Counting the Cost

Luk 14:27  And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

Luk 14:28  For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?

Luk 14:29  Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him,

Luk 14:30  Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.

Luk 14:31  Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?

Luk 14:32  Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.

Luk 14:33  So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.

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Jesus talks of counting the cost of being a disciple of His.  Are we to believe that this is strictly for the disciples of His time or for all His disciples throughout time?  Are we today suppose to bear a cross and follow Him? Are we today suppose to forsake all we have to be His disciple? 

The answers are simply YES!

He is supposed to be the most important thing in our lives and all our lives revolve around HIM. All the love we have to give to others comes FROM HIM. All the things we do should be done with HIM IN MIND. ANY treasures that possess our hearts should be treasures of heaven. WE should not be attached to ANYTHING so much that it takes the place of our Savior. WE should be willing to have NO material possessions if that is the walk we are called to.  Yes, easy for me to say. I cannot dispute that it is easy for me to say because I haven't been asked to give up all my material goods. Only by the grace of God could I remain HIS if I lost them all. God forbid it happen, but God please don't forbid if it means my being HIS always!

Do we count the cost of being HIS?

We think there should be no cost, that it should be easy or for some reason or our God is not a God of love. We associate hard things with cruelty even if it's a minute cruelty.  We want things to be easy and that to us means they are good. The striving we want to do has been confused with simple striving, not hard work striving.  We don't want there to be any cost! Our Savior paid the cost we could never pay but that does not mean we have no striving to do, that we have no cost to count. If we are told to forsake all does that sound like no cost to us? We all have to forsake one very important thing, every single one of us. We must forsake ourselves.

By the grace of God, we must forsake ourselves.

Help us!

In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, please help us be known by YOU and be YOURS WHOLLY YOURS!

Amen.

Many will seek to enter in at the strait gate and NOT be able to- why not???

Luk 13:24  Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

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Strive.

Many WILL seek to enter in… and NOT BE ABLE.

This isn't something ANY of us like to contemplate.  We know the strait gate is NARROW and HARD to find. What we also have to realize is many will FIND that strait and narrow gate but will NOT be able to enter in through it!

Mat 7:13  Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

Mat 7:14  Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

Read more-

Luk 13:23  Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them,

Luk 13:24  Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

Luk 13:25  When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:

Luk 13:26  Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.

Luk 13:27  But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.

WE must be with CHRIST before He rises up and the door to salvation is shut!

Dan 12:1  And at that time shall Michael STAND UP, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

Dan 12:2  And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

Dan 12:3  And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.

Dan 12:4  But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

Here in LUKE our Savior is pointing us once again back to the Old Testament book of Daniel. I say once again because we've studied where He's done it elsewhere--

Mat_24:15  When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

There are wondrous prophecies in the Book of Daniel that go largely neglected by the world's Christians. Satan has us caught up in focusing on a few facts and shrouds other much needed truths in his lies by telling us they are unnecessary.  People are quick to ignore what they might find difficult to comprehend and they lie to themselves and say it would be simple if Jesus wanted us to really understand.  What part about STRIVING don't people understand?!  We are given messages and the Holy Spirit will help us discern what we need to if our hearts are intent upon following ALL the truth of our Savior even if it means giving up many CHERISHED misconceptions in favor of that truth.

When is the last time you studied the book of Daniel? Jesus talks about the master of the house rising up and shutting the door, in Daniel we read about Jesus standing up and a time of trouble following quickly on the heels of that action.  What's happened? What does it mean when Christ stands up? It means the END of His intercession on our behalf!

Rom_8:34  Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

That intercession HAS to cease at some point in TIME, or else our Savior could never return.

At SOME point in TIME all of our lives will have been either counted worthy through Christ's intercession or unworthy.  All will either be God's or not God's.  All will be known by Jesus, or unknown by Jesus.   Remember this--

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

IN THAT DAY.  There will be a day in which many who think they are God's will find out differently.

