Freedom Calls

“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.”

Luke 9:23-24 NIV

1. Self-Denial:

Charles Spurgeon:

“Deny yourselves, and take up your cross daily, and follow me.” This is the royal summons of the Savior. The cross is not to be taken up once for all, and then laid aside, but daily. The world, with all its pleasures, is to be crucified to us, and we to it. – Charles Spurgeon

Luke 9:23 “Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

Luke 9:23 NIV

A.W. Tozer:

“The cross is not a symbol of mere martyrdom, but of a life deliberately given up for God’s purposes. It is the daily denial of self, the taking up of the cross, and the following of Jesus in the way of obedience and sacrifice.” – A.W. Tozer

Matthew 16:24 “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Matthew 16:24 NIV

Mark 8:34, Luke 9:23

2. Suffering:

C.S. Lewis:

“God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts to us in our pains. It is in pain that the whole world is brought to a standstill, and we are forced to face, hands empty, the fact that it is God we want.” – C.S. Lewis

Job 23:10-11 “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.”

Job 23:10 NIV

Psalm 66:10-12 “For you, God, tested us; you refined us like silver.”

Psalms 66:10 NIV

Romans 5:3-4 “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;”

Romans 5:3-4

A.W. Tozer:

“Suffering is not an enemy to be overcome, but a friend to be embraced. It is the fire through which gold is tested and proven. The furnace of affliction is the crucible of the soul, where the impurities of self-will and self-reliance are burned away, leaving only the pure gold of faith and trust in God.” – A.W. Tozer

Isaiah 48:10 “See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.”

Isaiah 48:10 NIV

1 Peter 1:6-7 “In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”

1 Peter 1:6 NIV

Revelation 3:18 “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.”

Revelation 3:18 NIV

3. Self-Sacrifice:

Charles Spurgeon:

“The love of Christ constrains us to sacrifice ourselves for the good of others. We are bought with a price, and that price was the blood of Christ. Therefore, we ought to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable unto God.” – Charles Spurgeon

2 Corinthians 5:14-15 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”

Romans 12:1 NIV

C.S. Lewis:

“The command to ‘love your neighbor as yourself’ does not, of course, mean that we are to love him in the same way as we love ourselves. If we did, we would never be able to help him in the least. It means that we are to love him as ourselves, in the sense that we are to regard his interests as on the same level as our own.” – C.S. Lewis

Mark 12:31 “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.””

Mark 12:31 NIV

Galatians 5:14 “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.””

Galatians 5:14 NIV

By understanding the importance of self-denial, suffering, and self-sacrifice in the Christian life.

By embracing these principles, we can experience the transformative power of a relationship with God and follow in the footsteps of Jesus, please God, be made ready for Heaven and show this broken pain machine of a world ‘good dreams’ of the Love of Christ, the Power of His Holy Spirit and the everlasting loving kindness of our Heavenly Father.