Cost of Discipleship Pt 44 - Mercy!

Chapter 6 - The Beatitudes

Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Bonhoeffer- 'These men without possessions or power, these strangers on earth, these sinners, these followers of Jesus, have in their life with him renounced their own dignity, for they are merciful. As if their own needs and their own distress were not enough, they take upon themselves the distress and humiliation and sin of others. They have an irresistible love for the down-trodden, the sick, the wretched, the wronged, the outcast and all who are tortured with anxiety. They go out and seek all who are enmeshed in the toils of sin and guilt. No distress is too great, no sin too appalling for their pity. If any man falls into disgrace the merciful will sacrifice their own honor to shield him and take his shame upon themselves. They will be found consorting with publicans and sinners, careless of the shame they incur their by. In order that they may be merciful they cast away the most priceless treasure of human life, their personal dignity and honor. For the only honor and dignity they know is their Lord's own mercy, to which alone they owe their very lives.'

My thoughts-

Mercy.

'mer·cy

[mur-see] Show IPA

noun, plural mer·cies for 4, 5.

1.

compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner.

2.

the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing: an adversary wholly without mercy.

3.

the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, especially to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty.

4.

an act of kindness, compassion, or favor: She has performed countless small mercies for her friends and neighbors.

5.

something that gives evidence of divine favor; blessing: It was just a mercy we had our seat belts on when it happened. '

*******

Mercy.

Without the mercy of our Lord and Savior we have NO hope.

Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

The mercy our Lord shows to us is the SAME mercy we are to show to others.  The merciful are blessed because they will be shown mercy. If we refuse to be merciful, there will be no mercy shown to us.

Just as we are to forgive so we will be forgiven, we must have mercy if we want mercy.

The trouble is, we find ourselves being so incredibly unforgiving and unmerciful. We are not our Savior, but creatures He created. Creatures that fail so often to be what we know in our hearts He desires. Creatures that HAVE to TOTALLY rely upon HIS mercy, HIS forgiveness to save us! We cannot save ourselves, not even help to save ourselves, we have to completely rely upon Jesus Christ our Lord. The only thing we can do is SURRENDER to Him! When we surrender to Him then He can work in US. And by Him, by the Holy Spirit we will be able to be merciful, we'll be able to be loving, forgiving, and ONLY through HIS power, not of our own.

Please Lord, love through us! Use us as You desire, for Your purposes! All for YOUR love! May we be among the merciful so we may obtain mercy!

In YOUR LOVE ALWAYS!

Cost of Discipleship Pt 43- Hunger and Thirst!

Chapter 6 - The Beatitudes


Mat_5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.


Bonhoeffer- 'Not only do the followers of Jesus renounce their rights, they renounce their own righteousness too. They get no praise for their achievements or sacrifices. They cannot have righteousness except by hungering and thirsting for it (this applies equally to their own righteousness and to the righteousness of God on earth), always they look forward to the future righteousness of God, but they cannot establish it for themselves. Those who follow Jesus grow hungry and thirsty on the way. They are longing for the forgiveness of all sin, for complete renewal, for the renewal too of the earth and the full establishment of God's law.'


My thoughts- Renouncing our own righteousness.


I read that and I think of how we all seem to want to have righteousness in ourselves. We want to be perceived as having some inherent goodness, rightness that stems from our own decision to be righteous.


(Google search - definition of righteous)-


'Synonyms of righteous- just, right, upright, rightful, fair,  honest.


1. (of a person or conduct) Morally right or justifiable; virtuous.
2. Perfectly wonderful; fine and genuine.'


We have this image embedded in our brains. We desire to be GOOD, to be RIGHTEOUS. And we can often be found pointing out our righteousness. We even do it silently.


Even when we get upset with ourselves over our failures to be righteous, we are hoping to achieve righteousness, and stop failing.


Hungering and thirsting after righteousness.


If you are FILLED with righteousness, we aren't hungry or thirsty for it, right?


