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 and 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 give
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 give 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 give you to make your life
count. You may g
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 s 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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