For Thought and Meditation - Tuesday, July 27

[Pine Baron]

Good morning all. True freedom only comes from following our Lord Jesus Christ. Have a safe and blessed day.

Tuesday, July 27, 2021 - Pastor Greg Laurie
Don’t Settle for Cheap Substitutes

“Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’”
—Luke 9:23

When was the last time you heard someone actually talk about denying themselves? We hear so much today about gratifying ourselves, fulfilling ourselves, discovering ourselves, and esteeming ourselves. There’s even a magazine called Self.

But here’s what Jesus says: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23–24 NKJV).

Some people have a false concept of God and think that if they’re really going to be Christians and take up the cross, they will never have fun again. They falsely believe they’ll have a dull, miserable life of bondage to rules and regulations.

But that isn’t true. When we understand what it really means to follow Jesus, we’ll find the greatest joy there is in life. We never will know greater passion or excitement than what we’ll know in a relationship with God.

Anything this world has to offer is nothing but a cheap substitute. There’s no drug, no experience, or any other thing in this world that even comes close to what it means to be a real follower of Jesus and to discover what we were made for.

So if you want to find life, it means that you come to God and say, “Here are my plans. I dedicate them to you, and I invite you to overrule them if you don’t like the choices I’ve made. I want your will more than my own because I’ve discovered that your plans are better than my plans. Your purposes are better than my purposes.”

Do you believe that? If so, then dedicate your life to God. Take up the cross and follow Him.

[ioon44]

I need to decrease so Jesus Christ will increase.

[USMC87]

Amen, We think too much of ourselves but we are nothing without God!

[dverna]

Good message.

There is no eternal life without Jesus...simple as that.

God knew we could never meet His standards and, if He is all knowing of the future, He knew that before Eve disobeyed His command not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. We cannot determine why God waited so long to send His Son to save us. But He did and we have salvation if we accept Jesus.

We see how living for "self" corrupts man. We have a President and Speaker of the House that are supposedly Catholic but support the killing of babies to win elections. We have these same people promoting hatred and division for their gain.

I will digress a bit...it bothers me that people like this, that KNOW they are actively working against God and Jesus, will be saved if they accept Jesus. They will get their cake and eat it too. But that is God's will....still, I struggle with it.

[Boaz]

Great post today Pine Baron ! We would do well to practice it . My signature line on my avatar is my goal every day . It's taken from a hymn . Though I stumble and fall often my Lord picks me up to keep trying again . I sing it to myself often .....No turning back .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Tw...nBaptistChurch