Daily Bread: Freely Given, The Gift Of Salvation

😇 Shalom to all.
God’s word today:

We don’t need to ‘pay’ anything to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, to receive the gift of salvation; all of this is given by God to us freely.
“Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.”
‭‭(Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬)
Our part is simply to believe in Him! But to follow the Lord Jesus and serve Him there is a ‘price’ we must pay: “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
‭‭(Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭34‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

* Denying oneself, namely: choosing to put to death all worldly desires (the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life – 1 John 2:16). 
*Taking up the cross, namely: willingness to suffer for the name of Christ, making Him foremost, submitting completely to His will and putting aside one’s own interests for the sake of Christ.  This is what is called dedication or devotion!

Lord Jesus, I want to follow You faithfully. Enable me to deny my fleshly desires and strengthen me to carry my own cross. Amen.

Bless you
ps caleblusi