Life at the Cross

-
In Mark 8:34, Jesus says, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”

Here we read that our faith in Jesus, and decision to “come after” Him (8:34a) comes at a cost. Isn’t interesting that the moment Jesus reveals Himself to the disciples and they “get it” (Mark 8:29), the demands of their relationship dramatically change? Jesus goes from spoon-feeding them about the things of God, to calling them to an unyielding devotion, driven by purposeful commitment on their end.

In (v.34) Jesus says, “Whoever DESIRES to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

This is a very telling statement about a follower of Christ, and truly explains why certain believers are able to obey Jesus’ call to discipleship by “taking up” their cross and following Him.

There is a life-application here for us, which is this; in order to deny ourselves and carry our cross for Jesus, we must first have a DESIRE to follow Jesus.

 Jesus tells us in (v.34), whoever wants to "come after" Him and "follow" Him, can only do so through "taking up his cross". The only thing that can motivate a person to pick up a cross and die to themselves daily upon it, are those who have a "DESIRE" to follow Jesus. Simply put, there is no other way to follow Jesus. Once again, the easy road, and our creature comforts are not compatible with following Jesus. 

 May we be men and women who grow in our desire to follow Jesus, by denying ourselves, so that Jesus can be magnified in our lives.

Popular posts from this blog

What is godless chatter?

-
Image
What is godless chatter? The term godless chatter is used by the apostle Paul when he exhorts Timothy to, “Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some” (2 Timothy 2:16-18, NIV). In context, this passage of Scripture is dealing with the godless chatter of false teachers who were sneaking into the church and trying to corrupt the truth of God’s Word (2 Timothy 2:14-3:9). Paul clearly warns Timothy about them when he points them out by saying, “Their teaching will spread like gangrene” (2:17). Paul likens the godless chatter of false teachers to gangrene, which was a deadly disease that spread rapidly and ate away at a persons flesh. This Greek idiom truly emphasizes the repulsiveness of the ministry of the false
Read more

Knowing Jesus and Making Jesus Known

-
Image
Knowing Jesus and Making Jesus Known The primary vision behind the Christian faith can be simplified down to the following statement; "to KNOW Jesus and to make Jesus KNOWN."  Knowing Jesus and Making Jesus Known, that’s really what our Christian faith is all about.  The verse that has inspired the first part of this this saying “ to KNOW JESUS and to make Him Known”, is found in Philippians 3:10, which illustrates the apostle Paul’s heart for wanting to know Jesus more and more through pressing on daily in his relationship with Him. Paul tells us in Philippians 3:10, “that I may KNOW Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”  This was Paul’s greatest desire in life, to become more like Jesus... by being conformed into His image, and the only way that this could take place was if he continued growing in his relationship with Jesus. In fact, Paul would continue on in Philippians 3, by saying, “N
Read more

John 5:1-15 (Sermon Outline)

-
Image
Sermon Outline When Jesus is your only option; you’re in a good place! John 5:1-15   I.                 Introduction:  Jeremiah’s faith a.      The reason I have that slide up of a blue car, is because last October around Jeremiah’s 7 th birthday, Lyndsey was sharing a heartwarming story with me about a conversation she had with Jeremiah that day. You see, Jeremiah had asked her for a stamp, and when Lyndsey asked him why, he said, “I want to mail a letter to the car people.” Lyndsey didn’t think much about it, but then a couple hours later she found the envelope, and she asked what it was. She said to Jeremiah, “It feels like money is in the envelope.” Jeremiah said, “It is money. I am going to mail  the letter to the car people so that I can buy my favorite colored car.  I want to send them the letter with my money so I can get a blue car.” Jeremiah had found one of the car dealership mailers that came with the junk mail, and took it over to his desk and put it all together to send h
Read more