You hunger and thirst for things you do not have.  If you have plenty of food you don't go hungry. If you have plenty of water, you don't go thirsty.  We all know what it means to be thirsty and hungry, some of us on a daily basis. I say some because not everyone waits to feel hungry or thirsty before eating and drinking.  Just recently I read somewhere that some doctor or some study hasn't shown that if you wait to drink until you're thirsty you aren't drinking enough. Basically they were saying you show constantly drink, so you never experience thirst.  Is it true, I don't know, it's just another one of those studies of so many that are constantly being done.


Hungering and thirsting- brings a desire for food and drink.
The hungrier and thirstier you are the more you desire to eat and drink.


BLESSED are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness.


Because if you are HUNGRY and THIRSTY for righteousness you are DESIRING righteousness, you are desiring something you do NOT possess. You are desiring something outside of yourself. If you produced your own righteousness you wouldn't hunger or thirst for it because it'd be a part of you.  You can only hunger and thirst for something you don't automatically possess. None of us automatically possess the ability to eat- people starve to death all the time and not for lack of desiring to eat it's just that they do NOT have food or the ability to get that food on their own.


Hungering and thirsting for something that we do NOT possess in and of ourselves.  We have to comprehend that we do NOT have righteousness in ourselves.


Bonhoeffer said- 'Not only do the followers of Jesus renounce their rights, they renounce their own righteousness too.'


We have to do this if we are to comprehend that Jesus is the ONLY righteousness that matters.


Rom_3:26  To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.


His righteousness.


Rom_5:17  For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)


The gift of righteousness- Jesus Christ.


Rom 10:1  Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved.
Rom 10:2  For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Rom 10:3  For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Rom 10:4  For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.


Truth. People try to establish their own righteousness-  rather than submit to the righteousness of God.


We MUST submit to the righteousness of God.  Christ's righteousness is what matters most.


This isn't as some imagine a license to misbehave and sin, simply because our righteousness has no merit in the weight of eternity.  When we accept Christ and HIS righteousness, we are accepting all HIS truth, and His truth is He desires for us to follow after His example and HE perfectly kept the law, PERFECTLY. So to say it's fine to sin is a lie, Christ NEVER said to go and sin, NEVER! In fact, Christ told us to 'sin no more'.  


Our right doing might be a result of our longing to live as Christ desires, but it does not earn us eternal life or a righteousness of our own. We can only have eternal life in Christ, and we can only have eternal through Christ's righteousness.


Is it any wonder we are to HUNGER and THIRST after righteousness?  We can only be filled if we do hunger and thirst.  Only if we acknowledge our need, understanding that need can only be filled by CHRIST, will we live in truth, Christ's truth.


Desire CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS as a primal need You have daily, consistently day after day, never living a day without that desire for Christ.


All by the GRACE and MERCY of our SAVIOR may we seek His righteousness, His LOVE!

Cost of Discipleship Pt 42 - The meek shall inherit the earth- this is truth.

Chapter 6 - The Beatitudes

Mat_5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Bonhoeffer- 'This community of strangers possesses no inherent right of its own to protect its members in the world, nor do they claim such rights, for they are meek, they renounce every right of their own and live for the sake of Jesus Christ. When reproached they hold their peace; when treated with violence they endure it patiently; when men drive them from their presence they yield their ground. They will not go to law to defend their rights, or make a scene when they suffer injustice, nor do they insist on their legal rights. They are determined to leave their right to God alone-- non cupidi vindictae, as the ancient Church paraphrased it. Their right is in the will of their Lord--that and no more.

They show by every word and gesture they do not belong to this earth.

But Jesus says: "They shall inherit the earth."

Those who now possess it by violence and injustice shall lose it, and those who here have utterly renounced it, who were meek to the point of the cross, shall rule the new earth. '

My thoughts- Bonhoeffer said- 'They show by every word and gesture they do not belong to this earth.'  Is this true for you?

