Romans 12:10

10: Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

Proverbs 18:24 "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer then a brother."  I think that by saying brotherly affection Paul means being brothers in Christ which is much closer then I often think of when we think of our actual brothers and sisters.  John 13:34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. Jesus loved us by not only giving up His life but doing it in a horribly graphic way. Beat to the point of not even being able to tell that He was a man. Not only that but he had the weight of all of our sins on his soldiers. Jesus didn't have a bad mind set about this instead he asked the Father to forgive us. All through out the new testament Jesus talks about the importance of loving people even to the point of saying it is the second greatest commandment. On the outside I can do this well, but once I realize what I actually think about people I realize how I do not have the same mind set of Christ. I was a middle school leader this last year and one of my favorite parts was watching how innocent they were. These kids get alog so well because they are not picking apart everything about each other.

Application: I have come to realize that I can catch my thoughts but that is about the extent of what I can do. All of these thoughts come from a heart problem. I pray that I can have a heart like Christ, loving every person for who they are.

Mark 8:38

38: For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the Holy angels.

This verse says a couple different things to me. The first thing that sticks out is the fact that he talks about how he is coming back and this gives me hope because it reminds me of Revelation 21:1-7. The second thing that stands out is how I am no longer ashamed of Him but that is not by my own doing it is because He has called and shown Himself to me. It amazes me that we serve a God who wants to help me come to Him. The application today is a little different, it is in fact to keep in mind that we win in the end but also to remember that all the Glory belongs to him because it is not my own doing.

Mark 8:37

37: For what can a man give in return for his soul?

When I first look at this verse my first reaction is that there is nothing that I can give in return. All I can do is "deny myself." This phrase however is becoming christianese to me. As soon as people asking me what I am learning I say how to deny myself. This is kind of an easy way out and I am not a fan of that so I must practically ask myself what I can do to deny myself. There are of course a lot of things I could do but the thing that sticks out the most is praying more. I need to set aside time each day to pray for others and for myself. This is not it though I need to set aside my doubts and trust that I have a faithful God who will answer.

Mark 8:36

36: For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

It looks here like Jesus is asking a rhetorical question. Obviously there is not profit if you forfeit your soul, in other words forfeit eternal life for the things of this world. It seems simple when we are asked this question straight forward. Although we are asked this question daily even in the little things and I so often choose to forfeit my soul. This is a verse that I should ask myself with each step of the day, asking myself if I am going the way of Jesus or trying to gain the world piece by piece.

Mark 8:35

35: For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it.

Jesus in the last verse talked about denying yourself and picking up your cross and it would seem that in this verse he is doing the same thing. He is further building on the point that if we pick up our crosses for His sake and the gospels that our life will be saved. Here I see Jesus looking at our heart, he is saying that picking up your cross is not enough but we should be doing it for a purpose, which is to Glorify Him and the gospel with our lives.

Application: To look at my heart and see if I am losing my life to follow after Christ for the gospels sake.

Mark 8:34

34:  And calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, He said to them, "if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

At first this is a real shocking comment. Jesus just got done telling the disciples about the fact that he will be killed, then he tells everyone to deny themselves, take up their crosses and follow him. The thing that I am learning about this is that it is not a one time thing but a daily thing. Now I am not sure about everyone else but this is a scary thought to me because I know how I tend to get worn out and eventually give up. I so often think about this verse and think "okay now today I have to deny myself, I have to do a better job this time." It turns out that this is the wrong approach because I am following after a God who has not only been there but feels my pain and wants to help.
Application: Today and from now on I want to remember that not only iis the Holy Spirit here to help me but he wants to help me, because His way is better. All I have to do is deny myself.

Acts 12:9

Peter is now dressed awake and ready to escape the prison. We see here an answer to prayer. All it is taking is for Peter to follow the angel and then he will be out safely. This is a lesson that I have been learning this week which is not to worry about the little things but instead just to follow. Peter is not worrying about whether the guards will see him or if he is making to much noise but just going where the angel goes. In my life I often worry about a lot of things. This verse to me means that I should not worry about these things but instead just follow after Christs example. The perfect verse for this is Acts 2:42 "And they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and the fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers." This is the early church dedicating themselves to what Christ has taught them, and this is what I should do without worrying about all the little things.