Video Talk
Luke 12:49-53 ESV
“I came to cast fire on the earth and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Parallel Scripture Passage:
But Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” Matthew 10:34-38 ESV
So, what is this saying? It is saying that when we die with
Christ to sin, when we are buried with him in death to sin and raised with him
to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true righteousness
and holiness, and so now our lives are changed, and we are no longer living in
sin, but now we are living for the Lord, we are going to be rejected. Even some
of our family members may disapprove of us and fight against us, so some of our
strongest opposition may come from the people we live with.
For if we were living in sin and for the flesh, or if we
were living worldly Christian lives, but then we repented, and so we turned to
follow Jesus in obedience, and so we rejected our worldly lives to follow Jesus
fully, those around us may not be okay with that. They may not be comfortable
with the changes our Lord has made in our lives. For that may make them feel
uncomfortable being around us because we are no longer living like them, but
now we are being made into the likeness of Jesus Christ.
And this is not about being “stuck-up.” This has nothing to
do with pride, or it shouldn’t. This is just the reality of the situation.
Worldly people and those living in sin are just not going to feel comfortable
being around us if truly our lives are surrendered to Jesus Christ and if we
are no longer living like we did before we were surrendered to Christ. Unless..
our lives and our testimonies for Jesus Christ are what draw them to genuine
faith in Jesus Christ, too. And we hope that will also be part of our new
reality.
Now Jesus said this so we would know what we are signing up
for when we choose to follow him with our lives. But he also wants us to know
ahead of time the cost of following him with our lives. For he said that if
anyone would come after him he must deny self and take up his cross daily
(daily die to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. But if we choose not to
die to sin and live in obedience to our Lord, out of fear of being rejected,
then we are not worthy of him and we will not have eternal life in him.
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My Sheep
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Based off John 10:1-18 NIV
My
sheep hear me. They know me.
They
listen to my voice and obey.
I
call them and lead them.
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
They
will never follow strangers.
They
will run away from them.
The
voice of a stranger they know not;
They
do not follow him.
So,
I tell you the truth that
I
am the gate, so you enter in.
Whoever
does enter
Will
find forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless
whoever enters
Not
by the gate; other way,
He
is the thief and a robber.
Listen
not, the sheep to him.
Oh,
I am the Good Shepherd,
Who
laid his own life down for the sheep.
I
know them. They know me.
They
will live with me eternally.
The
thief only comes to steal and
Kill
and to destroy the church.
I
have come to give you life that
You
may have it to the full…
They
know my voice, so they follow me.
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