I've remarked before how difficult it is to tell a Christian from a non-Christian in our world today and how that HAS to be because of Satan. It's true, isn't it? Why isn't it VERY visible by actions alone? 

No, we don't mark ourselves as monks wearing robes and shaving our heads. We don't put on a nun's habit, we don't don a priest's collar, we aren't wrapped up in old fashioned clothes like Quakers and Amish, we wear every day clothing common to most.  Are we supposed to make ourselves look conspicuously like what we imagine our Savior wants us to look like? Were the disciples of Christ's day told to look a certain way so they stand out as being Christ's? I don't think so. Our ACTIONS speak for us, not our clothing, not our specific haircuts, not the special shoes we wear, not the buttons on our hats, or the logos on our shirts.  We can wear something special. We can put on a certain- 'I'm Christian' garb, but it means NOTHING. The priest behind the collar can call Himself Christian but if he's a drunkard, an abuser, he is FAR from being truly Christ's in his actions.  Clothing means little in the GRAND scheme of things. It truly is by our WORDS and our GESTURES we reveal ourselves to others.

All too often we fall far short from what we ourselves hope to be as we claim Christ as our Savior. This knowledge of our own shortcomings are GIFTS from God, allowing us to seek His forgiveness, His help in comprehending His plan for us, as HE changes us.

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

By the Spirit of the Lord.

Our gestures, our every word matters.   We might think they don't, it's easy to think they don't but they do. 

If we belong to this world it'll show.

Mat_5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

This is God's truth.

The meek not necessarily the soft-spoken, mousy person people tend to immediately think of when they hear the word, meek.  The meek, the humble, those who recognize their existence as CREATURES, created, and do NOT even begin to take on the airs of one who owes their existence to mere chance.  The meek, understanding that our Savior has TOLD us, He has given us instructions on how He wants us to live in Him, through Him!  Those instructions aren't to be ignored. WE must live by Him and as we do, we will be meek, we will be humble as HE is.

All through His grace may we be HIS, and as HIS, meek.

In HIS LOVE, always in HIS LOVE.

Cost of Discipleship Pt 41 Blessed are the poor, blessed are those who mourn

Chapter 6 - The Beatitudes

Bonhoeffer-'The aim of this beatitude is to bring all who hear it to decision and salvation.'

'The disciples are called 'Blessed' because they have obeyed the call of Jesus, and the people as a whole because they are heirs of the promise. But will they now claim their heritage by believing in Jesus Christ and his word? Or will they fall into apostasy by refusing to accept him? That is the question which still remains to be answered.'

My thoughts- This is truth for us, a question for us. Will we hear? Will be believe? Or will we refuse?

Mat_5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Bonhoeffer- 'Privation is the lot of the disciples in every sphere of their lives. They are the "poor"  tout court

Luk 6:20  And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.

They have no security, no possessions to call their own, not even a foot of earth to call their home, no earthly society to claim their absolute allegiance. Nay more, they have no spiritual power, experience or knowledge to afford them consolation or security. For his sake they have lost it all. In following him they lost even their own selves, and everything that could make them rich.'

My thoughts- This is truth. They have no POSSESSIONS, can you even imagine having NO possessions?  Look around you wherever you are right now and take stock of the possessions you see just where you sit. Can you imagine having none of them? 

Mat_5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

'With each beatitude the gulf is widened between the disciples and the people, their call to come forth from the people becomes increasingly manifest. By "mourning" Jesus, of course, means doing without what the world calls peace and prosperity: He means refusing to be in tune with the world or to accommodate oneself to its standards. Such men mourn for the world, for its guilt, its fate and its fortune. While the world keeps holiday they stand aside, and while the world sings, "Gather ye rose-buds while ye may," they mourn. They see that for all the jollity on board, the ship is beginning to sink. The world dreams of progress, of power and of the future, but the disciples mediate on the end, the last judgment, and the coming of the kingdom. To such heights the world cannot rise. And so the disciples are strangers in the world, unwelcome guests and disturbers of the peace. No wonder the world rejects them!

