i started out thinking i was going to be studying "doing the will of the Father," and it seems like God is slowly leading me there, but this was the next check point before reaching that destination. This seemed to be the most reasonable way to go in this quest for following the Spirit of the Lord, because we can't actually learn how to do the Will of the Father, until we understand the Cross of Christ and Self first.
Upon further research, i realize that this may have to be a sequel, seeing as i have much more information on this topic than one would think!
As i was taking my time of prayer with the Lord one day, walking down a nearby road, hot green tea in hand...the Lord whispered this scripture to me:
2 Tim 2:21, "...a vessel unto honour, sactified, & meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work."
meet: easy to make use of, useful
prepared: to make ready
we need to ask ourselves how we can be "meet for the master's use." And the answer to this is simple, and yet not easy to accomplish, nor is it pleasant to endure. The answer is to "Get out of the way!!!" LOL and yet we so struggle with this, why?
one of our biggest issues in our lives is not the devil, as we attempt to make this journey to Heaven. our big problem is the one we see when we look into the mirror. Self.
it is Self that stops and restricts God from accomplishing HIS WILL in our lives, it is SELF that acts up and is "ish...as in Selfish," it is self that demands the control and focus, and truly, is one of the greatest hindrances of the church today.
One of the problems that i see though, Christians have No desire to allow God to have His Way in their lives, but would rather do their own will and then stamp his name on it...thus, giving Christ a bad name when they fail...cause if it's God, you're NOT going to fail! Or the other problem is that they don't want to renounce self.
The reader might be asking, what do you men by "renounce self" : to give up or put aside voluntarily.
synonyms for renounce: to abandon, reject, deny, forsake, give up, repudiate, reliquish, forgo, quit, cast off
Mar 10:21 "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."
So...take these synonmys and replace them with the word renounce. you would abandon self, reject self, deny self, forsake self, give up self, repudiate self, relinquish self, forgo self, quit self, & cast off self.
That's a heck of a statement to make, but even harder to actually DO!!!
The reason why, is that we are taught in this world to PRESERVE or SAVE self, helping ourselves and avoiding death to self. we DON'T want to die, in any way, shape, or form. if you think you are able to do so, go make yourself a bathtub of water and TRY to drown yourself, you CAN'T do it!!! the flesh WILL NOT kill itself. LOL, i know that seems like a crazy analogy, but very true about us, because the flesh doesn't want to die! even the most giving of folks are selfish and self preserving in every way. The issue is, our hearts are so stinking wicked, our heart will hide ITSELF from being able to see these truths and realities about human nature.
Then the church begins to get humanistic psychology involved where pastors like TD Jakes begin to tell people that they just need to be reformed..."buy my book and follow these 10 steps and you too will find your way to prosper." when that goes COMPLETELY against what the bible teaches! Jesus Himself told the young rich ruler that for him to inherit eternal life ...well, let's look at it for ourselves:
Mar 10:21 "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."
How does one take up his cross and follow after Christ then? (if you haven't read the teaching on Romans 6:4 on baptism, you NEED to read and study it! it will SO HELP you understand this next part much more easily.) If a Christian does NOT properly understand the true meaning and doctrinal teaching of what baptism IS, what ACTUALLY takes place as far as the part that the gospel, (the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ), then one is NOT truly ABLE to walk this walk in Victory that Christ intended for them to. So when we died with Christ, our old man is dead. that means not only the SIN NATURE was abolished by Perfection hanging from the cursed tree, but that we also died to the will of "Me." This is not a "natural" occurrence for people, that's why Christ went to the Cross and did it FOR us, because we Could Not!
Here is a scriptural example of what self preservation is:
Matt 16:21 Christ tells his disciples for the first time what God has sent him to do, that He will in fact suffer at the hands of the scribes, chief priests, be killed and raise again on the third day, (he's preaching the everlasting gospel here!) and Peter (v. 22) begins to rebuke Him and said, "let it be far from you Lord! This shall not be!"
Ha! Peter's reaction is the same as what ours would have been, because we don't WANT to die! and yet, even though Peter had a zeal for the Lord and told Him that he was willing even to die for His sake...he, in an instant denied the Lord thrice! Here's the thing, folks... for some reason, churches either have a problem telling people they are sinners, for fear that they are going to offend people...or they flip to the other side and try to make it seem as though there is something that WE can do, without Christ...neither will work. So...i've been rambling, but the reason i say all of this, is to better help people understand what the real problem is. The real problem with man is not just sin, it's that man will NOT admit that he does it, IS it, and is in need of a saviour! :)
ok, so the next place we would need to be, is to recall, remember that we are dead with Christ, to our sin, and also to our own selfish desires and abilities. That is called "renouncing self."
There are some things that i want to look at regarding the renouncing of self:
to truly "renounce self," is to abandon and relinquish our own:
*Goodness-realizing that there is NOTHING GOOD in US
*Wisdom-laying down our pride, becoming a teachable, leadable people.
*Will-always, moment to moment, yielding to Christ & allowing Him to work on us continually
*Lusts & Desires-desiring the things of God more than the things of THIS LIFE we presently live.
I will attempt to explain more on these subjects and in more detail than this in times to come.
***Personally, in seeking the Lord in what i believe He has been leading me to share...just as the disciples were given the loaves of bread to distribute to the hungry people, so do i have to receive the Word that God is trying to bring to His people. In order for ME to receive it, i am having to walk through some things, seek the Lord, and allow Him to share with me through my own life what He is doing. That is the only way i am able to share effectively what i am learning, in order to hopefully one day help others in their quest and travels up the road to Heaven.***
Please keep following these. i am writing them the best i can (in order), but if there are sequels, i will list them accordingly to make them easier to find and study later. (i know i always talk as though i am speaking to others out there in e-land, but the truth is, i keep writing these, hoping that 1. to help me when i go back and revisit the things the Lord has taught me and shared along the way, and 2. that it WILL reach someone else's heart and lead them to a closer walk with Christ as well.
