Mind & Feet In Gear: The Whole Story “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” Mark 8:36 Mark 8:34-36 One of the things I love about the Lord Jesus is that you can always depend on Him to tell you the whole story. Jesus wouldn’t hand you a rose without warning you to watch out for the thorns. He wouldn’t tell you the good news and skip the bad. And He wouldn’t call you to follow Him without telling you the cost involved in being His disciple. Satan isn’t like that. He only tells you half the story. He only wants you to see the up side of sin. He doesn’t want you to know you are heading toward a dead end called hell. Sometimes you don’t even get the whole story in church. Everyone is all dressed up, looking good. But if you could see behind the scenes, you would see the rest of the story. One thing you get to see in the ministry is the other half of the story. You find out where people live and how they are hurting. So jesus gives you the whole story. That’s what I need to do too if I’m going to be faithful to Him and you. So on our last segment of this study we’re going to talk about the sacrifice of commitment. Now I know the word sacrifice isn’t a fun word to hear. Most of us don’t want to hear about what we have to give up, what we have to turn loose of, to follow Jesus. We want to know what we will be given and what we can hang onto as we walk with the Lord. And there are many of mega-church preachers on TV who will just tell that side of the story and ask for your donation. But they are not telling you what is involved to receive His blessings, and that is wrong. Some of Jesus’ disciples really get off on talking about the kingdom, the power, and the glory. And those are real. We just spent a week looking at the power of commitment. But if you and I are going to apply the mind of Christ to our daily lives, we have to think with His whole mind. And one of the things on Jesus’ mind is the cost of commitment, the sacrifice required to be His disciple. You know what? If you’re really in love with Jesus, the stuff He asks you to give up is no big deal. What Jesus asks you to give up are the baubles and trinkets of this world in exchange for all the riches in heaven. What a deal! Posted by David Coleman of The DC Ministry “Sharing The Gospel.”
Posted on: Fri, 17 Jan 2014 11:51:21 +0000