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What Does It Mean To Deny Yourself? - Learning to Walk In the Spirit
“And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?”
Before we begin, I have a question for you: Have you heard any messages on self-denial lately? Do you even know what that means for us as Christians? You might've heard hundreds, or even thousands of messages coming from a church pulpit. You might've read many Christian books or articles, but have you understood what self-denial is really all about?
You've probably heard many messages telling you that, in order to do the will of God, you must die to the flesh first; you must let go of the things of this world, but are you dead to the flesh and walking in the Spirit today? You pray for your neighbor? Good for you; you donate your money to charity? Excellent; you help someone in need from time to time? Great!
You've probably heard many messages telling you that, in order to do the will of God, you must die to the flesh first; you must let go of the things of this world, but are you dead to the flesh and walking in the Spirit today? You pray for your neighbor? Good for you; you donate your money to charity? Excellent; you help someone in need from time to time? Great!
All those things are good, but don’t the ungodly men do the same? Doing good deeds is fine, and you should, but most of us only give leftovers, as long as it doesn’t affect us. We give to those in need, but does that make us good? Many millionaires donate millions to charity, but is this action enough to get them into Heaven?
Does that mean that they will be saved because of that? I don’t think so. They will get their reward, I am sure of that, but this is far from doing the work of God, so let’s look at the way we were taught by our Lord Jesus Christ. What is it that really gets his approval?
“And he looked up and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. And he said, of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.”
I know you have probably read this Bible passage many times before, and you may have heard many messages about this poor widow, but what do you really understand? Many of us don't understand because these are the passages that we don’t want to read. We look the other way while we sweep them under the rug, isn’t it?
Our comfort and well-being are more important sometimes, and we don't think about the need of our neighbors. It's so easy to share a quilt when we have an extra one to spare, but how hard it is to give our own quilt when there's only one. Anybody can do that; anybody can give leftovers, but it takes a real man or woman of God; it takes a real believer to give from their own need.
But don't get me wrong, I've been guilty of that myself, and I pray to the Lord that He changes our hearts, so we can understand his Truth. We read His Word, but some passages get buried in the Bible, and we prefer not to read them, or if we read them, we neglect them completely. The old widow, in the scripture above, understood what it meant to deny herself, and the Lord saw her disposition and approved of her deeds.
Now, let me ask you something: Don’t we all follow the same Lord? Isn’t He the reason for our belief? So if that’s the case, aren’t we willing to follow his teachings today? Two thousand years might've gone by since the day that the poor widow gave all that she had, but absolutely nothing has changed, has it?
The things of this world are not supposed to be the main purpose of our existence, but we are constantly bombarded with messages about ourselves; about the benefits that we would get from God and his mercy, and yes, all that's necessary, and God wants us to have all the good things that life has to offer, but we have the message all wrong. We're taking the bull by its tail instead of taking it by its horn.
We're doing nothing if we're not surrendering all. We're wasting our time if we think that we can continue playing church without giving it all. So let's understand it once and for all: “The love of God is ALL or NOTHING at all.” God has only two temperatures: cold or hot. We cannot be lukewarm like the church of the Laodiceans:
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”
Either we're all in, or all out. We must live by the Word of God, and we must die by the Word of God. We must breathe it; we must wake up in the mornings and the first thing on our minds should be: "What will I do for God today? What will I do for my neighbor? To whom will I bring peace and happiness today?" While you're in this earth, work and play in this earth, but live by the Spirit, or else you’re just wasting your time.
To deny yourself is to live in the Spirit
The bottom line is that we live worried about ourselves, and we take care of ourselves first, and then we worry about everybody else, but we're doing it wrong. It should be the other way around. This we do because of our lack of faith and understanding of the Spirit.
Living in the Spirit is the most amazing thing that we will experience. Living denied to ourselves is the greatest thing that can happen to us, but we need to surrender all first. Now, I know that surrendering all is difficult when we feel that we don’t have the calling of God, but I have news for you. We all have the calling of the Lord. You were called the minute you accepted Christ into your heart.
Living in the Spirit is the most amazing thing that we will experience. Living denied to ourselves is the greatest thing that can happen to us, but we need to surrender all first. Now, I know that surrendering all is difficult when we feel that we don’t have the calling of God, but I have news for you. We all have the calling of the Lord. You were called the minute you accepted Christ into your heart.
When you surrender all to the Lord and start to do his will, everything else will begin to happen. Everything else will come your way on its own. By surrendering it all, I don’t mean that you should go out and sell everything that you have and go to a third world country to preach the gospel, unless that's what you have been called to do.
What I mean is that you have to surrender everything in your heart, and put God where He should be. That means, in the center of your life. You must give your family to him; your career; your belongings, and all your future plans, whatever they might be. It's not until then that you will start to see miracles happening in your life; it's not until then that you will see the wonders of the Lord working in your family and your finances.
But this time you will be doing it the right way; not putting your life first, and then the things that are eternal. We have been called to build treasures in heaven for a reason, don’t you think? When you deny yourself, you will find inner peace; therefore, happiness, and nothing else will matter because you would have given it all up.
We often find ourselves working hard for our money; working hard for our relationships and worried about our health. We are so penetrated into our daily routines that we almost forget about the Lord.
Only on Sunday morning we dedicate two, or three hours to him, but we go home feeling so empty inside. The sermons that we hear, and the prayers that we pray, have become nothing but an uncomfortable routine, and our hearts are constantly restless and worried about the future that we cannot live in peace.
My beloved brethren, listen to the voice of the Lord today; you've been trying to build a house and haven't been able to accomplish anything because you're building without God as the leader. Remember what we were taught:
“Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.”
I know that there are two things going through your mind right now. You're either thinking that I'm crazy, talking about self-denial, or you're actually thinking about changing your life; either way, let me tell you something, and only those who are called will understand these words:
We can't hide a light, nor sweep it under the carpet. sooner or later, your true nature will come out, and if you have good treasures in your heart, they will show, but if you feel that there's something wrong inside, you'll need deliverance. If that's your case, go read this article: How to break a curse in your life.
You might be experiencing an attack from Satan, and this might be the reason as to why you cannot surrender your life completely, but there's hope, don't worry. You will be set free, but stop listening to those who tell you that following Christ is easy and will bring you lots of blessings because that's not the way it goes. If you don't believe that, go ask the disciples and see what they'll tell you.
Related: Where Is Your Heart Today?
You might be experiencing an attack from Satan, and this might be the reason as to why you cannot surrender your life completely, but there's hope, don't worry. You will be set free, but stop listening to those who tell you that following Christ is easy and will bring you lots of blessings because that's not the way it goes. If you don't believe that, go ask the disciples and see what they'll tell you.
Related: Where Is Your Heart Today?
The blessings will come, but after you are completely surrendered to the Lord, and that's not always easy. Don’t do things because everybody follows that path. Remember that strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life; and few there be that find it. You need to know what it means to deny yourself if you are to continue. You must set your sights on those things that are eternal and the joy of the Lord will be greater than any of the earthly things that make you happy today.
Good things will come your way, and you can be sure that you will find happiness, knowing that we have a promise. The Word of God is very clear: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, AND ALL THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU.” Is it so hard to understand? How far are we willing to go?
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