To hear this Morning Devotion, please click here — Potent passages
Back in the day when I’d buy LP albums from the record store, I’d be glad if the album had three or four really good songs out of the 10-12 included on the vinyl disk.
Accepting the “throwaway” songs was just part of how album purchasers were conditioned then.
With the advent of downloaded music, however, the requirement to accept filler songs has disappeared.
I like that.
I was reminded of this idea this morning while reading from Luke 9.
The passage contained in vv. 23-26 is packed with potency.
Four verses.
Four keepers.
Four high-profile mini-messages that have established themselves as core statements of the Christian faith.
Four for four.
I love it.
The consecutive truths are so strong that they should each become integral to the fabric of our faith.
“Then He said to them,
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me”
“Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it”
“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit his very self?”
“If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.”
Potent stuff, huh?
It’s all about trusting Jesus with every part of our lives, no matter what.
Learn and live according to these verses and less throwaway stuff will characterize your life.
Instead, as you daily take up your cross, your days will be filled with spiritual hits in the sight of God, Jesus and fellow believers.
As always, I love you
Martin
