The Dividend Mark 8
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Do love this book? Do you love the riches found within its covers? Knowing that this carries the authority of our Good king and creator?
I have learned to love it for within its pages is found life and a light unto my path that I may know the pursuit that is worth living for.
NKJV So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Do you know that you are frail?
That you are not guaranteed another day. For every breath I take is one closer to the day that I die.
My prayer is that you would ponder the paths you tread and know the ways there of. Where does it lead? sowing to the flesh or to the spirit for you can be sure that i will reap a crop from the decisions I make.
The scary thing about the truth is that it teaches us...
NKJVThere is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.
What if you have been deceived.
Christian do you not want to live for what has eternal value and worth? That will not come back void? That will not have you looking back 20 years from now in your nice house your large 401k and say I wish I hadn’t done all that i did for what it cost me was far more than what i thought. For what i lost i cannot get back.
In this passage Jesus reveals to us this reality that we may walk with wisdom.
Read
Pray.
Christ revealed to the disciples that He was the Christ
The mission of the now revealed christ that is going to die
The mission of the now revealed christ that is going to die
This didn’t fit peters agenda and what He thought the Christ would be and do.
This didn’t fit peters agenda and what He thought the Christ would be and do.
And Jesus testifies that he is not being mindful of the things of God but rather of the things of men.
And Jesus testifies that he is not being mindful of the things of God but rather of the things of men.
Time for a teaching moment...
Then HE jumps right into if anyone desire to come after the way of ME then
HE must deny
He must Pick up His Cross
He must follow me.
Its no longer my passions. It is no longer my wants. Its no longer my desires. its no longer my dreams. But now i am called to utterly forsake these things for the will of God.
I am then to pick up my cross. The instrument of capital punishment. The symbol of death.
The reminder that i am under new authority.
I am then to pick up my cross. The instrument of capital punishment. The symbol of death. The reminder that i am under new authority. I no longer serve myself for it is dead and now i serve Christ. I lay my life at the altar because of the mercies of God. This is my reasonable service.
I no longer serve myself for it is dead and now i serve Christ.
I lay my life at the altar because of the mercies of God. This is my reasonable service.
With this forsaking i am also called to follow HIm.
He doesn’t take us anyone where he himself has not or will not Go. He leads by example. He is the good shepherd. He doesn’t command and live contrary to the instruction.
Rather it was by his prophesying of his future death by the hands of the religious leaders that it spurred the conversation to his disciples of the cost of following him. It requires a death. It is a total surrender to the will of God and not to man.
This is the life God himself endured for sinners who didn’t deserve it. He humbled himself and became a man, leaving his heavenly throne and was obedient to the point of death…even the death of the cross.
What Jesus calls us to is nothing short of the life he lived…why would you expect to live any differently than the way the king has lived who gave you life?
He did it when we had nothing, could bring nothing, were unworhthy and were the enemies.
We lay down our lives to the one who gives us everything, who is worthy, who is not just our friend but our savior and redeemer.
Do you Desire?
This is a grace of God
Have you Denied?
This is the way of God
Will you Devote?
For this is the heart of God
For the Dividend to be received?
For this is the eyes of God
What will your bottom line be when you stand before God and He weighs on the heavenly scale the value of your life?
The a business mindset. Here Jesus is appealing to those who have a business mindset.
What brings true profitability and reward for the investment.
What brings true profitability and reward for the investment.
Anyone who owns a business can certainly understand Constantly the need for productivity. For if I am not productive, I do not eat.
If my business is not profitable I do not eat. Eventually that trickles down to those who would then work under me without food either.
A problem for a business man is that He has a hard time seeing how anything else other than money could be profitable. For instance going to church for that time could be better used for planning and preparing…for the thing that truly brings a profit in his or her mind.
Or instead of going to and enjoying the company of his family he would assume right invoices, bid jobs, so that he may build them a better life because of his or her profitability.
But the question must be raised and Jesus is appealing at…is that truly profitable?
He gives us a set of glasses, a perspective that we are able to ponder some hard truths on the things that we live for.
He proclaims unto us the life perspective (life goggles if you will) that we are to put on to see whether or not what we are living for has eternal value.
He proclaims unto us the life perspective (life goggles if you will) that we are to put on to see whether or not what we are living for has eternal value.
For some of us it may be found out that what we are actually finding our source of life in will be found out as a waste and truly not life at all.
What do i love more than following God?
This in essence is what Jesus is asking when He says, “What would a man give in exchange for his soul?”
A house with an attached garage and a lamborgini to park under its roof?
A bank account that brings much security against any calamity that may come your way?
