Loving The God of Truth

Welcome to all those in the ODM who desire to know and to love the God of Truth through the faithful study of His Word. Please feel free to share your comments, insights, questions, concerns, words of encouragement, thanksgiving, praise, and prayer requests with all of us.

May God most richly bless the reading of His precious Word to our hearts this year.

"The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.
The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.
They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;
They are sweeter than honey from the comb.
By them is your servant warned;

In keeping them there is great reward."

(Psalm 19:7-11)

Friday, April 23, 2010

Jesus Predicts His Death

21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. "Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!"

23Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."

24Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

Jesus is very straightforward and commands that we must deny ourselves and take up His cross and follow Him if we want to come after Him. Denying oneself is so difficult especially in the society we live in. We're consistently encouraged to live for ourselves and for our own glory, which is completely opposite of the way God calls us to live our lives.

How does everyone else interpret the idea of "denying oneself"...? I know for me personally, I really struggle in this area when it comes to work. I can't help but want to receive acknowledgement and praise for what I do in the classroom. But then as this passage points out, "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world..." or in my case, what good will it be for me to gain such praise from those so unworthy compared to our God?
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1 comment:

darlayoo said...

thanks esther for such an honest and thought-provoking reflection. this passage should describe my life on this earth, but i really grieve how far short it actually falls from what it should be. i think our lives would change completely if we took these words to heart every day.

in answer to your question, i think denying yourself is saying no to anything and everything that helps you to "gain the world"--the approval, admiration, and envy of the world. when we persist in pursuing these accolades, Jesus says "we forfeit our soul". i think this passage is talking about the choices we make each and every day--decisions we make with a mindset toward eternity (though it may cause momentary suffering in our earthly life), versus decisions that bring about immediate reward and gratification from this world. i pray that we might continually seek to put our hope and faith in that which is unseen, for the world in its present form as we know it is, even now, "passing away".

April 24, 2010 at 1:08 AM

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