Day 9 of a 21 day fast

Matthew 16:21-28 

Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

21 pFrom that time Jesus began to show his disciples that qhe must go to Jerusalem and rsuffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on sthe third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord!5 This shall never happen to you.” 23 But he turned and said to Peter, t“Get behind me, Satan! You are ua hindrance6 to me. For you vare not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him wdeny himself and xtake up his cross and follow me. 25 For xwhoever would save his life7 will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For ywhat will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or zwhat shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 aFor the Son of Man is going to come with bhis angels in the glory of his Father, and cthen he will repay each person according to what he has done. 28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not dtaste death euntil they see the Son of Man fcoming in his kingdom.”

Jesus is asking you if you will deny yourself and take up your cross and follow him.  When we partake in suffering for the sake of the kingdom we give God something to work with.  He longs to honor us and place a crown of glory on our heads.  Let us partake of the cup of suffering by denying our flesh today.  As we deny our flesh we are sowing to our spirit and as we sow to the spirit we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.  
Our suffering is really nothing compared to what the Lord endured for us.  We are humbled by our God as we fast and pray because we recognize just how weak and needy we are and we realize how God knows that about us and delights in us despite our pitiful nature.  

We love you today Lord in all our brokenness and in all our meager attempts to suffer for your sake.  We say that You are worth it today and every day.  We give you this day and our appetites and we ask that you work with us today in a way that would rid us of the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.  We want to be a pleasing fragrance to you Lord and we know that you delight in our weakness.  So we choose you over our earthly desires today and ask that you help us to walk in the spirit so we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.  You are so worth it Jesus!  It is all for you!  In your name we ask all these things......... AMEN!

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