They lived as they had nothing to lose . and Christ was gain . They were disciples .

Michael Collum

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They lived as they had nothing to lose . and Christ was gain . They were disciples .

I was thinking of a study . but not sure what . and in my mind came "Luke 14" and i didn't really know what it was when the passage came to mind . but here is what came of the study . feel free to jump in with what your eyes see and what your ears hear from God's breeze .

Luke 14 1One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. 2There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?" 4But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. 5Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?" 6And they had nothing to say.
7When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: 8"When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. 9If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, 'Give this man your seat.' Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. 10But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. 11For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."
12Then Jesus said to his host, "When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
From the sabbath example i see that Mercy is always good regardless of the time of the week . or mercy is always in season .

From the wedding seats example i see that the logic of the kingdom is to pick the lowest spot first . or you'll feel like a total donkey .

And from the throw-a-banquet example i see that the logic of the kingdom is to do things that do not benefit you at all but benefit others . Though it is a thankless duty, God sees these things and your trust in Him and the world to come that He offers instead of circumstances and what benefits you directly now .

What do your eyes see? and what do your ears hear?

15When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, "Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the kingdom of God." 16Jesus replied: "A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. 17At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited, 'Come, for everything is now ready.'
18"But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, 'I have just bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please excuse me.'
19"Another said, 'I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me.'
20"Still another said, 'I just got married, so I can't come.'
21"The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind and the lame.'
22" 'Sir,' the servant said, 'what you ordered has been done, but there is still room.'
23"Then the master told his servant, 'Go out to the roads and country lanes and make them come in, so that my house will be full. 24I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet.' "
What i learn from this parable is . God may seem to excuse your excuses . but when you make an excuse and the result is not serving Him . God finds someone else to fill your seat . and God is no respecter of persons . if you who have something to lose don't follow him . what makes you think God will not commission someone who has nothing to lose? Take every opportunity to love someone as Jesus loved you . people are in your life for a reason .

But what do your eyes see? and what do your ears hear?


25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
34"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? 35It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
This is one of the harder sayings . and quite often i flip to the Matthew alternative in the first part . and expound from mark what the saltiness means to make it sound nicer . but the passage has been assigned to me . so here goes .

So a whole bunch of people were following Jesus and then he says something like .. SAY WHAT? and i reason to hate all these people and even your own life is to put these people last before God . and to put your own life .. last also .

The carrying of the cross and the relational statements seems to be explained by the parable after it . So what is meant by carrying the cross and the hate directives is to give up everything you have in every way .

so, it would mean .. hmm am i a disciple? am i covetous of everything? of anything? is my method of ministering online an idol at the same time? but learning from this lesson i will ask myself these questions . but will let the Lord stir up similar questions in your heart . but i will leave these questions for self reflection, to ask Jesus, am i your disciple? and to ask yourself, Do i want to be Jesus' disciple?

So those who act as though they have nothing to lose for Jesus . not in a carnal way . but in the way he teaches us to be . are the salt of the earth . the other half of the salt is that the salt is the peace we keep with one another . blessed are the peacemakers, the children of God .

Do your ears hear and do your eyes see what God is saying here? what do you see? and what do you hear? and how do your feet and hands and heart respond?

May the Love that God is . captivate your hearts . and make you new again and again . each and every day . and may God help us all as we trust Him to live through us . in Jesus name i pray this . Amen .
 
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