I just read this quote from Oswald Chambers~
"JESUS CHRIST is always unyielding to my claim to my right to myself. The one essential element in all our LORD'S teaching about discipleship is abandon,
no calculation, no trace of self–interest".
And then I read this "quote" from
JESUS~
“If anyone wishes to follow ME [as MY disciple],
he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests],
and take up his cross
[expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come]
and FOLLOW ME
[believing in ME,
conforming to MY example in living and,
if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in ME]" *
Did you read that with your whole heart?
Hmm.
DENY YOURSELF!
To DENY YOURSELF
in a world that pushes you to LOVE yourself.
So what is it?
To DENY or to LOVE yourself?
Both, for
DENYING YOURSELF is to LOVE YOURSELF~
"For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for
MY sake will find it [that is, life with ME for all eternity]"*.
Let this pierce your heart.
Live in the FREEDOM of DENYING YOURSELF
when you
DENY YOURSELF to
THE ONE who DENIED HIMSELF on the cross,
just to
LOVE you and me and everyone else.
And then all JESUS asks is to
FOLLOW HIM.
Who does that?
Who in your life has gone to a CROSS to die for you?
Let that sink in, as I am letting it sink in deeply this morning.
A TRUTH that I know.
A TRUTH that I have embraced.
But a TRUTH that I forget
when I feel as if I am being DENIED by others.
But then you see JESUS hanging on the CROSS.
HE looks down at you,
as you are sitting on your knees
at the bottom.
A droplet of blood falls from
HIS CROWN
onto you
and then HE speaks the words~
"I DID THIS FOR YOU".
You look to the left.
You look to the right.
But no one else is there.
Because JESUS is speaking to you.
Now take a moment and let that sink in
to the deepest part of your heart
that needs the
LOVE OF JESUS
that only the
LOVE OF JESUS can fill.
DENYING YOURSELF never felt so good~
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul?
Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"
*(Matthew 16:24-26)
Whenever you feel as if you are being
DENIED
look up to the CROSS, and
"take up your CROSS",
which simply means to
DENY YOURSELF
to the
ONE
who
will not
DENY you ever.
So why not
FOLLOW JESUS,
who will take you to the spaces and places
that will outlive your life in the here and now,
because
ETERNITY is forever.
Therefore,
DENY YOURSELF
and
"NEVER WALK ALONE"
(listen to the song below)
Comments