THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me and for the gospel will save it.”  (Mark 8:34b-35 NIV)

As evidence that cross-bearing must become the true disciple’s way, Jesus offers His listeners the paradox of Mark 8:35. The “life” saved or lost is the Greek “psyche,” which includes a threefold dimension: “life,” “soul,” and “oneself.” Clearly, all three meanings are intended by Jesus’ declaration. The blatant expression of physical cost had already been highlighted by references to suffering and the focus on the cross, a device of physical torture. But here there is an additional sense of “life” as well.  A sense of individual identity, of “oneself” and the unique “soul” that animates every living person, is part of the natural desire of self-preservation that Jesus turns topsy-turvy with His words. Jesus’ rhetorical question, “What can they give in return for their life?” (Mark 8:37) leads His listeners to the conclusion that only “life itself” can be offered as an adequate response to the gift of life. For both the disciples and the crowds who had up to this point been enjoying a journey of triumph and miracles, Jesus’ new message was both sobering and hard to swallow.

Today the cost of discipleship is still sobering and hard to swallow... The final comment offered by Jesus, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulteress and sinful generation, of Him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father and the holy angels,” (Mark 8:38) reminds His listeners, and us, that whatever choice we make, for Jesus or against Him, there will be eternal consequences. 

-- Leonard Sweet in “A Cup of Coffee at the SoulCafe”

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WITNESSING FOR CHRIST

Jesus said, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

What do we mean by "witnessing"?  Spouting a lot of Bible verses to a non-Christian?  Not quite.  Witnessing involves all that we are and therefore do; it goes far beyond what we say at certain inspired moments.  So the question is not will we witness (speak), but how will we witness (live)?  Often students will ask, “Which is more important in witness -- the life that I live or the words that I say?” That’s like asking which wing of an airplane is more important, the right or the left?

When we're trusting Jesus Christ as Lord as well as Saviour, He enables us to live and speak as faithful witnesses.

-- Adapted from Paul E. Little 

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GROWING OLDER -- A WIN-WIN SITUATION

“We know that God, who raised the Lord Jesus, will also raise us with Jesus and present us to Himself together with you. All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”  (2 Corinthians 4:14-18 NLT)

All of us are aging. Some of us handle it well -- we get better with age like good wine and cheese. We keep on keeping on, while looking forward to the ultimate experience of the Lord when He takes us home. Others of us, unfortunately, stick our heads in the sand of time and wish aging would go away. It won’t. So if you can’t beat it -- join it! Live the rest of your life for God’s glory, and look forward to the best of life to come in His presence. They call that a win-win situation. 

-- Stuart Briscoe in “Daily Study Bible for Men” 

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THE BREATH OF NEW LIFE

"[Jesus] breathed on [His disciples] and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'"  (John 20:22,23)

When Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection, He brought them more than proof that He was indeed alive -- He gave them new life. As Jesus breathes on His disciples, He is giving them the Holy Spirit. This is the ‘ruach’, the breath, the life, the Spirit of God filling them up and changing them. Something new is expected of them in light of this Spirit. They are to be new people, new creations. This act of breathing the Holy Spirit out brings new life for the disciples, one in which they follow a resurrected Christ who is Life, who is Spirit, who is Breath. With each breath, we too can take in the glory of God and be reminded of the Spirit that fills us and sustains us and changes us.

-- Carla Barnhill in “The Green Bible Devotional” 

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PREACHING CHRIST RISEN

[Easter worship attendance] numbers represent people -- each is someone's brother or sister, parent or child, neighbor or co-worker.  Each brings a whole host of joys and sorrows, hopes and doubts, aspirations and temptations to worship. Each wants to join in the songs of the ages for Easter joy, and each harbors moments of despair, anguish, grief and anxiety. While it's fun, interesting, and extraordinarily helpful in our planning to measure attendance, we also realize that the message we proclaim at Easter and every Sunday is one that goes beyond measure. In the meditations of our hearts, the words of our prayers, the rhythm of our music, the joy of our fellowship, the insights of our sermons, and the sustaining grace of our communities, there is a truth that is immeasurable, eternal, infinite, and unfathomable. We dare to speak of hope in times of despair, love in the face of violence, grace in the grip of guilt, and life in the midst of death. We dare to preach Christ risen, alive, present, and as the scripture says, "going ahead of us to Galilee," to all the places where people need the Lord. The Lord is risen. The Lord is risen indeed! 

-- U.M. Bishop Robert Schnase, from his "Five Practices Blog"

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AN OPEN INVITATION

“But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions -- it is by grace you have been saved.”  (Ephesians 2:4-5 NIV)

God’s goal for all of us is life, not death; His aim is salvation, not punishment. In Ephesians 2:4-10, Paul outlines what God has done about it.

God has made it plain in Christ that, even though we don’t believe in Him, He still believes in us and wants us to live and work with Him. Grace is not merely forgiveness for or freedom from our past, it is an open invitation to begin to lead a new life according to the Spirit.

-- John and Adrienne Carr in “The Power and Light Company: Participant’s Guide”


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OUR SUFFICIENCY IS IN CHRIST

“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.”  (2 Corinthians 3:5 NKJV)

“Thank You, Lord. You are my sufficiency this moment, this hour, this day. I‘m counting on Your life in me -- Your love and patience, Your gentleness and guidance and power -- to meet my needs and overflow to others.”

When we praise with thanksgiving, we deepen our experience of Christ in us as our Source. He constantly fills us and replenishes our resources as we give ourselves in loving service to other people.

C. S. Lewis wrote that a car [built with an internal combustion engine] is made to run on gas, and it won’t run properly on anything else. Likewise, God made us to run on Himself. He is the fuel our spirits were designed to feed on. So it’s no use trying to find inner release and power and fulfillment apart from God. There is no such thing. And God has given us His life and power through our inner union with Christ Jesus our Lord.

When we turn our attention to Christ, focusing on Him and His sufficiency, how can we help but praise and thank Him for He is our life?

-- Ruth Myers in “31 Days of Praise”


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