Luke 9;21-24 (KJV)
And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing;
Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and cheif priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.
And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.
A really close friend of mine, his wife made a very interesting statement. She spoke on her ponderings about subscribing to twitter; to begin her own twitter account, and her statement that was interesting to me (from remembrance) was that she didn't want to get a twitter account because she had an issue with twitter's slogan of "Follow Me". Now, if you are at all in tune with the frailty of humanity, then you too understand her, once, reservation. It is the same reservations I pray upon when making these presentations of encouragement. Because it has NEVER been my desire to hear or possess knowledge that someone is saying, "Well, Brova said."
Christ Jesus is speaking to the disciples about this very thing. About UNDERSTANDING who you are willing to set yourself behind and take in all of their words, speakings, thought processes, and mannerisms. Yup, FOLLOW!
See, Christ layed out what these men would have to expect if they made choice to follow (v22). Now, this relevant information was given right after Christ Jesus finished receiving, and confirming Peter's confession that Jesus is, indeed, the Christ of God (v18-20). What makes it "relevant"? At that time, and today even, Jews retained that the Christ would be a mighty King, that would come to set the kingdom. In their understanding this Christ would not be rejected, or be slain. Let alone this Christ, according to their understanding, would not RISE after any day.
So now Christ says, "If any man (and we know, today, this includes woman) is to come after me". I pray you didn't miss that? I pray you didn't miss Christ's Love for man, because of man's frail humanity. He tells them what a man is going to have to perform, in order to "follow". But, Christ leads in with the condition, "If". Hallelujah!!!! This is about to cause someone to GET RIGHT BEFORE GOD!!!!!! See, Christ knows you. You would ask, "He does"? Well, to keep it in context with the scriptures, so you cannot say, "Well, Brova said", let's roll on over to Hebrews. Hebrews 4;14-15 (KJV) states, Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
Christ, being wrapped in flesh (humanity) understands how difficult it can be, to willingly, FOLLOW "after" Him.
I, Yer Brova, didn't clue you in on all of what I would have to deal with, when beginning to make these presentations. I may not be able to dispense correct, timely, full of God's wisdom and knowledge instructions on how you should proceed in your daily goings. Surely, you should not, ever, look to me for your soul's salvation. Nope! Don't do that! But, I can point you towards the One who will do all of that. And, assure you that "If" you pay attention, not only will you receive your soul's salvation, but you will gain life eternal. That is what Christ explains further (v24), after he sets down what a person has to do to FOLLOW after him. Now, what you have to ask yourself, because Christ already told you by using the condition "If", is "Will I perform these conditions that Christ speaks of"? Let's look at these conditions again:
1. Deny yourself- Pretty much self-explanitory. I mean, you did cringe a bit just reading it, right? Well, that was you NOT denying yourself.
2. Take up your cross daily- Everyone of us has a "cross" to bear. Something or things that would and will prevent us from accomplishing the third condition. This "cross" CAN BE managed. How, you may ask. Again, Christ knew about your frailty, and he spoke your relief (Matthew 11;28-30).
3. Follow Christ Jesus- This one, being the last is so definetely not the least. You ONLY follow Christ's Image, Example, Instructions, Commands. Please understand, no man (of humanity on this earth) will provide you with all you need in order for you secure your soul's salvation, or your eternal life. Christ is that, ALONE. Please understand that.
Honestly, there is nothing else for me to say. When we set out to follow behind Christ, we pretty much do not need to hear a whole lot of other's speech. Which, in turn, makes us learn how to keep our own speech brief. Hallelujah!!! I just received a bit of a lesson right then.... LOL Speak the Word, alone. Wow! Yeah, Wow..... I am praying for any of you who are reading this presentation. Praying that if you do not know Christ, personally; for yourself, that you come to know Him. Praying that you will receive the Word of God, soon. Meaning receive a good study Bible for you to start reading, studying, and learning the Word of God; for yourself. And, praying that you, soon, become a part of a solid Bible believing congregation, within your area. Now, if you are within the city of Los Angeles, CA I invite you to come fellowship with me and my church family. Join us at New Dawn Christian Village, 2328 St. James Place Los Angeles, CA 90007. We hold Sunday service at 10:30 am. Hopefully I will see you there this Sunday. Remember, know who you are "Follow"ing.
Holla,
Yer Brova Catalyst
No comments:
Post a Comment