Read With Me! cont'd

Matthew 16
v. 24 and following

These are some of the hardest verses I have read. "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

Wow. How powerful is that? We must take up our cross...what does that mean? In Bible times it was very literal. As followers of Christ the disciples were risking their lives to follow him. If they were charged and ordered to be crucified they would have to literally take up and carry their cross up to the crucifixion site. But what about today...I myself haven't heard of anyone being crucified in Alliance...well ever really. What does it mean to take up our cross for Jesus sake? We must still commit to Jesus whole heartedly, and maybe sometimes that might mean we lose friends, lose position, lose family even, and yes we might still lose our life. Many people die for their faith every day. In the western world we do not see this as much as in the east, where persecution is real and harsh. But it still is not an easy way out to be a follower of Christ.

"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" (v.26) This is now a song with the lyrics "I don't wanna gain the whole world and lose my soul" which is very true. So many things tell us to go out their and try and conquer the world, make all the money you can and do it any way, lie...steal...cheat your way to the top. We see many of the super rich charged with bribery, embezzlement and so many other illegal things that got them their wealth and luxury. But if we gain the whole world and lose our souls, in the end was it worth it? Absolutely not.

Matthew 17
How strong is faith?
v. 21
"I tell you if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. nothing will be impossible for you."

That is AWESOME completely and utterly awesome! Faith is our greatest asset, our most powerful weapon, our biggest defender! Faith that can move mountains.