saying, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day." And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it."
2 Corinthians 4:7-10 (New American Standard Bible)
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves; we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.
Do I qualify as a follower of Jesus Christ? Do I deny myself, pick up my cross and follow Him daily? What is my cross? Is it a day at the spa? A potluck dinner? A two hour church service on my day off? Or is my cross one that is described in the verses above because I shared the gospel with family & friends and live to please my Lord and Savior daily denying myself and proclaiming His truth that offends people who love their sin?
John 17:13-15 (New American Standard Bible)
The Disciples in the World
"But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one."
John 15:18-19 (New American Standard Bible)
Disciples' Relation to the World
"If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you."
No comments:
Post a Comment