Are you willing to pay the cost of discipleship? Do you love Jesus more than anything, or is there someone or something else in your life more important? Do you hold all your dreams, hopes, and blessings up to God with an open hand, or are you gripping them tightly? Is Jesus your life, or is something else your number 1 pursuit?
These are important questions to ask ourselves. My friends, Jesus wants to be in intimate spiritual relationship with you so much as His beloved child and bride that He gave up temporarily absolutely EVERYTHING, including His own life and fellowship with the Father to have you! We will never fully know the spiritually, emotionally, and physically excruciating pain He endured on the cross to have us as His own and rescue us from the judgment of the lake of fire, commonly referred to by Christians as “hell.” If Jesus gave it all to have us as His own people and paid a far greater price than we ever could, then is it too much for Him to ask us to be willing to surrender our everything for Him in return? No! He is the One who created us, loves us the most, and redeemed us with His life and blood! Thank God He is alive now and forever!!!
The Devil Lies to Us
The devil will come to us and lie to us. He will say things such as, “God won’t make you happy. You can make yourself happier.” That is such a lie, my friends! When I was seven years old, the Holy Spirit came to me and wooed my heart with His love to become Jesus’ own. I didn’t even know the gospel of Jesus Christ yet. –And yet, there His Presence was beckoning me to follow Him! The devil, whom I didn’t even know existed, put this thought in my mind right then and there, “If you become a Christian, God will require you to wear your hair in a bun and wear no makeup, and no one will want to marry you!” This was a lie! I bought into the devil’s lies for two years and resisted the Holy Spirit because of a misunderstanding of Him! After trying to make myself happy and making a mess of my life, I am so happy to say I gave my heart to Jesus at the tender age of 9! You know what? He didn’t make me wear my hair in a bun! He told me for a couple of years when I was about thirty years old not to wear makeup because I was putting my security and self-worth in it. After I was free from this bondage, He gave the makeup back! When I was twenty-five years old, I got married to my soulmate, Charlie! The devil lied, lied, lied!
The Devil Is Not Worthy of Our Devotion!
Are you willing to pay the cost of discipleship? What does the devil lie to you about? Truth is found in the Word of God, not in the devil’s whispers in our minds! Jesus told some evil people in John 8:44 (King James Version), “Ye are of your father, the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” I hope no one reading this blog is a child of the devil, doing his will! But if you are, I invite you to change masters and submit to God and Jesus, who are Love!!! So, we see from this verse that the devil is a murderer, a liar, and the father of lies. The devil is not worthy of our devotion!
Being Alive or a Christian Isn’t Always Easy
Being alive isn’t always easy. Being a Christian isn’t always easy, either. There are times when we are tested with trials. Sometimes we can’t feel God and aren’t too sure about what victory for us lies ahead. That is why it is important to read the Bible, because there we will find the promises of God which give us faith in His goodness! Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Maybe you cannot afford a Bible. I am happy to tell you that you can access the whole Bible in many different English translations at https://biblegateway.com and https://biblehub.com! Just type in the search window which book and chapter you want to read, and it will pop up! Or you can type in a specific scripture verse. It is a handy tool for us Bible teachers and really for anyone!
May Jesus Be Our Greatest Pursuit!
Are you willing to pay the cost of discipleship? There are times when we must choose by the help of the Holy Spirit to follow Jesus as our greatest pursuit instead of some earthly dream taking the priority. It is not wrong to pursue earthly dreams such as a respectable career, getting a wife and children, and a house. However, Jesus wants to be our greatest dream! He wants us to be willing to follow Him whatever the cost may be to us! Jesus said in Matthew 16:24-26:
Then Jesus told His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life [lit. soul life] will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?”
Following Jesus could mean for us not choosing the career we chose for ourselves. As a girl of ten years old, I used to dream of being a rock star! Those who know me will find that funny, as I do! That is so not me! God’s career choice for me was to become a homemaker and a minister of the gospel. Following Jesus may mean you may not get to marry the wrong person. God once made me give up someone I was dating because he was not a Christian, and we were not right for each other. Even though that young man and I were in love, God sternly told me, “Is it him or Me?” I burst into tears, and cried out, “Oh, God! You know it’s You!” I am so happy now I did not marry that man. I ended up with my dear Charlie, who is also on fire for God like I am! God protected me from the wrong choice for my life. Without God’s taking away that man, I would not have ended up with my children and grandchildren, either! God takes things away from us to protect us and to guide us into His perfect will for our lives!
God even gave Charlie, my children, and me a house miraculously! He can do that for you, too!
Following Jesus May Involve Persecution
Are you willing to pay the cost of discipleship? For some of us, following Jesus could cost us our lives through persecution. That does not seem as likely in the United States as other countries, but the possibility is still there. I, for one, think that would be the highest honor: to give my life in martyrdom to the One who gave His life for me!!! Love You, Jesus!!! I don’t know if I am called to that. Maybe you don’t know, either. But God wants to work into our hearts the willingness to pay whatever cost necessary to follow Him!
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear!
Does the thought of opening your heart to God terrify you? I used to feel that way! I thought for sure He would reject me and abandon me because I was so imperfect! He did not, my friends! I prayed for God to help me trust Him! He did! He showed me Hebrews 13:5b, “…’I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” If you feel that fear of opening your heart to God, pray this simple prayer: “God, please help me to trust You! Let Your perfect love take away fear!” He will answer you, too! First John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.” Ask God to fill you with His perfect love which will surely dispel the fear of rejection, abandonment, or of getting hurt!