Nobody loves his fellow-men better than a disciple, nobody understands his fellowmen better than the Christian fellowship, and that very love impels them to stand aside and mourn.

They simply bear the suffering which comes their way as they try to follow Jesus Christ, and bear it for his sake. Sorrow cannot tire them or wear them down, it cannot embitter them or cause them to break down under the strain; far from it, for they bear their sorrow in the strength of him who bears them up, who bore the whole suffering of the world upon the cross. They stand as the bearers of sorrow in the fellowship of the Crucified; they stand as strangers in the world in the power of him who was such a stranger to the world that it crucified him. This is their comfort, or better still, this Man is their comfort, the Comforter. The community of strangers find their comfort in the cross, they are comforted by being cast upon the place where the Comforter of Israel awaits them. Thus do they find their true home with their crucified Lord, both here and in eternity.'

My thoughts-

'...that very love impels them to stand aside and mourn.'

Mourning.

Have you ever mourned for someone?  Most of us have.  Yet how often do we mourn for those we don't know, those who aren't close to us? To mourn for the world, this sort of mourning is something that cannot be borne without Christ. This sort of suffering can crush us if we didn't have Christ to bear us up.

This world we live in is incredibly evil.  Pick up a newspaper, go to a news website, spend just a half hour reading the world news and the reasons for mourning are numerous.

We have to find comfort in the cross, it's the only place we can from comfort. The cross promises us salvation, it gives us HOPE outside of the existence we have in this world! If it weren't for the cross, if it weren't for our SAVIOR, we truly would have no reason for living at all whatsoever, not recognizing the evil in the world and the pain of existence.

Satan wants us to despair and will do ALL he can to bring us to despairing.

As we mourn we must trust, we must find our hope in Christ.

How can we NOT mourn when we witness the evil running rampant everywhere? 

We can harden our hearts- it is a choice we have available to us. By the grace of God we will NOT harden our hearts! Through HIS mercy and love we will NOT grow hardened to the evil, but mourn for all those who choose to live in evil over Christ and His love!

Please LORD, help us to understand the blessing in mourning, knowing the pain of mourning reveals the evil that in turns reveals the blessing of SALVATION in Christ our Savior who died so we do not have to despair of the evil all around us, consuming so many. Please Lord, help us who are poor and are mourning, help us to understand Your TRUTH in the blessings.

By Your GRACE, Your LOVE!

The Cost of Discipleship Pt 40 - Called to leave all

Chapter 6 - The Beatitudes

Mat 5:1  And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

Mat 5:2  And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

Mat 5:3  Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:4  Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

Mat 5:5  Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Mat 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

Mat 5:7  Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

Mat 5:8  Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

Mat 5:9  Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

Mat 5:10  Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Mat 5:11  Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

Mat 5:12  Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus sees his disciples. They have publicly left the crowd to join him. He has called them, every one, and they have renounced everything at his call. Now they are living in want and privation, the poorest of the poor, the sorest afflicted, and the hungriest of the hungry. They have only him, and with him they have nothing, literally nothing in the world, but everything with and through God.'

My thoughts-

It's true, the disciples left all they had, even if it wasn’t much, to follow Jesus who had NOTHING. Jesus wasn't offering them a life of prosperity, of wealth, of happiness, of freedom from want.  Jesus didn't have a place to sleep, let alone anything else.

Luk 9:57  And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.

Luk 9:58  And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Foxes have holes.

Birds have nests.

These animals have homes, Jesus did not.

