Count the Cost, Measure the Treasure
- Dasia
- Jan 24, 2023
- 10 min read
Updated: Jan 31, 2023
One things we as humans do on a daily basis is complain about costs. We complain how a bag of sugar went from $2.50 to $2.75. We complain about how gas goes from $2 to $3. There's nothing we don't complain about on a day to day basis. I'm not saying this out of condemnation but out of conviction. I've been there complaining about how I don't make enough, how I have to pay taxes, gas, food etc all the adult responsibilities right. What If I told you to count the cost and measure the treasure. Maybe gas is high but it does get your car from point A to B , maybe you don't make enough but at least you have a job, maybe sugar and other foods are high but at least you never went without eating. Americans I tell you, we spend our lives in comparison , letting the enemy steal our joy, to complain instead of have graitude.
Graitude and complain can't coexist.
If humans are so quick to complain about money and how we have to pay for things.. then sure enough it'll be the same for them to give up their life of Jesus. Imagine Jesus sitting next to you and tells "follow me" Would you do it? Or Would you spend time worrying about the things of this world?
Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
Walking with Jesus comes with a cost. Literally what the above scripture says deny yourself and follow Jesus. Not many can do that. Too many people are worried about the things of this world what they will eat, drink, their 2023 vision boards all this plans and you not once invited God in.
John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Maybe I'm coming strong already in this blog but it's the conviction you're feeling not condemnation. I'm here to preach the gospel to convict to help people be like Jesus not tell you things to tickle your ear. You want somebody to tickle your ear go listen to "Joel Osteen".Yep I said it. *mic drop*
My point is following Jesus isn't peaches and cream, it's not a walk in a park, it's not treating God like a genie anytime you want something, it's not going to church only on special occasions, it's not picking and choosing when you wanna live for him. That's not following Jesus that's following your flesh. That's lukewarm. For the religious Pharisees it's also not being so quick to condemn people to hell, telling them theyre going to go to hell over tattoos, piercings, etc. If someone comes to Christ with tattoos they are accepted by Him and loved by Him. I could go on and on but I'll leave that for another topic another day.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Christianity comes at a steep price. In , 1 John 2:6 it says that “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” If you want to be a Christian the Bible tells you that you need to give up your own will and live the life that Jesus lived. Being a Christian means that “it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Galatians 2:20 It’s not just a hobby. It's not a game. It requires your whole life.
Sis, living for Jesus was NEVER about you and will NEVER be about you!
That's our problem, we always think the world revolves around us and it doesn't. I'm keeping it raw and authentic. Living for Christ is never gonna be about you. Yes he loves you, yes there's things he needs you to but even that isn't about you either. It's about bringing people to the realization there's a savior name Jesus Christ and he died for everyone's sins whoever believes in him. Believing is indeed an action word. If you believe in something you abide by it. You stand on it. You live by it.
Cost : an amount that has to be paid or spent to buy or obtain something.
Treasure: keep carefully (a valuable or valued item).
Matthew 6:20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Count the cost of this walk with Christ but know that nothing can compare to Jesus he paid the ultimate price no one could've ever took on that debt and he had no sin in him, while we was still sinners. “Counting the cost” means recognizing and agreeing to some terms first. Measure the treasure is basically is surrendering your life to Jesus knowing you may lose things and people but the true treasure is Jesus .. it's heaven.
God sent his ONLY son to save us. John 3:16. God gave us the blueprint of how to live a righteous life and that blueprint is Jesus. Jesus explained to us how we can follow him in Luke 14.
Our world is consumed in social media, you're probably like girl where are you getting at but bare with me. Social media is consisted of scrolling liking, commenting and following. With social media you can follow multiple people at once, like multiple pictures, comment on multiple posts etc. The best advice I can give you is GOD and the world are never on the same page. You can't follow Jesus and follow this world. You can't like the things of this world and still like spending time with God. You can't comment and side on worldy things such as being pro-choice for abortion but yet tryna have a relationship with God and the Bible says God KNEW us in the womb which means abortion goes against Christianity.
Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.
I am 110% pro- life pro-womb pro-God's creation. Whatever that Bible say that's what I'm following because unlike the world you can trust God! He never lie (Numbers 23:19). Pick a side. You either of God or of this world. You either going to Heaven or going to hell. Did you know hell is simply an eternity without God without his love, grace and mercy. Now that's the real torment being without God sheesh I could never!
Jesus states the cost of coming to him so as to be his disciple: (1) hating all our family members (Luke 14:26), (2) hating our own lives (Luke 14:26), (3) bearing our own cross (Luke 14:27), and (4) renouncing all we have (Luke 14:33). Let me give you some context of what Jesus is truly saying. First off he's using a metaphor, Following the statement that we must “hate” our father and mother, Jesus relates a metaphor about a man who builds a house without first counting the cost (Luke 14:28–30). A man building a house without counting the cost leaves the house unfinished because he cannot pay what is required of him. Jesus is telling us to literally count the cost. We must take into consideration that following him may result in our family despising us.
Are you gonna be loyal to your family or loyal to Jesus ? Most Christians don't have family who disown them some Christian's grow up with a Christian family, but in other countries there's more persecution being a Christian versus the United States. I grew up in God, would go to church but never quite understand the relationship aspect of it, my grandma would always encourage me to read my Bible and it wasn't until 2020 I slowly took it more seious then 2021 I gave my life to Christ. 2022 I got baptized. Christianity doesn't stop at church on sundays. It's how you live on other days as well , it's how you live for Jesus.
