Losing to Gain: The Call to Discipleship

By Carolyn Ridgell Andersen

In Matthew 16:2426 (KJV) says Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Our life is more fulfilled and meaningful when we surrender our will to God. Life definitely will hand you surprises, unexpected losses or disappointments but follow Jesus. Allow God to take control, to lead and guide you in everything concerning your life. Only God can take less and do more; take nothing and make something out of it. And God receives the glory. What we consider to be a loss will be a great gain when we are in a relationship with Jesus Christ. It is all about accepting his love, walking in it, living a life that displays it. In a relationship with him, we learn true humility; we develop a prayer life and learn what should have destroyed us only made us stronger. You are uniquely gifted and have an assignment to fulfill in the body of Christ. As stated by the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:1(KJV) that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and then you will be on a journey destined for greatness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490883649

Carolyn Ridgell Andersen

A retired army nurse who graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a BS in nursing and Duke University with a MS in nursing. She is pursuing a Master of Divinity at Campbell University. Currently serving in leadership positions in her church.

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Copyright © 2015 Carolyn Ridgell Andersen.

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Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-8363-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8365-6 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-8364-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015909263

WestBow Press rev. date: 07/29/2015

Contents

1. The Call to Discipleship

2. Prayer Is the Key

3. The Master’s Plan

4. Worth the Investment

5. His Hand on Me

6. Defining and Refining

7. Use What You’ve Got

8. For My Good

9. Just for Me

10. Divine Intervention

11. Love: the Motivating Factor

12. By Design

13. Blessed, Favored, Beautiful, and Intelligent

14. Trusting God

1

The Call to Discipleship

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it:

and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

—Matthew 16:25

In this book, I’m not talking about losing weight or losing money on an investment. As a child of God, I’m delving into a discussion regarding the implications and full impact of what losing to gain really means. If we die to self, we gain an abundant life, not only in this life but also in our eternal lives with God.

God always takes less and does more with it. In the beginning, he took nothing-and then spoke and made everything. The truth is that everything we need to fulfill our destinies is inside us. We’ve been fully equipped, and a relationship with Jesus will unveil it.

In the kingdom of God, what appears to be a loss is actually a great gain. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God ... And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father) full of grace and truth (John 1:1–2, 14). Jesus left heaven to fulfill the will of the Father, afterward he returned, sent the Holy Spirit and one day he will return for us.

Jesus came to die for our sins so that we may gain eternal life. He was subjected to suffering and rejection, but he endured it all for us. From his birth to resurrection, Jesus was the perfect example of humility. He was born in a manger, died on a cross, was buried and resurrected. Jesus was doing his Father’s business during his life on earth. Matthew 20:28 says, Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.

Jesus, Lord of Lord, King of Kings, came to minister and to serve. This is love. He is our Savior, healer, deliverer, and everything else we need him to be. If Jesus humbled himself, then we should do the same.

Several Scriptures in the Bible reference humility. For example, Matthew 23:12 says, And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. James 4:10 says, Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and he shall lift you up. And 1 Peter 5:6 says, Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. Humility is the opposite of pride.

Pride embodies an attitude of looking at myself: everything is about me; I can do it myself; praise me. The Lord hates a proud look (Proverbs 6:16-19). You’ve heard the old adage that the way up is down, and humility is the key. In the Scripture it says, The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord (Matthew 10:24).

John 10:14–18 says,

I am the good shepherd and know my sheep and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

To believers, Jesus is the example of the life we should lead, and if he laid down his life for us, then we should not lead self-centered lives. Instead we should gain lives that are pleasing to him, lives that brings him glory, lives where we fulfill the assignments he destined us to complete. We should lose and let go of lives that bring us glory- lives of arrogance, self-indulgence, defiance, or worshipping idols.

We read several examples in Scripture of those who lost in order to gain, those who accepted the call to discipleship. For example, there was Abraham’s obedience in leaving his country and kindred to walk into his destiny. Gideon, the mighty man of valor, won a great victory with few men. And Job lost everything- only to gain double in the end. Yet there were others who refused to let go in order to gain. The rich young ruler never viewed a loss as a gain.

We read in the Scriptures where Jesus called those to follow him, to become his disciples. Mark 1:16–18 says, Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. The gospel of Luke says they forsook all. Some may consider what these men did to be a great loss, but it was actually a great gain. They became Jesus’ disciples.

Abraham left the life he knew in order to gain something more. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed (Genesis 12:1–3). Abraham’s obedience made him the father of many nations.

Judges 7:2 says,

And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me. Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from the mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go. So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink. And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water. And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

The Lord told Gideon that the people with him were too many for the Midianites to be given to him. Gideon lost many men because of their fear. He lost the other men after the Lord tried them with specific instructions. Gideon was left with three hundred men. Gideon, from his viewpoint, was the least likely candidate for this assignment. However, the Lord showed himself as strong and mighty with the few, because God was with Gideon and because of his obedience to God’s instructions. He was victorious and God received the glory. The Lord demonstrated that if he is for us, who can be against us. Gideon’s loss of men resulted in an ultimate victory.

Job, a perfect and upright man who feared God, lost all he had but his life. Job’s wife told him to curse God and die and his friends suggested that maybe his loss and suffering were due to his sins. Despite the discouraging feedback from his wife and friends, Job gained more in the end for he trusted in the Lord, and the Lord gave him more. Job 42:12 says, So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.

Now there was a rich young ruler who considered his instructions from Jesus to be too much of a loss. He didn’t realize that giving up what he had would ultimately give him eternal life and a call to discipleship— a great gain. Matthew 19:16–22 says,

And behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good?: there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy Father and thy Mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All