Monday, March 21, 2016

Will YOU Take Up Your Cross And Follow Jesus Christ



Matthew 16:24-27

Then Jesus (Jesus Christ) said to His (Jesus Christ’s) Disciples, “If ANYONE (Believers) Desires to Come after Me (Jesus Christ), let Him (Believers) DENY Himself (Believers), and TAKE UP HIS (Believers) CROSS, and FOLLOW ME (Jesus Christ).  For WHOEVER (Believers) Desires to SAVE His (Believers) Life will LOSE it, but WHOEVER (Believers) Loses His (Believers) Life, for My (Jesus Christ’s) Sake, will FIND it.  For what profit is it to 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 The Son of Man (Jesus Christ) will COME in The Glory of His (Jesus Christ’s) Father (God Almighty) with His Angels, and then He (Jesus Christ) will REWARD each (Believers), according to His (Believers) Works.”

 

Mark 8:34-37

 

When He (Jesus Christ) had called The People to Himself (Jesus Christ), with His (Jesus Christ’s) Disciples also, He (Jesus Christ) said to them, “WHOEVER (Believers) Desires to Come after Me (Jesus Christ), let Him (Believers) DENY Himself (Believers), and TAKE UP HIS (Believers) CROSS, and FOLLOW ME (Jesus Christ).  For WHOEVER (Believers) Desires to SAVE His (Believers) Life will LOSE it, but WHOEVER (Believers) loses His (Believers) Life, for My (Jesus Christ’s) Sake AND The Gospel’s (The Gospel of Jesus Christ), 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 (Unbelievers) is ASHAMED of Me (Jesus Christ) AND My (Jesus Christ’s) Words (The Gospel of Jesus Christ) in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him (Unbelievers) The Son of Man (Jesus Christ) also will be ASHAMED, when He (Jesus Christ) COMES in The Glory of His (Jesus Christ’s) Father (God Almighty) with The Holy Angels.”

 

Luke 9:23-26

 

Then He (Jesus Christ) said to them all, “If ANYONE (Believers) Desires to Come after Me (Jesus Christ), let Him (Believers) DENY Himself (Believers), and TAKE UP HIS (Believers) CROSS, Daily, and FOLLOW ME (Jesus Christ).  For WHOEVER (Believers) Desires to SAVE His (Believers) Life will LOSE it, but WHOEVER (Believers) loses His (Believers) Life, for My (Jesus Christ’s) Sake will SAVE it.  For what profit is it to a man, if he gains The Whole World, and is himself DESTROYED or LOST?  For WHOEVER (Unbelievers) is ASHAMED of Me (Jesus Christ) AND My (Jesus Christ’s) Words (The Gospel of Jesus Christ), of him (Unbelievers) The Son of Man (Jesus Christ) will be ASHAMED, when He (Jesus Christ) COMES in His (Jesus Christ’s) Own Glory, AND in His (Jesus Christ’s) Father’s (God Almighty’s), AND of The Holy Angels.”

Fellow Believers, do YOU (Believers) know what’s ironic here, Jesus Christ is telling Us (Believers) to Take Up Our (Believers) Cross and Follow Him (Jesus Christ), why ironic, because this is BEFORE His (Jesus Christ’s) Transfiguration, BEFORE His (Jesus Christ’s) mentioning His (Jesus Christ’s) Death upon The Cross, and way BEFORE His (Jesus Christ’s) Actual Death, upon The Cross.  Do YOU (Believers) think Jesus’ Disciples even put two-and-two together, with this statement?  Did They (Jesus’ Disciples) understand He (Jesus Christ) was also speaking about Them (Jesus’ Disciples)?

So, what are the points Jesus Christ is trying to get across to Us (Believers), YOU (Believers) ask?  Well, one obvious one is, when We (Believers) Take Up Our (Believers) Cross AND Follow Him (Jesus Christ), We (Believers) will be Persecuted, for Sharing The Gospel of Jesus Christ with others, sometimes even to the point of Death, itself.  What does Jesus mean when He (Jesus) says, We (Believers) MUST Deny Ourselves (Believers)?  He (Jesus) means, We (Believers) MUST stop living for Ourselves (Believers), and living the Life We (Believers) selfishly want to live, walking Our (Believers) Own Selfish Path, in Life.  “For WHOEVER (Believers) Desires to SAVE His (Believers) Life will LOSE it (Believer’s Life), but WHOEVER (Believers) loses His (Believers) Life, for My (Jesus Christ’s) Sake AND The Gospel’s (The Gospel of Jesus Christ), will SAVE it (Believer’s Life).

What Jesus Christ is stating here is this, We MUST give up Our (Believers) Selfish Ways, i.e. living Our (Believers) Lives for Our (Believers) Own Selfish Pleasures, again, walking Our (Believers) Own Selfish Path, in Life.  By GIVING Our (Believers) Lives to Jesus Christ, by DEDICATING Our (Believers) Lives to Jesus Christ, by giving Total Control of Our (Believers) Lives to Jesus Christ, We (Believers) in fact, LOSE Control of Our (Believers) Lives.  How do We (Believers) do this, well, by Acknowledging God’s Amazing Saving Grace AND Accepting God’s Free Gift of Salvation, thereby asking Jesus Christ to Come and Abide within Us (Believers), through The Holy Spirit, AND asking Jesus Christ, to Take Control of Our (Believers) Lives.

By Losing Our (Believers) Lives, for Jesus Christ’s Sake AND The Gospel of Jesus Christ, We (Believers) do in fact, SAVE Our (Believers) Lives.  How do We (Believers) do this, YOU (Believers) ask, well, technically Jesus Christ SAVED Our (Believers) Lives, with His (Jesus Christ’s) Death upon The Cross.  However, IF We (Believers) NEVER Acknowledge God’s Amazing Saving Grace AND Accept God’s Free Gift of Salvation, then We (Unbelievers) will be SEPARATED from God Almighty’s Immediate Presence, for Eternity, Forever.  We (Believers) MUST Acknowledge God’s Amazing Saving Grace AND Accept God’s Free Gift of Salvation, in order for Us (Believers) to be SAVED.

What is Our (Believers) CROSS, YOU (Believers) ask?  Well, Our (Believers) CROSS is Our (Believers) Spiritual Gifts, which Jesus Christ Blesses EACH of Us (Believers) with, We (Believers) are to use Our (Believers) Spiritual Gifts to Share The Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.  We (Believers) read and study God’s Word, The Holy Bible AND We (Believers) commune with God Almighty, through Prayer AND We (Believers) Fellowship with Fellow Believers, to strengthen and further Our (Believers) Spiritual Growth.  God Almighty is ALWAYS Molding AND Changing Us (Believers), to be more like Him (God Almighty) and less like the rest of The World.

Finally, “For The Son of Man (Jesus Christ) will COME in The Glory of His (Jesus Christ’s) Father (God Almighty) with His Angels, and then He (Jesus Christ) will REWARD each (Believers), according to His (Believers) Works.”  Jesus Christ’s Death upon The Cross, taking upon Himself (Jesus Christ) Our Sin Debt, PAYING IN FULL, Once for ALL, SAVED Us (Believers).  Once We (Believers) become Children of God Almighty, We (Believers) are given tasks to perform, during the rest of Our (Believers) Lifetime, THESE are “The Works” of which We (Believers) will be REWARDED, for those Works, We (Believers) DID Perform.

Rejoice in This Fact, We (Believers) shall be in God Almighty’s Immediate Presence, with Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, God Almighty’s Holy Angels, and all the rest of The Children (Believers) of God Almighty, for Eternity, FOREVER.  Amen.

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