Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

July 15
Wednesday


ONE PASSION

READ:
Luke 14:25-35
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If anyone comes to Me
and does not hate his
father and mother, wife
and children, brothers
and sisters, yes, and
his own life also, he
cannot be My disciple.
__Luke 14:26
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Nechayev, a 19th-century disciple of Karl Marx who had a role in the assassination of Czar alexander 11, wrote: "The revolutionary man... has no personal interests, no business affairs no emotions, no attachments, no property, and no name. Everything in him is wholly absorbed in the single thought and the single passion for revolution." Although his motives and goals were wrong, Nechayev's statement shows the singlemindedness of commitment.

Jesus wanted true commitment from His disciples. In Luke 14, we read that large crowds joined Him as he traveled toward Jerusalem (v.25). Perhaps these casual followers considered themselves to be His true disciples, but Jesus taught that following Him was more than just knowing facts about Him. He explained what it really meant to be His disciple when He defined the cost of discipleship: Nothing, not love for father or mother or even one's own life, was to take precedence over loyalty to Jesus (vv.26-33). His disciples (then and now) must acknowledge that if God is to be primary in their lives, possessions and even social relationships have to be secondary.

Jesus calls His followers to be absorbed in a single, exclusive thought and passion--Him. __Marvin Williams
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```````````````````Set us afire, Lord, stir us we pray!``````````````
````````````````While the world perishes, we go our way```````````
`````````````````Purposeless, passionless, day after day;```````````
``````````````Set us afire, Lord, stir us we pray! __Cushman````````
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Our love for Jesus is the key to spiritual passion.

************Today's Bible Reading __ Luke 14:25-35**************

25 Now great multitudes
went with Him. And He
turned and said to them,

26 "If anyone comes to Me
and does not hate his father
and mother, wife and
children, brothers and
sisters, yes, and his own life
also, he cannot be My
disciple. 27 And whoever
does not bear his cross and
come after Me cannot be
My disciple. 28 For which of
you, intending to build a
tower, does not sit down first
and count the cost, whether
he has enough to finish it--

29 Lest, after he has laid the
foundation, and is not able
to finish, all who see it begin
to mock him, 30 saying,
'This man began to build
and was not able to finish.'

31 Or what king, going to
make war against another
king, does not sit down first
and consider whether he is
able with ten thousand to
meet him who comes
against him with twenty
thousand? 32 Or else, while
the other is still a great way
off, he sends a delegation
and asks conditions of
peace. 33 So likewise,
whoever of you does not
forsake all that he has
cannot be My disciple.

34 "Salt is good; but if the
salt has lost its flavor, how
shall it be seasoned? 35 It is
neither fit for the land nor
for the dunghill, but men
throw it out. He who has
ears to hear, let him hear!"

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

Christ called HIs disciples to a radically new kind of life--one of total
commitment to Him (Luke 14:26-33). Their life change is a showcase
for how the committed heart can have a powerful impact. Of this,
Billy Graham has said: "The men who followed [Christ] were unique
in their generation. They turned the world upside down because their
hearts had been turned right side up. The world has never been the
same." DENNIS FISHER