God’s Will Above Ours
‘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
Today’s Insight: Matthew 16:16-26, Mark 8:30-37, Luke 9:21-27
Self-denial is an important part of the Christian life. Jesus sacrificed His life for us and He demands that we die to ourselves that we might experience the new life He has provided. We do this first by recognizing that we can’t save ourselves by our own effort and, second, by trusting God – not self – for salvation. Then daily, we need to deny our own wisdom and seek God’s wisdom and direction for our lives.
Self-denial is only good when we are denying ourselves for the singular purpose of exalting Jesus and His will for us in some area of our life. Some have made a religion out of self-denial and find pleasure in their denial – not in Jesus’lordship. This leads to legalism and bondage, which Paul condemned as will worship (Col. 2:23). We are told not only to deny ourselves, but to ‘deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus.’
The cross is what Jesus died on. There are circumstances in our lives which, like the cross of Jesus, give us the opportunity to die to ourselves each day. These are not things like sickness, poverty, etc., for which Jesus’ atonement provided redemption, but rather things like persecution (which we are not redeemed from) and the constant battle between our flesh and our born again spirit. The cross that we must bear is to take God’s Word (which is His will) and exalt it above our own will in each situation every day.
Source: awmi.net
To put the will of The Father above mine in all things; even when i find myself in very difficult situations. May I receive grace to deny myself and still put His will for that situation above mine!
Powerful devotional!
The walk with Christ is a constant denial to our canal thoughts and ways, our selfish ways of thinking. Because, now that we have come to Christ, the life that we live is not ours but Christ’s and what He says is that we should do. The only way to actually experience His blessings is to obey. And it will always come at a cost which we have to be prepared for.
What an eye opener! I am fully blessed!
The motive and the focus of self denial is paramount! It must be with the sole purpose to exalt Jesus and glorify His name only; it means that regardless of the test and circumstance I must go with what the word says especially when it’ll cost me something; persecution awaits us at every turn in today’s world.
As Jesus said in Luke 17:33: anyone who seeks to keep His life will lose it; there’s nothing I can do for myself anyway
As John 3:30 Says
He must increase, but I must decrease.
This is in every circumstance and area in my life.
Ultimately it is the Cost of discipleship…..Even in self denial we must determine the motives behind that; it must be to exalt our Lord Jesus above all else!
If I truly place God’s will above mine, the purpose of my self denial should only be to exalt Christ. Our motives behind surrendering our will for God’s is important as we face many situations that require guidance from God.
As we deny ourselves daily, we allow the power of God to manifest in our lives.