Whosoever Will, Let Them Come!

 

Mark 8:34-38

"When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”

The above scriptures are powerful, challenging, and thought provoking! So many talk about how loving, kind and gentle Jesus was during His earthly ministry, and He was, and still is! BUT have these same people actually APPLIED what Jesus said in their own lives?

If ANYONE literally does what Jesus said and taught, they would be complaining and crying like babies! Just one day without the pleasures of the flesh and people will think the world is ending! That's how challenging Jesus words are to those who are completely engrossed in a world that is dying and full of sin.

The call of Jesus here is to let go of everything in this world, even who you THINK you are! Everything you've done in the flesh and by the strength of your flesh, put it behind you! Let go of all your worldly knowledge, schooling, training, parent's advice, teachers' advice, friends' advice, you have to become as nothing, like Paul, the Lord's apostle did, like Jesus did, who was God Himself manifested in the flesh. He humbled Himself and became as a servant, and became obedient to the will of the Father, even unto death!

These sayings and teachings of Jesus are absolutely paradoxical, they seem senseless and self-contradictory, unacceptable and undoable, but that's exactly what Jesus calls us too! You can deny yourself; you can put to death the misdeeds of the body; you can live a holy life on this earth right now! Jesus did it as a man, and we are called to walk in his footsteps, to become LIKE HIM!

You can't do anything though without receiving the Dunamis power from God above, the Spirit of the Living God in your soul, because the carnal mind is hostile to God and WILL NOT submit to God or His commandments, you MUST first believe that you need Jesus to deliver you from yourself, from sin, from the devil, and from the world. It all starts with BELIEF!

This is why Jesus uses man to preach His gospel, because only through believing His word can we be set free, only when we feel the conviction of the Spirit in our hearts and respond to it with repentance, can we begin to change our minds and our lives. 

It can be extremely hard to change our sinful lifestyles, our bad habits, our erroneous ideologies and our upbringing. But change we must, if we want life, if we truly want the salvation of our souls, if we want the blessings of God in our lives. There is only ONE way, and that is the way of Jesus, and His way is the way of the cross, and DEATH TO SELF!

What way will you choose?

Abiding In His Love,

Tyrone

In Order To Live, YOU MUST DIE!

Mark 8:34-37

"When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

This is the way of God. Death to self. If you try to hold onto any part of your life in this world you can ultimately lose your soul in the end. 

And isn't it the American dream to have the big house, the attractive spouse, a fancy car, respect and admiration from your peers?

But the words of Jesus that lead to eternal life are the exact opposite of everything the world holds dear. 

John 12:24-25

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

In order to truly live, you must die! And I mean complete death of all that you are in this world, and what does Jesus promise if you give up your life for Him and the gospel? Eternal Life!!!

The blessed assurance and hope of living forever with God in complete love, peace, and joy for all eternity!! What could be better than that? 

So the question is, have you died yet? Or are you still holding on to that bank account? To the American dream? 

And if you are a Christian, is there something still in you that you haven't completely surrendered to God?

Paul understood the ways of God and applied the teachings of Jesus to his life, will you do the same?

Galatians 6:14

"But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world."

In Jesus,

Tyrone