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About-Him.Com Devotional 02-05-2005
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My Thoughts on the Life of Christ, from His Baptism to His Ascension.

Take my silver, take my gold but give me Jesus,
Earthly treasures that I hold, but give me Jesus.
In a few short days from now, it won't matter anyhow.
Take my life, my health, my wealth, but give me Jesus - Bis. Ralph Spooner  


164: Discourse on Counting the Cost - Luke 14:25-35  

Luke 14:25 ¶ And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them,  

After the confrontation at the Pharisee's supper, great multitudes followed Jesus as He continued His journey towards His destiny at Jerusalem. Many of them were no doubt excited that Jesus had brought the Scribes and Pharisees to silence after healing the man afflicted with the dropsy. Jesus knew that most of them were only there for the joy of the moment. He turned to the crowd and stated the requirements for discipleship.  

Luke 14:26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.  

Jesus demands absolute loyalty. Family, friends, business or any thing else of this life cannot be first in our lives. He demands it all.  

Luke 14:27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.  

Jesus knew that He was about to be crucified. The twelve were not totally unaware of the fact (John 11;16), but it really hadn't sunk into their thinking. When Jesus said that a man must bear his cross to be His disciple, the crowd knew exactly what he was saying. In 6 A.D. the Romans had crucified thousands who has revolted under Judas Machabeus. Before crucifixion, the condemned were forced to carry their cross to the place of execution, they understood the vivid imagery very well.  

Jesus then stressed the necessity of counting the cost, before we decide to follow Him. He used examples that may have been very familiar to the crowd. We have all seen examples of people who start to build a house, which never gets finished. It becomes a laughing stock and joke to those who pass by. Likewise, (perhaps Sadaam Hussien would be a good example when he invaded Kuwait in 1991) they had probably seen kings who rushed to war when diplomacy would have been the better course of action.  

The final absolute is that we must forsake all that we have to be His disciple.

  Luke 14:33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.  

Jesus capped off the lesson by repeating His admonition on salt from the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:13). See The Sermon on the Mounthttp://about-him.com/page46.html  

Luke 14:34 Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
 

Conclusion and Application:  

These conditions of discipleship laid down by Jesus are absolutes, they are not suggestions. Carrying our cross does not mean just dealing with the hardships and frustrations of life. It means being ready to die for the Master. The RSV states that a man must carry "his own" cross. The early church counted it joy to suffer with Him (Acts 14:22; Romans 8:17; II Thessalonians 1:4; I Peter 4:13-14).  

There is no such thing as easy discipleship. Jesus wants all or nothing (Revelation 3:16). He wants us to do a cost benefit analysis before starting our journey. There can be no turning back (Luke 9:16). Jesus gave us His assurance that if we followed Him we would sit with Him judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Every person who had forsaken family, houses and lands in this life would be reimbursed one hundred fold and also inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:28-29).  

I believe that much of the current prosperity doctrine that is currently in vogue is in direct opposition to our Lord's teaching on discipleship (See God Wants You Rich   http://about-him.com/page45.html).

  Questions:
  1. How many of us really live up to this teaching?
  2. Given the prevalence of the current prosperity teachings, do we even take our Lord's teaching on discipleship seriously?
  3. Have we done a cost benefit analysis concerning discipleship?  
4. How do we weigh sitting in heavenly places in Christ Jesus against the pleasures of this world (Ephesians 2:6; Hebrews 11:25)?  
5. Have we considered our eternal inheritance, if we endure until the end (Revelation 3:5)?
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The Healer is Still in the House - Rex Johnson
http://about-him.com/music/healer1.ram"

Have You received the Holy Ghost Since You have Believed? - Don Spooner
http://about-him.com/music/holyghost.ram"

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Humor
Police officer to speeder: I clocked you at 80 miles per hour, sir."
Speeder: I had it on cruise control at 60, perhaps your radar gun needs calibrating."
Helpful Wife: You know we don't have cruise control.
Police officer: I'll have to write you a ticket.
Man to Wife: Please keep your mouth shut!
Helpful wife You should be happy the radar detector went off when it did.
Officer: Oh? That's another ticket.
Man: "Woman, can't you keep your mouth shut?"
Officer: There is a 75 dollar fine for not wearing your seat belt.
Man: I just unfastened it to get to my wallet.
Wife: You know you never wear your seat belt.
And as the police officer is writing out the third ticket the driver turns to his wife and barks, "WHY DON'T YOU PLEASE SHUT UP??" The officer looks over at the woman and asks, "Does your husband always talk to you this way, Ma'am?"

"Only when he's been drinking."

 
Somebody Has Said
"He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on.  There is no other." - C.S.Lewis
Keep Looking Up!

Don and Marie Spooner
About Him! Ministries

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