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Luke 9:23-24
Thoughts on Today’s Verse…
“I’ve just got to find myself.” Won’t ever happen. We do not “find ourselves” or “find our life” by pursuing it. We find it by losing it in something, or someone, greater than ourselves. We find our life by losing it to Jesus and the work of his Kingdom.
My Prayer…
Master and Maker of all that lives and breathes, take my life and every breath and use it for your glory. May my words and actions this day be pleasing to you. Through Jesus I offer you this prayer and praise. Amen.
Bible References
23 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.
14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;
15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;
16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.
18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.
19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Luke 9:23-24
Then He said to them all: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will save it.
Jesus is explaining to His followers in this passage that following Him through their lives will not be easy. It means that as children of God we surrender or deny our own will for our lives to His will…He will be calling the shots, He will be the final Authority, not us. We are to obey Him in all we say and do, applying His Word to our daily life.
I truly believe with all my heart that this is the very thing that keeps most people from accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We live in a world that is constantly preaching the mantra of doing whatever we “feel” or desire to do in our lives no matter who gets hurt in the process, the important thing is that we look out for #1. We are also told to not let anything or anyone control our destiny, in essence this world teaches that we are our own “god”. This is against what the entire Word of God teaches. The Bible teaches us to live our lives for Christ, in His service, not our own (Romans 12:1). And so we have a world full of people who are doing things their own way and are quite miserable for doing so, all because they will not submit to Christ and let Him take over the reins of their lives.
The natural tendency of mankind is to “save” our lives by living for ourselves, indulging in only those things that are of value to this world and of no value to Christ. But in this very act we lose our lives for we miss the true purpose of life. By living for ourselves we miss the deep spiritual life that God wants us to have.
Many people, including Christians, find it hard to surrender control! I know that I struggle with it daily, it is against our human nature to be obedient and submissive to God. But that is not an excuse to be rebellious and disobedient to Him, He loves us and ALWAYS has our best interests at heart. He knows that if we live our lives in obedience to Him and His Word we will be a blessing to others and ourselves. Our verse today says that we must take up our cross DAILY, there are many times throughout each and every day that we can deny our own way, and choose God’s way…..being patient with people when we would rather not be…..showing compassion and love for those that God puts in our path, even if we don’t want to take the time…..these are just a couple of simple examples of everyday circumstances in life that we face, and our reactions to them are very important to God as we are representatives of Him to the unsaved around us!
Thank You Father God for Your Holy Spirit, help me to follow Your will for me each day for Your glory. Thank You for loving me and for caring for my needs, I love You so Abba and praise You this day! Amen