Saturday, April 01, 2006

Follow Me

Luke 9:23 (Amplified)
And He said to all, If any person wills to come after Me, let him deny himself--that is, disown himself, forget, lose sight of himself and his own interests, refuse and give up himself--and take up his cross daily, and follow Me [that is, cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example, in living and if need be in dying also].

This is one of those scriptures that the LORD, by His Holy Spirit, has been speaking to my heart. I am and have always been a very selfish person. I struggle with genuinely caring for others, being available to them when they need me, and not just when it fits my own agenda. I struggle with ownership of my material possessions. I am so often like a 2 year old child who doesn't want to share and screams, "MINE!!!" Whether it's my time, my energy, my possessions, my money, whatever, my selfish heart struggles to deny itself and take up that cross, following my LORD. It is hard to deny yourself. The flesh is strong and its demands are insistent. And yet, that is exactly what I am called to do and what I will continue to strive to do.

Then there's that cross thing...The cross, an instrument of death and humiliation, as well as a place of submission to the Father's Will, even if that Will requires our physical death. It speaks to me of death to my self-will and my personal agendas. It speaks to me of death to love of the world and the things of the world. It speaks to me of embracing the Father's Will in every area and relation of my life, submitting to His Will, and walking in trusting obedience to every command He has given in His Word. It requires me to examine my motives and choices in what I wear and how I look (hair, clothes, jewelry, other physical decorations), what I listen to (music, talk shows, gossip), what I look at (books, magazines, internet, tv, movies), what I eat, what holy days I keep and how I keep them, my friends and companions, my possessions, my employment, where I live and worship, my speech, my attitudes, my actions, my priorities for my time and my money, in short--every aspect of my life. In each area, I need to think about what I am doing and why; is my heart attitude one of submission to my Father's Will and pleasing in His sight? Has He given specific commands in His Word about that area and if so, am I obedient to those commands?

Hebrews 12: 1-4 (Complete Jewish Bible)
So then, since we are surounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us, too, put aside every impediment--that is, the sin which easily hampers our forward movement--and keep running with endurance in the contest set before us, looking away to the Initiator and Completer of that trusting, Yeshua--who, in exchange for obtaining the joy set before him, endured execution on a stake as a criminal, scorning the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Yes, think about him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you won't grow tired or become despondent. You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in the contest against sin.

Philippians 3: 12-14 (Complete Jewish Bible)
It is not that I have already obtained it or already reached the goal--no, I keep pursuing it in the hope of taking hold of that for which the Messiah Yeshua took hold of me. Brothers, I, for my part, do not think of myself as having yet gotten hold of it; but one thing I do: forgetting what is behind me and straining forward toward what lies ahead, I keep pursuing the goal in order to win the prize offered by God's upward calling in the Messiah Yeshua.


2 Thessalonians 3:5 (Complete Jewish Bible)
May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and the perseverance which the Messiah gives.

No comments: