Yesterday, we discussed a lot from Luke 14: 26-35. In this passage of scripture, Jesus starts off by talking about Him and the Kingdom of God having first place in your life. In verse 26, the word "hate" means that you must love others less and that Jesus must be 1st! This word indicates a total rejection of anything and anyone who would block our absolute commitment to Jesus as Lord. If you are this kind of disciple, family members and friends may not understand you. You are in for a lifetime of swimming upstream against the culture of this world.
Discipleship is a full-time job placed before all other priorities and responsibilities. We are to be devoted, obedient followers of Christ. Nothing (husband, children, job, home, exercise, social things, etc) comes before Christ. We are to accept Christ as our Master and all of his teaching as commands. Have you in faith given up everything for Christ? I urge you to pray about this in the coming week. His love for us is so radical that any response other than this falls so short of the glory that He deserves. You can trust Him totally. I pray that you will rest in that and let His peace overtake you.
Discipleship is also a call to total involvement in the work of Christ. Make sure that you count the cost of this , as well. Regular church attendance does not qualify as total involvement. It means that Christ's mission is your personal mission, too! Jesus came "to preach good news to the poor, bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom to the captives and to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. " Is. 61: 1-2 and Luke 4: 17-19
We also talked about what it means to be the salt of the earth. Boy, do we need some salt in today's world! Our life , our work and our influence should flavor and preserve our society. We are called to get involved in people's lives and in social affairs in order to permeate and preserve society. We should never withdraw from people to preserve ourselves. The good news is not for the righteous but for the unrighteous. Matthew 9: 12 says : " It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick....For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners. " That is Jesus talking.
So if we are going to be disciples in a fallen world, we have to know that troubles will come our way, just because of the sin in this world. Jesus told his disciples in John 16:33 " In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." God did not create the world's troubles. He made us free to respond to Him. In this freedom, if we choose evil, we will experience negative consequences. But Christ has overcome this fallen world and we share in His victory if we are in Him! Praise be to God. We overcome the world with a Holy Spirit empowered life! We put on the full armor of God daily in Eph. 6:10-18 and we take our stand against the enemy of our souls! We exchange our limited minds and our fruitless ambition for the mind and ambition of Christ! Because we are in Him, we have total access to the INCOMPARABLE resources of heaven! We are co-heirs with Christ so everything that is His is ours! Right here, right now! All we have to do is walk in it!! Luke 12:32 says "Fear not little flock, it is the Father's pleasure to give you His kingdom." This is our Jesus talking about our heavenly Father!
Okay, girls. Pray over these verses. Please speak out loud the Declaration of Victory in Jesus handout that I gave you yesterday. Read in the One Year Bible as often as you can this week and for those of you who will take my challenge, FAST NEGATIVITY and watch your life change in a matter of days! There is power in our words!!!