1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

When the LORD comes- this is FACT. Our Savior will return for those who are HIS- those who died in Him and those who live in Him. To do THIS amazing thing our Savior must know BEFORE He returns who are His and who are not His.  There will be people who are alive when He returns and those who are alive will either be decided as His or not His prior to His return for them. Christ will STAND UP and we will no longer have an intercessor because ALL cases have been decided at that point in preparation for our Savior's return.  Is there any wonder we can read about the NARROW/STRAIT gate that's hard to find and even when it is found it is hard to enter in at that gate. Those who are alive and Christ's when He returns will be SEALED as His, they will be fully and wholly submitted to Christ's will.

Rev 22:11  He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

Rev 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

Rev 22:13  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Rev 22:14  Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.

Do you understand what's being said here? Do you understand the TRUTH being revealed to us?

Luk 13:24  Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

That Strait Gate is the Way to Christ through Christ's intercession. That strait gate is NOT us finally being good enough on our own merit. That strait gate is NOT about our own righteousness! Our righteousness will forever be as filthy rags. Only by Christ removing those filthy rags and giving us the robe of HIS righteousness will be have hope! The Strait Gate is still able to be entered into but there WILL come a time when no matter how hard we strive it will be too late, we will have waited too long. We will have not brought extra oil with us. We can cry out as long and hard as we like that we want into the Feast, that we want to be inside that strait and narrow gate, but it won't matter because WE WILL have waited too long. 

We don't KNOW when intercession will end and probation for us all is closed. It could be tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, ten years from now or more. But we DARE NOT tempt our own fate by putting off accepting Christ fully and wholly, submitted to Him and His righteousness. We could die in the next second of a brain aneurysm or heart attack and then whatever choices we've made will follow us into death's sleep and when we are woken by Christ at His return, we are either going to rise to meet Him in the air, or face death all over again.

We need to study, study, study and pray constantly without ceasing! May we be counted worthy through Christ's worthiness. Please Father we would by yours now and forever! In the name of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ the Righteous!

Amen. 

Bound By Satan 18 Years

Luk 13:10  And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.

Luk 13:11  And, behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bowed together, and could in no wise lift up herself.

Luk 13:12  And when Jesus saw her, he called her to him, and said unto her, Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.

Luk 13:13  And he laid his hands on her: and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.

Luk 13:14  And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because that Jesus had healed on the sabbath day, and said unto the people, There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.

Luk 13:15  The Lord then answered him, and said, Thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the sabbath loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering?

Luk 13:16  And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the sabbath day?

Luk 13:17  And when he had said these things, all his adversaries were ashamed: and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.

18 years infirmed.

A daughter of Abraham, whom SATAN BOUND for 18 years.

We have to realize that every single illness, every single infirmity, every headache, every toothache, every ache, every pain we ever feel has it's origin in Satan.  A person may not be possessed of a devil in order to be hurt by Satan.  When we forget the origin of our agonies, our heartaches, then we will be prone to place the blame where it doesn't belong.  YES, God allows Satan to affect us. We are not put in perfect little bubbles.  We are all subjected to a sin filled world and given choices to make. We choose. Over and over again we choose. And whether anything is fair or not fair isn't ours to decide.  One person may be given some thing I could never handle, and another some thing I think is easy to handle yet terrifically hard for them. We all have our own paths to go down, our own races go run with our own obstacles to overcome. 

Satan isn't an equal opportunity player, He's the dirtiest, most unfair player in existence.  God is fair, He's given us ALL an opportunity to choose HIM.  Those who are children or adults with child minds are His automatically. Those of us who aren't children or have the minds of children, have to make choices no matter our circumstances. 

We have to be convinced of the truth- this life here and now no matter how wonderful or how awful is TEMPORARY to eternity.

Satan will bind us for YEARS! Satan will do ALL he can to make our lives miserable. 

Jesus healed MANY.  Jesus did miracle after miracle, things that NO ONE had done before Him and none have done after.  Jesus healed those Satan was binding,  Jesus was doing good- undoing some of the damage Satan had inflicted.  And people complained because Jesus was doing GOOD on the Sabbath, they perceived it as WORK, when it was LOVE!

