Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"
Peter answered, "You are the Christ." Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him. He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels." And he said to them, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power." -Mark 8:27-9:1*
Lose your life...
A preacher once gave an invitation that sounded something like this, "If you want to accept Jesus as your savior, you need to pray that Jesus will come into your heart and invite him to be a part of your life." I had to sit and think about that! Is this the way we Christians think about Christ - that we need to invite Him to be part of our lives? Christ did not call the disciples to "something"... rather to Himself by saying "follow Me."
How many times have we as Christians asked Jesus to "be a part" of our plans and lives when we really need to deny self, take up our cross, and follow Him? Self-denial means to give up our plans, our dreams, our hopes and replace them with God's plans, God's dreams and His hope which does not disappoint. God is calling us into what He is doing. Are you following your plans or God's? Let's all dive wholeheartedly into His plans and what He is doing so that when He does come back He will not be ashamed of a sinful generation.
John McDonald is a member of the Church Council and First Friends Team. A couple of years ago John felt called to the ministry, and is now in seminary.
How has Jesus made a difference in your life? "He helps me get through school on good days and bad days." Isaiah Clark, 5th grade
*Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
