TRUST Related Bible Verses and Tags

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John 7:38(KJV)
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John 7:38(KJV)
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Ephesians 3:20(KJV)
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Ephesians 3:20(KJV)
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Ephesians 3:20(KJV)
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Ephesians 3:20(KJV)
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Ephesians 3:20(KJV)
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Ephesians 3:20(KJV)
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Ephesians 3:20(KJV)
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Ephesians 3:20(KJV)
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Ephesians 3:20(KJV)
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Psalms 46:10(KJV)
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John 7:38(KJV)
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Galatians 6:8(KJV)
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Romans 15:5(KJV)
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Series 8: Eternal Values – 1. Counting the Cost Today the CEO of our company came in and sat down with me. She told me of a young employee who had given a notice to chase a “dream” job. She asked, “can we retain her – I don’t want to lose her.” So, we discussed various company needs, positions available, salaries, and opportunities. I showed her the ranges we had to work with, and we thought through possibilities. Then we called the employee. In this passage, Jesus Christ starts with the disciple’s willingness to give up their father and mother (his past), his wife (his present), his children (legacy), brothers and sisters (strength and comfort), to say unilaterally – they cannot be my disciple (Luke 14:26). He follows this up with, “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27 ESV). This reminds me of another passage: "After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:66 ESV). This has got to be one of the more difficult passages to swallow. But it’s not just because Jesus Christ said, “you have to give these things up;” he also said, “You need to carry your cross and follow me” (Luke 14:27). Here’s genuinely a most unamiable give and take situation. The final word here is, “renounce all that you have or just keep your old life” (Luke 14:33). And it begs the question, “If I have to lose everything, who I was, am, and could be in this life, what am I gaining; what’s the value of such a great cost?” We realize the clarity of this injunction when we read about the rich young ruler who “came up to him [Jesus], saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” (Matthew 19:16 ESV). Jesus said, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me” (Matthew 19:21 ESV). I can almost hear the young man question the difference between “good” and “perfect” as he turns away sorrowfully; suffering a last cruel blow as Jesus says, “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23 ESV). The old song’s refrain reads, There’s a Heaven to gain, and a Hell to shun; The way is still straight, there’s a race to be run. You can live as you please, but you must pay the cost; And the highway to Heaven still goes by the cross. And we are left still with the question – “what am I to get – what am I buying?” Jesus Christ asks us to repent – not in simple superficial ways that compel no real change, but the repentance He calls us to is deep and divisive; we must rend ourselves from a world known and present. Perhaps we see it first in John’s refusal to baptize some, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:7-8 ESV). Jesus didn’t back away from this; He preached, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17 ESV). Here it’s clear that divorce is of a father/mother – it’s turning from a heritage and an identity to a whole new heritage and identity. The link to family then is quick and clear – these notions of self are derived most closely from family influences and learned most directly from a father and mother. So, Jesus points to family, firstly our father and mother, and says, “let them go.” But what is it that is to fill that gap, that wretched hole? Few relationships make such indelible impressions on one. If these are good, there is no calculating the pride and privilege they add to a life – kings and queens are made of fathers and mothers. And the converse is true, the wretchedness of one’s parents brings incalculable hardships to life. But what I love about this is that Jesus says, “you can give that up – the good, the bad, the ugly – whatever it is, I empower you to let it go and to walk free from it.” You don’t have to live in a palace or prison of your past. For most, it’s a mixed bag of goodies. But Jesus says, “turn away from it.” I love that. He doesn’t give you a choice; he says you must do it. Whatever it was, He says, “cut that chain.” And you gain a new life. In The Road Not Taken, Frost writes, “Yet knowing how way leads on to way,” to illustrate the nascent knowledge each of us carries – our past has led us here, but if we drop that past, our present can no longer be, it must shift also. Some of us hold to what we have with the tightest of grips – it’s all we know, and we’ve scraped it out as best we could with the tools we had. But He has something new for you – there’s new life. Remember that the past impregnates your future through your present. Let it go! Take the new road! Shift your vision to a new thing. He’s got this. He knows the plans He has for you (Jeremiah 29:11). There is freedom from not just the bondage of a past but freedom from the present, and this freedom is to bring you into a future He has planned for you. Will you let Him do it? Let it go! You have to see it – the plan is not just for you; it’s for your generations! Catch it – Jeremiah is praying for a nation, not a person. He’s seeking the will of God for a whole people. Moses intercedes for a nation, saying, “But now, if you will forgive their sin—but if not, please blot me out of your book that you have written” (Exodus 32:32 ESV). They knew that God was infinite, that a plan was in place that extended beyond yonder horizon. And those in the mix now had meaning for that future plan. Jeremiah, Moses, and Esther bet on that long shot – when you give up your past, you place your future in a new trajectory. We’ve said that you gain a heaven and you lose a hell, but often the question fixes on the immediate – that hole that aches. And so it’s true, you gotta count the cost – if you give all this up, what are you getting in exchange. Paul writes, “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17 ESV). Remember, first, Jesus said the Kingdom was at hand” (Matthew 4:17 ESV) – it’s now; you can enter the Kingdom now. So, Paul’s comments have greater value – what we buy is righteousness, peace, and joy through the indwelling spirit of God. There is this power to live correctly, with integrity and accuracy that establishes and sustains one in the way. There is the peace in knowing that God is in control, that while it may look blight and blemished, sometimes we have to take the long look and wait for the plan to unfold – but there’s peace in the waiting. And there’s this joy, joy unspeakable – it’s beyond the settling peace and surety that comes; it’s happiness in knowing you're in His hands and aligned with Him. #Christ #faith #Godisgood #PrayerChanges #truthseeker #Faith #responding #biblestudy #trust #calledout #disciples #changeyourlife #calledtoserve #jesus #Jesus #spirituality #jesuslovesyou
John 6:66(KJV)
Matthew 19:23(KJV)
Romans 14:17(KJV)
Exodus 32:32(KJV)
Matthew 19:16(KJV)
Luke 14:27(KJV)
Matthew 4:17(KJV)
Jeremiah 29:11(KJV)
Matthew 19:21(KJV)
Matthew 3:7-8(KJV)
Luke 14:33(KJV)
Luke 14:26(KJV)
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