"And Jesus replied, 'Let me assure you that no one has ever given up anything - home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or property - for love of Me and to tell others the Good News, who won't be given back, a hundred times over, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and land - with persecutions! All these will be his here on earth, and in the world to come he shall have eternal life'" (Mark 10:29,30).
What a wonderful promise. God will return to you and me a hundred times over what we invest for Him and His kingdom.
I believe that millions of Christians like ourselves are awakening to the fact that we must be about our Father's business. As I observe God's working in the lives of people around the world through many movements, I am persuaded that the greatest spiritual awakening since Pentecost has already begun.
Jesus said, "Go...and make disciples in all nations." In order to make disciples, we must be disciples ourselves. Like begets like. We produce after our own kind.
The man who is committed to Christ, who understands how to walk in the fullness of the Spirit, is going to influence others and help to produce the same kind of Christians. Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me" (Luke 9:23).
For some, such a call to discipleship may sound too hard. However, in these verses Jesus tells us that we must be willing to give up everything. That this promise has been fulfilled in the lives of all who seek first Christ and His kingdom has been attested to times without number - not always in material things, of course, but in rewards far more meaningful and enriching.
Realizing that God has promised manifold gifts, persecutions, eternal life in exchange for faithfulness and commitment to Him, I vow to make that surrender real and meaningful in my life every day.
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