Pick Up Your Cross And Follow Jesus By Pastor Fee Soliven Matthew 10:34-38 Sunday Morning October 1, 2017

34 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth 34 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; 36 and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.'  

37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.  

Sometimes we might wonder why a plan of ours doesn’t turn out as we had hoped 

Genesis 11:1-9 1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.  

4 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." 5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.  

6 And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."    

8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Genesis 9:7 “And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it."  

Genesis 11:4 4 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."  

(Living Bible Version) Isaiah 14:27 (Living Bible Version) “The Lord, the God of battle, has spoken-who can change his plans? When his hand moves, who can stop him?"  

  Isaiah 55:8-9 8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. 9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Matthew 8:16-17 16 When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, 17 that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: "He Himself took our infirmities And bore our sicknesses."

The Consequences of Leaving God Out of Our Plans  

1. We can’t claim God’s Promise of Provision and Protection

2. We can’t Honestly ask the Lord for His Blessing

3. The absence of God in our plans limits the possibilities of whatever we do

4. Leaving God out of our plans reveals our Pride  

5. If we don’t seek God’s guidance, we may choose less than He would have provided  

Isaiah 40:31 “But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.”  

Results of Disobedience to God  

Confusion

 1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”  

Conflict

Hebrews 12:14-17 14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: 15 looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

16 lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. 17 For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears.  

Cost

1 John 3:4-9 4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.  

6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.  

8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

Loss

 Regret

Pain

 Disaster

Discipline

Proverbs 3:5-6 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

1. When you are making plans, do you ask the Lord for guidance?

2. What situations cause you to remember to ask Him for direction?

3. Which decisions do you usually make on your own?

4. What hard lessons have you learned from leaving God out of your plans or jumping ahead of Him?  

5. What blessings have you enjoyed as a result of seeking His guidance and following Him in obedience?