Matthew 16:24-27 – “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.  25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?  27 For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works.”  NKJV

A pressing question we should ask ourselves is, “Am I truly committed?”  Are we committed in our finances?  Are we committed in our attitudes?  Are we committed in our actions?  Are we willing to DO whatever Jesus asks us or commands us to do?  Are we willing to BE whatever God wants us to be?  Are we willing to GO wherever the Spirit of God directs us to go?  Is the LORD truly NUMBER ONE in our lives? 

I have long believed that we have had enough preaching about Who God is and an incredible amount of preaching about who we are in Him.  Knowledge is lacking if it is not applied, and knowledge of God and who we are in God is not complete without and until we come to a place of TOTAL COMMITMENT!  Grace is Free but not Cheap.  We are not called to membership in a church but to be committed disciples and members of the Body of Christ.

It is the expressed desire of God to come into our lives and enable us to live out His will in our lives daily.  I talked to a person some time ago who expressed a fear that God would ask Him to do something he could not do.  That is a tragic error in thinking, for the Bible is expressly clear that God is not asking us to DO what He would DO, but He offers to come into our hearts and live His life through us.  His grace ‘enables’ us to fulfill His purposes.  It is not us but Him. 

Remember Paul’s explanation in Philippians 2:13, “…for it is God who works in you both to will and do His good pleasure.”  Therefore, it is imperative that we totally commit ourselves to Him, not just believe in Him.  I would suggest that what we need to do is follow the prescription of Scripture and ask Him to fully possess and enable us not just to DO but to BE what He desires.  We must ask Him to come in and live His life through us.

When we make that commitment and receive the LORD as Savior and LORD, we will find Joy Unspeakable and Full of Glory.  We will find peace and joy that the world cannot give, take away or explain.  I will not sugar-coat the issue but will openly tell you that if you make that commitment to God, you will find sorrow and suffering; trials and difficulties will be familiar companions in your life.  Jesus warned us that the world would hate us and we would have tribulations and trials.  Christianity is not the absence of problems, but it is having the heart and mind of Christ so that we can respond to problems as God responds.  Suffering is a reality in this world. 

I have learned the truth and reality that God sometimes gets angry, and when we commit ourselves to Him fully and totally, we will know His anger in a very real and personal way.  John tells us in 1 John 3:8 that one of the major purposes of Jesus was to “destroy the works of the devil.”  I get angry when I see the works and deception of the devil.

The Gospel is not simply that we go to heaven when we die.  The Gospel is much more than that.  The Gospel is about living a life where Jesus in the here and now comes into our hearts and begins the process of removing those things that are not harmonious with His word, will, and way.  What we need today is a Jesus invasion that will transform us into something quite other than what we have been in the past.  My prayer is, “Lord, shape my attitude, mold my will, and direct my life so that who I am and what I am is pleasing in your sight.”

God bless you as you go through this day in Christ!