A daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and exhortation.
Home About Us Archives Free email subscription
Listen to these
messages
Text only for
printing
<Previous
Message
Next
Message
"Then He said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me'" (Luke 9:23).
We want you to think with us. How often in a day's time do we say aloud or think in our minds, "I need to decide…"? We suppose it's a lot. These decisions may be due to factors such as the weather, the day of the week, the time of day or the workload before us. "What shall I wear, a coat or light jacket?" What should I prepare for dinner?" "Shall I call or send an email?" And on and on our list goes.
But today we want to focus on a daily decision each of us has in common, regardless of where we live on this planet. Every morning when we awaken to a new day we are confronted with this same choice.
We memorized the daily verse many years ago. It's a clear call to discipleship from the words of our Lord. Jesus was speaking to the disciples very plainly about how He would be rejected by the priests and chief elders. He then spoke of His suffering, His death and resurrection that would follow. It was a very intense setting as these disciples were trying to understand and also rejecting such disturbing information about their Master.
Then Jesus surely added to the intensity of the moment when he then issued this call to His disciples; "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Both Matthew and Mark record the same statement (Mt. 16:24, Mk. 8:34), but only Luke records a detail that includes a vital element to this call. Notice the word "daily".
By providing this detail Luke emphasized a concept that is often seen in Scripture. The day is a unit of time that the Word seems to stress as important in making a steadfast commitment to our Lord. Here are several phrases from the Scriptures in this regard: "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve" (Joshua 24:15). "I call to you, O LORD, every day" (Psalm 88:8). "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).
In the New Testament Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer to request, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). The apostle Paul emphasized this daily walk in urging the Thessalonian believers to "Make
it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to
work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody" (Thessalonians 4:11,12). And in the Pastoral Epistle to Titus he taught, "Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives. (Titus 3:14).
Our daily encouragement series is prompted by a command found in Hebrews 3:13 which states: "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." We are just two ordinary people making a decision this day to follow Christ. And we want to encourage all of you to do the same! Today and every day.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily Prayer: Father,
there are many choices I will make today based upon the variables that
I cannot foresee. But one choice for me that is not optional because I
not only believe the truth of the Gospel, but am fully committed to
following Christ. To do so I must deny my own selfish desires,
take up my cross daily, and follow Him. In denying myself I
will be careful never to deny Christ or the work He wants to do in me.
On particular days it can be intense and require great sacrifice
on
my part. I don't know what the cross will look like today,
whether it be in the form of physical pain, ridicule of my faith,
rejection from one that I love, a major letdown, or another
difficulty that may come my way. The wonderful blessing is that I
don't carry my cross in my own strength but You carry it for me as I
lean upon You for strength, guidance, and the assurance that today's
cross will soon be exchanged for tomorrow's crown.
Mission blessings: Last night we visited with Ron and Erma Herr, a missionary couple who serve in Zambia, Africa. They are both retired and for the last eight years have "unretired" to serve the Lord. It was evident the deep burden they bore for the people they serve for Christ.
"Today I Choose" Video Brian Doerksen
"I Have Decided To Follow Jesus" Video Selah
"Take Up Your Cross And Follow Jesus" Video Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
"The Lord's Prayer" Video Michael W. Smith
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Conestoga River in Lancaster County, PA
Photo taken by our friend Mike Book
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player.
Conestoga River in Lancaster County, PA
Photo taken by our friend Mike Book
(Click on photo to enlarge)
Listen to this
message on
your
audio player."The Daily Decision"
"Then He said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me'" (Luke 9:23).
We want you to think with us. How often in a day's time do we say aloud or think in our minds, "I need to decide…"? We suppose it's a lot. These decisions may be due to factors such as the weather, the day of the week, the time of day or the workload before us. "What shall I wear, a coat or light jacket?" What should I prepare for dinner?" "Shall I call or send an email?" And on and on our list goes.
But today we want to focus on a daily decision each of us has in common, regardless of where we live on this planet. Every morning when we awaken to a new day we are confronted with this same choice.
We memorized the daily verse many years ago. It's a clear call to discipleship from the words of our Lord. Jesus was speaking to the disciples very plainly about how He would be rejected by the priests and chief elders. He then spoke of His suffering, His death and resurrection that would follow. It was a very intense setting as these disciples were trying to understand and also rejecting such disturbing information about their Master.
Then Jesus surely added to the intensity of the moment when he then issued this call to His disciples; "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Both Matthew and Mark record the same statement (Mt. 16:24, Mk. 8:34), but only Luke records a detail that includes a vital element to this call. Notice the word "daily".
By providing this detail Luke emphasized a concept that is often seen in Scripture. The day is a unit of time that the Word seems to stress as important in making a steadfast commitment to our Lord. Here are several phrases from the Scriptures in this regard: "Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve" (Joshua 24:15). "I call to you, O LORD, every day" (Psalm 88:8). "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24).
In the New Testament Jesus taught us in the Lord's Prayer to request, "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). The apostle Paul emphasized this daily walk in urging the Thessalonian believers to "Make
it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to
work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody" (Thessalonians 4:11,12). And in the Pastoral Epistle to Titus he taught, "Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives. (Titus 3:14).Our daily encouragement series is prompted by a command found in Hebrews 3:13 which states: "But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." We are just two ordinary people making a decision this day to follow Christ. And we want to encourage all of you to do the same! Today and every day.
Be encouraged today,
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily Prayer: Father,
there are many choices I will make today based upon the variables that
I cannot foresee. But one choice for me that is not optional because I
not only believe the truth of the Gospel, but am fully committed to
following Christ. To do so I must deny my own selfish desires,
take up my cross daily, and follow Him. In denying myself I
will be careful never to deny Christ or the work He wants to do in me.
On particular days it can be intense and require great sacrifice
on
my part. I don't know what the cross will look like today,
whether it be in the form of physical pain, ridicule of my faith,
rejection from one that I love, a major letdown, or another
difficulty that may come my way. The wonderful blessing is that I
don't carry my cross in my own strength but You carry it for me as I
lean upon You for strength, guidance, and the assurance that today's
cross will soon be exchanged for tomorrow's crown.Mission blessings: Last night we visited with Ron and Erma Herr, a missionary couple who serve in Zambia, Africa. They are both retired and for the last eight years have "unretired" to serve the Lord. It was evident the deep burden they bore for the people they serve for Christ.
Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental Resources
Click on the link to open and play.
(In some cases you may also need to click again to start the song.)
Click on the link to open and play.
(In some cases you may also need to click again to start the song.)
"Today I Choose" Video Brian Doerksen
"I Have Decided To Follow Jesus" Video Selah
"Take Up Your Cross And Follow Jesus" Video Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
"The Lord's Prayer" Video Michael W. Smith
Permissions:
Please feel free to pass on, reproduce and distribute any material on
Daily Encouragement Net, in part or in whole, in any format, provided
that you do not alter the wording in any way or charge a fee beyond the
cost of reproduction. It is our desire to spread this material, not
protect or restrict it. I do request that you keep the contact,
copyright and subscription information intact.
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Text only version for printing: To make a text only version for printing (without photos or any of the supplemental materials)
1) Open the basic text editor that comes with all computers (known as wordpad, textpad, etc.) You can also use a program like Word and select paste text only.
2) Select and copy the text from the portion of the message you want to print.
3) Paste into the text pad. (The photos won't show up but you will have a brief text description of the photo which you can delete or just ignore.)
4) Format if you desire (change font, increase or decrease size, etc.)
5) Print!
Scripture
references are from The Holy Bible: New International Version.
© 1984 by International Bible Society; NEW AMERICAN STANDARD
BIBLE®, Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation,
New King James
Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. and the
King
James Version.
Personal
Mission Statement:
"I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ
I have been redeemed and I make it my life's goal to please the Lord.
My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and
to prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
Daily
Encouragement Net is an affiliate of Christianbook.com
©
Copyright 2011
Stephen C. Weber - All Rights Reserved
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
Daily Encouragement Net - 495 Kraybill Church Road - Mount Joy, PA 17552 USA
Home
www.dailyencouragement.net
Contact us
New feature:
I am
not much for publishing website statistics but sure enjoy geography.
When I saw this widget that counts visitors by nation and
state I thought it would be interesting to some of our readers. I
installed the international widget 4/16/10 and the state widget
4/19/10 (thus the disparity in US state totals). This widget only counts visits to the main page and daily
archive."Living securely today anchored in God's solid foundation"