Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Matthew 16:24-25
There are two paths that one can travel in this life, the first is the path of eternal life paved with submission, humbleness and modesty while on this earth… This path requires one to sacrifice the desires of the eye in order to store up rewards for when this physical life has ended… The second path is the path of worldly lust; this path is paved with all the fine riches and measures of success as decreed by the standards of the world we live in… In choosing, this path, one is required to focus on self, seek the advancement of their lives at any cost and to reject future rewards always desiring to have things now… As we come to understand these two contrasting paths, the question I pose to you today is simple, what is your spiritual destination worth to you? So many of us proclaim that Jesus is our Lord and Savior, but how much does Christ really mean to you and the direction in which your life will go? These two profound and critical questions are the questions that we must ask as we decide on whether we will pursue the dreams that the world lays out or the vision that God has for us which will not bear its truest rewards on this earth…
Understand that Jesus makes wants us all to understand that walking in the will of God is no small task and it takes a dedicated, enduring and perseverant person to reach the levels of which God has set… Jesus makes it clear to us today of what it means to be His disciple. He says in the gospel of Matthew that any many who comes after Him must deny himself and take up his cross. The first thing that we must due while in pursuit of God’s divine direction is to deny the desires that we are born with…This in and of itself is a daunting task… All the things you naturally seek are the things that you must daily deny in order to follow Jesus… To deny something is to reject, refuse, or rebuttal; so if we are a disciple of Christ this deals with the desires of our sinful nature as well as our selfish motives. We must take up our cross, Jesus would soon suffer, He would been mocked, spit on, and beaten; understand today that in your denial of self you will not have a green pasture day after everyday; we will be ridiculed, scorned, and isolated, but we must continue in God’s will and take up our cross. I tell people all the time, when you choose the path God has for you, the biggest evidence that you are walking right is all the storms you encounter… In understanding that, know that if you decide that this Christian journey is too hard, too much of a challenge, and you want to give up because of the things you are going through, and then you will lose you life.
However, if you decide to stay the course and continue to fight the good fight, than there most certainly is a crown laid up for you and though it may seem like you are losing your life at the moment, on the contrary; you are just finding it! TAKE UP YOUR CROSS!!! Take note today that there is a cross for you to bear, but in bearing the cross you carry it for others to see… This is an important thing to take note of as we grow in Christ, this is why Paul tells us in his letter to the church of Philippi to do all things without murmuring and why it is very important that we indeed do not complain but on the contrary consider it pure joy as James tells us to do…When Jesus was to be crucified He was already being humiliated, but on top of that He had to carry His cross through the city which was a sight for all to see; likewise, we must bare our cross not just on Sundays, but everywhere we go… You must deny yourself to receive the precious promises of God; you must deny yourself to find the true gem that you are… you must lose the sight of the world in order to gain the sight of Christ! We are commanded to walk by faith and not by sight! Take up our cross today, don’t be troubled by the ways of the world or the views that people may hold; know that by giving up yourself you will find your true worth and live life more abundantly!
ALL FOR HIS GLORY!
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