September 22, 2021
Wednesday
Luke 9:1-2(TPT) Jesus summoned together his twelve apostles and imparted to them authority over every demon and the power to heal every disease. 2 Then he commissioned them to proclaim God’s kingdom and to heal the sick to demonstrate that the kingdom had arrived.
We need this working in our lives and in our churches! Why don’t we have this power working more readily? How we live our lives is a huge key to this power.
Luke 9:23 (AMP) And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to follow Me[as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross daily [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].
If we truly want to be His disciples, we have to give up our lives in complete sacrifice. Jesus first heard these words from His Father. God had asked everything of Jesus. Jesus gave His very life. Then He turned around and asked of us the very same thing that the Father asked of Him. It is not asking too much of us. When you become a believer of Jesus Christ, and you reach the point of wanting all that He has for you, you should be willing to lay down anything He asks. It looks different for every individual. We have different cares and passions. He wants you to be willing to give up anything for Him.
Luke 9:24a For if you choose self-sacrifice, giving up your lives for my glory, you will discover true life.
This is something else that Jesus heard His Father say! Jesus did what He did for the Glory of the Father. If you live a self-sacrificing life for His glory, you will discover more and more true life. Do you want to know what true life is? How did it work out for Jesus? His life worked out like it needed to. He is now seated at the right hand of the Father. He is now the King of Kings for all of eternity. The Father asked Him to lay down His life for just a few short years and went through a lot more physical torture than any of us will ever have to. The Father does not ask any of us to go through what Jesus went through. Jesus went as a fore-runner to show us what it looks like to live a self-sacrificing life.
Luke 9:24b But if you choose to keep your lives for yourselves, you will lose what you try to keep.
Doesn’t that make the choice even more simple? What you try so hard to hang onto, you will ultimately lose. Once again, Jesus heard this from His father first! He heard everything first from the Father. Jesus loved people. He went to the cross and died for the sinners. He died for people who couldn’t love Him back, nor obey the word of God. He died for people who couldn’t give Him anything! There is pain involved in self-sacrifice. The pain that you experience is when you lay down your will for His. It takes faith to do that! Because Jesus lived a self-sacrificing life, He had the Father’s power. The only way to have the life that God-designed for you is to live that self-sacrificing life. You must take up your cross daily! Your cross is whatever is in you that keeps you from going to Him daily. It is different for everyone. What keeps you out of His presence? Only you can answer that.
Luke 9:25 Even if you gained all the wealth and power of this world, and all the things it could offer you, yet lost your soul in the process, what good is that?
Everything that we chase in our natural lives is wrapped up in pride. We all have to deal with pride. It would be to our benefit to learn to recognize and deal with it within ourselves. You either belong to the devil and he owns you, or you belong to God, and He owns you.
Luke 9:26 So why then are you ashamed of being my disciple? Are you ashamed of the revelation-truth I give to you?
“I, the Son of Man, will one day return in my radiant brightness, with the holy angels and in the splendor and majesty of my Father. On that day I will be ashamed of everyone who has been ashamed of me.
Shame comes from that pride. If you live your life for yourself, you are not only directly disobeying, but you are saying that these words are not absolute truth. Which they are! It is pride! How terrible it would be to have Jesus ashamed of you on the day that He returns. But if you have not lived a self-sacrificing life, what other result could you get? These verses talk very plainly about it! It will either be your best day, or your worst day. Here’s the best part. He does not expect us to use our willpower to accomplish this. It’s simply not strong enough. If you will surrender that area of your life and ask for His help, His grace and ability will give you the empowerment to put that behind you! You don’t have to do it all yourself!
Luke 9:39-40 An evil spirit possesses him and makes him scream out in torment, and hardly ever leaves him alone. It throws him into convulsions, and he foams at the mouth. When it finally does leave him, he’s left with horrible bruises. 40 I begged your disciples to drive it out of him, but they didn’t have enough power to do it.”
41 Jesus responded, “You are an unbelieving people with no faith! You twist your lives with lies that have turned you away from doing the right things. How much longer should I remain here, offering you hope?” Then he said to the man, “Bring your son to me.”
Jesus’ response was strong! Can you imagine Him saying that to you? If we really believed, we would give it all. Why don’t we believe? We are twisted up with lies. We all lie to ourselves about how we live, and how much we give up. Lies and pride go right together. Pride tells lies and believes lies. It’s the nature of the devil. When we don’t live a self-sacrificing life, we are basically saying that we want to be our own god. Wasn’t that the very reason Satan was kicked out of Heaven? Don’t live a lie and be one of the people Jesus is ashamed of. It does not necessarily mean you won’t go to heaven. But won’t you wish that you were one of the ones that Jesus is pleased with?
