(Read Matthew 10:34-39)
This morning we continue our series, “Grace that is Simply Amazing” by continuing our mini-series entitled, “Grace Based Success (Prosperity)”. We have been studying the life of the Apostle Peter. Our study has brought us to Matthew 10. For about a week now we have been walking our way through verses 34-39. We will go back to this passage again this morning and see if we can get through it.
Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace. I came to bring trouble. I have come to make this happen:
‘A son will turn against his father. A daughter will turn against her mother. A daughter-in-law will turn against her mother-in-law. Even members of your own family will be your enemies.’
Those who love their father or mother more than they love me are not worthy of me. And those who love their son or daughter more than they love me are not worthy of me. Those who will not accept the cross that is given to them when they follow me are not worthy of me. Those who try to keep the life they have will lose it. But those who give up their life for me will find true life.”
The thought we will focus in on this morning is: losing your life in order to find it.
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
- The plans you came up with would have been okay had God not already made plans for you before the world began.
- You were not born with a blank-slate. You don’t get to choose whatever you want and then call it God’s will. You were born for a God given reason, with a God given destiny, in a divinely ordained time. Your role, after coming to Jesus for salvation, is to seek God concerning your divine purpose. Your desire should be to FIND, FOLLOW and FINISH your purpose in life before you die.
- Attempting to hold on to the life you had before coming to Christ, a life focused on human pursuits, is actually an act of selfishness and pride. It is not until you die to self that you truly get to live.
- Anything you attempt to hold on to after God has told you to give it up is an idol. Holding on to an idol, when you know God is telling you otherwise, may just cause you to forfeit God’s best.
- Jesus explained that if you attempt to hold on to the live you had (the life you came up with), you will eventually lose it. But if you willingly give up your life — your plans, your selfish desires, and everything you came up with in the flesh — you will be able to find the life you were born to live.
- The life you came up with in your own mind may sound good, it may be full of what you think will be pleasurable pursuits, and the life God is leading you to may sound challenging, it may require sacrifice and pain, but when posed with a choice between the two there is no choice. Always put God’s will above yours. Whatever you “seemingly” lose in the short term will be dwarfed by the Blessing released in the long term.
- When Jesus said, “Those who try to keep the life they have will lose it. But those who give up their life for me will find true life”, He meant it. God will not compete with you. If you want to be the lord of your own life, making your own decisions, holding on to the plans you came up with without God, God will let you do it. He won’t force you into your purpose. He will stand by and allow you to live your life on your own. But when you get tired, both God AND your purpose will be waiting on you!
- Never see sacrifice for God as a bad thing. God will never be in debt to you. Anything you sacrifice for Him becomes a seed and our God (The Lord of the Harvest), will ensure you reap a harvest on every seed sown!
- Your life is not your own. You don’t get to do whatever you want. You don’t get to pursue whatever selfish desires you come up. Your life is a gift. God sent you to the earth when He did and where He did, because of WHY He did. Your job is to now submit to the life You were sent to the earth to live. If you do, not only will you go to heaven when you die, but you will get to experience heaven on earth while alive. This is the will of God!
- Personal testimony: There are lots of things I wanted to do that the Lord led me to give up. I had to sacrifice those things, even “good things”, because they were not “God things”. But God has honored His Word in my life. Everything I have sacrificed for Him has become seed and He has released harvest after harvest in my life, to the point where the life I now life is far greater than anything I could have come up with on my own. That’s my testimony. I am a witness. Die to live. Lose to gain. Sacrifice to soar. Decrease to increase. The quickest way UP in God is DOWN in self.
Closing Confession: Father, I thank You for teaching me about Your grace and my requirement to live by faith. You made plans for me before the world began. You spent time thinking about me before I was born. You already mapped out my success. My prosperity is connected to my purpose. My success is connected to my divine assignment. The only way I can truly win in life is by losing myself in You! I refuse to hold onto anything You tell me to let go of. In order to experience true success I must be willing to experience true sacrifice. I declare that I am. I give myself away. I die to self and selfishness. I lose myself IN You. I willingly forfeit my plans for Your plans, my desires for Your purpose, my heart for Yours. It may cost me up front. It may be painful at times. I may have to endure hardship as a good Soldier in Christ Jesus. But anything I give up for You becomes a seed and You will see to it that I reap a harvest on every seed sown. No matter what I face in the short term, my eyes are on the long term; I am determined to arrive at Your desired destination for my life. You will say to me, “Well done my good and faithful servant!” Because I am willing to DIE in order to truly LIVE! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