A business that i may find my identity and worth in so the culture knows im somebody?
The ability to go hunting, fishing or play basketball whenever you want?
Maybe its the retirement that you are entitled to?
Maybe its the comforts you can enjoy.
Maybe the freedom to do with your body as you wish.
Enjoy the pleasure of same sex relations rather than obey.
Murder your child when it cannot defend itself so that you may not be inconvenienced?
This is easily answered by asking what are you fearful of losing by living in total surrender to the Lord?
These are just the mirage of things we paint that keep us from enjoying the greater blessings of God.
The life of total surrender to The KING OF KING’s
Satan paints so bad because he does not want our lives to be liberated and God allows it to be painted in such light because He wants us to trust
You may be unhappy in your walk with God this morning and maybe its because you are seeking life in what God deems as death and unworthy. You are choosing to go your own way rather than His way.
This way is not the way of God but rather the way of satan.
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
Next time you believe that satan is your friend think about this...
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
John 8
Does he really have your best interest in mind or is he just waiting for the moment that he may devour you. All the allurements, and applauses so that he may ensnare you and devour you.
Like a spider waiting secretly for the fly to land on his web.
God in Contrast.
WE would do good to stop for a moment and ponder some truths about God and about Satan.
lays out some deep truths about God.
In dealing with His creation we see His powerful and sovereign hand.
We find that He is wise and more knowledgable than all things.
We find in His word that He is Just, Holy, and Righteous.
He does not lead astray but rather corrects those who walk in darkness.
He is light and in him is no guile.
Then there comes a portion after displaying the great God that we serve, to whom the people would liken God unto.
Their temptation was to lower this God to something that was crafted by mans hands either by wood or metal.
As if God could be minimized to such figures and manipulated then to accommodate mens plans.
We need to win this war, let us pay our incense then to the god of war.
We need food let us then pray unto the god of harvest that he may hear us
We need water let us pray unto the god of rain.
This is idolatry before God and yet this is many of our approaches to God is it not?
We treat God like a genie in a bottle. We get in a tight spot rub the lamp by praying and asking that He may bail us out. He’s in our back pocket for a rainy day. This is not how God works though.
We are just as guilty as the man who believes he is praying to god when he bows to his engraven image, when we pull in our garage and bask in our success.
Or when we live for our pleasures rather than the truths of Gods word.
When we care more about sparing the last cent on our pay check rather than giving back to him of our firstfruits.
We care more about the dust on our new tennis shoes than the blemishes on our hearts.
We care more about the bird poop on the hood of our car than the stains on our hands from our iniquities.
We have committed idolatry with things and have bowed to the god of self and made convenience to sit at our right hands.
God knows all things. He does not need counsel. He knows the paths of all men and the end thereof.
He knows what is done in secret and the crop that will come from it.
He is the God of truth, justice, and righteousness, yet we treat Him as if He is known liar. We don’t trust but rather rebuke.
We then trade the good counsel of God to the deceptive counsel of satan, who leads the world and our flesh in rebellion against God.
When it comes to forsaking all that i have and living to Him...
We would do good to understand that all i have is God anyways. I am just a steward. So the fear of following God that may cost me my family business should no longer be a fear for it is Gods. He can give and He can take away. Same with the family farm.
If you trust in that as your provision and it is your god you very well may lose it anyways.
Its not that God will call us to forsake these things, though He might, but ultimately we must not hold them so tight that we would place them above the call of God.
What if you could see the eternal value of everything you did?
Whether or not it had true worth?
would it change the way you lived?
the bible is not for only one sect of personnel… only the pastor and teachers and so on.
it is applicable to all and for all that we may gain a heart of wisdom as the psalmists says.
it first begins with the fear of the Lord.
Will i take Him at His word and do what He says. trusting wholly in Him. Allowing Him to transform my life and define my dreams rather than my deceptive flesh that is allured by satans tactics.
Are you willing to be expended by the Lord?
The New King James Version Chapter 12
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
To follow His will and not your own. To say your way not mine.
There is nothing in my life that is not yours, that you cannot touch.
Do with me as you see fit.
Your fears may be hindering you from experiencing the greater blessings that God has.
Or is what its going to cost you to much for you to give?
What good is it if the man gains the whole world but in the end loses his soul?
What will your dividend be?
What if what your living for wont bring the dividend you thought it was going to bring?
I pray may you live for the king.
NKJVBut as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Let us not forget what the scripture says,
You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Mark 8
This was a truth that Paul knew well.
But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
Acts 20:
Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.”
Acts 21:
This is the truth the Lord the Lord is proclaiming…May we follow suit. Not because we are great but because He is worthy.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.
in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,