PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 16

What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must…” (Matthew 16:24)
Do I want to be a Christian, do I want to be a Jesus follower?
Do I want to be a student (disciple = learner) of Jesus?
Do I want to be saved, to be recognized as God’s child, and Jesus’s brother?
Then listen carefully, for Jesus explains what MUST happen.
“Deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24)
It is not just ‘believing’ IN Jesus, but to ‘be living’ LIKE Jesus.
As God’s Messiah, Jesus comes with humility and grace, not with power.
He has compassion on the masses; weak, poor, hungry, oppressed, lost, sinners!
He does not overcome evil in the world as a ruler, but as a servant.
This is the mark of a Jesus follower, a disciple.
Not church-going, not hymn singing, not morality policing, not theology defending.
The church is built on the Servant-Messiah who suffers with, like and for us.
The gates of Hades cannot overcome this Servant Messiah or his servant army.
The question is: do I WANT to be this kind of disciple?
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I do not want to be a church-goer, an evangelical, a good member of my denomination. I want to be your disciple, to listen to learn from you, and with your help to live like you. If this is what I truly WANT, then you have shown me what I MUST do. I will follow you!