7/18/12. Luke 14:25-35. SURRENDER ALL AND CARRY YOUR CROSS-devotional

Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF        Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Luke 14:25-35Key Verse: 14:33

“In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.”

Dear Lord, thank you for the good night’s sleep and the new day ahead. Thank you that my son, Mark decided to come to a men’s prayer meeting this morning and he liked it. I pray that he may continue to grow into a wonderful man of God and he may give his life to Jesus and be used to proclaim the gospel. Please help me on my trip to Uganda. Please help our family to grow as a house church. Help us to be united in our mission to love and serve you. Please help us to know you and create an atmosphere among us where others will be inspired to know you also. Plant your word in my heart today. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!
Part 1: No Greater Priority Than Jesus (25-27).

Verses 25-27, “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

Few things give more meaning and joy in life than our relationships with loved ones. Nothing is more valuable to a person than his life. Nevertheless, genuine disciples of Jesus make Jesus the highest priority, higher than earthly relationships and even their own life. We need to understand what “hate” means here. It does not mean to hate our family. (This is the limitation of the English language.) Hate means to always put Jesus and his Gospel and following him, as the top priority in our lives. We need to not even let the closest of our relationships come in between us and Jesus. Hopefully our family members will encourage us to follow Jesus but if they don’t, we still need to love and follow Jesus. Nothing should stop us…nothing. As we follow Jesus there may be walls or barriers between us and those close to us, but we need to always love our family and care for them as much as possible and especially we need to pray for them. That is basic.

This complete commitment to Jesus brings suffering and death to one’s own will. It may even bring physical death. Jesus likens this commitment to a cross. Discipleship is not a life of comfort and ease, but a life of picking up our own personal crosses and following Jesus. I have my own cross. I need to be a father, husband and house church leader. I am also a nurse and a 1:1 Bible teacher. I have many hats and many crosses.

But the crosses God has given me are not that painful. They are hard at times, but they are meaningful and peace giving to my soul. I do have to deny myself. Recently I have to deny myself to be a morning prayer meetings at 630 am every Monday and every 2nd Wednesday. That means I need to deny my sleep. I have committed to writing daily bread devotionals and posting them. This takes self denial to do this. I also have been led to change the style of ministry and the relationship I have with my family members. It means changing ways that I have held near and dear to me for 27 years. The change in paradigm has brought me to tears many times. This is a heavy cross. I have not had to bear the cross of sickness and death in the family. I have not had to bear the cross of physical pain. Things like this may come my way someday. I pray that I may be ready to bear my cross by the grace of God and in a way that brings glory to Jesus. May God grant me strength to glorify him in the midst of any type of suffering.

Part 2: Know The Cost of Discipleship (28-35).

Verses 28-35, “’Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? 29 For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, 30 saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ 31 “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. 34 “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.’”

We are not called to follow Jesus with our eyes closed. Jesus wants us to know that there is a real cost in following him. A builder estimates the cost of erecting a tower before starting. A king considers whether he is able to defeat his enemy before going into battle. So we also must understand and be willing to pay the cost of following Jesus. Disciples of Jesus must surrender everything to him. If we begin to follow Jesus, but later turn away because we are not willing to pay the price, we become like salt that loses its saltiness.

I need to embrace the call to be a disciple with my eyes open and a heart ready to commit. Jesus is asking my all in all. It is a little hard to go to Uganda in light of all the violence. But I believe it is the will of God for me to go there in order to taste a little of his world mission command and see what the ends of the earth looks like. I will also be scouting out a future mission field, where I may pour out my energies and utilize my experiences in preaching the Gospel. I am looking forward to it. I am actually ready to accept all that God has in store for me, all the good and exciting things and also the hard things. I am also called to embrace our new life with Kishwaukee Bible Church and at the same time be committed to UBF. There are a lot internal struggles that are a type of emotional struggle. I pray for God’s grace to help me navigate this new cross.
Prayer: Lord, help me to put you ahead of everything else. Please give me grace and strength to carry my cross and follow you.

One Word: Carry your cross and follow Jesus for God will give you grace.