Daily Dying to Self

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

Mark 8:34-36

If indeed you have been blessed with the extraordinary gift of the risen Jesus Christ, living inside of your heart of hearts as a result of you surrendering your very life to him then you must realize that there is a constant struggle going on for the control of your heart. The struggle takes place every day in the midst of ordinary things as you go about your life. The struggle is with your old sinful nature that unfortunately will always be present until that final day when you have reached the end of your journey and stand before the risen Lord in Glory, having been made perfect and totally complete in Him. Until that day however, there is a job for you to do in order to be sure that you stay on the narrow road that is in sync with God’s will and purpose for your life. Jesus explains this important act here to the disciples through the analogy of taking up your cross. Every day and even every minute of every day, if you want to know God in a very personal way and if you want to be used by Him to achieve great things for His kingdom in this world then you must consciously take up your cross by choosing to obey the Spirit’s direction for your life instead of your old sinful nature that always opposes the best decision that you can make. God’s Spirit who is living inside of you will always give you not only the direction to take in any decision but He will also give you the power to make that choice if indeed you stay connected to Jesus in thought life and attitude throughout the day. Let me give you an example: You have been back stabbed at work and your flesh is crying out for you to gossip and take vengeance on your colleague, who has unfairly hurt your reputation and corporate standing, and although you feel this way, there is another part of you that is whispering, if indeed you are listening, that God is in control of the situation and that God has the perfect plan and that you should just love and forgive your colleague in order that he or she could see and experience the same unconditional love that your Father in heaven has shown you. What do you do? Jesus would tell you to “take up your cross and follow Him” by dying to your sinful nature, that so wants to fire back, and through prayer and submission to the awesome power of God’s Spirit you have the ability to turn the other cheek and to love unconditionally, even in the midst of great hurt. Today, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus!

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