Forsake All Thesis

Luke 14:33 says, "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." Finally, we come to the root of Luke 14:25-33. We are either to forsake all the we have, or not be Jesus' disciple. For the longest time, I have tried to figure this out. We look at this verse and say to ourselves, "Obviously, He doesn't mean everything. If He did, we would see streaking Christians everywhere living under bridges." I thought that there must be a balance between giving everything away and keeping everything for materialistic desires. Where is this balance? Now comes the long awaited story. Brace yourself.
This question came to me one Wednesday Morning. I was at Lonestar College in Montgomery, Tx., and there was a very small prayer meeting going on at 6:30am (Which may explain why it was so small). At that meeting, I met Jon Beadle who was the leader of a, on campus, Bible Club called The Mission. I had heard about this group at the beginning of the Fall semester, and honestly thought it would be another small Bible study group that I wouldn't have time for. However, I always wished it well.
Dring the morning prayer meeting, we prayed for revival over the school and for the healing of souls on campus. As soon as the group started praying, I knew that something was different about them. They were passionate, something I had not been in a long time. It captivated me, and afterwards, I found Jon and talked to him about his faith. He encouraged me to keep coming, and by God's amazing grace, I obeyed the call.
The next day, on a sunny Thursday afternoon, The Mission had another meeting, in which we sang some songs, then a leader of the group got up to share a word. After the meeting, I met again with Jon, who was super excited to see me, and he prayed over me. I asked him to pray that the Holy Spirit would come into me in order to do a work. He did indeed, and I told him afterwards this; "I feel like everything in my body is wanting to run after God. I just need to get into the Word and chase after Him with my whole being." He laughed with joy and said, "That's awesome!"
After that, I was hooked. I came to every meeting possible, and was an active member, for about two weeks. Then The Mission was hosting an event called "The Exodus." It was a night of worship and rengeneration of the spirit. We would come and just shout out, "Let our people go!" to set the people on campus free from the devil's grasp. I was super excited about going, and I planed to attend and even told my friends to come with me.
The night of "The Exodus" my friend, Jack, and I showed up a little late to the event, however, you could ask both of us afterwards, and we would tell you, "We showed up when things got good, and felt like we missed nothing!" The night had a lot of worship music and a lot of people praying for revival, and honestly, it was very refreshing. Still contemplating my thoughts of a "Spirit Filled Life", I asked God to just tug me along, and show me. I felt like my heart was very hard, and I asked God to just break me towards doing His will.
Soon after my prayer, another friend of mine came to me and told me to go up to the front and pray with a leader. I felt like God was answering my prayer with this response. So I went up to Jon, in the front row, and told him my struggles with lust, pornography, and other things in my life. He said that I should repent for the things I had done. I agreed, and fell to my knees. I felt his hand on my back, praying for me to accept the forgiveness of Christ, and soon enough, two more people laid their hands on me, in prayer.
In that moment, I repented for everything, and asked God to do a work in me. What that work would be, I wasn't sure, but just that He would change me according to His plan. After the prayer, I sat up and told Jon this; "I don't know if you would consider this a vision, but I see small, particle like things moving around, and all running somewhere. It may be spiritual, or maybe just the blood rushing to my head, but I feel like God is again telling me to chase after Him. I need to run after Him." Again, Jon laughed and congratulated me.
Ever since that night, I have felt God tug on my heart. Because of that night, I left Facebook and started this blog. I wanted to Forsake All for His cause. I wanted no distractions. That brings us back to Luke 14:33. What did I find everything to mean? For the word exactly, I don't know if I could explain it very well, but the way I think of it now is better explained this way.
Look at the things around you: what do you see? I see a laptop, a desk, a bunk bed, and other things inside of my room. Now think of this: where is the ministry in those things? What purpose does your laptop, desk, and bunk bed serve to furthering God's kingdom? This is my answer.
"If you own something that doesn't have a ministry, disown it."
Take my car for example. I have a maroon Honda Civic 2003. It's no sports car, to say the least, but it serves my purpose for getting me places. My ministry with my little Civic is to be able to drive people to and from places, whether that opens an opportunity to go church, a Bible Study, or even just the time to talk about life. I often need to remind myself that my car has a ministry, and if it's not doing it, then I need to revaluate why I have it.
On the other end, I have some nice clothes, but where is the ministry? My "good looks", which the clothes give, won't bring people to Christ in the direct form. The best thing they do is make me look good, and there is no ministry there. So, I'm going to give all my nice clothes away to those who just need clothes, except for the needed nice clothes, like church clothes and school clothes. In fact, giving away some of clothes gives me a ministry.
All this to say, maybe figure out what in your life is helping or hindering the Kingdom of Heaven. Where is your ministry? - Forsake All