Hello, thank you for joining me today for Give Him 15.

Title of our post is, Have You Been Found?

When Christ was preparing his original 12 world-changing pioneers, he made the cost clear to them.

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.

But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you

in their synagogues. Then Jesus said to his disciples, another reference, if anyone wishes to come

after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life

will lose it. Whoever loses his life, for my sake, will find it. What price did these first

disciples eventually pay to partner with Christ?

Were Christ's words simply symbolic?

Not to be taken literally?

Surely he wouldn't actually ask his followers to lay down their lives, would he?

History answers these questions. Andrew was crucified. Bartholomew was crucified.

James, the son of Alphaeus, was stoned to death. James, the son of Zebedee, was beheaded.

John, the son of Zebedee, was tortured and banished to the uninhabited island of Patmos.

Peter was crucified upside down.

Philip was crucified upside down.

Thomas was martyred in India. The Apostle Paul and John the Baptist,

not part of the original 12 disciples, but two of Christ's early leaders were beheaded.

To be a true disciple of Christ and a nation changer, we must be willing to lay down our lives.

This mindset should permeate and influence all we do and live for.

And if we were to see America saved, it's one of the non-negotiables.

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