While we may be bound in some illness, some pain,  in some awful way by Satan, we can still have that same love by knowing all we are going through is temporary to eternity.  Until our Savior died for us, people had hope that their Savior would come, but there was still a chance for failure. It wasn't until our Savior died upon that cross and rose again that Salvation was guaranteed. And now WE have a hope no others before that time really had.

We must believe.

Be Ready

Luk 12:39  And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through.
Luk 12:40  Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Be ready.

We have to be ready.

We have to WATCH.

Every single person that has ever had anything stolen from them can understand this parable. If you'd KNOWN when someone was going to steal from you, you would have been on GUARD, right?

We KNOW our Savior is going to return, this is a fact!  We don't know when He's going to come but we know He will and we have to be ready for Him when He returns.

He's going to return when we THINK NOT.

We may be watching. We may discern the signs of the time, but we don't KNOW exactly when our Savior will return.

Do you lock your doors? Do you lock your windows? Do you take any sort of precautions to protect yourself and your family? You do this because you don't want to invite those who would steal from you, or hurt you, into your house.  You want to be able to say you did all you could to keep safe.

Jesus wants us to be ready for Him.

We must surrender to Him, and it's very hard to do- surrender our wills. Only by His grace and mercy, only through the Holy Spirit is it even possible.

We must BELIEVE.

Lord, help our unbelief, we believe!

All in Your blessed name!

Amen.

First Death. Second Death.

The Second Death.

Our Savior died for us-- yet we all still die.  Our Savior did NOT die for our first death, He died for the second.  Did you even know there was a second death?

Rev_2:11  He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the SECOND death.

Rev_20:6  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the SECOND death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Rev_20:14  And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the SECOND death.

Rev_21:8  But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the SECOND death.

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We are appointed to die the first death--

Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment

There is a time to die--

Ecc_3:2  A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted

We know we shall die--

Ecc_9:5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.

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Heb_2:9  But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

Jesus tasted death for ALL of US.  Yet we KNOW people still DIE. So to say Jesus died for us it wasn't to prevent us from dying that first death, but the SECOND death.  The second death is permanent wiping out, the first death is a sleep from which all the dead- both good and evil will be raised from.  The second death none of the evil will be raised from. And all of us are worthy of the permanent separation from God except GOD did not want us wiped off the face of the earth, He offered a way to reunite us with HIM, to make us ONE with Him again and that WAY is our SAVIOR and the sacrifice He made for us.  We might die the first death and sleep in our grave, but when our Savior returns we will be raised from that sleep and NOT face the second death because our Savior tasted it for us! He died for ALL of us- making the Way possible for us to live, possible for us to escape the second death.

There will be some alive with Christ returns-

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Rev_7:4  And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.

Rev_14:1  And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.

Rev_14:3  And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.

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1Co 15:51  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall NOT all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

1Co 15:52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1Co 15:53  For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

1Co 15:54  So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

1Co 15:55  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

1Co 15:56  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.

1Co 15:57  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

1Th 4:15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.

1Th 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

1Th 4:18  Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

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Our SAVIOR was left in the tomb because He died the SECOND DEATH. 

When we die IN Christ, we die knowing we are safe in our Savior's care. When Jesus died He did NOT die knowing He was safe in God's arms- He did NOT know He would be raised, why? How can I say that? I know He predicted He would rise, He did have the hope that He would rise but He lost that hope--

Mat_27:46  And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

HE WAS FORSAKEN BY GOD!  Jesus didn't lie as He was dying upon the cross! He was COMPLETELY and UTTERLY separated from His Father.

Luk 23:46  And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

Jesus in the very last moments before death, even though He knew He was separated from the Father, forsaken of Him, cried out to His Father anyway, giving Him His breath of life, that which kept Him among the living human beings. Then after He died He did NOT ascend to HEAVEN! He went into the dark tomb!

