(Matt. 16:24) " Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." There is a price to pay to walk with God, and that price is the same for all of us. 1) Deny yourself. This is nothing more than surrendering your will to the will of God, so that His will becomes your will. 2) Take up your cross. This is surrendering your life to live Christ's life through you. Jesus expects all who follow him to give up all preconceived plans and ways to obey his plans and ways. We have been asked by God to die to ourselves, just as Christ surrendered his life to the cross. 3) Follow Jesus. We can't truly follow Jesus until we pay a price to do so. Christ was on a mission, and that mission is a mission to win the lost. There are a lot of Christians today who think that they are following Christ, but in reality they are not. You may have given up a few things but have you your will, you may have surrendered some things but have you your life, and when was the last time you led a soul to Christ? Following Jesus cannot happen until we pay the above price! Jesus said that our fruit will give us away. If there is no fruit, then we can be sure that we have not truly paid the price!
Monday, December 7, 2015
“And Jesus Came”
(Matt. 1:23) "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us." It's a wonderful thing to be reminded of how Jesus came according to God's Word. 1) He came as planned. The word"Emmanuel" or "Immanuel" means, "God with us." The above verse quotes the prophecy of (Isaiah 7:14), which foretold 700 years before the birth of Jesus, that God himself planned one day to come to this earth born of a virgin woman. 2) He came as promised. "and shall bring forth a son." Again, this is a promise stated in (Isaiah 7:14), of the fulfillment of another prophesy promised by God in (Gen. 3:15) where God would one day give mankind a promised son, born of a woman to "bruise the head of the serpent," or literally a seed with the power to"crush" the head of the serpent over man. Jesus was that son, who came to save us from our sin (Matt. 1: 21). 3) He came as prophesied. "a virgin shall be with child." Again (Isaiah 7:14) tells us that this was to be the prophetic sign of his coming. And not only was this a sign, but Bethlehem also, the killing of Israel's children, and over 300 more prophesies that are found in the OT. It is no
wonder, that the beautiful name of Jesus is above every name in Heaven and on earth!
