Ponder This

Ponder This

        “Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?”

                     Mark‬ ‭8:34-37‬ ‭MSG‬‬

O LORD, there is much here to meditate on and practice. Help me Holy Spirit so that I may shine Your light in this dark world.

1. Jesus is in Charge. —— I can make plans but they must be approved of by the Boss. I do not have the authority to run out ahead on my own. Jesus is my Leader. I am called to FOLLOW HIM. 
2. Embrace suffering, don’t try to avoid it. —- Jesus refines me in the fire. Character is developed and I become more like Jesus when I go through the process. Resisting struggles is counter-productive to God’s plan for my life. 
3. Jesus will show me how. Because He is my LORD and Master, Jesus knows the way through the storms and trials of life. Following Him is beneficial to me as well as His body and the non-believers who see me cling to Him. 
4. I cannot change myself. There is no such thing as self-help. Jesus is my Helper. I lean on Him and trust in Him and He takes care of me and brings to maturity His character in me. This is who I really am. I am His. 
            —-  I am never more my true self than when I lay down my life to Jesus by serving others.
5. I will not always get what I want but I will always get what God thinks is best. The ways of God are so high above my ability to comprehend! Trusting in that truth enables me to live each day for God’s glory instead of my own. 
6. To choose myself over Jesus is to choose to live a dead life. The fake life this world promotes and seeks will lead down the path of total separation from God for all eternity. I want to live in the constant awareness that I am God’s child. To do that requires me to live a God First Life.