This is the beginning of a great series by JD. It is oh so relevant to what we are seeing and feeling as Christians living in this fallen world.
The real question we must ask ourselves is: Am I living in this world for myself or for God?
Have I died to myself and am only living in this would not being “of this world”. For those that are not “of this world”, this world will hate. We are seeing that escalate.
The quote from JD that hit me the hardest was when he states: We are at a crossroad of decision everyday of our lives. Are we going to pick up our cross (die to self) and follow Christ today or are we going to live for ourselves (for our own gain) as part of this world.
That is what Jesus meant in Luke 9:23
Luke 9:23-26
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
23 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. 24 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. 25 For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
And do we really know the consequences of living for ourselves?
It was laid out for us in Matthew 6 and James 4:
Matthew 6:24
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.
James 4:4
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
4 You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Notice the choice of words in Matthew. We “CANNOT” serve two masters, this is a choice, and either or, and not something we should take lightly, also it is not a should or even something we could do if we really tried hard.
Second, James spells out the consequences of our choice, which took my breath away. Me and enemy of God? That is a very important daily decision. Something I think many of us take way to lightly each and every morning.
If you wonder what it means to die to self and achieve absolute surrender. There is an excellent book by Andrew Murray called Absolute Surrender. He does a great job of laying out what it means and why it is so important in less than 100 pages.
We must choose to pick up our cross daily and not be ashamed of the Gospel. We can not stand for a watered down version to appease their itchy ears. It is so important in these last days. God will do the work, we just need to stand up and let Him work through us.
Remember, the darker it gets, the brighter and farther our little light shines!
Maranatha, Lord come quickly!
myblessedhope
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Click on the article title for a link to full original referenced article.
In Romans 10 Paul lays out how salvation is open to all, Jew and Gentile. He writes:
“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.” – Romans 10:4-5
What he is saying is now it is not about works or how closely to a “T” you follow the law. But that it is through God’s gift of grace through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. It is really that simple, and yet a hard step for some of us.
“That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” – Romans 10:9
Christ is the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14), through faith in Him you will be saved. It is the only “works” that God requires for eternal salvation.
It is The Gospel of Jesus Christ. To learn more check out the following link.
myBlessedHope 