Tuesday 3/5/13 There is a Cost!

Dear Father in Heaven, Thanks for sending Jesus to pay the cost of my salvation.  I love You, Jesus.  Thanks for a great day, and thanks in advance for a good night's sleep tonight.  Please help me today with the message, and please, dear Lord, please watch over all those who read this line and pray for those on our prayer list.  Thanks, Lord, for the blessing of bread that we received today that we were not expecting.  You are wonderful, dear Father.  I pray today for all of my Catholic brothers and sisters and for their church as they work to select a new church leader.  Please bless them, Lord.  Dear Lord, I am saddened to see that gay marriages are going to be performed at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC.  Just another place they are going to try and put you out. Please watch over this line, Lord, and please anoint it to carry out Your work.  In Jesus' name, I pray and give thanks.  Amen.

Good Evening, my dear brothers and sisters.  It was a great day here at the Southern Location of the North Pole.  The day was perfect, just perfect, as only the Lord could make it.  Brothers and sisters, have you noticed that there really is "no free ride" and that four letter word "free" never really means "free"?  This I think is why God has me talking about "There is a cost!"  So let me get to it.

Luke 14:28 - "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower, Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?  29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him.  30 Saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'  31 Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king.  Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?  32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace." 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."  (NIV)

I just love looking back to the "good old days."  Even back in those days if I wanted something I had to figure out just how I was going to get it.  My parents worked hard, they were in the Iron and Steel business. Mamma would "iron and Pop would steal."  I am just kidding, folks, I am just kidding, my parents were both school teachers.  At a very early age I knew that if I wanted something, I had to figure out how I would be able to pay for it.  When I was eight years old, I got my first paper route.  It was not long until I had three paper routes.  I can remember once I wanted a new bicycle and they had a beauty at Miller's Auto Supply in Kline Village which is in Harrisburg, PA.  When I went to D. A. Marshall Elementary School I would go over to Kline Village for lunch.  Each day I would look at that bicycle, and again, it was a beauty.  It was called a "Roadmaster."  It was black and had a tank between the bars which held a horn.  It also had a spring loaded front fork. If I recall, it was in the neighborhood of $75.00.  So how could I come up with that?  I made about $8.00 per week on my paper routes, I made more than that but I had a forced savings account.  I saved some of my lunch money, I put money back each week for the bicycle.  I took my dad to see it, and he said I did not need a new bike and that I should buy a good used one.  He said, Danny, if you got this one, you would just take the fenders off and make it so it would go fast.  And as always, he was right.  But I really wanted that new bike, but there was a cost.  No movies, no sodas, I would need to save every nickel just to pay for it.  Yes, there was a cost if I wanted this.  However, before I had the money saved, they sold the new bicycle, my dream bike was gone.  I did not know they could let another one, and nobody told me that.  So I went and purchased a good used bike and was happy with it.  Even at that, there was a cost to it.  The used bicycle needed some parts, and also tires.  My daddy said he would help me with the cost since I agreed to purchase the used bike.

As I grew older I started to save my dollars for a good used car, and folks, I loved cars and that love has never left me.  I still love cars and I love used ones.  But there is a cost, and folks, there is a cost for all things.  But Jesus said, if we want to be a disciple for Him, we need to give up everything we have.  Here is is in the Bible ...

Luke 14:33 - In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. (NIV)

As I told you, there is a cost for everything.  If you want a roof over your head, you need to buy or rent a house or an apartment.  If you want to have heat in the winter, you must pay for the fuel, be it gas, electric, coal or fuel oil.  You must pay the cost or you freeze.  There is no free ride, folks, no free ride.  I know of people who each week must make a choice, do they purchase food or pay for gas for the car?  If they smoke, they might need to make a choice either to purchase food or feed the habit of smoking.  There is a price.  Folks, whatever we do in life, and we have many choices that happen each day but for each one there is a cost.  Not always is the cost in dollars and cents.

Jesus is using examples that we are looking at today in the scriptures.  He said we must give it all up to be a disciple.  Does He really mean that we must sell our home, move to the street, and not have one thing?  No, but we must be willing to give up what is needed to be a disciple for Him.  Let me use your pastors for an example.  Some of you might think your pastor has a nice cushy job, an easy one.  Hey, here is a man who works three hours on a Sunday morning and gets the rest of the week off.  Not true, when that pastor became a pastor, he, well, pretty much gave up having a personal life.  The phone rings all hours of the night, they have concerns about the bills that the church needs to pay.  They hate to do it, but once in awhile they must preach about money and how it is needed.  Once in awhile they must call their flock to order because of "in-fighting".  Jesus just wants us all to know, if we are going to be a disciple, we need to be willing to give up all things necessary to do that.  WE also need to be willing to answer His all for us.  God knows our every talent and He will use us as a disciple according to the talents that He lent to us.  If we pray to God for an assignment, or like in my case I pray for a message, I must be ready and willing to work on that message of assignment.  If you truly listen to God, He will always see you have the tools to get the job done for Him.  When God spoke to our hearts about a food pantry, He gave us a way to get working on it.  And as the food pantry grows, we must be willing to handle the changes according to God's will and the needs of others.

I think you are understanding what Jesus wants from us, and folks, there is a cost to follow Jesus.  I know that when Jesus calls you there might be times when you say, I just cannot do this, I cannot even get ready for them.  But God works it all out when we pray and trust in Him.  And brothers and sisters, please do not be concerned about the cost of what we must give up for Jesus, look at what He gave up for us ... As I recall, it was HIS LIFE!!!!

Dear Father in Heaven, I am ready to be a disciple, I am ready to be called a son of God, I am ready to serve You.  I know there are times when I seem to be stumbling around, and that is when I am trying to walk without You.  Help me not to do that.  Help us this day, I pray, and Lord, for all the others on the line, I pray that You will touch each of them as they walk with You.  In Jesus' Name, I pray.  Amen.

Now go forth,giving up what is needed to follow Jesus, and walk in His footsteps, in His light, and remember, please, that there was a cost for Jesus to take away your sins.

Love ya, Pastor Dan.