Then, calling the
crowd to join his disciples, he said, "If any of you wants to be my
follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If
you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life
for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do
you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything
worth more than your soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these
adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when
he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." - Mark 8:34-38
Then he said to
the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your
own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your
life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save
it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost
or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be
ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the
Father and the holy angels. Luke 9:23-26
Meditate on these verses. What is your soul worth?
The
same thing is recorded in these gospels—turn from your selfish ways,
take up your cross (daily). In modern language of The Message
translation Jesus says…
“Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the
driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me
and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way,
my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get
everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul
for?”
He is in the driver’s seat. I like that.
Self-sacrifice is the way of Jesus—and He wants us to follow His example. We
don’t have to die on the cross…just pick up our cross and follow Him. So what
does it mean to “pick up our cross”? We have to be willing to give
up what we want…and turn from our selfish ways to Jesus’ way—die to ourselves,
our old self and old ways.
"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live,
but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Galatians 2:20.
Can you admit that life is not all about you—and
give up what you want and desire?
Matthew also wrote a similar text earlier in his
book.
"If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are
not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you
are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow
me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose
it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it”. Matthew 10:37-39
Have you found Christ in your life? Are you ashamed of or confident in Him? What do we learn
about Jesus in these scripture passages?
Prayer ~ Lord Jesus, Your cross seems heavy, but in
reality, it is not heavy. You have promised that if we come to You, our burdens will be light.
Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry
heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach
you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your
souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."
Matthew 11:28-30.
Thank You for bearing my burdens…as I take up my
cross and follow You.
Verse of Salvation ~ And what do you benefit if you
gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your
soul? Matthew 16:26
Friday’s
Feast at the King’s Table
Today
would have been my sister, Shirley’s,78th birthday. She carried her
cross all the way to heaven—loving Jesus and obediently following Him. When we
were growing up, Shirley and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen baking and would
often make these cookies. It seems like a lot of sugar—but it makes a lot of
cookies. You can use less, but my daughter makes these often now and she assured
me that they won’t brown as well with less sugar. Use your own judgment about
your sugar usage.
Shirley’s
Snickerdoodles 8-10
dozen
3 cups
sugar
1 cup
butter or margarine, softened
1 cup
shortening or coconut oil
4 eggs
5
½ cups unbleached flour
4 teaspoons
cream of tartar
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon
salt
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons ground
cinnamon
Mix
shortening, butter, sugar, and add eggs.
Mix
dry ingredients and then add to the butter mixture.
Chill
the dough for a couple of hours or overnight.
Roll
into small balls and dip into cinnamon & sugar mixture.
Bake
at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. These are soft and puffed up when taken out of
the oven, but they flatten out with crinkly tops. Enjoy with a cold glass of
milk!
Happy Heavenly
Birthday, Sister Shirley!
© 2026 Text,
photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
All scripture
quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless otherwise noted.
New Living
Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All
rights reserved.
Scripture from New
King James Version (NKJV). New King James Version © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Harper Collins
Publisher. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Message
(MSG) Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson
Biblical search
from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
No comments:
Post a Comment