- There is a harsh distinction between “following Jesus in the crowd” and “being a disciple.”
- Luke 14:25-33: A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’ “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
- Being a disciple has a cost; factor in the cost
- You can like the sound or feeling of being Marked, but few really “check the price.” Being marked has a cost.
- People always want to talk about the promise without the price. You can be marked for something, but if you don’t consider the cost, it will lead to a life of pain.
Being Marked is Going to Cost You
1. Being Marked will cost you your plan.
- Your plan may not align with God’s purpose in your life. Therefore, you must love God far more than your plan. You are going to have to choose between God’s promise and your plan.
- The “as long as” excuse will not work. You have to go 100% for God, even if you have a “set for stone” plan.
- When Jesus said to hate your family, friends, etc. in Luke 14:25-33, He was talking about the Jewish tradition/importance of social standing and society expectations.
2. Being Marked will cost you your pattern
- Many of us have patterns that directly fight against God’s plan, which leads you on a never-ending cycle.
- You may have the ability to cut off family, friends, and society’s expectations / plans but you also have to cut off your micromanagement, control, or selfish patterns for you to be marked and efficiently used by God.
- Stop catering to your patterns instead of His purpose. You’re going to have to address your patterns and give it to God.
3. Being Marked will cost you your pleasure
- Many people think that being marked means being crowned, but few think about carrying their cross. If you only think about the crown, you’ll only go as far as your comfort zone will take you or how others will think of you.
- Being marked means carrying your cross, which means that your plans, patterns, and pleasures have to die; where you have to die.
- Nobody is marked like you. Don’t compare / copy others’ marked purpose when others in your circle is waiting on you. You can’t be them and they can’t be you. Carry your own cross because God didn’t grace you with somebody else’s.
Being Marked is Designed to Make You Dependent
- You can’t pay the cost of being marked with “credit” (e.g. loss of yourself, time, energy), but you’re only hurting yourself. Why pay when somebody already paid the cost? Jesus already paid the ultimate cost of dying on the cross and rising from the dead.
- You cannot fulfill your purpose alone, you were never supposed to. The goal was supposed to bring you to the end of yourself, to understand that your life is bigger than you, so you can turn to God.
- To be marked, we have to check the price, and God already paid for it to help us.
- Philippians 2:13: For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Notes for Week 1:
Tinsai Worke
Hi! My name is Tinsai Worke, but you can just call me Tina. I am a young, devoted Christian and a part-time note-taker for different online sermons.
