We live in a world of selfies, self-centeredness , selfishness, and people are generally only thinking of their own wants, desires, and interests. Self-absorbed . Plain and simple.
This should never be true of Christians. The word Christian is not used much by me, because so many people call themselves Christians when in reality they are worldly and carnal and not truly born again from above. "Christ-followers" or "true believers" are better descriptions of those born again and who are endeavoring to live a holy life, one pleasing to the good Lord.
"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." - Luke 9:23
So we see from Luke that following Jesus requires self-denial. We do this by obeying the Lord and being completely dedicated to Him, and following in His footsteps and renouncing all notions of vainglory and any form of pride. We also do not get involved with the sinful pleasures and fleshly delights like the people of the world do.
Put God first.
Put other people next (helping them and sharing the Gospel).
And last of all, consider yourself.
Consider the example of Christ. What a true demonstration of self-denial was His Passion and Death.
"For even Christ pleased not Himself..... " - Romans 15:3 a
One of the most convicting sermons I have ever heard was today on You Tube. It was concerning the denial of self and it was a 25 minute reading of the written words of Andrew Murray. Please listen and benefit from this video which is below:
In Luke 9:23 Jesus also told us to "take up our cross daily." What exactly does that mean?
It means "Dying to self" or in being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. It means absolute surrender to the Lord. It may also mean being shunned or persecuted. In some parts of the world today, true believers are being murdered because of their faith in Jesus.
Jesus told us at Luke 9:24,25 : "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?"
The last thing Jesus said in Luke 9:23 was to "follow Him." When we are born again, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:1,2), and we make a radical change in our lives by the help of the Holy Spirit. We think on things above, and our main desire is to please the good Lord and to draw ever closer to Him. By doing all this and by obeying Him and loving Him with all of our heart, mind, strength and soul (Mark 12:30) - by all of these things we are following Jesus. We endeavor to imitate Christ as best we can in these ways.
All this is possible when you read your Bible and get to know the Lord and His attributes. His Word is like Him speaking to you and guiding you. You also follow Jesus when you are often in prayer. Jesus was perfect and sinless, yet He felt the need and the desire to pray to His Father frequently. How much more should we imperfect mortals pray without ceasing! (1 Thessalonians 5:17).
God wants to fellowship with you. What He desires is a close, personal, intimate love relationship with you through Jesus Christ. A person gets to know someone by communicating with him often. We do that with the Lord by being on our knees in prayer often.
Here is a beautiful song by Jamie Cortez titled "Take Up Your Cross:"
To any unbelievers who are reading this, you need Jesus! We are living in the end times..... the last "hour" of the end times. We know this by many Bible prophecies converging right now all at once (or beginning to happen; precursors). Israel is God's prophetic time clock. Watch Middle East events closely. One prophecy that could occur at any time now is the destruction of Damascus as foretold at Isaiah 17:1. Another prophecy about to happen is Ezekiel 38 and 39 ..... the war of Gog and Magog. Russia, Turkey, and Iran are all "friends" now and they and other nations will soon come against Israel, as prophesied in Ezekiel 38 and 39.
I say all of that to let you know the time is short. Jesus will return soon at the Rapture of the Church, and only true believers will be taken to heaven to escape the horror and destruction to take place after the Rapture and during the 7 year Tribulation.
Turn to Jesus before it is too late!
He will welcome you with love and forgiveness !
Sincerely repent and pray to the Lord for forgiveness. You must believe that Jesus is the Savior, whose shed blood at Calvary can wash away your sins..... wipe the slate clean; if you have faith in Jesus and surrender all to Him.
Romans 10: 9, 10, 13 explains: (9) "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (10) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (13) For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
("For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) - 2 Corinthians 6:2
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." - John 3:36
"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?" - John 11: 25,26
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." - John 3:16