Jesus always spoke in parables he was a teacher and it's easier for his students to understand. To summarize, prioritize your relationship with Jesus over anyone else. Doesn't matter if they disagree. Jeus isn't teaching an emotional hatred the emphasis is on self-denial and surrendering your all to him.
What does it look like to give your life to Jesus completely ?
In order to give your life to Jesus it comes with a cost to obtain your relationship with him.
Sex
Drugs
Cursing
Gossiping
Partying
People-pleasing
Being careful what you watch and listen to aka secular music/ movies/shows
Letting God tell you what to do with the money he blessed you with
Cutting off toxic friendships / relationships
Being sober-minded
Being ok with being misunderstood
That's just a couple things but there's many more depending on what you been holding onto and what's been preventing you from going forward with God. Many people are afraid to miss out they want the latest news the latest trend the next bag.
You're never missing out on anything when you're getting your relationship with God right! There's things God wants to do in your life that you can miss by partaking in worldly things.
I'd rather miss out on the world which leads to consequences than miss my mark with God which leads to eternal life.
Many don’t like to pay this price to lay down their desires for God but yet many are willing to pay for the next new pair of shoes, coach bag, iPhone etc.
Why is it that we can give our all to the world but not to God ? Why is that people can fight people over Black Friday shopping but won’t fight against the real enemy ? Why is the world so distracted and okay with leaving God out of the picture.
The Bible says apart from me you can do nothing without God. Hence the reason the world is a never ending chaos because they've taken God out of schools, media, etc.
When I gave my life to God November 2021. I had to let go of an unequally yoked toxic narcissistic relationship. It wasn't easy but with God all things are possible. I remember barely crying during the breakup of a 2 year relationship that's how I knew God was truly real because he took my pain, my scars and healed me miraculously. Anytime I cried I would play worship music and it's like he brought me back to life. My whole life changed for the better. A decision I'd never regret.
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 16:25
Giving up your life your desires for God doesn't come automatically. It's 2023, and I still struggle with choosing cooking over fast food. Not to say you must get rid of fast food but you should make fasting a habit by saying no to your flesh at times. To build your spiritual stamina. To fight the enemy.
You know how people get married and they're like "til death do us part" I realized that with Jesus we riding with him for life and even after death. Death won't separate us from him like it would do for marriages. For all the married people out there, you'll live. Marriage doesn't exist in Heaven it's okay sis. We will be with Jesus , we are His bride first. Ephesians 5:25
Roman's 8:38-39 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Matthew 22:30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven.
Jesus...He paid the price .. imagine receiving a bill and it says "you don’t owe anything" because you’re saved by Gods grace and mercy. Imagine also receiving a bill and it says "slave to sin " because you didn’t accept the one who died for you. How you expect a bill to be paid if you didn’t accpet the donation from the person to pay it? Jesus paid for something he didn’t owe. He never sinned. He was blameless. When he laid down his life yes he was afraid but God perfect love casted out all fear.
It cost 0.00 to have a relationship with Jesus Christ the one who is Lord and savior over your life
Many people won’t a savior but not a Lord. They went to be Lord over their own lives. Verse
Often times, people are also afraid of what other will think when they make such a big decision.. because choosing Christ over your own selfish desires is a big step to the right direction and many will condemn you and judge you because they seen what you “ use” to do but God sees what you’ve become and becoming! Don’t let this discourage you. Jesus didn’t have people agreeing with his righteousness either , even the religious Pharisees condemned him.
Lastly, do not blame the church, seek God for yourself and the church hurt will cease.
The big question people ask:
If God loves us why we do we suffer , If Jesus paid the price why we still go through things ?
As sinners living in a sinful world, there’s no avoiding these consequences of original sin.
We live in a world of cause and effect, where the law of sowing and reaping is in full effect. Very likely, God allows some of sin’s consequences to remain in our lives to teach us the disgusting nature of sin and to remind us to depend upon God’s grace. God allows us to experience some of the temporal consequences of sin to show His love for us. If God never disciplined His straying children, He would not be a good Father. If we were never disciplined or never suffered the consequences for our wrong action, we would never learn right from wrong. We tend to learn from our mistakes more readily than we learn from our successes. Jesus paid the penalty for our sins so we will never experience the second death, which is the hell (Rev 20:14) Believers in Christ are promised that the curse and consequences of sin will be completely removed one day, and “nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain” (Isaiah 11:9)
Questions to ask yourself and journal about:
Is Christianity worth the cost ?
What’s it like to lay down your life for Jesus?
Was it anything you struggled with giving up?
What made you realize you needed Jesus ?
Do you still feel the affect of sin even though you given your life to Christ ?
Would you still live for Christ if it became illegal? The Bible talks about the cost of persecution. 2 Timothy 3:12
If you could give the best advice to someone trying to build a relationship with Jesus what would you say?
Do you have enough treasure in Jesus to move you to let other treasures go?
Don't you ever be a fool better give your life to God- God Fearin
Is living for Jesus worth the cost?
0%Yes absolutely!
0%No, I love my flesh
God bless you, hope this blog blessed you comment below if you'd like, if you don't know me my name is Dasia, I am follower of Jesus, I have a women's minsitry to help women through Christ whether lost or saved. To know more about me check my about section on my website. Stay tune to the podcast that's dropping on Thursday 1/26. Subscribe to my YouTube channel. Follow me on social media everything is in this link below.
Comments