June 24, 2014

• No More Muddy Puddles!

  

  Jesus told his followers to make disciples. That should be a priority for everyone who believes in Jesus. Being one of His own is a privilege, and it comes with responsibilities. It's kind of like having a driver's license. There are certain things you may and may not do.

  (Mark 8:34 AMPLIFIED) And Jesus called [to Him] the throng with His disciples and said to them, If anyone intends to come after Me, let him deny himself [forget, ignore, disown, and lose sight of himself and his own interests] and take up his cross, and [joining Me as a disciple and siding with My party] follow with Me [continually, cleaving steadfastly to Me].

  Deny himself. Uh, yeah. I confess I find this difficult at times. Our society and culture promote selfishness. "You deserve it. Live the good life! If you want it, just put it on your credit card!" We are encouraged to spend plenty of time and money doing what makes us "happy." The idea of giving up any of our comforts and pleasures make us feel a bit.... squirmy. The idea of denying ourselves.... well, for many, that is just not an option. We have become hardened to the hardships of others. We rarely feel the need to deprive ourselves anything on behalf of another.

  We seem to forget that as Christians, we are not our own any longer. We have been bought and paid for by Christ's precious blood, so our goals should be His goals; our desires His desires. That is not extreme. That is simple gospel.

  (1Cor. 7:23 NLT) God paid a high price for you, so don't be enslaved by the world.

  Jesus says, 1.) deny yourself 2.) pick up your cross 3.) follow Him. We view crosses as heavy. Crosses are not so comfortable to drag around. They are a symbol of sacrifice, death, shame. The cross is a symbol of laying your life down. Most of us think about this stuff, and we are afraid. Admit it. It just sounds horrid.

  Yes, that's just what the devil wants us to think. Yes. The cross is hard on the flesh. But, there is so much more to it than that, although most of us never see past the denying part.

  (Mark 8:35-36 AMPLIFIED) For whoever wants to save his [higher, spiritual, eternal] life, will lose it [the lower, natural, temporal life which is lived only on earth]; and whoever gives up his life [which is lived only on earth] for My sake and the Gospel's will save it [his higher, spiritual life in the eternal kingdom of God]. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life [in the eternal kingdom of God]?

  What it all boils down to is, where is your treasure? Where is your heart? If you are totally committed to the Lord Jesus, you will follow. You will be willing to lay down your desires and take up His cause. You will be joyful in the surrender of yourself to Him and His will. You will find the peace and satisfaction that only come from truly serving Him. You will be able to sing, "It is Well With my Soul" and really mean it.

  (1Peter 1:8-9 AMPLIFIED) Without having seen Him, you love Him; though you do not [even] now see Him, you believe in Him and exult and thrill with inexpressible and glorious (triumphant, heavenly) joy. [At the same time] you receive the result (outcome, consummation) of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

  You see, Jesus is not trying to hurt you. He wants to perfect you. He is not about ruining your life and taking away everything you enjoy. He wants to give you more than you can imagine! But, somehow we have this warped idea that it will be awful. Silly us. Imagine that all you knew was dirt. See yourself sitting in a big, mud puddle with both hands filled with gooey, smelly dirt. Now see Jesus, with His eyes full of love for you, standing there holding out His hand. He wants to lift you out of that filthy pit and show you a whole new life! An exciting life! A life free from selfishness and small thinking. A life of joyful service. A life of purpose and peace. In order to receive it, you have to be willing to deny yourself that dirty puddle. Is the choice really so hard?

  • 4:37 am
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