counting the "cost"

this morning ... EARLY morning... so many things on my heart... But God had me praying for various things.... missions, surgeries, expanding families, Neglected no more race, soul bags, and the list goes on.......
as I was praying I started remembering "the cost"  to some they may say What is that??  to some they may say yeah I have heard that.... BUT what does that really mean.. I like to be reminded of the scriptures (well sometimes they hurt)... like everything else I like to get all from the scriptures so I started looking it up...

 

 

Luke 14:26-33²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— ²⁹ lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? ³¹ Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? ³² Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace. ³³ So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.

 

then I looked up the meaning in the dictionary...

An amount paid or required in payment for a purchase; a price.

The expenditure of something, such as time or labor, necessary for the attainment of a goal

To cause to lose, suffer, or sacrifice

Regardless of the expense or effort involved

 
so what is all this... laying down MY life so that I can be His disciple... I started thinking what might this mean to the prayers that God had me praying about this morning... realizing that in our walk with God that there is a cost... what may they look like in each situation I have no idea .... missionaries.... it may cost them a child or spouse
surgeries.... it may cost them a loved one
and I could list them all one by one.....
and then I go to the cost we pay following Him... I can already say that we have many and I know that there will be more..
then he goes on to say... whoever does not forsake ALL cannot be my disciple....
so that means some... No.... a little.... No..... All..... YES!!! 
when we repent and believe there is a cost... forsaking it ALL in order to be His disciple...

 

so then my heart went to Sin.... how ugly it is!... of course the Lord reminded me of my own!.. I mourn... I hate it..... I don't want to do it...... then my heart became burdened for the sin of this world... I hate it!.. I mourn!... I remember what He went through on that cross and the pain he endured and my heart breaks.. knowing that my sin kept Him there!....

we really don't grasp the cross...

oh the truths of the scriptures.... they hurt BUT they also heal!... I am thankful for His word, even since it is a mirror for me! to look at my life and see where my life is not a reflection of Him...
thankful for Grace....

we really don't grasp that either....


so as I go through the day... I must count the cost to follow Him...

Luke 9:23
Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.