Devotionals

Scripture Reading: Luke 9:22-26

In today’s Scripture text, we find Jesus telling the disciples of His upcoming death and resurrection. He said, "The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief 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. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels." Jesus’ intentions were not to impress His disciples by boasting of what He would have to go through. His purpose was to teach them the principles of becoming dedicated disciples.

Understanding how such unpleasant methods can generate us into true discipleship is hard. Why must we suffer, be rejected and even be slain just to prove our profession of faith? This is often easy for a new convert to understand. The excitement of our new life in Christ makes it easy to endure almost anything. However, when the excitement wears off, defeat is often close behind. It seems that our prayers go unheard and that God has forgotten all about us. In this time of weakness, Satan seeks to devour us before we grow any closer to the Lord.

Perhaps you have faced some battles through the years in your work for the Lord. Feelings of defeat may have caused you to lose your job. Maybe you’ve decided you’d rather be a bench warmer rather than taking the chance of being hurt or disappointed again.

In the Garden, Jesus probably felt much the same way, but He didn’t give up. Rather, He gave in, not to feelings or emotions, but to God’s will. Jesus taught His disciples the secret to such dedication in the three simple steps we’ll study for the next few days: following, fighting, and faithfully serving.

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• Tags: discipleship, endure, faith

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• Posted by: Dr. Brenda Robinson