Tag Archives: discipleship

Is it worth it? (Luke 14:26-30) December 3, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Acts 21-22

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Luke 14:26-30
Jesus: If any of you come to Me without hating your own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, and yes, even your own life, you can’t be My disciple. If you don’t carry your own cross as if to your own execution as you follow Me, you can’t be part of My movement. Just imagine that you want to build a tower. Wouldn’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to be sure you have enough to finish what you start? If you lay the foundation but then can’t afford to finish the tower, everyone will mock you: “Look at that guy who started something that he couldn’t finish!”

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Sometimes we Christians give non-believers the wrong impression about the Christian life. We kind of let people think the Christian life is easy. Just let Jesus be Lord of your life and everything will be great from there on out. You’ll always have plenty of money. Friends will pour in from every direction. Jobs will fall into your lap. God will do incredible things for you all the time. You will always have a smile on your face because God is a God of love and He will make things perfect for you, right?

Well, that’s not the Christian life that I’ve experienced and if you ask most Christians, they will tell you that their walk has not been a bed of roses. The Christian life is not an easy one. Jesus hinted at the difficulties we would face as He talked to those who followed Him. He continually talked about suffering, taking up our cross, being despised by the world. He didn’t say much about easing through the world with lots of comfort. He talks about the rewards at the end, but until then, He indicates life can get pretty hard since the world doesn’t understand us and because of that failure to understand us and believe in Him, they will hate us intensely.

Jesus laid out the costs of following Him throughout His ministry. He scoffed at the wealthy because they put their faith in the wrong things. He told the rich they already had all that would come to them if they didn’t let go of their golden god and embrace the One, True, Living God. Then He said count those costs and see if you want to pay them before you sign up. I don’t think He wanted anyone to be disillusioned about want it means to be a Christian. He didn’t want anyone to think everything would turn out just the way you want when you decide to give your life to Him. Because it won’t.

We don’t know what just right means because we’ve lived in a tainted world that tells us our whole life what right means but the world is wrong. So what we think is right is probably not what God thinks is right. So expect to be disappointed sometimes. Expect to be angry at what God allows to happen every once in a while. Expect to scratch your head and wonder why things progress the way they do because they just won’t make any sense to you. But remember God is God and we are not. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows what is best for us and His world. He knows how to make His plans work through our lives. And He will when we let Him.

When you count those costs, though, you’ll also find that the costs are well worth the price. The price is everything. It is all you have, all your material goods, all your dreams and aspirations, all your relationships, all of you. The cost of following Jesus is a commitment of everything you can think of and everything you can’t think of now but will pop up in the future. It’s all or none with Him. That is a pricey commitment. There is nothing else that will cost you so much. Nothing demands so much of you as following Jesus.

But in the end, when time finally comes to a close and the last tick of the clock has sounded, you will discover the cost has been infinitesimally small compared to the reward you receive. Despite the sorrow you might experience here, there will also be indescribable joy. An inner peace that can only be explained by the presence of God Himself living inside you. You will find that God really does meet your needs. Not your wants, but your needs. We often get our wants and our needs confused in our materialistic world, but God never does. He knows what you need and provides it at just the right time when we stay in the center of His will.

God also gives you opportunities to serve others as you serve Him. He puts you in places and situations at just the right time to share what He is doing in your life so that you can introduce Him to others in a way that allows His spirit to stir their hearts and so allow them to come to know His saving grace as you do.

Are the costs worth the prize at the end? Absolutely. But don’t be surprised by the cost of being a Christian. It will never be an easy life. God never told anyone who stayed in His will that He would make life easy for them. But He always promised it would be worth it. And it is. Trust Him. He never breaks His promises.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

Are you ready to go with Him? (Matthew 8:20) February 10, 2016

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Today’s Podcast

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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Psalms 15-17

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 8:20
Jesus: Foxes have dens in which to sleep, and the birds have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

Jesus’ comments to the scribe who decided to follow Him might seem a little out of place at first. Here was a man steeped in religious tradition who was ready to give it up and follow Jesus. So why these words? Why would Jesus give the scribe a comment that would discourage him from following him? Why would He not want the scribe on His side and joining His party of followers?

Although it may seem Jesus discourages the scribe, I don’t think He did. I think Jesus just stated the facts as they were and wanted the scribe to understand the journey that lay ahead of him if he became a follower of Jesus, the Son of God, the Christ. He would immediately become an outsider to the temple. The religious leaders he stood with on this day would quickly turn against him and, like Jesus, he would have no comfort in this world.

No one would house Him. No one would give Him bread. No one would share their home. Except for what they could get from Him. Every time Jesus lighted in a home, His presence became known quickly and the house filled with the broken, the injured, the ill. All wanted Jesus to touch them. To speak to the demons that filled them and drive those demons away. To grant their prayers as He did in so many towns and villages across the territory. Jesus could not be alone in the cities and towns. He had no place to rest.

To go with Jesus meant work, tending to the needs of others above His own. It also meant finding time to commune with the Father. It meant learning from His ancient instructions and finding His will for life. It meant going to the outcast and helping them reintegrate into their community. It meant turning the rules inside out and upside down to show the meaning of love that the scripture talks about but the nation forgot in their attempts to single themselves out as God’s chosen.

Jesus laid out for the scribe the facts of life with Him. Giving up everything that the world says is dear. Houses, lands, material things. The titles and prestige that might seem important here. It all disappears when you follow Jesus. It means nothing to God and they become just so many meaningless words to Jesus’ followers. To follow Him means to give everything up and allow Him to direct the next steps you take whether it’s across the lake, to stay where you are, or move to another country where everyone finds you distasteful.

