Pharisees were good examples of those who were trying to obey God in their own strength. Their self-effort led only to arrogance and distortion of the whole purpose of God’s Law (Luke 11:39; Matthew 23:24).
    • Jesus gave His disciples the secret to faithfully following Him, but they did not recognize it at the time. He said, “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing” (John 6:63). And “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them” (verse 65). The disciples had walked with Jesus for three years, learning, observing, and participating in His miracles. Yet, even they could not follow Him faithfully in their own strength. They needed a Helper.

 Jesus’ command to “take up your cross and follow Me” is a call to self-abasement and self-sacrifice. One must be willing to die in order to follow Jesus. Dying to self is an absolute surrender to God.

gotquestions.org

And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?

Luke 14:27-28

The cost is great but so was the cost that the Father and Son paid. The cost is great but the alternative, saving our life1, is even greater. The cost is great but the benefits, the grace and mercies of God and His promise of eternal life are far greater. The costs is great – the choice is yours. 🦋

As for me, the words to this age old hymn came to mind and filled my heart and poured forth as my prayerful answer – If you agree with the prayer- comment ‘amen’ or if you would like to know how to be a follower of Christ – follow this link https://atomic-temporary-62140760.wpcomstaging.com/2023/03/14/know-these-truths/ and leave me a comment there – I would love to share a gift with you.

Father: “Take my life and let it be
Consecrated Lord to Thee
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Let them flow in ceaseless praise

“I AM YOURS”
I am Yours set apart for You
I am Yours hungry for Your truth
Take my life You are all I live for
I am Yours 🦋

A new and beautiful version – https://youtu.be/xXPn8FiHuHA?feature=shared

The More We Know

1To Save or to Lose One’s Life ?

For more insight check out today’s LGG Blog Post

Posted in Bible study, From the Insideout, Quiet Time
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Remember, the last time we saw Jesus He was headed to Galilee, where so many Gentiles lived, where He would share the message about the Kingdom of God. A message that would bring light to the people living in darkness, a fulfillment to Isaiah’s prophecy.

“In the land of Zebulun and of Naphtali,
    beside the sea, beyond the Jordan River,
    in Galilee where so many Gentiles live,
 the people who sat in darkness
    have seen a great light.
And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow,
    a light has shined.”

Matthew 4:16-17 and Isaiah 9:1-2

According to Bibleref.com, by now “Jesus is living in Capernaum, a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee, and is actively pursing His ministry of preaching the Gospel message. As Matthew shares here, part of the pursuit was finding others to minister with Him, to learn from Him, and to “follow Him”. Before you read today’s passage, you may enjoy knowing that bibleref.com commentary writes, “this wasn’t the first time Jesus met Peter and Andrew.” For more details read John 1:35-42.

The First Disciples

18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.

21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

Crowds Follow Jesus

23 Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. 24 News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all. 25 Large crowds followed him wherever he went—people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River.

As I read through this passage several things jumped out to me. I imagine they caught your attention too. They are repetitive or similar in nature, which is a form of writing typically used to capture your attention or make a point, or both. Matthew uses the technique once in verses 18-22 and then again between between the two segments 18-22 and 23-25. Let’s take a look –

  • In verses 18 and 21, Jesus saw.
  • In verses 20 and 22, those He called followed and they did so without hesitating.
  • In 18-22 we read that the brothers followed and in 23-25 we read that the crowds followed.

Don’t you love the phrase, Jesus saw? Notice though, Jesus didn’t just see the brothers and keep walking – he stopped and called them to follow along with Him. He, no doubt, could see that they were busy – Peter and Andrew, actively throwing nets into the sea, James and John repairing their nets, implying that they intended to catch more fish. Their current positions did not keep Jesus from saying “follow me” nor did it keep the brothers from following. I love that Jesus took the time to see and call them, but I am equally moved and actually – a bit convicted – by the fact that the brothers did not hesitate to stop what they were doing and follow Him.

They weren’t the only ones to follow Jesus. Notice in verses 23-25 that others followed Him not because they had been invited but because of what He was doing as He traveled through Galilee. He was preaching the good news of God’s Kingdom and He was healing those who were sick. He had captured their attention with both His words and His actions. He was ministering to both body and soul and they were captivated. They were so captivated by Him that they were telling others and the crowds continued to grow and the message that Jesus had come to deliver began to spread like wild-fire.

As disciples of Jesus in 2022 may we, without hesitation, follow the One who called us. May we learn from Him, and like Jesus, may we see and invite others to join us in the mission.