Mathematics on Serving Christ

Greetings in the Lord!

Today's word comes from John 12:45-26~
"The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who s his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me."

~Much has been written this year already about the coming of revival to the nations of the earth, including our own, to be sure. Likewise, much has been preached about blessings and prosperity as well, especially in our nation. But once again, the Lord lays upon my heart a message of self-sacrifice and of a more balanced--and certianly less materialstic view--of blessings and prosperity. All week the Lord has been giving me scriptures and words in my private time with Him about the mystery of persecution. The Holy Spirit said, "You are blessed and highly favored when the Lord choses you to suffer for His namesake." Then today I was led to read from Philippians 1:29: "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him..." Do you believe that? That our God, who supplies our every need and has seated us in heavenly places with His Son also chooses for us to suffer for His namesake? I not only believe it, I live it. Oh, sure, there are days of discouragement and sometimes I give Jeremiah a run for his money on complaining to God, but ultimately, I know that I am greatly blessed and that the Lord has a real good worker's compensation plan for when you're hurt on the job! So, you say, "Sign me up!" Well, that leads back to today's verse. It's not just about serving Christ, it's a complete attitude and lifestyle of "hating your life in this world," and being totally sold out for Jesus. I guarantee, if you decide to live that way for Christ, you will be both incredibly blessed by God, and largely persecuted by those that love this world.
~Be blessed and be a blessing.

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