Ephesians 2:10(NLT) tells us, “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” God considers human beings to be His finest work. He crafted us in His very own image, and we were wonderfully and meticulously made. In terms of building our faith in God through Jesus Christ, this truth must be firmly planted in our hearts. When we’re children, the importance of our identity in Christ isn’t stressed nearly enough. We have all this creative energy and adrenaline, and as we grow, our need to express our individuality becomes greater. We’re playful and carefree in our childhood years, but as we mature, it should dawn on us that God has a purpose for our gifts and abilities. He has equipped us and given us all that we need to do the work of increasing His Kingdom.

In the passage of scripture in Luke 14:25-27(NLT), our Master Jesus delivers a Word that is extremely razor sharp. It cuts through all our excuses and makes it clear that God knows our hearts, and He expects our full commitment to Him and what He has called us to do. This passage states, “25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.”

I was attending a Biblical seminar once, and the presenter asked us to read this passage silently and meditate on it. Before our time to read began, she prayed and asked us to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to our hearts about how we could be more committed to the words of Christ in Luke 14. Afterwards, she asked a few volunteers to share what they had received. One man stood up and said that he was very upset with this passage. He didn’t like it at all, and he thought it was unfair of our Master Jesus to ask us to give up so much. He especially didn’t like the part about hating everyone by comparison, even your own life, for the sake of the Gospel.

In this passage, Jesus Christ was demonstrating the terms of discipleship—of being one of his followers. Jesus wanted us to know that we each have a cross, and carrying it is not always going to be easy. It can be very challenging. There will be many people who do not like us simply because we have the love of Christ in our hearts. We are sometimes treated with hate and disdain, as though we are inferior, simply because we love the Lord. Yes, there is a cost, but we must also know that the reward is incomparable.

Many people begin to follow God through Jesus Christ without considering that there’s a cost. They are looking for the gifts and blessings, but they have no true interest in knowing God or discovering His agenda for their lives.

The presenter explained that Jesus Christ isn’t telling us to hate anyone or ourselves. He wants us to understand that God requires our full commitment. Nothing can come before the Lord and His purpose, and unless we understand this, our faith and devotion will not be as strong as God requires.

Following Christ means that to some extent, we must be willing to give up people, relationships, and other things we hold dear. This will require us to be weaned off those comforts as we tighten our grasp to the mission for which we were called. Jesus Christ came to separate the wheat from the chaff. He is the living Word of God, and he cuts straight through to the true thoughts and intentions of our hearts. He knows exactly what we’re about, and he separates those who truly desire God and those who do not.

Christ is fully transparent, and for those that follow him, he wants us to know that there is a price we will pay. In Luke 14:28-30(NLT), he told the large crowd, “28 But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’”

The analogy and parable that Jesus Christ used in Luke 14:28-30 presses us to use our own imaginations. We must envision a builder that is constructing something useful and great, but he or she is beginning the job without having considered what the project will take to complete. He or she isn’t using their imagination to envision and plan for the labor, materials, and tools they will need, and they are not calculating the cost of those necessities. In other words, they are not preparing adequately for all the things and pitfalls that might lay ahead. Instead, this person is dabbling in a fantasy world of wishful thinking, and that is not faith at all.

God gives us imaginations and dreams, and they have always been used as instruments of spiritual communication. In the Old Testament, Abraham and Jacob had dreams as did many of God’s prophets. Joseph, son of Jacob, had dreams and was also a dream interpreter. Acts 2:17(NLT) states, “‘In the last days,’ God says, ‘I will pour out my Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams.” These are visions and dreams that help to achieve God’s purpose. When dreams and visions are used outside the context of His Will and purpose, we can get ourselves into serious spiritual jeopardy. Sadly, many find this out the hard way.

The difference between reality and fantasy

Dreamers love to dream. Using our imagination and vision to look to the future with optimism and faith is tremendous, but we must recognize when these vehicles have transported us to fantasy and not faith. Without the spiritual preparation and maturity to handle life in the way of Christ, reality can be beyond a challenge. As children, we rely on our parents, and if they are good parents, they will try their best to provide for us and make sure we’re happy and whole. The older we become though, the more we are expected to be spiritually mature and to put the wisdom and support our parents provided to good use. We’ll need to walk by the Spirit and not according to the flesh. This means that we should use the gifts that God has provided to masterfully move through life.

Our current reality is showing many of us the perils of trying to live life on our own terms. It’s revealing a picture of what it looks like to take matters into our own hands, without the leadership and direction of our Heavenly Father. When we assume this approach, we become quickly disillusioned and disappointed, because we’re traveling in a direction that is opposite of our destinies in Christ. We become frustrated and upset with life, because we have a vision and dream in our heads, but our reality doesn’t seem to match it, and nothing we do turns out the way we expect. We don’t understand what’s happening, and depression, sadness, and apathy can often settle in.

Jesus Christ told us in John 14:26(NLT), “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.” This should be our greatest occupation, to learn the Spirit’s language, to understand how he uses visions and dreams to communicate with us, and to move according to His directives and guidance. Jesus said in John 16:13(NLT), “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” Do you trust this magnificent Word from the Lord? If you don’t, now is the time to get to it, because never has there existed a more pressing urgency to learn to walk by God’s Spirit.

Many people have not used their ability to dream and imagine as an instrument to follow God through the Spirit. They have used them to follow their own agenda instead of yielding their imaginations and dreams to God for the Spirit’s guidance. Some of us go for what we want with gusto and determination. If we have the tenacity and boldness to pursue our own dreams and aspirations, we should have even greater faith to pursue the dream God has for us. He’s the One to tell us what to do, not the other way around. If we truly desire to please Him, God will tell us His agenda. Through His Word and through the Holy Spirit that indwells us, Heavenly Father will reveal His purpose for our lives, and we must know that it is our greatest privilege and honor to line up our agenda with His. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. 

“Realigning Your Agenda with God’s Agenda”, written for Springfield Fellowship © 2022. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.