SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/25/2016 6:52 AM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 The Savior’s Provision For an
Invitation to All
Bible Reading &
Meditation Reference: John 12:23-26
Message of the verses: “23 And Jesus answered them, saying,
"The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 “Truly, truly, I
say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains
alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 “He who loves his life loses it,
and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. 26 “If
anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be
also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”
In our SD
for today, and remember it is Sunday so it will be brief, we look at verse 25
which speaks about salvation. To
understand what Jesus is saying about the one who loves his life in this world
we want to quote 1 John 2:15-17 “15 Do not love the world nor the things in the
world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and
the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17
The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of
God lives forever.” Now we get a good
idea of what it means to love the world from that passage. Now we move on to the next section of verse
25 “and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.” We do this by making Christ, not self, our
first priority, and by doing this we will “keep it to life eternal. MacArthur writes “Hating one’s life is a
Semitic expression that has the connotation of giving preference to one thing
over another (cf. Gen. 29:31 Deut. 21:15 [the word translated ‘unloved’ by the
NASB in those verses literally means, ‘hated’]; Luke 16:13; Rom. 9:13). In this context it refers to preferring Christ
over one’s family, possessions, goals, plans, desires—even one’s own life (Luke
14:27). This is the constant, unmistakable
demand of the Gospels.
“Jesus
repeatedly cautioned those who would follow Him to consider theextreem cost
that could entail: ‘37 "He who
loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son
or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 "And he who does not take his cross and
follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39
"He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his
life for My sake will find it (Matthew 10:37-39).’ ‘26
"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother
and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he
cannot be My disciple. 27 "Whoever
does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 "For which one of you, when he wants to
build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has
enough to complete it? 29
"Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to
finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ’This man began to build and was not
able to finish.’ 31 "Or what king,
when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and
consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one
coming against him with twenty thousand? 32
"Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation
and asks for terms of peace. 33 "So
then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own
possessions (Luke 14:26-33).’
In Luke 9:23-24 ‘He was saying to them all, ‘if anyone
wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and
follow Me. For whoever wishes to save
his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one
who will save it.’ (cf. 17:33).
Therefore ‘whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles
himself shall be exalted’ (Matt. 23:12; cf. Luke 14:11; 18:14). In Luke 9:26 Jesus warned, ‘Whoever is
ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes
in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.’ Though it may not be required, being willing
to give up everything to follow Christ is what separates true disciples from
false professors. Jesus does not indentify
true saving faith by its perfection but by its affection. Those who truly come to Christ love Him above
all else—all sin, all self-righteousness, all relationships, and all self-will.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: These
are very powerful words and the only way to follow them is by the power of the
Spirit of God as He uses His Word in my heart.
My Steps of Faith for
Today: Trust the Lord to make sure
my priorities are in line with His Word.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Rehoboam” (1 Kings 11:43).
Today’s Bible question:
“What are the two divisions of the Bible called?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/25/2016 7:23 AM
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