Daily Devotion

 

Here, Jesus lays down the conditions for service for those who follow Him.

 

(1^st) A man must deny himself. What does that mean? Peter once denied his Lord. "He said of Jesus, "I do not know this man." To deny ourselves is to say, "I do not know myself. It is to treat the self as if it did not exist. Usually, we treat ourselves as if our self is the most important thing in the world. If we are to follow Jesus, we must forget that self exists.

 

(2^nd) A man must take up his cross. Jesus knew well what crucifixion meant. To take up our cross means to be prepared to face the horror of crucifixion for our loyalty to Jesus; it means to be ready to endure the worst that man can do to us for the sake of being true to Jesus. 

 

(3^rd) A man must spend his life, not hoard it. The whole gamut of the world's standard must be changed. The questions are not, "How much can I get?" But, "How much can I give?" Not, what is the safe thing to do? But, "What is the right thing to do?"Not, "What is the minimum permissible in the way of work? But, "What is the maximum possible?" The Christian must realize that he is given life, not to keep for himself, but to spend for others; not to husband its flame, but to burn it out for Jesus and for people. 

 

(4th) Loyalty to Jesus will have its reward, and disloyalty is punishment. If we are true to Him in time, He will be true to us in eternity. If we seek to follow Him in this world, in the next He will point to us as one of His people.   However, if by our lives we disown him, even though with our lips we confess Him, the day must come when He cannot do other than disown us.

 

(5th )In the last verse of this passage, Jesus says that some standing there will see the kingdom of God before they die. Some writers maintain that Jesus was looking forward to His return in glory, that He was declaring that this would happen in the lifetime of some of those present; therefore He was completely mistaken. However, what Jesus was saying is this: "Before this generation has passed away you will see signs that the kingdom of God is on the way." Beyond a doubt that came to pass. Something came into the world which, like leaven in dough, began to change it. There is that light that has been slowly breaking on the world.

 

BE OF GOOD CHEER---THE KINGDOM IS ON THE WAY---AND WE DO WELL TO THANK GOD FOR EVERY SIGN OF ITS DAWNING!

Life Application: Are you a loyal, and faithful servant of King Jesus?   His delay will not last much longer.

 

Praise/Prayer: Dear Father, I can't help but believe that You are raising up servants all over the world. Even in countries that we may not be hearing about it, we are seeing the results. It appears every country in the world is being exposed to the message of Your love. Oh, Father, I don't know when the trumpet will sound, but I am expecting it soon. Blessed be the Lord God Almighty! Amen!