Luke 9:42-45 As the boy approached, the demon slammed him to the ground and threw him into violent convulsions. Jesus sternly commanded the demon to come out of the boy, and it left immediately. Jesus healed the boy of his injuries and returned him to his father, saying, “Here is your son.”
43 Everyone was awestruck and stunned to see such power and the majesty of God flow through Jesus. 44 Everyone marveled, trying to process what they had just witnessed. Jesus then turned to his disciples and said, “Listen carefully and let these words sink into your hearts. The Son of Man is about to be betrayed and surrendered to the authority of men.”
45 But the disciples could not grasp the meaning of what he was saying, for it was a veiled mystery to them, and they were too embarrassed to ask him to explain it.
Jesus was trying to prepare them for what’s ahead. Do you see the pride in verse 45? These are the very reasons we don’t have power and authority in our lives! Because we are willing to live with the lies! We are willing to live with the pride! The greatest enemy to growth is the satisfaction of being where you are. There is more in God that we have not experienced yet. What is your part? No one can do it for you. We are all responsible for ourselves to live the life we are called to live. Jesus Has the right to be everything to us. He bought and purchased us on the cross and we accepted that purchase the day we became born again. We owe Him all! It’s not too much to ask for us to give all that we are back to Him. He is looking for ways to bless you and bring you deeper into the glory of God! He has no other motive! The Holy Spirit is your helper! No one can help you more than Him. He is with you every moment of every day! As soon as your ears are tuned in to hear Him, He will tell you anything you need to hear. He is not withholding anything!
Luke 9:46-48 The disciples began to argue and became preoccupied over who would be the greatest one among them. 47 Fully aware of their innermost thoughts, Jesus called a little child to his side and said to them, 48 “If you tenderly care for this little child on my behalf, you are tenderly caring for me. And if you care for me, you are honoring my Father who sent me. The one who is least important in your eyes is actually the most important one of all.”
These disciples were walking with Jesus Himself, and can you see how pride and lies have infiltrated their minds and hearts? Without God, that’s who we are. In the latter part of this passage, you find the combat for human pride. You must serve the people who can’t do anything back for you. You must serve. It’s not as hard as we make it. You can serve in your home, your church, etc. Then move out from there. Serving humbles you and gets you off your mind. You give out, and He flows in. It’s how it is set up! Start where you are! Look for places to plant seeds of service! Begin small! And eventually your whole life will be impacted.
Phillipians 9:1-10 Look at how much encouragement[a] you’ve found in your relationship with the Anointed One! You are filled to overflowing with his comforting love. You have experienced a deepening friendship with the Holy Spirit and have felt his tender affection and mercy.
2 So I’m asking you, my friends, that you be joined together in perfect unity—with one heart, one passion, and united in one love. Walk together with one harmonious purpose and you will fill my heart with unbounded joy.
3 Be free from pride-filled opinions, for they will only harm your cherished unity. Don’t allow self-promotion to hide in your hearts, but in authentic humility put others first and view others as more important than yourselves. 4 Abandon every display of selfishness. Possess a greater concern for what matters to others instead of your own interests. 5 And consider the example that Jesus, the Anointed One, has set before us. Let his mindset become your motivation.
The Example of Jesus Christ
6 He existed in the form of God, yet he gave no thought to seizing equality with God as his supreme prize. 7 Instead he emptied himself of his outward glory by reducing himself to the form of a lowly servant. He became human! 8 He humbled himself and became vulnerable, choosing to be revealed as a man and was obedient. He was a perfect example, even in his death—a criminal’s death by crucifixion![f]
9 Because of that obedience, God exalted him and multiplied his greatness! He has now been given the greatest of all names!
10 The authority of the name of Jesus causes every knee to bow in reverence! Everything and everyone will one day submit to this name—in the heavenly realm, in the earthly realm, and in the demonic realm. 11 And every tongue will proclaim in every language: “Jesus Christ is Lord Yahweh,” bringing glory and honor to God, his Father!
Jesus came to serve and give glory to His father. Then He turned around and asked us to do the very same thing. He wants us to end up where He is experiencing the power and glory of the Father! It is worth it!