Word for Today, Fri, 13 Sep 2002: Denying Self
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>
CAn you believe it? Yet another week has come and gone! The
scriptures sure are right when they tell us that this life can be
short and fleeting. With the perspective of an eternity, that
certainly is true, though I recognize that those going through an
extreme trial may feel very differently about it.
When we have difficulties though, often we lose Christ's
perspective on things. Some of us have never really found
Christ's perspective at all. If that's something you wonder
about, perhaps today's message is for you.
Have you had your own private appointment with your Savior today?
Dear Lord,
Thank You so much for your faithfulness, and the simplicity of
your message of hope to us. We needn't go through some
complicated process to know you personally, because You reveal
Yourself to us in our hearts and souls, by Your Spirit, and You
share Your nature with us in Your Holy Word, the Bible, which
also reveals to us, and helps us to understand Your ways.
Lord, I've been praying that You would help me to be a genuine
encouragement to others, and that I may also be encouraged by
others, and I continue to do so. May we be one in the common
hope that we find complete in Christ. I ask each of these things
humbly in Christ's Name. Amen.
Your Brother in Christ,
Brian
From: "Crosswalk" <neilanderson.UM.A.1.67808@lists.crosswalk.com>
Subject: Neil Anderson Devotional for Friday, September 13, 2002
Date: Fri, 13 Sep 2002 04:17:11 -0400
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N E I L A N D E R S O N D A I L Y D E V O T I O N A L
from Freedom in Christ Ministries
September 13, 2002
DENYING SELF
If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself (Matthew
16:24).
A primary reason why we struggle to fulfill Christ's Great
Commission is because we are guilty of a great omission: We fail
to deny ourselves.
Denying yourself is not the same as self-denial. Students,
athletes and cult members practice self-denial, restricting
themselves from substances and activities which keep them from
reaching their goals. But the ultimate purpose of self-denial is
self-glorification. The ultimate purpose of denying self is to
glorify God.
Jesus was talking about denying yourself in the essential battle
of life: the scramble for the throne, the struggle over who is
going to be God. Jesus doesn't enter into that battle; He's
already won it. He occupies the throne and graciously offers to
share it with us. But we want to be king in our lives by
ourselves. Until we deny ourselves that which was never meant to
be ours--the role of being God in our lives--we will never be at
peace with ourselves or God, and we will never be free.
You were not designed to function independently of God, nor was
your soul designed to function as master. You will either serve
God and His kingdom or Satan and his kingdom. Self-seeking,
self-serving, self-justifying, self-glorifying, self-centered and
self-confident living is in actuality living and serving the
world, the flesh and the devil. On the other hand, denying
yourself is not self-mortification. God is not trying to
annihilate you; He is trying to restore you.
When you deny yourself, you invite God to take the throne of your
life, to occupy what is rightfully His, so that you may function
as a person who is spiritually alive in Christ. Denying yourself
is essential to spiritual freedom.
Lord, too many times I have tried to live independently of You. I
deny myself today and yield the throne of my life to You.
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Brian Masinick, mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/
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