Think about that for a moment, a long moment. It's easy for us to gloss over the fact that Jesus didn't have a home, but then we have to stop and think realizing He had HUMAN needs like we all do. He had to sleep, He had to eat, He had to use the bathroom, He had to bathe, He had to have clean clothes, didn't He? We talk about the homeless today with great pity because we can't really imagine being homeless. I have a sister who in her youth set out on her own with her husband and they had nothing. They left New York to go to Texas, hoping to find work and for a while they had to live out of their car, she still talks about that today many, many years later. She tells us she knows what it's like to have nothing, no possessions, no food, no real shelter with conveniences like a bath and toilet. This was an experience etched into her mind because it wasn't something pleasant at all it was great deprivation, and probably a bit of despair. I've never been homeless, by the grace of God. I've never gone more than a few meals in a row for lack of money or means to get food, by the grace of God. I may have worn, and still wear worn out clothes, but I've never had absolutely nothing but the clothes on my back. I've always had access to a bathroom (outside of various normal situations- being in a car etc) and all its facilities, by the grace of God. 

The disciples all had their lives situated.  Most of them were working when they were called to follow Jesus. They were working- earning a living, a means to pay/barter for whatever they needed. No, none were called from rich mansions, but they had their homes they went to every night, they had their families they mingled with every night, they had a life- none were mere nomads wandering about aimlessly here and there.  These men were called to leave every comfort however small or great that they knew, all in order to follow Jesus and Jesus didn't promise them comfort when He called them.

Mat 4:18  And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

Mat 4:19  And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Mat 4:20  And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

Mat 4:21  And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

Mat 4:22  And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.

Joh 1:43  The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him, Follow me.

Joh 1:44  Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter.

Joh 1:45  Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Joh 1:46  And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

Joh 1:47  Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and saith of him, Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!

Joh 1:48  Nathanael saith unto him, Whence knowest thou me? Jesus answered and said unto him, Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee.

Joh 1:49  Nathanael answered and saith unto him, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.

Joh 1:50  Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.

Joh 1:51  And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.

Mat 9:9  And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him.

Thomas- no mention of his calling.

James the son of Alphaeus- no mention of his calling.

Simon the Canaanite- no mention of his calling.

Thaddaeus- no mention of his calling.

Judas- no mention of his calling.

Jesus did NOT offer them material things.

If a man came up to you as you worked at your job and said, 'Follow me.'  What are the chances of your doing that? Slim to NONE, right? Of course they wouldn't be Jesus Christ the Son of God, you say.  And that's true, but Jesus didn't use special powers to compel them to follow Him. Jesus didn't hypnotize them, He didn't use any underhanded means to force them to leave all and follow Him. So, why did they go with Him?

They'd heard of John the Baptist.  The one who would go before Jesus.

Isa 40:3  The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

Mat 3:1  In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

Mat 3:2  And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mat 3:3  For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Mat 3:5  Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan

Luk 7:24  And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

Luk 7:25  But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they which are gorgeously apparelled, and live delicately, are in kings' courts.

Luk 7:26  But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea, I say unto you, and much more than a prophet.

Luk 7:27  This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

Luk 7:28  For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

Luk 7:29  And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.

Luk 7:30  But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.

Luk 7:31  And the Lord said, Whereunto then shall I liken the men of this generation? and to what are they like?

Luk 7:32  They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned to you, and ye have not wept.

Luk 7:33  For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil.

Luk 7:34  The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!

Luk 7:35  But wisdom is justified of all her children.

John the Baptist was well known. John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus.  These disciples more than likely had at the very least heard of John the Baptist, if not personally through others that had. John had his own following, but John said this..

Joh 3:26  And they came unto John, and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou barest witness, behold, the same baptizeth, and all men come to him.

Joh 3:27  John answered and said, A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven.

Joh 3:28  Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.

Joh 3:29  He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.

Joh 3:31  He that cometh from above is above all: he that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: he that cometh from heaven is above all.

Joh 3:32  And what he hath seen and heard, that he testifieth; and no man receiveth his testimony.

Joh 3:33  He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.

Joh 3:34  For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

Joh 3:35  The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

Joh 3:36  He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

John said those words magnifying Jesus, testifying that Jesus would INCREASE, while he, John, decreased.

