Death to Self?

My friend BethAnn has been going through a series of circumstances that have pushed her to the point of complete dependence on God. She affectionately calls each new "hit" to her flesh, Death to Beth. She is acutely aware that God is allowing life circumstances to challenge her, in order to change her. These bumps in life are causing her to "lose" her self-made way of thinking and living. Sounds fun, huh? No! It hasn't been fun for Beth, and it won't be fun for any of us. But in order for us to follow after God we must be aware that following is dying daily to self. Ugh!

Take a Look:
Luke 9:23-24 God's Word Translation
He said to all of them, "Those who want to come with me must say no to the things they want, pick up their crosses every day, and follow me. Those who want to save their lives will lose them. But those who lose their lives for me will save them."

Luke 9:23-24 NIV
Then he said to them all, " If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it."

Luke 9:23-24 The Message
Then he told them what they could expect for themselves: "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat--I am. Don't run from suffering, embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self help is no help at all. Self sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself."

Whoa! According to God's Word, following Jesus IS meant to be a dying to myself, or in my case a Death to Deb ( fill in your name...c'mon, we are in this together!).

Here's what death to self looks like:

• I must say no to the things that I want. (Please....say I didn't hear this right!)
  
• I must deny myself. (Definition of deny: to refuse to acknowledge or recognize.)
  
• I must let Him lead. (But...I have to drive to feel comfortable. I hate being in the backseat!)
  

All of us live to protect, preserve, and ultimately to promote ourselves. Promoting ourselves doesn't have to mean bragging about ourselves, it can be defending ourselves, having to have the last word, or having to have things our way. We also know how to self-protect, even when that self-protection is unhealthy. We are wired to live according to the human nature, or what the bible refers to as our flesh. It is natural and normal for us to want our way. We often rebel when we don't get our way...much like a child throws a tantrum, except our tantrums come in grown-up girl fashion. Sometimes our grown up tantrums are just a silent distancing from God because we don't want to agree with what His word tells us, or we don't want to give Him or anyone else "right-a-way" to our lives. We are used to living according to SELF, and to deny SELF has become uncommon in modern Christian living.

It's time to get back to basics.
Death to Self is a basic principle of following Jesus in this life.

Richard Foster says,
"Little by little we are changed by this daily crucifixion of the will. Changed, not like a tornado changes things, but like a grain of sand in an oyster changes things...Please remember, we are dealing with the crucifixion of the will, not the obliteration of the will. Crucifixion always has resurrection tied to it. God is not destroying the will but transforming it so that over a process of time and experience we can freely will what God wills." from Finding the Hearts True Home, Harper San Francisco, 1992, page 54

Today ponder what Luke 9:23-34 is saying. What is it saying to you personally?

Remember to be a good leader we must first learn to be a good follower.
Together let's press into God's Word and re-learn what it means to follow Him!

Recap of where we have been and now where we are going:

• He says Come to Me
• He then says Follow Me
• He now begins to show us how:to Follow means to Deny Yourself Daily.

Self-Denial is Counter-Cultural. It is no longer popular, but it is Biblical...and that my friend is the essence of the WILD life. Living according to God's Standard even when it is not popular according to the standards of our world.