Counting the Cost of My Cross First

[S] Luke 14:27 --
 ²⁷"Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

[O] Two examples follow this verse which point out how critical it is to plan out the cost before taking action; we rarely just jump in without doing any calculation of the resources and costs to accomplish the task at hand much like what we started to do for the church as we are faced with the new year's ministry goals.  This is a very much needed exercise to go through.  However, underneath all of these goals and processes planned for lies a fundamental "cost" I must consider which is whether I will pay the price of carrying my cross and follow after the path Jesus walked or not.  If I am unwilling to meet this cost of action then I shouldn't even bother taking part in the church planning and execution in this new year because I would be fooling myself of doing some great deeds that may just look good.

This article of a teenage boy in Australia sacrificing his own life to save his younger brother and mother moved me because he didn't know how to swim and was very afraid of the water and yet during the split of a second, he made a choice to pay the price overcoming his own fear.  Man, just trying to imagine what was going through his head then choked me up.

[A] I remember picking up a book titled: Disciples are Made Not Born because the title said it all.  My desire to be Jesus' disciple will take much more than my simple desire.  I have to deeply ponder on what price of the cross I must "invest" and be willing to commit to it.  It will not be a smooth sailing and yet be willing to go through the storms regardless.

[P] Dear Father, I want to be Jesus' disciple.  I know this means more than just saying it and when I face the stormy situation like the teenage boy in the above article, may my faith be large enough to take the right path of carrying my cross for You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

In Training Now for the Times of Need

[S] Genesis 14:14 --
 ¹⁴When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he led out his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as Dan.

[O] Abram did not start Googling for hired guns when he heard the news.  He had in-house trained men for times like these and they must've been like the Navy SEALs because with only 318 men he was able to defeat the army that captured Sodom and Gomorrah.  I'm so impressed with Abram's preparedness by training men born in his house (in other translations it says household most likely meaning his own descendants) who are ready to go at moments notice.  I'm also trying to train my own children but that's not easy to carry out but this passage encourages me to carry on.  I'm also encouraged to carry on training leaders for the small group ministry consistently because there will come a time when in-house trained men/women are needed to run a Godly task.

[A] Preparation for crisis is not going to happen accidentally because it requires faithful training of disciples now and every day.  Continue on with training up leaders for small group ministry without discouragements.

[P] Dear Jesus, as You have called Your disciples at the shores of Sea of Galilee please call the small group leaders to step up into the very much needed roles at our church.  Please send more of them in order for us to unite our hearts to be trained men like the 318 ment Abram took to rescue Lot and family.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

The Right Use of Freedom

[S] 1 Peter 2:16 --
 ¹⁶Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.
(NLT) ¹⁶For you are free, yet you are God's slaves, so don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.

[O] I like NASB's wording of: don't use freedom as ... but as ....  NLT's wording gives me more practical perspective.  The concept of applying freedom is two contrasting way caught my mind because I always thought freedom can only be used for good where in this verse it can be used to cover, or excuse to do, evil.  Haven't I heard others say, I can be free to do whatever I want?  What do you say to that?  Now I know what to say: don't abuse it to justify your evil deeds.  Freedom cannot be above moral standards where the good gives into the bad.  Who'd want to live in a place where everyone pursues evil in the name of freedom?  Or reversing that around, have you seen anyone spend their money to go suffer in the freedom of evil?  Most people get upset if they are ill-treated a little by a customer service people, say cab driver, why would they want to buy themselves more ill-treatment?

On the other hand, when I use my freedom of choice to choose to be a bondslave of God, then what appears to be a restriction will actually free myself to fully live out my life's potential without any limits.

[A] The latter is where I want to be.  I want to fully utilize my freedom in this country to surrender my life to Jesus so I would live out my life's potential He planned for me. to reach out and build up the community of believers.

[P] Thank You, Jesus, for giving me the freedom to choose You freely in this coutry.  I would like to use that freedom to conform my life for Your mission here on earth.  Please let me explore to the max while in Your realm of discipleship.  In Your name.  Amen.

Fruitful Glorification

[S] John 15:8 --
⁸"My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

[O] At times, I know what I want to do but don't know how to do that. I know that I want to glorify God and also know that is a good thing, but when it comes to using my next 24 hours in doing that I am unsure what I need to do exactly. This verse tells me more specifically that if I bear a spiritual fruit in my life then that in turn will glorify the Father and also proves that I am Jesus' disciple. Before bearing "much" fruit I need to focus on bearing a fruit and as I do that every day, then they'll all add up to much fruit out of my life resulting to glorify God.

[A] As I can tell a tree by the fruits it bears, I want to bear Godly fruits in my life so I can be identified as a Godly person.

[P] Dear God, may You be glorified through my life because I bear a bunch of spiritual fruits for You. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Linked Imitators

[S] 1 Corinthians 11:1 --
¹Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.

[O] Modeling is one of the key components that shapes a culture we live in.  We become what we see and hear around us and the funny thing is that even the things we dislike shape the culture so it's not only the ones we try to immitate but everything around us are poised to shape our lives.  In our spiritual walk, we are to imitate Jesus so that's not a difficult concept, but what this verse highlighted for me is how I should be in the linked chain so others can model after my relationship with Jesus in turn to be imitating Christ as a result.  In order for this to take place, I must first and always need to be imitating Christ consistently so whoever imitates me will not be led astray.  This short statement by Paul is auite powerfu.

[A] One by one, mend broken relationships in my life.

[P] Dear God, use me as one of the links in your chain of influence in my workplace.  May I be diligent in being a good model for others to draw near to You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.