aBible.com     

Luke 9:23 - HOW TO FOLLOW JESUS.

Luke 9:23 (NLT) Then he said to the crowd, 
If any of you wants to be my follower, you must 
turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross 
daily, and follow me.  

Luke 9:23 (NCV) Jesus said to all of them, 
If people want to follow me, they must give up 
the things they want. They must be willing to 
give up their lives daily to follow me."  

COMMENTARY PEARL

   The gospel of Jesus is simple, but that 
doesn't mean it's easy. As Luke records, Jesus said 
we must be willing to give up our lives daily 
to follow Him. There's no other plan. No 
step-by-step directions to follow, no self-help book, no 
stairway to heaven. It's just the dying, the grave, 
and the rising. Day after day after day. 
   Once when I was grousing about something 
that annoyed me, my mentor Roy said, "It's just 
another thing to die to." We laughed but then talked 
seriously about how that's really the attitude faith 
in Jesus requires. Once I started using Roy's 
mantra, I found myself saying it several times a 
day. Turns out there are plenty of opportunities. 
Everywhere we look there's another thing to die to: 
another hurt or frustration, another door in the 
face, another bout of anger or pride, another pang 
of jealousy. All things must be put to death in 
me that Christ may live. 
   The beautiful irony is that it's in those 
very deaths that life is found. It's where true 
power lies - true joy. Because the same God who 
brought Jesus out of the grave reaches down into the 
tombs where I reside and delivers me from the 
clutches of my own darkness and fear, my own bad 
choices, my own laziness, prejudice, and pain. Each 
time I am buried with Christ, He raises me to 
walk in resurrected life. Old things have passed 
away; He is doing something new! by Gwen Ford 
Faulkenberry 
   Faith Step: When faced with moments in 
which you must surrender your will today, say it 
with me: Just another thing to die to." Then 
wait for the rising. [Mornings With Jesus 2021 
Devotional by Guideposts and Zondervan] 

COMMENTARY

   God has given us the power of choice; it 
is ours to exercise. We cannot change our 
hearts, we cannot control our thoughts, our 
impulses, our affections. We cannot make ourselves 
pure, fit for Gods service. But we can choose 
to serve God, we can give Him our will; then He 
will work in us to will and to do according to 
His good pleasure. Thus our whole nature will be 
brought under the control of Christ. 
   Through the right exercise of the will, 
an entire change may be made in the life. By 
yielding up the will to Christ, we ally ourselves 
with divine power. We receive strength from above 
to hold us steadfast. A pure and noble life, a 
life of victory over appetite and lust, is 
possible to everyone who will unite his weak, 
wavering human will to the omnipotent, unwavering 
will of God. MH176, 177  

You need to drink daily at the fountain of 
truth, that you may understand the secret of 
pleasure and joy in the Lord. But you must remember 
that your will is the spring of all your actions. 
This will, that forms so important a factor in 
the character of man, was at the Fall given into 
the control of Satan; and he has ever since been 
working in man to will and to do of his own 
pleasure, but to the utter ruin and misery of man. But 
the infinite sacrifice of God in giving Jesus, 
His beloved Son, to become a sacrifice for sin, 
enables Him to say, without violating one principle 
of His government: Yield yourself up to Me; 
give Me that will; take it from the control of 
Satan, and I will take possession of it; then I can 
work in you to will and to do of My good 
pleasure. When He gives you the mind of Christ, your 
will becomes as His will, and your character is 
transformed to be like Christs character. Is it your 
purpose to do Gods will? Do you wish to obey the 
Scriptures? If any man will come after Me, let him 
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow 
Me. 5T515  

CLOSING THOUGHT

Sanctification is not the work of a moment, 
an hour, a day, but of a lifetime. It is not 
gained by a happy flight of feeling, but is the 
result of constantly dying to sin, and constantly 
living for Christ ... So long as Satan reigns, we 
shall have self to subdue, besetting sins to 
overcome; so long as life shall last, there will be no 
stopping place, no point which we can reach and say, 
I have fully attained. AA560,1 

LINK FOR FURTHER STUDY ON THIS PASSAGE

Luke 9:23 - How To Follow Jesus.

http://www.abible.com/devotions/2019/20190821-1039.html 

YOUR COMMENTS

If anyone has a paraphrase, commentary or 
testimony on this passage of Scripture, either 
personal or otherwise, I would be interested in 
hearing from you.  Thanks in advance and let's keep 
uplifting Jesus that all might be drawn to Him. Fred 
Gibbs  

LINKS WORTH CHECKING OUT

Most Important Decision in Life: 
http://www.youtube.com/embed/WGnEuGwvXqU?rel=0 

A Man without Equal by Bill Bright: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVa7UoruIo 

Seeking God Made Real: 
http://vimeo.com/31489782 

Prayer Made Real: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tc8VdMV26VE 

Importance of Choice: 
http://creationhealth.com/CREATION-Health/Choice [click on video]  

Medical Seminar on Healthful Living by David 
DeRose, MD, MPH: 
https://www.smartlifestyletv.com/lifestart 

LINKS FOR BIBLE STUDIES 

Lifting Up Jesus Bible Studies: 
http://www.liftingupjesus.net/ 

Amazing Facts Bible Studies: 
http://www.amazingfacts.org/bible-study/bible-study-guides.aspx  

Hope Awakens Bible Study Guides: 
https://www.hopeawakens.study/lesson-header;id=2 

Glow Tract Video Bible Studies: 
http://www.bibleresearch.info/ 

LINKS FOR BIBLE PROPHECY SEMINARS

Revelation Now by Pastor Doug Batchelor: 
https://www.revelationnow.com/ 

Unlocking Bible Prophecies by Cami Oetman of 
Adventist World Radio: 
https://bible.awr.org/en/the-signs/ 

Hope Awakens by John Bradshaw of IIW: 
https://itiswritten.tv/programs/hope-awakens 

Prophecies Decoded by Pastor Ron Clouzet: 
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1A435C5373550657