What does it really mean to deny ourselves?
Matthew 16: 24
"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."
I asked the Bishop of my church about her understanding, and this is what she answered:
"Here Jesus tells us that in order to walk with Him, to be in the Kingdom, we must fulfill the purpose of God for our lives just like He followed."
Why deny ourselves?
Because His Purposes are so strong that we tend to resist them. It scares us, we feel afraid.
Our nature tends to be weak, we start letting unbelief dominate us.
We reject the revelation of His will and start living according to unbelief.
So we must deny our fears, our unbelief, our lack of confidence, and our blocking thoughts. We must desire to live what He planned.
Sometimes it feels easier to just do it our way. It is more comfortable, less scary.
So Jesus is telling us that we must deny ourselves if we desire to go after Him. We must face our fears, we must believe in the direction of the Holy Spirit, we must trust in God!
And then, He says we must take up our cross and follow Him. Our cross is our calling, God's purposes, God's dreams, God's will.
Cross because it was a cross for Him. But it doesn't mean suffering like many people think. It's just that His calling was the cross, so He is communicating with us about God's purposes in His own language. (That's what the Holy Spirit told me after I heard the bishop's answer)
"Deny himself, take up your cross and follow Me" means:
"deny all the directions you can follow and, instead, take your Purpose (your cross), focus on it and follow it."
Why cross? Because His Purpose was the cross. He focused on it until death. So He is calling us to do the same.
Each one of us has a Purpose to focus and follow.
If you don't know yours yet, ask God to reveal it to you.
His Purpose to our lives is not "to operate in the gift of healing", "to evangelize", "to be a missionary", "to help people". Those are not Purposes. His Purpose is a very specific destiny with revealed goals.
When you know it and focus on it, everything falls into place in your life, and God works everything to cooperate with you.
That's what Jesus meant by "take up your cross and follow Me." Because that's what He did. ("Focus on your cross and follow Me")
"take up" = focus on it.
"deny yourself" = deny your individual ways and directions.
Many people understand this Word on the contrary of what it really means.
They think we must deny who we really are inside, deny our dreams, deny our self-esteem.
Just because Jesus suffered on the cross, we don't have to suffer.
Cross is a Purpose. It is the direction where we will be living for God.
God's purposes are so good and so big that we tend to resist. We are afraid of them. That's why Jesus tells us that if we desire to follow Him, we will have to deny that resistance. He is requiring courage and faith.
In the Bible, we see that Jesus often requires people to let go of their attachments.
He asked that guy to sell everything he had and then follow Him. The guy was doing everything already!! (Matthew 19: 21)
And many other examples!
Jesus is in constant movement and in order to follow Him, we can't hold on to anything that makes us stuck, avoiding the pursuit of His purposes!
Are you ready to go to the next level of your life? Are you ready to be braver than you've ever been before?
Are you ready to deny the version of yourself that is holding on to fear? That is holding on to safety? That is holding on to small things, to small faith?
Jesus is in front of us calling us... He is saying: "Follow Me". Once again, get out of where you are and follow Me. Remember your revealed destiny! Focus on that again!
"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."
Romans 11: 29
"The work of righteousness will be peace,
And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever."
Isaiah 32: 17
"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."
I asked the Bishop of my church about her understanding, and this is what she answered:
"Here Jesus tells us that in order to walk with Him, to be in the Kingdom, we must fulfill the purpose of God for our lives just like He followed."
Why deny ourselves?
Because His Purposes are so strong that we tend to resist them. It scares us, we feel afraid.
Our nature tends to be weak, we start letting unbelief dominate us.
We reject the revelation of His will and start living according to unbelief.
So we must deny our fears, our unbelief, our lack of confidence, and our blocking thoughts. We must desire to live what He planned.
Sometimes it feels easier to just do it our way. It is more comfortable, less scary.
So Jesus is telling us that we must deny ourselves if we desire to go after Him. We must face our fears, we must believe in the direction of the Holy Spirit, we must trust in God!
And then, He says we must take up our cross and follow Him. Our cross is our calling, God's purposes, God's dreams, God's will.
Cross because it was a cross for Him. But it doesn't mean suffering like many people think. It's just that His calling was the cross, so He is communicating with us about God's purposes in His own language. (That's what the Holy Spirit told me after I heard the bishop's answer)
"Deny himself, take up your cross and follow Me" means:
"deny all the directions you can follow and, instead, take your Purpose (your cross), focus on it and follow it."
Why cross? Because His Purpose was the cross. He focused on it until death. So He is calling us to do the same.
Each one of us has a Purpose to focus and follow.
If you don't know yours yet, ask God to reveal it to you.
His Purpose to our lives is not "to operate in the gift of healing", "to evangelize", "to be a missionary", "to help people". Those are not Purposes. His Purpose is a very specific destiny with revealed goals.
When you know it and focus on it, everything falls into place in your life, and God works everything to cooperate with you.
That's what Jesus meant by "take up your cross and follow Me." Because that's what He did. ("Focus on your cross and follow Me")
"take up" = focus on it.
"deny yourself" = deny your individual ways and directions.
Many people understand this Word on the contrary of what it really means.
They think we must deny who we really are inside, deny our dreams, deny our self-esteem.
Just because Jesus suffered on the cross, we don't have to suffer.
Cross is a Purpose. It is the direction where we will be living for God.
God's purposes are so good and so big that we tend to resist. We are afraid of them. That's why Jesus tells us that if we desire to follow Him, we will have to deny that resistance. He is requiring courage and faith.
In the Bible, we see that Jesus often requires people to let go of their attachments.
He asked that guy to sell everything he had and then follow Him. The guy was doing everything already!! (Matthew 19: 21)
And many other examples!
Jesus is in constant movement and in order to follow Him, we can't hold on to anything that makes us stuck, avoiding the pursuit of His purposes!
Are you ready to go to the next level of your life? Are you ready to be braver than you've ever been before?
Are you ready to deny the version of yourself that is holding on to fear? That is holding on to safety? That is holding on to small things, to small faith?
Jesus is in front of us calling us... He is saying: "Follow Me". Once again, get out of where you are and follow Me. Remember your revealed destiny! Focus on that again!
"For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable."
Romans 11: 29
"The work of righteousness will be peace,
And the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever."
Isaiah 32: 17
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