Twin Peaks

The scripture for today is Luke 14:33

Luke 14:33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

The message that Jesus preached was not a message of convenience. It was a message of surrender to the will of God. Those who embrace the call of Christ must do so with full awareness of what is required. He does not call us to be hybrids, he calls us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Our minds and very thoughts must be surrendered to the process of renewal. All that we think we are must be surrendered to Christ so that He can make us into all that He wants us to be. Our lives, our wills, our bodies and our possessions are not our own. We have been bought with the price of the blood of Christ. Through His sacrifice, He has done for us what we could never have done for ourselves. He has made it possible for us to be free from the bondage of sin and selfishness. It is selfishness that impedes our relationship with God and with our fellow man. There can be no meaningful relationship with God unless we allow Him to have control of our lives. God does not share control with us. He asks us to follow Him; He leads and we follow. It cannot work any other way. We don't know as much as we think we know; we need to receive direction from above. 

When Jesus says that we must forsake all that we have, we immediately think of material things. But He is after something much deeper than that; He is after our hearts. Unless we surrender all to Christ in our hearts, we will never follow Him. Oh, we may offer pretenses, but if our hearts are not surrendered completely, we will still be directing our lives, calling ourselves disciples when really, we are not. Only those who have surrendered to Christ will enjoy the life of Christ. He offers new life for old. New life is much better and it lasts forever.

God bless you as you continue in His service.

Tim