"And whoever does not bear His cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost..." Luke 14: 27-28
Do you feel like it used to be easier to dedicate your life to Jesus and obey Him, but as you go further and deeper in the Christian walk it just seems to get tougher and tougher? Do you remember a time when you dedicated your life to Him saying that you would follow Him your entire life, but now feel like it is so difficult and you wonder where you will find the strength to press on?
Don't ever get the impression that you made a wrong decision or a blind, emotional choice. Because it was God whose presence and glory so stirred and captured your heart that you were motivated to make that choice. Just like Isaiah (in Isaiah 6), with the Lord Himself before his eyes in His full splendour and glory, could only respond, "Here am I! Send me." Be reassured of that.
And know this, that if you feel particularly challenged find yourself enduring many trials and temptations in your life, it is normal, for that is what a follower of Christ must go through, to be His disciple. "bear His cross and come after Me..." Bearing your cross is not meant to be an easy smooth thing. If you remember what Jesus went through when He bore His cross, it was terribly painful. "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives." Hebrews 12: 5-6.
Why does God allow us to go through so many trials and temptations and difficulties?
"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:2-4.
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Pet 1:6-7
Trials are one of God's most powerful and effective tools for shaping and building the faith of His followers. It is easy to profess faith when all is going well, but when all around us has crashed, when all that our security was built on suddenly crumbles, when our backs are against the wall and we are clueless what to do, when all that we once held dear is taken away, when our ugly sides start to show and we struggle to obey the Lord, when God begins to gently pry away the things that we hold deepest and closest in our hearts away from our hands, and our body, heart and mind scream out in protest, that is when true faith is built. That is when we will truly learn to depend on the Lord, when our own feeble strength fails. That is when we will see who the Lord really is and how all along we have failed to put Him where He deserves to be in our lives. And it is only there when our lives can be turned around. Just like Abraham.
"And whoever does not bear His cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him...
So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." Luke 14: 27-29
And that is where, all the more, we must count the cost. We may not have realised the full cost beforehand; it just becomes clearer and clearer along the way. But I do not believe that the disciples realised the full cost, or were prepared to pay it; when Jesus was betrayed every single of them fled, even the headstrong Peter. But after they realised who Jesus really was, and what He had done, they had no hesitation in following Him to death. And so it should be with us. The cost becomes clearer and clearer, and we begin to see more and more that what God wants is our whole lives, nothing less. But I believe God would have also revealed more and more each day that He is able and faithful to help us through every trial that we face. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." 1 Cor. 10:13. And also revealed more and more His marvelous glory and love and reaffirmed why we chose to follow Him- because of the great God that He is. The darker it seems to get, the brighter and stronger the Light shines.
So count the cost. And the whole point of counting the cost is that we may be aware of what lies ahead, and thus prepare ourselves to face it. "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple..." At this point, do you feel afraid and uncertain, wondering how you would ever be able to do it? I certainly have. But remember, you are not doing this alone. God is with you. Preparing to face it and facing it does not mean striving with your own strength, but simply taking the step of yielding entire will to Him and letting Him work. Go step by step, bit by bit, trusting wholly in Him. You will never know what amazing things God can do in your life until you have given Him your absolute best and trusted Him with all.
And you will find that as your faith grows, each victory becomes deeper and more joyful. The struggles will go on, may or may not become more difficult, but each step you take brings you closer to Him, and you are living in the abundance of the life that He has given you, in the centre of His will. The road to Calvary is long, but is leads to life.
"...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost..." Luke 14: 27-28
Do you feel like it used to be easier to dedicate your life to Jesus and obey Him, but as you go further and deeper in the Christian walk it just seems to get tougher and tougher? Do you remember a time when you dedicated your life to Him saying that you would follow Him your entire life, but now feel like it is so difficult and you wonder where you will find the strength to press on?
Don't ever get the impression that you made a wrong decision or a blind, emotional choice. Because it was God whose presence and glory so stirred and captured your heart that you were motivated to make that choice. Just like Isaiah (in Isaiah 6), with the Lord Himself before his eyes in His full splendour and glory, could only respond, "Here am I! Send me." Be reassured of that.
And know this, that if you feel particularly challenged find yourself enduring many trials and temptations in your life, it is normal, for that is what a follower of Christ must go through, to be His disciple. "bear His cross and come after Me..." Bearing your cross is not meant to be an easy smooth thing. If you remember what Jesus went through when He bore His cross, it was terribly painful. "My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; For whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives." Hebrews 12: 5-6.
Why does God allow us to go through so many trials and temptations and difficulties?
"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." James 1:2-4.
"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Pet 1:6-7
Trials are one of God's most powerful and effective tools for shaping and building the faith of His followers. It is easy to profess faith when all is going well, but when all around us has crashed, when all that our security was built on suddenly crumbles, when our backs are against the wall and we are clueless what to do, when all that we once held dear is taken away, when our ugly sides start to show and we struggle to obey the Lord, when God begins to gently pry away the things that we hold deepest and closest in our hearts away from our hands, and our body, heart and mind scream out in protest, that is when true faith is built. That is when we will truly learn to depend on the Lord, when our own feeble strength fails. That is when we will see who the Lord really is and how all along we have failed to put Him where He deserves to be in our lives. And it is only there when our lives can be turned around. Just like Abraham.
"And whoever does not bear His cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him...
So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." Luke 14: 27-29
And that is where, all the more, we must count the cost. We may not have realised the full cost beforehand; it just becomes clearer and clearer along the way. But I do not believe that the disciples realised the full cost, or were prepared to pay it; when Jesus was betrayed every single of them fled, even the headstrong Peter. But after they realised who Jesus really was, and what He had done, they had no hesitation in following Him to death. And so it should be with us. The cost becomes clearer and clearer, and we begin to see more and more that what God wants is our whole lives, nothing less. But I believe God would have also revealed more and more each day that He is able and faithful to help us through every trial that we face. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." 1 Cor. 10:13. And also revealed more and more His marvelous glory and love and reaffirmed why we chose to follow Him- because of the great God that He is. The darker it seems to get, the brighter and stronger the Light shines.
So count the cost. And the whole point of counting the cost is that we may be aware of what lies ahead, and thus prepare ourselves to face it. "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple..." At this point, do you feel afraid and uncertain, wondering how you would ever be able to do it? I certainly have. But remember, you are not doing this alone. God is with you. Preparing to face it and facing it does not mean striving with your own strength, but simply taking the step of yielding entire will to Him and letting Him work. Go step by step, bit by bit, trusting wholly in Him. You will never know what amazing things God can do in your life until you have given Him your absolute best and trusted Him with all.
And you will find that as your faith grows, each victory becomes deeper and more joyful. The struggles will go on, may or may not become more difficult, but each step you take brings you closer to Him, and you are living in the abundance of the life that He has given you, in the centre of His will. The road to Calvary is long, but is leads to life.
"...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2
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