We would like to invite you to join us in intercession for the upcoming MTC 2012 gathering in Chicago. The MTC prayer team will be preparing weekly prayer guides to help us align our hearts. Please click here for the Week 1 Prayer Guide.
Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” – Luke 9:23-27
We ended last week’s message with the exhortation to “run after Jesus, and not just after His blessings”. This exhortation was given to me by a very talented entrepreneur from China and I feel that it well encapsulates the heart attitude necessary to steward enormous “kingdom authority” – the capability, influence, and wealth that can move the “7 mountains”. It is also an outcome of pursuing the road of the cross, of exercising faith and humility, of self-denial and giving up of our “rights”.
For many of us with grand ambitions to make a mark in Christ’s Kingdom with our careers, we can often deem “running after Jesus’ blessings” as equivalent to “running after Jesus”. In reality, there is a night a day difference between the two. That becomes apparent as we step forward to “lose our lives for Christ”.
Over 18 years ago, I heard God’s 10,500 call and readily responded. As an ambitious young professional with a burning desire to witness to the world, I was enamored by the enormous kingdom authority associated with this call. I pursued the 10,500 with fiery aspiration and constantly sought to validate my progress by “measuring” Jesus’ blessings in my career, finances, company strength, and access to influential people. In using such “blessings” to gauge success, I became confused and frustrated when God finally led me to the road of self-denial as He stripped me of everything connected with kingdom authority. This desert season that came full-on a few years ago, began to awaken me to the reality that I was trying to “gain the world” by “saving my life”, by pursuing after Jesus’ blessings over Jesus.
For many market place believers, one of the most precarious (not precious) places to stand is where our ambitions seem to “line up” with Christ’s Kingdom agenda – His desire to bless His church with kingdom authority. In that place of “alignment”, we can blindly rationalize our ambition for “Jesus’ blessings” by justifying that it all falls within God’s agenda. God disciplines those He loves. He will prepare His stewards of kingdom authority by bringing them to “lose their lives for Christ”. That path of the cross will take us to Jesus, without us being blinded by His blessings.
Perhaps you may be one who has responded to God’s Kingdom call and are going through experiences similar to mine. I am still walking through the desert today not knowing when the next “oasis” will show up. Take heart! The greater the call, the greater the “loss of ourselves”, so be encouraged! It’s a painful process but God wants the best for us. Ambition is stressful and He wants to give us self-denial to relax our hearts and minds – fashioning us into containers of greater responsibility, greater kingdom authority.
Next week, we hope to further strengthen our faith in “losing our lives for Christ” through Abraham’s testimony.
Market Place Reflection and Prayer
Many of you have mentioned that you use these messages as weekly studies with your workplace fellowship. We encourage you to share your reflections and prayer at the “168prayer.org” blog site.
- In what ways has God brought to you “lose your life for Christ” in your workplace, fellowship, and home?
- In the way you develop your career (or your children’s eventual career), how do you see the differences between pursuing after Jesus versus running after Jesus’ blessings?
Jesus, we want to see the beauty of who You are. We want to become the reflection of You, as you have created us to be.
