Luke 14 - The cost of following Christ

-
v11) Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted

  • Jesus shows the Pharisees that we must humble ourselves and not be proud or boastful in ourselves, otherwise God will humble ourselves
  • How many times have I been prideful about my own abilities - thinking that I deserve the glory and not God?
v13-14) We will be repaid with the riches of righteousness
  • Jesus reminds us that when we serve the needy out of a heart of love - we will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous (when Jesus returns)
v25-33) Be ready to give up everything to follow Christ
  • If we value and place anything above Christ we cannot claim to fully and solely love Christ whole-heartedly
  • Jesus warns us that if we love family, relationships and literally anything more than God, we do not truly love Christ
  • Before we commit to Christ, we must count and be fully aware of what it will cost to fully follow Jesus
  • It isn't good enough to only give half of ourselves - we must give everything to Jesus
  • Do I love my life too much?
  • Is my ongoing concerns about uni, work and relationships, and indicator that I love those things (gifts God's given me) more than I love following the person of Christ and what love he's shown me?
Application:
  1. I worry so much about my relationship being for Christ that I've started to idolise it more than Christ himself
  2. Love the Man that is Christ, not the rules we must follow
Prayer:
Dear heavenly father, I know that the past few days have been crushing and I have idolised and placed uni and study above you. Lord change my heart, and teach me to love you more than anything in this world. Teach me that you are always in control. I pray that for the next wave of trials in my life, I would have my foundations built on the rock of Christ, that when the storms of the world come again, I would maintain my strength in you. Lord I pray this passage over my life and be reminded that I must be ready to give up everything to follow you. Please, help me to let go of idolising my relationship with Jess and to love you more than my relationship.

Popular posts from this blog

James 5:13-20

-
Key points When we're suffering our first response should be prayer When we're cheerful our first response should be praise A prayer of faith will save the one who is sick A prayer of faith is also how we repent and He forgives our sins We are encouraged to pray for one another so that we might all be healed There is comfort in knowing that the prayer of a righteous person (we are all righteous through Christ) has GREAT power We are encouraged to bring others who may have strayed from the path, back to the correct path Reflection I often don't look to God when I first face trouble or struggles. I should be comforted in knowing that when I go to God, he posses great power to actually respond and listen to my prayer I should be regularly praying for others and their sins (this involves asking others how to pray for them) When things are going well - am I praising God or myself?
Read more

Philippians 3:12-21 ~ In this world but not of this world

-
v12) Paul admits that he is not perfect even as he commits to a life of servitude - shows what true humility is  Paul reminds us that we are God's children and that he adopts us and therefore owns us v13-14) Paul describes his walk with Christ as him "straining forward" We are to expect this walk with Christ to be difficult However we forget what lies behind because Christ has already redeemed and saved us from it We continue to press on to the goal that is the upward call of Christ v16) We should hold true and fast to what we have attained That is, God's word and his salvation through Jesus v17-18) We should imitate Paul and his walk and faith in Christ we should also look towards those who walk faithfully (brothers and sisters) v19) For enemies of Christ, the end is destruction - no matter how much joy they have while on this earth Their god is their own fleshly desires and they set their mind on earthly things v20-21) But our citizenship is in heaven We are in this...
Read more

Day 11 - Imitating other Christians (1 Cor 4)

-
Observations God will judge everyone. We should remember that it isn't us who judges people in their final day, it is in fact God.Therefore, we should not jpronounce judgement before the Lord comes. In fact, God will reveal and bring to light any darkness and will disclose all purposes of the heart  (v2-5) We should not put our own understanding beyond what is actually said in the Word of God. In fact, Paul is saying to the Corinthians that they have actually forgotten that all they have is from God - and therefore they should not boast.  Paul then asks what do you have that you did not receive?  - repeatedly asking this question fosters deep humility and thanksgiving (v6-7) Paul implores us to imitate him and in fact, God has designed us to imitate other Christians, imperfect though they may be (v16) Imitating Paul as Paul imitates Christ Application Deep humility comes from repeatedly acknowledging that everything I have received I have received because o...
Read more