The disciples knew there was something in the wind, so to speak. They'd more than likely heard about John, he'd been at his ministry in the wilderness for at least six months or so and word of him had to have spread, like the word of things strange and unusual, the things that are out of place, often do. No, they didn't have the internet to spread the news, but word of mouth worked just fine.  Afterall, John was baptizing and to baptize you had to have people to baptize. Those people didn't remain quiet about their baptism, John didn't remain quiet. He was calling on people to REPENT and be baptized, and it wasn't a whisper cry but a loud one.  With this strange baptizing man going about and then Jesus comes on the picture, Jesus whom John said this--

Joh 3:28  Ye yourselves bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him.

Joh 3:29  He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom's voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.

Joh 3:30  He must increase, but I must decrease.

--was now on the scene, and truly the way had been prepared for Him by John.  I imagine that the disciples had all heard of John's teachings about the one coming after Him so when Jesus came and told them to follow Him, they had to have been ready, they had to have been prepared for this in some manner because otherwise it would have been Jesus using a power of compulsion and Jesus would NEVER do that! NEVER.

Bottom line-  the disciples were told to follow and they left ALL to follow. They went with Jesus who had NOTHING material to offer them at all.  Come follow me and sleep outside wherever we can. Come follow me and we'll eat as opportunity provides. Come follow me and have no pay.  Come to this life of poverty and be RICHER than all spiritually.

The things that matter are HEAVENLY, not earthly, yet Satan has corrupted us to believe the opposite-worry about heaven later, and live for now.

Bonhoeffer- 'Jesus sees his disciples. They have publicly left the crowd to join him. He has called them, every one, and they have renounced everything at his call. Now they are living in want and privation, the poorest of the poor, the sorest afflicted, and the hungriest of the hungry. They have only him, and with him they have nothing, literally nothing in the world, but everything with and through God.'

How do we view our own discipleship?  Are we expecting to be called to a life of riches? A life of contentment? A life of ease even if it's not in what we'd call excess? Are we called to a life of self-denial no matter our wealth or lack thereof?

More tomorrow from this book by Bonhoeffer- The Cost of Discipleship.

All by the GRACE of our LORD and SAVIOR Jesus Christ and His LOVE.

Cost of Discipleship Pt 39 - God's Grace With Us

Chapter 5- Discipleship and the Individual

Today I want to review yesterday's study and hopefully by the grace of God, expound on it some more.

Bonhoeffer- 'This is the second way of becoming an individual--to be a follower of Christ in the midst of society among our own kith and kin and in the enjoyment of all our worldly wealth. But note that it is Abraham who is called to this manner of life. Abraham who had already known what it was to make a visible breach with the past, Abraham who in the New Testament became the example of faith.

We are easily tempted to generalize the possibility that was granted to Abraham, to understand it as a spiritual principle and without hesitation to apply it to ourselves. We would like to think that we had the same call to a Christian life, as a specially called follower of Christ who yet retrained the enjoyment of his worldly possessions.

Yet the outward breach is most certainly easier than the hidden one.

Unless we have learnt this from the Bible and from our experience, we are indeed deceiving ourselves.

We shall fall back on our direct relationships and forfeit our fellowship with Christ.

It is not for us to choose which way we shall follow.

That depends on the will of Christ.

But this at least is certain: in one way or the other we shall have to leave the immediacy of the world and become individuals, whether secretly or openly.

But the same Mediator who makes us individuals is also the founder of a new fellowship.

He stands in the centre between my neighbour and myself.

He divides, but he also unites.

Thus find the new and only real way to him-- the way which passes through the Mediator.'

Mar 10:28  Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.

Mar 10:29  And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,

Mar 10:30  But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

Mar 10:31  But many that are first shall be last; and the last first

*******

My thoughts-

Jesus said, There is no man that has left house, there is no man that has left brothers, there is no man that has left sisters, there is no man that has left father, there is no man that has left mother, there is no man that has left wife, there is no man that has left children, there is no man that has left lands-  FOR HIM, for HIS SAKE, and for the SAKE of the GOSPEL- the message of eternal life found only in Him- No man has left all that who will NOT receive an HUNDREDFOLD now in this time.

