Life Capsule for Today Date: 29th August, 2024
Theme: The Divine Triangle (5)
Memory Verse: Rom 8:14-15
4 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. NKJV
Topic: Man and the two trees (1)
Today’s Reading: Mark 8:34-38
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” NKJV
Words of the Ministry:
From today’s reading, we see the lord giving us a practical guide to our daily living. As Christians we are assumed disciples but the Lord here speaking said whosever wants to be his disciple, whoever want to follow him must say no to his natural desires and the implication is that such a person would choose the cross to himself. You may then ask what does this mean, to deny ourselves is to say no to what we want and yes to what God wants. It is to continue on the lonely path of the cross abandoning our natural love and desires. It is to be the odd one out among a group of carnal Christians and unsaved individuals, it is to move against the tradition.
To choose the cross is not a small matter as it implies God would cross out everything that is not his will for us. It would suggest we are in gethsemane at every point of our life saying not my will but thine. The most difficult love to overcome is self-love as that is the most enduring motive for all our actions. Our society itself teaches the natural instinct of self-preservation above all, that also translates to we making such choices that would at the end benefit self the most. An illustration is when we want to choose a marriage partner, many would look out for the appearance, the educational and family background, much consideration is also given to the financial capacity of the partner etc but while all these may be important, the lord would rather we first consider his will. His will most times may suggest doom in future as the career of the individual, family background or financial status may not be assuring. Same applies to every other decision in business, friendship, marriage, investment etc. We are always faced with what we want as against what God wants. The subtle devil hides in the flesh to suggest what we want as being better that what God wants. All he does is to encourage us to lose sight of the cross and choose for ourselves thereby glorifying the flesh.
We must always check our motive as God looks beyond the act but into our heart. What is the motive behind your choices, is it to gain vain glory or to glorify God? Why do you give, sing, pray or even evangelize? Why are you dressing the way you do, why are you trying to make certain friends, invest in certain businesses or promote a particular idea? Is it to exalt Christ or to exalt the flesh. Our greatest enemy is the flesh and the victory is in the cross, to want to save our lives is to want to please men, to exalt the flesh, to be celebrated. But to carry the cross is to bear shame for the Lord, to stand with Christ, be persecuted and be willing to suffer. May God grant us light.
Bible in one year: Jeremiah 51-52
For further fellowship send us an email on godmanvideos@gmail.comor visit our youtube channel: @godmanmedia. You can also interact with us by dropping your comments on our facebook page. Our physical meeting, Word feast comes up every Wednesday by 5pm and Prayer Gym every Saturday by 7am while PENIEL comes up once a month, every last Sunday of the month from 4pm to 6.30pm at Suite A10, Ahser Office Complex, beside Living Faith Church, Opposite Hassan Stores, Arab Road, Kubwa Abuja.