I was inspired by the daily prompt yesterday (deny) to write this post. Immediately i saw it, the scripture below came to my mind and i have been pondering on it.
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24
I cannot be a true reflector of Jesus Christ here on earth if i don’t deny myself of certain things. I like the process written in the above bible verse.
Deny myself – Take up my cross – Follow Jesus.
I sometimes struggle with following Jesus because i have not followed the process above.
I can’t focus on carrying my cross when I am distracted by everything that passes. “My cross” can be very heavy for me to carry if i am not dead to my flesh. For this to happen, i need to deny my flesh of what it craves for. I don’t know about you but my flesh wants to clap back at people all the time when they annoy me. My flesh wants to do revenge my way and host a party to celebrate when someone who wronged me really bad is in a mess. My flesh wants to do shaddy posts on social media to address some folks when they get on my nerves. My flesh does not want to fast. My flesh loves it when no one tells me what to do and things are done only my way.
But this cannot go with the spirit of God. The Holy Spirit wants me to have self control, show forgiveness, show love and discipline my flesh so i can hear Him clearly.
Following Jesus isn’t always fun. Sometimes it looks stupid. However it is the right and only way to eternal life and victory.
As a christian, I need to deny myself of earthly pleasures that can pollute my mind. I can’t follow Jesus if i want to do everything and have no discipline in any way. I can’t follow Jesus if i want easy, challenge and stress free life because just the fact I am a Christian makes me a target for the devil. I can’t grow in my walk with Jesus if i don’t have the discipline to seek His face, wait on Him and trust Him totally.
I feel sometimes i’m almost like “OK Jesus you know i love you, but i’m not about this whole denial life. I want to follow you and still do everything i want – no boundary”. Well i have not really said this out but it shows in my actions like when I refuse to get up to pray at night when He prompts me to. When I give an excuse as to why I feel I need a break from that sister who He has clearly told me to reach out to. When I tell Him i am ‘protecting’ myself when He tells me to lay down my guards so I can freely receive the gift He has for me.
It can be tough at times to trust and wait on God but He has never disappointed me the times i have trusted Him. This has strengthened my faith and it’s given me hope as well. Also realising that He never tells me to do what He has not graced me for does help. I absolutely love the fact that He never leaves me to do all of these on my own because there wouldn’t have been any way i would have survived it. I thank God for the Holy Spirit who is my ever present help.
So with this in mind, i am learning to deny myself more in this journey as i lean on the Holy Spirit for help.
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/deny
Great post. Ironically, the title of your blog post is the name of my blog and I just had to go check your blog post out. I definitely liked your “equation”: Deny myself – Take up my cross – Follow Jesus.
To deny myself, as you said is to give up the desires of the flesh and the world and take up our pain, suffering, and even our love for others and follow after Christ.
One of the statements that I liked in your post include:
1). “As a christian, I need to deny myself of earthly pleasures that can pollute my mind. I can’t follow Jesus if i want to do everything and have no discipline in any way. I can’t follow Jesus if i want easy, challenge and stress free life because just the fact I am a Christian makes me a target for the devil.”
As someone who regularly asks himself this question, I wanted to thank you for addressing this issue for fellow Christians.
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Wow! Thank you so much for this. I will definitely be checking out your blog. God bless you!
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God bless you as well Efua. Would you mind if I reference this post in a blog post about this topic.
I feel that in today’s culture-infused world, we as Christians need to remember why we are called Christians in the first place.
The word “Christian” to me defines our struggle for accepting Christ as Lord over our lives.
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Please feel free to. I totally agree with what you said. I pray we truly understand our calling and what it entails. Blessings😊
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great post Efua, thanks for sharing. being christian isn’t always but i trust the Lord with my way and hold onto faith whatever may happen.
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Thanks sis. I love how you said you trust God and you hold unto faith. Those are the 2 key things needed in this walk. Thanks for reading and commenting. God bless you
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God bless you too!
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G’day Efua, just came across your blog. Thanks for sharing your thoughts/heart. Straight, hard talk! Ouch and amen.
“I can’t focus on carrying my cross when I am distracted by everything that passes” – this really spoke to me. Thanks
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Thanks so much for your kind words. I am glad this spoke to you. I thank God for this opportunity. God bless
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I love the vulnarability in your writing! It’s wonderful how communities of faith can be formed through platforms like these. And whenever we feel like the cross is heavy, we’re reminded that we’re not alone. ❤
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Thanks so much for your lovely comment. God bless you
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Thanks Efua May God continues to inspire. 🙏
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Amen! Thanks so much Sis. Blessings to you!
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