How do we equate with doing that and not receiving an hundredfold? Do we even really know? Is it possible that we are LEAVING all those things, or even some of those things, amiss? Selfishly? We do so much - with more self interest than Christ interest.

Are we striving to leave these things in hopes for receiving that hundredfold? That would be striving amiss, wouldn't it? We have to live for CHRIST, only for CHRIST. All our works, all our actions, all our leavings mean nothing if they aren't by Christ's will.

It goes along these lines- Jas_4:3  Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.

God knows our hearts, we can't fool Him for a second. 

Bonhoeffer talks here of a SPECIAL servant, Abraham. He had the faith necessary to be truly God's. He heard and he obeyed God.

We tend to want to put people like Abraham upon pedestals, imagining them to be something more than merely human with human faults like our own. As if perhaps they had some magical power that we don't have, power than enabled them to be God's. They didn't have any magical power at all. They had this…
 

Gen 6:8  But Noah found GRACE in the eyes of the LORD.

Gen 6:9  These are the generations of Noah: Noah was A JUST MAN and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.

1Co 15:10  But by the GRACE of God I am what I am: and his GRACE which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the GRACE of God which was with me.

Exo 33:12  And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found GRACE in my sight.

Exo 33:13  Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found GRACE in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find GRACE in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.

Psa 84:11  For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give GRACE and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Psa 84:12  O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.

Psa 145:20  The LORD preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.

Tit 2:11  For the GRACE of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

Tit 2:12  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;

Tit 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Tit 2:14  Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Tit 3:7  That being justified by his GRACE, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Heb 4:16  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of GRACE, that we may obtain mercy, and find GRACE to help in time of need.

These men found grace.

These men LOOKED OUTSIDE OF THEMSELVES FOR SALVATION!

To be Christ's true disciples we have to be willing to give up everything if we are called to do so. And truly it is being called to do so that matters, not us doing it thinking we will be rewarded for it.  God has to convict the hearts of His followers, if we presume to give up everything and put on sackcloth and ashes it could all be in vain because we are not following the path God desires of us.

And yes, we are now all asking how do we know what God calls us to? What if we don't even spiritually hear a call to do anything at all? 

We HAVE GOD'S WORD.  We have to read God's word and know this ultimately--

Joh_17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

Jesus prayed to the Father that we wouldn't be taken out of the world, but that we would be kept from evil!

We are all called to shun evil. Over and over our Savior tells us that we are called to LOVE not to the strife of the world. We are NOT to promote evil in any way from the smallest bit to the greatest. We are to REPENT of any evil and seek to follow Christ in all things.

Bonhoeffer said this--

'Yet the outward breach is most certainly easier than the hidden one.

Unless we have learnt this from the Bible and from our experience, we are indeed deceiving ourselves.

We shall fall back on our direct relationships and forfeit our fellowship with Christ.

It is not for us to choose which way we shall follow.

That depends on the will of Christ.

But this at least is certain: in one way or the other we shall have to leave the immediacy of the world and become individuals, whether secretly or openly.

But the same Mediator who makes us individuals is also the founder of a new fellowship.

He stands in the centre between my neighbour and myself.

He divides, but he also unites.

Thus find the new and only real way to him-- the way which passes through the Mediator.'

To don that sackcloth and ashes and to live a visible life of self-denial is easier because to live as Christ's with all the temptations of the flesh around us is a much harder walk, and I imagine few are called to that walk fully as Abraham was.  How much easier it is not to have to deal with the temptation of tremendous wealth.  Even as a person struggles horrifically with their poverty it is an easier walk than rightly using tremendous wealth.  Also, our outward actions are easier than our internal struggles, true?

If we do fall back on our OLD ways, we are in a lot of trouble. I brought these verses up yesterday-

Luk 11:24  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

Luk 11:25  And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

Luk 11:26  Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

Truth!

We do NOT want our last state to be worse than our first state!  We cannot deceive ourselves have to recognize what it truly means to be a disciple of Christ's- THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP-COSTLY GRACE!