Will You Continue to Follow Jesus When Life Gets Difficult?
Are you willing to pay the cost of discipleship? John 6:25-70 tells about Jesus’ conversation with the Jewish people. I will not print it all here because of its length. I encourage you to read it on your own. But I will point out a few verses. Jesus was discussing the cost of discipleship. He told them in John 6:53-58,
Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.'”
I personally believe that this is Jesus’ way of our feasting on Him in a spiritual way and ingesting Him as the Word of God. I do not believe we eat His literal flesh and blood when we take communion. Verse 60 goes on to say, “On hearing it, many of His disciples said, ‘This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” We learn in verse 66, “From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him. How sad! Verse 67 tell us, “‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve.” Simon Peter, one of Jesus’ closest disciples, said in verse 68, “…Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.'”
Are you willing to pay the cost of discipleship? Are you like those who didn’t understand what Jesus was saying and were offended and left Him? When trials get really painful and confusing in your life, are you tempted to just quit following Jesus to try to solve your problems on your own? Or are you like Peter who likely didn’t understand Jesus’ teaching at that time, either, but knew Jesus was all He had! “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus is our only hope, My friends! When we don’t understand our painful, perplexing trials, let us cleave to Him in love!!! He is cleaving to us!!!
The Greatest Commandment
Matthew 22:36-38 tells us the greatest commandment of Jesus. Someone came to Jesus and asked, “‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘”Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment.”
Do we love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds? Is He our greatest passion? If not, let us ask Him today to help us love Him in that way!
The Parable of the Sower and the Seeds of the Gospel
Let me share a helpful parable Jesus taught in Luke 8:5-15:
A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
Someone, like a sower, told you the gospel and sowed a seed in your heart. I am sowing seed here. Did the devil steal that Word out of your heart like birds of the air ate seed off the ground? Ask God for that seed back! Did your seed fall on rocky soil? Did you get excited about God at first, but you have no root in Him, and now you are tempted to fall away in time of testing? Ask God to help you be rooted in His love today! Did your seed fall on a heart full of thorns? Is the gospel seed unfruitful because your heart is choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of this life? Ask God today to clear away the thorns of false priorities in your heart! Is your heart like that good ground of an honest and good heart, that hears the Word, the seed, of God; keeps it; and brings forth fruit with patience? I pray and hope so! God, please give us this kind of heart!!! Ask Him for a good heart!
Let Us Choose God!
When Jesus as a young baby was dedicated to God, a devout and righteous man named Simeon, blessed Joseph and Mary, Jesus’ earthly parents. We read in Luke 2:34-35, “And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed–and a sword will pierce even your own soul–to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.'” I want to point out that a sword would pierce Mary’s soul. I believe the greatest time a sword pierced her soul was when Jesus, her supernaturally-conceived Son, was crucified. When we follow Jesus, a sword will pierce our hearts at times, too! Hebrews 4:12 tells us, “For the Word of God is quick [alive], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” God’s Word will expose the motives of our hearts. God will use His Word to show us encouragement and when we need to repent of sin, or wrongdoing. What is our response when this Sword, this Word of God, pierces our hearts? Do we harden up in anger? Retreat in fear? Resolve to pull up our bootstraps and prove we can make it on our own? –Or do we repent and tell God, “I’m sorry, Lord. Please change my heart!” I pray we choose the latter!
Turning Away from Jesus Breaks His Heart!
If we turn away from Jesus, we break His heart! Hebrews 10:29 tells us, “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath accounted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hat despised the Spirit of grace?” Lord, help us to never do that to our Beloved Jesus!!! May we never turn our backs on Him and break His heart!!!
Let Us Make God and Ourselves Happy by Giving Him Our Hearts!
Are you willing to pay the cost of discipleship? Friends, there is more at stake here than simply our happiness. Let us make God happy by giving Him our hearts! Following Jesus will lead us to the greatest happiness, too! There will be trials and tests of our faith along the way, but God is the source of joy and happiness! Turn your life over to Jesus completely! He will help you with all your problems! He already has your solutions! Isaiah 49:23b tells us, “…And thou shalt know that I am the LORD, for they shall not be ashamed that wait for Me.” We will not be ashamed if we wait on God for answers! Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not on thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” God’s plan for you is GOOD!!! Trust in Him, and don’t depend on yourself! Acknowledge Him in all you do, and He will direct your paths into His good purposes for you! He will bring your answers and testimonies! Jeremiah 29:11 tells us, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” The New American Standard Bible translates this verse like this: “‘For I know the plans that I have for you’, declares the LORD, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.'” I love that! He plans to prosper us, not give us disaster! He will give us a good future and hope! He has all the answers to all your problems!
Those Who Suffer with Jesus Will Inherit His Kingdom!
Are you willing to pay the cost of discipleship? Those who suffer with Jesus will inherit His kingdom as well! Second Timothy 2:12 gives us the promise and the warning, “If we suffer [with Jesus], we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us….” Wow, God will reward us with reigning with Jesus if we cling to Him through all our suffering!!! Let us not deny Him, or He will deny us the privilege of ruling with Him in His kingdom!
Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength today! He is SO WORTHY!!!
Here is a lovely song of devotion lead by Michael W. Smith called “More Love, More Power”! I love to sing and play this song, too! Be encouraged, beloved!