Later Jesus will use a story to describe the cost of following Him, but here, He just lays out the facts. Follow Me and you’ll give up everything. Does that mean Jesus expects you to live in poverty? Not necessarily. He just wants control of everything you have. It’s really not yours anyway. He only allows you to use it. Think about it. What would it take for all your possessions to disappear? One disaster and everything is gone.

Oh, but you have insurance, you say. And how long do you think that will last if your whole city or your state is hit by the same disaster? What happens if ISIS decided to strike our financial infrastructure instead of the physical acts of terror they have used so far? How long could you operate without your bank account? Just stop and think about it.

I have about $40 cash in my pocket at the moment. Like most Americans, I use online banking, and debit cards for almost every financial transaction in my life. So what would happen if my bank suddenly lost all of its electronic records and backups at once? What if my paychecks no longer went into my account on a regular basis? What if suddenly all those assets just disappeared? How long could I live out of my pantry, refrigerator, and freezer?

How long before someone decides to foreclose on my house, assuming they have a record. How will I buy groceries, or gas, or pay electric bills? How long will life go on as usual if a virus or deliberate attack crippled our financial system. See, we are only temporary stewards of all that stuff anyway. It all belongs to God so why do we worry about it? Why do we hold on so tight? Why can’t we understand what Jesus was saying when He made His comments to the scribe that day 2000 years ago.

Jesus want us to know the cost of following Him, but in reality, it’s no cost at all except the one thing He wants. Me and you. Everything else is just temporary stuff that we really can’t control very well anyway. We think we do, but it’s a façade. It’s one of those lies of Satan, the father of lies. When we follow Jesus, we must know the cost, Jesus says, “Foxes have dens in which to sleep, and the birds have nests. But the Son of Man has no place to lay His head.” Are you ready to go with Him?

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.

You are your brother’s keeper (1 Corinthians 8), Mar 23, 2015

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Today’s Podcast


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Today’s Scriptures

Today’s Bible reading plans include:

Ready – 1 Corinthians 8
Set – Joshua 17; 1 Corinthians 8
Go! – Joshua 15-17; 1 Corinthians 8

1 Corinthians 8
1 As to the concern of eating food dedicated to idols: we know that all of us have knowledge, but knowledge can be risky. Knowledge promotes overconfidence and worse arrogance, but charity of the heart (love, that is) looks to build up others. 2 Just because a person presumes to have some bit of knowledge, that person doesn’t necessarily have the right kind of knowledge. 3 But if someone loves God, it is certain that God has already known that one.

4 So to address your concerns about eating food offered to idols, let me start with what we know. An idol is essentially nothing, as there is no other God but the One. 5 And even if the majority believes there are many so-called gods in heaven and on earth (certainly many worship such “gods” and “lords”), this is not our view. 6 For us, there is one God, the Father who is the ultimate source of all things and the goal of our lives. And there is one Lord—Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King; through Him all things were created, and by Him we are redeemed.

7 But this knowledge is not in everyone. Up until now, some have been so familiar with idols and what goes on in the temples that when they eat meat that has been offered first to some idol, their weak consciences are polluted. This is the issue. 8 Again, here’s what we know: what we eat will not bring us closer to God—we gain nothing in feasting and lose nothing by fasting. 9 Now let me warn you: don’t let your newfound liberty cause those who don’t know this to fall face-first. 10 Let’s say a person (someone who knows of Jesus) sees you eating in the temple of an idol; and because the person with a weaker conscience is still unsure of things, he becomes confident, follows your lead, and eats idol food. 11 Now, because of your knowledge on display in your conduct, the weaker brother or sister—for whom the Anointed One died—is destroyed! Ruined! 12 What’s more, by living according to your knowledge, you have sinned against these brothers and sisters and wounded their weak consciences—and because you sinned against them, you have sinned against the Anointed One, the Liberating King.

13 So if any type of food is an issue that causes my brothers and sisters to fall away from God, then God forbid I should ever eat it again so that I would never be the crack, the rise, or the rock on the road that causes them to stumble.

Today’s Devotional

From today’s background scripture God might say:

Paul’s words seem to cause a lot of people discomfort and discord in the church today. Some go much too far on the side of anything not specifically prohibited in My word is permissible. That’s clearly not what I want from you. Others go too far the other way and declare anything that in any way might cause anyone any kind of disturbance must be banned. This too is not what I want from you.

I inspired Paul to write the words. I want you to help your brothers and sisters grow in Me. That means discipling them. I expect you to help them eventually grow to understand that what they eat doesn’t mean anything. Idols don’t mean anything. What is dedicated to senseless pieces of wood and stone mean nothing. But I also know that it sometimes takes time to change from an infant to an adult spiritually just as it does to grow from an infant to an adult physically.

Just as you would help a child grow to maturity by keeping them from dangerous activities at an early age, I expect you to keep my infant children from things that are dangerous spiritually. For instance, you don’t let children play with fire or knives. So don’t entice my spiritual children with things that may become harmful to them in their infancy. That’s the message Paul shares with his readers.

Today, the problem may not be food dedicated to idols. The problem might look like soccer practice instead of prayer meeting. A night at the movies instead of a night at the church’s revival service. Sunday on the lake instead of Sunday in worship. None of the former are bad and in some instances might even be necessary at times. But when they cause one of My spiritual infants to fall because of your behavior and their lack of discipleship, I have a problem.

You see, just as with Cain and Abel, you are your brother’s keeper. I expect you to do everything you can to help each other grow in your understanding of Me and My kingdom. How will you help your brothers and sisters this week through your actions and your words? 

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.