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A Morning View From the Patio

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For 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 they have done." - Matthew 16:24-27

This was part of the passage of scripture from yesterday's service. I am brought back to this passage to share on The Morning View because I believe it is a critical passage in our culture, society and especially in faith journey moving forward. 

I see division and destruction in our lives. Racism, sexism, division over human sexuality all are cultural issues. Politics, elections and extremism are dividing us. We look for answers, justify our stances and we take whatever banner we believe in, in the issue of the moment and boldly wave it only focusing on our narrow viewpoint. It seems as if what is right is wrong and what is wrong is right. 

Notice I have not even mentioned the global pandemic and how we Americans are making it all about us. People are turning on people because of that which divides us. 

Word to true believers in Jesus Christ, take care of your own house first. I wonder have you denied yourself and taken up your cross to follow Jesus? In the verse previous to this one, Jesus had just called Peter Satan. Peter was rebuking Jesus for predicting his death and Jesus quickly turned and basically let Peter know that he was not a part of the solution and that he was a part of the problem. He called him Satan just after the earlier verses of telling Peter that on this Rock I will build my church. 

Peter's intention was good. What Peter said made human sense. But what Peter did was interfere with the plan God had laid out to redeem the world. Jesus let him know his words were from Satan. 

Then our passage from this morning was shared. 

1. Deny self. We trust ourselves more than we trust in God. Masks, pro and con, political parties and human saviors. I can go on, but do not need to. Denying self is the starting place most of us have no desire to think about let alone do. 

2. Take up your cross. This means willingness to die. The cross was a horrific tool of the culture which represented death to the criminals of the society. I prefer the passage from Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” But in Matthew 16 Jesus is telling us to take up the cross and willingly commit ourselves to death. We need to trust in the Lord for our rest as well as sustaining us on the journey we face together.

3. Follow Jesus. Lose your life for Jesus or save your life for yourself? Are we willing to forfeit our souls for the pleasures or even standing strong on our rights? What good are the pleasures and satisfactions of the world without salvation in Jesus Christ?

We are selfish. We need to pick up our cross for Jesus Christ and become selfless to follow Jesus. Honestly following Jesus may not make sense in many ways. I do know this, following Jesus is the right way.

Peace,
PB

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