Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. (Mark 8:34 NIV)

In the end it will be the End that judges our 
Christian life. And so it is the Holy Spirit’s work, His interest, concern, 
energy and activity; not only to bring people to the door and to get them inside 
the door, but to make them know that that door is but the opening of a Way, on 
the other side of the door everything lies. It is not the door alone, but it is 
what lies beyond the door, and that is this renewal, this making anew 
after the image of Him that created. The End governs: it is Christ in all that 
He signifies and means and stands for. It is that vast All that He is.  “Christ 
is All, and in all” is the last clause. It is Christ in that fullness, which is 
more than our salvation, more than our initial salvation. The door is essential,
but it is what it leads to that justifies going in it at all.
Christ Himself, when He was here, never failed 
to let people know that when they entered that door, or that straight and narrow 
way, they were in for trouble.... Now that may sound 
like a very terrible thing to say, especially to you young Christians who are 
not far inside the door, but be perfectly clear about it; the Lord Jesus never 
deceived anybody about this, never at all. He let people know that to “follow 
Him,” as He put it at that time, involved them in difficulty and suffering and 
persecution and trial and a lifelong thing. There is a cost here, a great 
cost. And we shall discover that while there are the compensations, for there 
are undoubtedly the compensations in this life, and the mighty compensations for 
eternity, this is a way which is not easy for the natural man by any 
means. This work of the Holy Spirit is drastic, exacting, and very trying to 
the flesh. Make no mistake about it; it will take all the energy that the Holy 
Spirit Himself has to accomplish this work. It really will. So the Lord Jesus 
has not left us in any doubt about this.

This devotional contains short daily portions from a selection of Mr. Austin-Sparks' messages. In his own words, “Perhaps this is just like a window opened into heaven. If you get the right window you can see quite a lot. You can see great things and you can see far things. But the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing - how superior is Jesus Christ to all else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!” Open Windows messages have been selected and compiled by Austin-Sparks.Net from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the editor and did not always appear within the original message.

Open Windows

God's Supreme Interest in Man - Chapter 3

 The Lifelong Trial 

<h3>The Way of the Cross</h3> 34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: <woj>“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. </woj>

Mark 8:34

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: <woj>“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.<cr>1</cr> </woj>

 34 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.  

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 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.

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: <woj>“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. </woj>

 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.  

Bible Verse of the Day

July 7, 2025

Mark 8:34 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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