Luke 9

In my mind this is one of the greatest chapters in the whole Bible:  Jesus feeds the five thousand, Peter confesses Jesus as Christ, Jesus is transfigured into glorious appearance, He teaches that the least shall be the greatest, and twice Jesus foretells His upcoming persecution and death.  The chapter is rich and it has been up next on my devotional list for at least a couple of weeks now but I haven’t got around to it until today – partly because I have been avoiding it.  The Lord in His mercy has also diverted my attention to other Scriptures, but in part I have been avoiding this chapter because I knew what awaited me.  More and more I feel the Lord speaking to me, calling me to be “all in.”  100% for Jesus, as I used to say when I was sixteen years old.  Here are the words I have known have been awaiting me from the Lord.

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.   For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake , he is the one who will save it.  For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?  For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory….”

 
This is scary but good.  Very good.  I feel His life awakening in me in a way I don’t think I have felt for many years, and with His life in me I am beginning to experience the fruit of His Spirit much more than I have in a long long time:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control.