Speaker 1: Most of us eat every day, some of us too
much because yesterday's food is not enough to supply energy
for today's needs. Why then, do some of us expect
yesterday's portion of heavenly manna the word of God to
keep us through today's challenges. On this program, we are
going to change all of that. Let's experience God's words
today and receive the power we need to live healthy,
vibrant lives. Welcome to Your Daily Portion with your host,
author speaker, Elle David Harris.
Speaker 2: Good morning, Good morning, Good morning. It is Monday, August twelve,
twenty twenty four. Hello, my name is Elle David Harris.
I am your host, and this is your Daily Portion
where we give you God's Word every single day and
today is no exception. We are continuing in our Lesson
study series through the Book of Mark, and our caption
for today is the Cost of Discipleship, The cost of
disciples Before we get into that, I'd like to say
welcome to you and ask you to please go over
to your Daily Portion dot com. Please join our online community,
pick up the Your Daily Portion book, and let us
know where you are in the world at your Daily
Portion dot Com. This is one of the ways that
we continue to build faith and fellowship. Let's go ahead
and pray, and then we will get underway. Father in Heaven,
thank you for giving us the opportunity to open your
word today. And I pray that we will count the
cost that we will invest ourselves fully in living for
you and helping others to do the same. Please in
Jesus name, I pray, Amen, and amen again the cost
of discipleship. All right, So what we're going to do
is read from the Book of Mark chapter eight and
see what God has to say to us there. And
the Bible reads, and he began to teach them that
the son of Man must suffer many things, and be
rejected of the elders and of the chief priests and
the scribes, and be killed after three days, then rise again.
And so Jesus is giving his disciples a heads up.
I know that this text doesn't necessarily apply, but there
is a passage in the Prophets right where it says
God doesn't do anything. He doesn't do anything, and we
will say important unless he first reveals it, or reveals
those secrets to his prophets. That was then, but even still,
he's speaking to his people not necessarily that they are
prophets or whatever, but he's speaking to his people in
this moment and saying, I am going to do something
very important. Now, the prophecies already foretold what he was
going to do. Daniel was very clear that three and
a half years after Jesus appears as Messiah, the Prince,
or the anointed one, then he would be cut off.
He would be cut off not for himself but for
his people, so he would give his life and become
a ransom for many. Now, with all of this in
the discussion, I'm wondering, how in the world did chapter
thirty two even happen. And he spake that saying openly,
and Peter took him and began to rebuke him. What Now,
I understand Peter was in his feelings, like I understand,
Peter may not have wanted this to happen. Peter may
have been thinking, oh, wait a minute, well, if Jesus
is gone, what's going to happen to us? But Peter,
you're supposed to be, first of all, listening to what
Jesus is saying. He's in living color, like he's right
in front of you telling you how things will be right.
But besides that, everything else that I just said is true.
The prophecies foretold exactly what would happen to Jesus. And
when it's interesting and well, Peter took him and rebuked him.
But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples,
he rebuked Peter, saying, and then he starts firing on
the real enemy. He looks at Peter, he rebukes him,
and then he says, get thee behind me, Satan. He's
not calling Peter satan, but he knows that we don't
wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers
and rulers, of the darkness of this world, and spiritual
wickedness and high places. So he knew what was driving
Peter's ungodly, unfaithful response to Jesus. And so he now
fires on the devil and says, get thee behind me, Satan,
For thou savorest not the things that be of God,
but the things that be of men. You see, if
Jesus didn't do exactly what he said he would do,
if he wasn't going to suffer many things, if he
wasn't going to be rejected of the elders and of
the chief priests and scribes and be killed. Then all
of us would have been lost. It's to be killed,
part like if Jesus didn't give his life on the
cross at Calvary, then we all would have lost our souls.
But Peter needs to be looking at the rest of
what Jesus said. And he said, now, after all of
that has happened, then I will I will I wake
back up like I'm going to be resurrected after three days.
So what was Peter's issue in that moment? Peter's eyesight
was limited, his vision was was crushed. He couldn't see
as God sees, and he chose not to follow where
Jesus was leading. You see, so we need to get
out of our feelings. We need to listen to what
God says. And then when the rewards the benefits, even
though they come with trials, but when they do come,
then we can say, well, we thank God, why because
great peace have they that love Thy law? And nothing
shall cause him or her to offend or to go
away from God. And so we thank God that Jesus
dealt with this thing clearly, so that Peter would know
and with the other disciples know exactly what was going
on Verse thirty four, Verse thirty four. And when he
called the people unto him with his disciples, also he said,
unto them, whosoever will come after me, let him deny
himself and take up his cross and follow me. Or
whosoever shall save his life shall lose it. So if
you love this world, Peter, as it is, if you
love this predictable thing as things are predictable on planet Earth,
and then you won't go through trials or tribulation, then Peter,
you need to be thinking. Whoever shall lose his life,
whoever shall lose his life will save it. Whoever shall
lose his life for my sake, and the Gospels the
same shall save it. Right, So, if you protect your
life as it is today, then you're going to lose eternity.
If you yield yourself fully, yield your life to God,
then in eternity you will have life everlasting. And the
Bible continues verse thirty six four. What shall it profit
a man if he shall gain the whole world and
lose his own soul? Listen, I'm a coach, and I
coach sixty seven and eight figure US income earners and
one of the principles that we keep very close as
we develop in certain key areas is that you can
have all the one the money that you want. But
if your relationship with God is off is off, then
it doesn't make sense. If your relationships are unhealthy on
planet Earth, then it doesn't make sense. Love for God,
love for humanity. If your personal development is not on
par with what God would have it to be, then
what does it profit me to make six figures, seven figures,
eight figures. I haven't coached anyone who's making nine figures,
but I've seen them in the news. What profit would
it be for you to have nine figures? I've never
coached anybody that's making ten figures? But what would it
profit a person who is a billionaire that if they
lose their soul, or their earthly relationships are in shambles,
or if they are not clear on what God has
called them to do, what would it be? What good
would it be? Or what does it profit a man
if he should gain the entire world and lose his
own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me
and of my words in this adulterous generation and sinful
generation of him. Also shall the son of Man be
ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his father
and with holy aangel. You see, God has given us
the blueprint. He has given us what it takes to
yield our will to God and what is at stake.
The question is are we willing? Are you willing, brothers
and sisters to heed Jesus's guidance? And from the book
Desire of Ages, page four hundred and fifteen, Peter's words
were not such as would be a help and solace
to Jesus in the great trial before him. They were
not in harmony with God's purpose of grace toward the
lost world, nor with the self lesson of self sacrifice
that Jesus had come to teach by his own example.
And so we thank God that Jesus rebuked the situation,
so that we can see that the cost of discipleship
is high, but Jesus paid it all.
Speaker 1: Thanks for joining us listening, friends, Always remember we cannot
live by bread alone, but by every word that comes
from the mouth of God. This has been your daily
portion with el David Harris, make it a great day. Yeah,