{"id":11858,"date":"2020-10-08T20:00:17","date_gmt":"2020-10-09T03:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/luke_14_12-24-copy\/"},"modified":"2020-10-04T17:59:20","modified_gmt":"2020-10-05T00:59:20","slug":"luke_14_25-35","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/luke_14_25-35\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Following Jesus Mean Hating My Family?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luke 14:25-35\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Luke 14:25-35.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Luke 14:25-26 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n25\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 25-26:\u00a0\u00a0Do I literally need to hate my parents, my wife, my kids, and my siblings in order to follow Jesus?\u00a0\u00a0No.\u00a0\u00a0God calls us to love our neighbours, especially our immediate family (see 1 Timothy 5:8; 1 Timothy 3:5).\u00a0\u00a0So what does Jesus mean in verse 26?\u00a0\u00a0Here\u2019s what I think Jesus means: to truly follow Jesus means that your number one priority in life is your relationship with Jesus Christ, and that your number one loyalty and allegiance is to Jesus Christ, far above and beyond anyone else in this world.\u00a0\u00a0In fact what I have found in my own life and seen in the lives of others is that when you put Jesus first, it makes you a better lover of your family.\u00a0\u00a0You become a more selfless husband or wife, a wiser parent or child, a better sibling.\u00a0 In the end, to know and follow Jesus first is the best thing you can do to love your family.<\/p>\n

Luke 14:27 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 27:\u00a0\u00a0What does it mean to \u201ccarry your cross\u201d?\u00a0\u00a0Didn\u2019t Jesus go to the cross so that we wouldn\u2019t have to?\u00a0\u00a0Yes, Jesus died on the cross for our sins in our place.\u00a0\u00a0But\u00a0to carry my cross means that as a follower of Jesus, I submit to God\u2019s plans for my life and I am willing to suffer for Jesus<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s about having an attitude of surrender to God and being willing to suffer for His name.\u00a0\u00a0Elsewhere in Luke 9:23 Jesus says that we are to take up our cross\u00a0daily<\/em>, which means every day our attitude should be \u201cJesus, my life belongs to You and I live for Your glory\u201d.<\/p>\n

Luke 14:28-33 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“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?
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him,
\n30\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“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?
\n32\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0If 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.
\n33\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 27-33:\u00a0\u00a0Before you make any big decision, count the cost.\u00a0\u00a0Make sure you are able to live up to your promises and commitments before you make them.\u00a0Think clearly and thoroughly before making a major decision that affects you and those in your care.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

How does this relate to following Jesus (v33)?\u00a0\u00a0Following Jesus means surrendering everything you have to Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s saying, \u201cJesus, I\u2019ve counted everything I have and it all belongs to You.\u00a0\u00a0Do as You wish with all of it.\u00a0\u00a0Use it for Your glory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Luke 14:34-35 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n34\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?
\n35\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 34-35:\u00a0\u00a0Elsewhere Jesus calls his followers \u201cthe salt of the earth\u201d (Matthew 5:13).\u00a0\u00a0What does salt do?\u00a0\u00a0Salt preserves.\u00a0\u00a0Salt brings flavour.\u00a0\u00a0When a city is frozen over, people use salt to melt the ice on the streets.\u00a0\u00a0Salt is used to heal.\u00a0\u00a0Similarly, like salt, God uses us to bring the flavour of life to the people around us.\u00a0 Like salt, God uses us to preserve the Word of God so that people can see how it is relevant, useful and applicable to people\u2019s lives today.\u00a0 Like salt, God uses us to melt icy places with God\u2019s love.\u00a0 Like salt, God uses us to heal those who are hurting.\u00a0\u00a0But\u00a0if we lose Jesus, the one who makes us salty, we lose our ability to fulfill our God-given purpose in this world.\u00a0\u00a0So whatever you do, hang on to Jesus.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Jesus, may my relationship with You always be my number one priority, knowing that when I love you first, I become a better lover of my family.\u00a0 Please give me wisdom to count the cost before I make major decisions that affect me and my family.\u00a0\u00a0Today I declare that every good thing I have comes from You and belongs to You.\u00a0\u00a0Use it all for Your glory.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Luke 14:25-35.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Luke 14:25-26 (NIV)\u00a0
\n25\u00a0\u00a0Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:\u00a0
\n26\u00a0\u00a0“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.<\/p>\n

On verses 25-26:\u00a0\u00a0Do I literally need to hate my parents, my wife, my kids, and my siblings in order to follow Jesus?\u00a0\u00a0No.\u00a0\u00a0God calls us to love our neighbours, especially our immediate family (see 1 Timothy 5:8; 1 Timothy 3:5).\u00a0\u00a0So what does Jesus mean in verse 26?\u00a0\u00a0Here\u2019s what I think Jesus means: to truly follow Jesus means that your number one priority in life is your relationship with Jesus Christ, and that your number one loyalty and allegiance is to Jesus Christ, far above and beyond anyone else in this world.\u00a0\u00a0In fact what I have found in my own life and seen in the lives of others is that when you put Jesus first, it makes you a better lover of your family.\u00a0\u00a0You become a more selfless husband or wife, a wiser parent or child, a better sibling.\u00a0 In the end, to know and follow Jesus first is the best thing you can do to love your family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11860,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11858"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11859,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11858\/revisions\/11859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11860"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}