Lk9

"If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me." - Jesus  There is no doubt that Jesus expected His followers to actually leave everything and follow Him.  He was not interested in "occasional followers" or "happy believers", he actually expected "sacrificial followers"!

Verse 24 says, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it."  Clearly Jesus' expectation was an "all in" commitment.  Nothing short of "losing your life" would save it.  Jesus expected His disciples to abandon this world and to live for Him. Period.

Most believers today fail to understand this clear principle.  We live as though God exist to serve us. Most act as though His primary goal is our happiness.  This idea is not only NOT in the bible, it is antagonistic to a true relationship with Jesus.  Being a disciple of Jesus, requires giving our lives totally to His control.  Nothing short of that is true discipleship!

In the New Testament MOST actually walked away after considering the cost.  Jesus never reduced the expectation.  He did speak of the great gain to all who would actually lose everything to gain Him.  

Are you a true disciple?

Lk8

Jesus demonstrated undeniable power in every account in the gospel record.  His life was a constant display of the power of God over demons, sickness, weather and death!  His power has not diminished today.  Why is it so hard to fully trust Him with every aspect of our lives?

The answer might be in the parable Jesus told in this chapter.  Could it be that the "worries of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desire for other things" has creeped into our lives and choked out the potential for fruitfulness that God desires?  What in this world do you want more than Jesus?  What are you thinking and worrying about?  Would your use of money say that Jesus and His church are your greatest priorities?  

These are the things that Jesus says keeps us from experiencing Him in great power.  His power is not diminished.  Is our faith being chocked by these other desires?  God help us all.

Lk7

From God's perspective, do you think there are some of us who have actually sinned more than others?  It is not the most relevant question since one sin is enough to condemn us, and we are all well beyond that, but Jesus made a point of it in this chapter.  He compares our ability to love Him with the understanding of how much we have been forgiven.  He does this in several places.

If you are struggling to love Jesus and obey Him, I would suggest it is because you have a poor understanding of how much you have been loved and forgiven.  I bet you have failed to see how little you deserve forgiveness and heaven and how much you deserve to be condemned to hell.  Jesus would say, "Stop living as though you somehow deserve heaven.  Life a life of love, knowing you have been loved and forgiven by God."

I am personally challenged by these words more than ever.  I so don't want to be "that guy" who lives and acts as though he deserved God's love and forgiveness.  Jesus seems to measure our understanding of forgiveness with the way we give love and forgiveness to others.

Something to ponder.

Lk6

God is gracious to the ungrateful and the evil, and He expects us to be the same way!  How are you doing?  I score an epic fail.

Jesus is clearly calling us to a different way of life.  He says, "if you love those who love you, how are you different?"  When we only love those who love us and only do good to those who will do good to us, we are not acting as Jesus would want us to.  His desire is for us to be "like" Him.  That means, loving the unlovely and doing good to those who we could never expect repayment.  That is radical.  That is what Jesus did.

What a challenge.

Lk5

What have you left behind to follow Jesus? If the answer is nothing, you probably don't get it.  You likely are NOT following Jesus.

When Jesus called His disciples, they left everything and followed him.  Peter, James and John left his fishing business and Levi (called Matthew) left his tax collecting.  Their lives were totally redefined by their relationship with Jesus.  They left their old way of life and began to follow Jesus in a brand new way.

How does this apply to us?  Jesus said, "Follow me and I will make you a fisher of people."  Jesus is about saving people and giving them a reason to live.  Following Jesus demands a life of serving Him.  Following Jesus requires that we listen to and obey Him.  Following Jesus means that He leads and we "follow".  In my experience, following Jesus always requires that we "leave" something behind. 

Are you truly following Jesus?  What have you left behind?

Lk4

What place does the Holy Spirit have in your life?  Are you "full of, led by and empowered by Him?  Jesus was.

Did you notice in this chapter that Jesus was dynamically connected to the Holy Spirit?  Luke teaches us that Jesus, being full of the Holy Spirit was led by Him to be tempted in the wilderness.  After He was tempted, it says that Jesus was "empowered" by that same Spirit.

Clearly Jesus taught that we are to live our lives in accordance with His Spirit.  Is that something that we think about?  Paul said that everyone who is led by the Spirit of God is a son of God.  He also said, "walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the deeds of the flesh."

My prayer is that we are full of, being led by and empowered by God's Spirit today!  There is no better way to live.

Lk3

Have you heard the saying, "The ground is level at the foot of the cross?"  What that means is that we all are in the same place before God when we stand before Jesus.  We will either be condemned or forgiven depending on how we respond to His death for us.  There is no other way but through faith in Christ!

In this chapter John prophesies this truth.  He is quoting the prophet Isaiah, but he is talking about Jesus leveling the playing field for everyone.  He quotes, "Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be made low, the crooked will become straight, the rough ways smooth, and everyone will see the salvation of God."  In summary, the ground is level in light of the cross!

If we don't see everyone in light of the cross, we are not seeing clearly.  When we begin to compare ourselves among ourselves, or see ourselves in relationship to others rather than Jesus, we are walking in rough terrane.  Jesus has come to reduce each of us to humility before Him so we can truly love one another.

In light of all Jesus did for us on the cross, how can we not love our brothers?