Tag: discipleship

Deny Ourselves, Take Up Our Cross, and Follow Jesus Christ

Matthew 16:24 — “Then Jesus told his disciples, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'”

Lent is a time we practice stillness before the Lord as we meditate on His love and sacrifice on the Cross for us. We slow down our steps to hear Him speak to us. 

Lent is also a season of surrender. We surrender ourselves, our desires, our dreams, our ambitions and our worries to God to realign to His heart and will for us. 

DENY OURSELVES

To deny ourselves is to remember we belong to the Lord. In surrendering, we say, “Not my will, but Yours be done.”

TAKE UP OUR CROSS

The Cross is where we see the ultimate love of God the Father for us:His Only Son was nailed on the Cross and died on it for our behalf so that we do not have to die eternally but we are reconciled to God our Heavenly Father. 

To take up our cross is to embrace the sacrificial love of Jesus. It may not be something we want to do in our human nature, but we do so because Jesus has sent an example for us. 

FOLLOW JESUS

To follow Jesus is to walk the path He walked — with love, humility, justice, mercy and obedience to God, the Father.

Let us ask ourselves:

(1) What areas in life am I resisting the call to deny myself?

(2) What cross am I being invited to carry?

(3) In what ways is Jesus calling me to follow Him more closely?

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, teach me to deny myself in love,

to take up the cross you’ve entrusted to me to carry,

and to follow you with all my heart.

Take away my pride and selfishness.

May your Spirit give me strength and joy

as I walk this Lenten road with You.

Amen.

Time to Repent, Reset and Refocus

I am writing this blog while preparing for the prayer meeting for this coming Sunday. The passage on which I will be sharing during the prayer meeting will be from Luke 9:1-6, with the title, “Jesus Sends Out The Twelve” (New International Version).

“9 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.”

Jesus sent His disciples to preach about the kingdom of God. They were to heal the sick so that people would know about God, the ultimate healer and praise Him.

Jesus had given His disciples these things: the power and authority to drive out demons and to cure diseases.

The disciples were to take nothing for the journey, not even item of necessity—they were to travel light—because God would provide for them along the way. They were to depend on the kindness of strangers and by doing so, experienced the grace and provision of God. They would face rejection by others but they were not to take it personally because these hearers were rejecting Jesus Himself.

These disciples obeyed. They went out to preach. They healed the sick. They were welcomed warmly by some and rejected by others.

Looking at this passage, I feel embarrassed. The disciples in the Bible went around preaching, healing the sick and casting out evil spirits. I, as a disciple of Jesus, also have been given the same power and the authority to preach, to drive out demons and to heal the sick. I am supposed to travel light too and not worry about the necessities of life which weigh me down. I think I have been living too comfortably in my little shell. I think I am getting too cozy in my little office. I need to step out more and into the lives of the community for the sake of the Gospel.

I praise the Lord for showing this passage to me so that I can repent, reset my vision and refocus on my pastoral ministry. William Carey (17 August 1761- 9 June 1834), a British missionary to India, once said, “expect great things from God; attempt great things for God”. I want this to be my prayers: to expect great things from God and to attempt great things for Him.

Has God called you out of your comfort zone so that someone will hear the Gospel? How did you respond? I would love to hear from you.

O Lord, may You give us the courage to do great things for You so that people will know you are the real and living God!