SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR
7/27/2012 7:14:05 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Confusion
PT-2
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Mark
8:34-38
Message
of the verses: We will continue to
look at what Dr. Wiersbe has entitled confusion for his sub-title on Mark
8:31-34. This sub-point is under a main
point entitled “Suffering Leads to Glory,” which covers Mark 8:27-9:13, and as
I said yesterday this section of Mark’s Gospel is a turning point in the Gospel
as we see that at this time the disciples of Jesus know that He is the awaited
Messiah, but do not understand that, as the title suggests, suffering does
indeed lead to glory, for the sufferings of Jesus Christ on the cross will
surely lead to glory, and this is an example for all of His believers to follow.
Mark 8:34-38: “34
And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, "If
anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and
follow Me. 35 "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but
whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 “For what
does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? 37 “For
what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 "For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this
adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him
when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.’”
I know that there are sometimes more
than one way to look at a passage of Scripture and one could look at this
passage and say that Jesus was only talking about salvation and what one could
expect when they become a true follower of Jesus Christ, but as I was reading
over the commentary from Dr. Wiersbe on this section he states that this message was not only given to
the crowds that were following Him, but also to His disciples who have just
confessed Him as the true Son of God.
Therefore this section can be seen as for a believer and that is the way
I want to look at it this morning and in looking at it this way I wish to quote
much of the commentary from Dr. Wiersbe because of its great importance. When he gives the sub-point name to this
section as confusion, then I have to say that after reading this I was a bit
confused, but not so much now.
“Jesus summoned the people and
taught them what He taught His own disciples:
there is a price to pay for true discipleship.
“Jesus laid down three conditions
for true discipleship: 1) we must
surrender ourselves completely to Him; 2) we must identify with Him in
suffering and death; and 3) we must follow Him obediently, wherever He
leads. If we live for ourselves, we will
lose ourselves, but if we lose ourselves for His sake and the Gospel’s, we will
find ourselves.
“But we deny self when we surrender ourselves to Christ
and determine to obey His will. This
once-for-all dedication is followed by a daily ‘dying to self’ as we take up
the cross and follow Him. From the human
point of view, we are losing ourselves, but from the divine perspective, we are
finding ourselves. When we live for
Christ, we become more like Him, and this brings out our own unique
individuality.
“But note the motivation for true
discipleship: ‘for My sake and the
Gospel’s ‘(Mark 8:35). To lose yourself is not an act
of desperation; it is an act of devotion. But we do not stop there: personal devotion should lead to practical
duty, the sharing of the Gospel with a lost world. ‘For My sake’ could lead to selfish religious
isolationism, so it must be balanced with ‘and the Gospel’s.’ Because we live for Him we live for others.
“Discipleship is a matter of profit
and loss; a question of whether we will waste
our lives or invest our lives. Note
the severe warning Jesus gives us here: once we have spent our lives, we cannot
buy them back! Remember, He was
instructing His disciples, men who had already confessed Him as the Son of
God. He was not telling them how to be
saved and go to heaven, but how to save their lives and make the most of their
opportunities God gives you to make your life count. You may Gain the whole world’ and be a
success in the eyes of men, and yet have nothing to show for your life when you
stand before God. If that happens,
though you did own the whole world, it would not be sufficient price to give to
God to buy another chance at life.
“Is there any reward for the person
who is a true disciple? Yes, there is:
he becomes more like Jesus Christ and one day shares in His glory. Satan promises you glory, but in the end, you
receive suffering. God promises you
suffering, but in the end, that
suffering is transformed into glory.
If we acknowledge Christ and live for Him, He will one day acknowledge
us and share His glory with us.”
I have to admit that this is not
what my plans were for this section of Scripture, but after deciding to see
exactly what Dr. Wiersbe had written about this section, and really not
planning to use it, it became very clear to me that this was the correct way
for me to understand this passage, and so I believe that the Spirit of the Lord
made it clear to me that this was the way to go.
Spiritual
meaning for my life today: Make sure
that I make a once and for all dedication to follow the Lord Jesus wherever He
leads me. I am sure that is some way
that I have done this in the past, but for sure I need to renew it today after
reading over this passage and the commentary that supports it.
My Steps of Faith for Today:
My family is all of a sudden going through some difficult times, which
means we need to make difficult decisions, and for that I truly desire to trust
the leading of the Lord to make the correct decisions that will glorify Him,
and give peace to us all.
Memory
verses for the week: 2Peter 1:1-7
1 Simon Peter, a bond-servant and
apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as
ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3
seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to
life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own
glory and excellence. 4 For by these He
has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you
may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that
is in the world by lust.
5 ¶
Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith
supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in
your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness,
and in your brotherly kindness, love.
7/27/2012
8:30:37 AM
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