We truly do have to take steps, to take actions, to actively choose our path, not simply sit back and let come what may. We have a hand in our lives!  We have to sacrifice self and if that means giving up things and people, it has to be done. We cannot be ATTACHED to this world or anything in it. Our attachment has to be CHRIST and all other things through HIM.  Our love for our husbands, wives, children, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters all has to be a love that comes from CHRIST. We cannot put our love of ANYTHING or ANYONE before the LOVE of CHRIST.

Bonhoeffer's words-  'Thus find the new and only real way to him-- the way which passes through the Mediator'

Every relationship that exists for us MUST Go through CHRIST FIRST!

It might be shocking to take stock of our lives and ask if we are truly putting Christ before the things and the people in it.

Truth-  ALL things must be viewed in the light of CHRIST, all things, not just things we pick and choose.

By the GRACE of God may we live as just before Him, through Him, for Him, in Him as wholly HIS.

In HIS LOVE ALWAYS!

Cost of Discipleship Pt 38 - Outward or Hidden?

Chapter 5- Discipleship and the Individual

Bonhoeffer- 'This is the second way of becoming an individual--to be a follower of Christ in the midst of society among our own kith and kin and in the enjoyment of all our worldly wealth. But note that it is Abraham who is called to this manner of life. Abraham who had already known what it was to make a visible breach with the past, Abraham who in the New Testament became the example of faith. We are easily tempted to generalize the possibility that was granted to Abraham, to understand it as a spiritual principle and without hesitation to apply it to ourselves. We would like to think that we had the same call to a Christian life, as a specially called follower of Christ who yet retrained the enjoyment of his worldly possessions. Yet the outward breach is most certainly easier than the hidden one. Unless we have learnt this from the Bible and from our experience, we are indeed deceiving ourselves. We shall fall back on our direct relationship s and forfeit our fellowship with Christ.

It is not for us to choose which way we shall follow. That depends on the will of Christ. But this at least is certain: in one way or the other we shall have to leave the immediacy of the world and become individuals, whether secretly or openly.

But the same Mediator who makes us individuals is also the founder of a new fellowship. He stands in the centre between my neighbour and myself. He divides, but he also unites. Thus find the new and only real way to him-- the way which passes through the Mediator.'

Mar 10:28  Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.

Mar 10:29  And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,

Mar 10:30  But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.

Mar 10:31  But many that are first shall be last; and the last first

My thoughts-

Remember this…

Luk 11:24  When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he saith, I will return unto my house whence I came out.

Luk 11:25  And when he cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished.

Luk 11:26  Then goeth he, and taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in, and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.

Bonhoeffer- 'Yet the outward breach is most certainly easier than the hidden one. Unless we have learnt this from the Bible and from our experience, we are indeed deceiving ourselves. We shall fall back on our direct relationship s and forfeit our fellowship with Christ.'

True?

Being a monk, being a nun, being a priest, a pastor, a minister, being one who outwardly takes on the 'trappings' of being a Godly person- a follower of Christ- truly is EASIER than being a Christ follower surrounded by the world, expected to be as the world. One excuses the monk, the nun, the priest, the pastor, the minister, and so on - they say- they are men/women of God and of course they are NOT expected to be of the world. People make exceptions for those who outwardly walk the walk of a Christ follower. The person who doesn't wear the garb of a Christ follower isn't expected to be a Christ follower. Being a hidden follower and separating one self from the world seems all but impossible.

Because this needs much more discussion and attention, we're going to continue it tomorrow by the GRACE and MERCY of God.

We need to understand what it truly means to be a follower of Christ, not just a follower of a false Christ. If we want delusions, we will be given them. If we would rather believe a lie, we will be allowed to live a lie. If deception suits us because the truth is too difficult to bear, we will be allowed to be deceived. If we want truth God will give us truth! By the grace of our LORD we will know the truth and LIVE the truth.

Please LORD help us to know the truth and only Your truth, living that truth in YOU.