Jesus was the SAVIOR but He did not and could not raise HIMSELF from the grave! Jesus could SAVE us and will raise us all from the grave, some to life everlasting and some to death everlasting. Until Jesus was raised from the tomb and given life everlasting we did have a Savior, we were all separated from God. We had the PROMISE of the Savior, the promised He'd given to us, the hope! They had it then, we have it now, and everyone has it until He comes again.

Our Savior died for us a death that by His grace we will NEVER taste, the permanent separation from God.  When we do die and taste death's sleep we can do so safe in Christ's promises.

Please, Heavenly Father, please keep us safe in YOU, in Your love and Your promises of life everlasting in YOUR love!

All by the sacrifice, the grace, the mercy of our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ now and forever, amen!

Jesus Dependent Upon the Father

Joh 20:17  Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

This was AFTER He lay in the tomb, long after He'd breathed His last breath that He spoke these words.

Why? Why did He wait?  But it wasn't Him waiting was it?  He did NOT raise Himself from the dead, He couldn't-- He was dead and incapable of raising Himself from the grave. He had to be raised by another.

Act 13:29  And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre.

Act 13:30  But God raised him from the dead

God raised Him from the dead.

So the question is, why did God wait?

Gal_1:1  Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

Eph 1:17  That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:

Eph 1:18  The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

Eph 1:19  And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,

Eph 1:20  Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

Eph 1:21  Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:

Eph 1:22  And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

Eph 1:23  Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Jesus was raised from the dead.

Jesus wasn't separated from His body, the spirit form that GOD is, and Jesus WAS, He did NOT become again.  We are NOT separated from our bodies upon death.  Jesus lay in the tomb. Jesus'  spirit form didn't separate and leave His flesh there in the tomb. He didn't leave His body and just hover around in spirit waiting to be reunited with His body. Jesus was dead- His thought perished, He couldn't praise His Father, He knew NOTHING in death like ALL who die know nothing.

Ecc_9:5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing

Jesus remained in the grave with His thoughts gone.  He'd taken on human flesh and as a human He died and was subject to a human death.  He didn’t take Himself down from the cross, He didn't save Himself. God the Father saved Him.

If YOU believe in Jesus Christ, You must believe His FATHER raised Him from the dead.  He was dependent upon the FATHER.

HE taught us to pray to the FATHER.

We have to recognize the power of the FATHER. 

Jesus was allowed a human death. 

More on the death of Jesus tomorrow by the GRACE of God!

All in HIS love, now and forever, AMEN!

Jesus is the author of eternal salvation unto all who obey him.

Luk 11:23  He that is not with me is against me: and he that gathereth not with me scattereth.

Luk 9:49  And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.

Luk 9:50  And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.

Jesus KNEW there would be those who would be AGAINST Him.

Satan was and is against Jesus.

There are many people against Jesus.   Being against Jesus is outright choosing eternal death. 

We choose!  Jesus does NOT force us to follow Him, He does not force us to be for Him.  I would NEVER force anyone to choose Jesus. As soon as someone forces another person to choose who they will follow, they are stripping them of their right to choose on their own, and that's something God gives to them the right o choose on their own.

You will NOT automatically be given eternal life. Eternal life is not a birth right. There is an AUTHOR of eternal life.

Heb 5:9  And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him

Jesus is the author of eternal salvation unto all who obey him.

NOT, Jesus is the author of eternal salvation and gives it to everyone who is born.  People want to believe that after they die they will move on to that eternal existence in spirit form. It's a lie. People who believe this say Jesus died and rose so they must die and rise too. But what they forget is Jesus died and remained in the grave. Jesus did NOT ascend into heaven upon death! Why?! Why did He remain in the grave after dying? After His spirit- His breath left Him, after the spear was thrust in His side and He was lowered to the ground lifeless, after He was placed in His death shroud and put in the tomb, after the stone was rolled in front of the tomb opening, why did He not ascend to heaven?!

Joh 20:17  Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.

This was AFTER He lay in the tomb, long after He'd breathed His last breath that He spoke these words.

Why?

More on this tomorrow… by the GRACE of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD!

Amen.