Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
"For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?--Matthew 16:24-26
So thankful for the paradoxes in the Scriptures... It is such a comfort to me that when I give my life away and sow to my Spirit it has eternal value and significance. My work is never in vain in the Lord. He uses even the smallest sacrifice to further His kingdom. Here is the beautiful irony...When I live for me, I am most miserable, but when I live for God my joy abounds. God’s ways are perfect.
The paradox I am most thankful for, however, is that when I am weak, He is strong...Thinking on this one for any length of time, never fails to fill my eyes with tears of gratitude. So grateful for those things in my life that cause me to want Jesus...that cause me to depend on His sufficiency...that cause me to draw my strength from Him because truly I have no other choice.
And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.—2 Corinthians 12:9-10
I have listed the paradoxes of the Bible below in case anyone wanted to look them up.
Paradoxes in Bible: Matthew 10:39; 16:25;
2 Cor 4:18; 6:8-10; 12:10; Ephesians 3:19.
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Matthew 16:16–18 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
“Jesus uses two Greek words for “stone” in this passage. Petros, or “Peter,” means small stone. Petra means massive stone. In other words, Jesus is saying, “Blessed are you, little stone. Upon the massive stone of your confession, I will build My church.” —J Courson
I love that...God is not building His church on Peter but on Peter’s confession of Christ. BTW this is the first mention of the Greek word church in the NT.
Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.—1 Peter 2:4-5
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