Tuesday,
March 10, 2026
LOSING TO GAIN!
Matt 16:24-25
24 Then said Jesus unto his
disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever will save his
life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Jesus had just told the
disciples that
He would be arrested, hastily tried, and crucified. Peter resisted this plan of
the Master but did not know that it was a devilish response. I’m sure that it
stung when Jesus said: “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me:
for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of
men.” Matt 16:23
No pain, no gain! That is what is commonly
said. But do we understand it when Jesus says it to us? We are in a great
battle between evil and good. There will be injuries and casualties. Satan
means business and we had better mean business too.
Peter’s mistake was that he was thinking like
an ordinary man instead of like a child of God. Perhaps he had missed the part
about Jesus rising again the third day. His focus was only on pain and death.
Only a fool would not want to avoid pain and death.
To deny self does not mean to deny things.
It means to give yourself wholly to Christ and share in His shame and death.
Rom 11:36
12 I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Dear Lord, the pain you have
prescribed for me is not at all enjoyable. Let it produce in me the growth and
fruit you intend. AMEN
