-> Will you help us Open a World of Opportunity?    
 Home > Devotionals > What Jesus Did! > September 6 
Buy the What Jesus Did book!

 
---- WJD ----------

The Great Cost - Luke 14:25-27

Print This Devotional   Send it to a Friend  WJD! RSS Feed

Many people were traveling with Jesus. Jesus said to the people, "If a person comes to me, but will not leave his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters, then that person cannot be my follower. A person must love me more than he loves anything--even his own life! If a person will not carry the cross (suffering) that is given to him when he follows me, then that person cannot be my follower." (ERV)   Full Text

Key Thought

To receive the gift of salvation is the greatest blessing any of us could receive. However, with such a great blessing also comes a high cost. Jesus died to give us this gift. To share in the new life of salvation, he calls on us to join him in his death, burial, and resurrection. When we die with Christ in baptism, we are also putting to death the old selfish person of sin and offering ourselves to God. Jesus becomes our highest love and greatest priority. We serve him first and trust that he will bless us with what we need. Jesus and his Kingdom become our highest passion.

Today's Prayer

Get WJD by EMAIL!

Enter your email address above to subscribe to the email edition of What Jesus Did! Follow along FREE every day as we go through Luke in a year.
Almighty God, you are worthy of all worship and praise. You worked through history to fulfill your promise. Time after time you saved your rebellious children and brought them back to you. You preserved the people of your name and through them gave us the gift of your Son. Jesus, you gave us the ultimate sacrifice; you gave your life for our sins so we could share in your Father's glory. So today, dear Father, more than I have ever been able to do before, I offer myself -- my heart, soul, mind, and strength -- to live for you. I willingly count all my past glories as refuse in comparison to knowing your grace. I thank you, dear Father, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
NEW: Get Phil's What Jesus Did devotional in a paperback book. Click here to find out more!
 

Today's Verses in Context

Many people were traveling with Jesus. Jesus said to the people, "If a person comes to me, but will not leave his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, or sisters, then that person cannot be my follower. A person must love me more than he loves anything--even his own life! If a person will not carry the cross (suffering) that is given to him when he follows me, then that person cannot be my follower. If you wanted to build a building, you would first sit down and decide how much it would cost. You must see if you have enough money to finish the job. If you don't do that, you might begin the work, but you would not be able to finish. And if you could not finish it, then all the people watching would laugh at you. They would say, 'This man began to build, but he was not able to finish!' "If a king is going to fight against another king, first he will sit down and plan. If the king has only 10,000 men, he will plan to see if he is able to defeat the other king that has 20,000 men. If he cannot defeat the other king, then he will send some men to speak to the other king and ask for peace. It is the same for each of you. You must decide if you can leave everything you have to follow me. If not, you cannot be my follower! "Salt is a good thing. But if the salt loses its salty taste, then you can't make it salty again. It is worth nothing. You can't even use it for soil or for plant food. People throw it away. "You people that hear me, listen!"

— Luke 14:25-35 (ERV)

 

Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.
 
What Jesus Did
A 365 day devotional of Jesus lifeBack

One time Jesus was praying alone. His followers came together there. Jesus asked them, "Who do the people say I am?" The followers answered, "Some people say you are John the Baptizer. Other people say you are Elijah. And some people say you are one of the prophets from long ago that has come back to life." Then Jesus said to his followers, "And who do you say I am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ from God." Jesus warned them not to tell anyone. Then Jesus said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things. He will be rejected by the older Jewish leaders, the leading priests, and teachers of the law. The Son of Man will be killed. But after three days he will be raised from death." Jesus continued to say to all of them, "If any person wants to follow me, he must say 'No' to the things he wants. That person must accept the cross (suffering) that is given to him every day, and he must follow me. The person that wants to save his life will lose it. And every person that gives his life for me will save it. It is worth nothing for a person to have the whole world, if he himself is destroyed or lost. If any person is ashamed of me and my teaching, then I will be ashamed of that person. I will be ashamed of that person at the time I come with my glory and with the glory of the Father and the holy angels.
Luke 9:18-26 (ERV)

So do you think that we should continue sinning so that God will give us more and more grace (kindness)? No! We died to (quit living) our old sinful lives. So how can we continue living with sin? Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ Jesus when we were baptized ? We shared his death in our baptism. So when we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. We were buried with Christ so that we could {be raised up and} live a new life. This happened the same as Christ was raised from death by the wonderful power of the Father. Christ died, and we have been joined with Christ by dying too. So we will also be joined with him by rising from death like Christ rose from death. We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross. This happened so that our sinful selves would have no power over us. And then we would not be slaves to sin.
Romans 6:1-6 (ERV)

So the life that I live now is not really me--it is Christ living in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God (Jesus). Jesus is the One who loved me. He gave himself to save me.
Galatians 2:20 (ERV)


 
 Share with Others
Print This DevotionalPrint this Devotional

Send it to a FriendSend it to a Friend

DiscussDiscuss

 

RSS Feeds  |  Advertising  |  Support Heartlight   |   Help  |  Contact Us  
HOME     topTOP HEARTLIGHT® Magazine is produced by Heartlight, Inc. HEARTLIGHT is a registered service mark of Heartlight, Inc. PO Box 7044, Abilene, TX, USA 79608-7044. Copyright © 1996-2009. Heartlight is supported by Westover Hills Church, Southern Hills Church, and loving Christians from around the world. Scripture quotations are taken from the Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. Used by permission. All rights reserved.