The Path to Reality
Matthew 16:24-25 “Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.”
To hear and answer the call of Christ is nothing unless somewhere along the line you have this reality.
The claims of Jesus, saying, “Deny yourself, pick up your cross—those things I allow into your life which cuts across your natural way of doing, of thinking, and acting. This is to “follow Me”, for I walked this way here on earth, too. Doing only My Father’s Will…and nothing else.”
So many say they have surrendered to the Lord’s Will for their lives, yet constantly fight against the “way” His Will is to be brought to pass, for their lives.
When the reality of it all is, His Will includes doing it His Way.
The whole objective of denying yourself and bearing your cross, is that you might lose your life in yourself (You say “no” to what you want to do, and “yes” to the Lord),
That you might find reality, which is your life in Christ.
In Christ is the freedom from sin, self, and the world. In Christ there is the liberty of walking in the light, which manifests God’s love, joy, and peace to us.
But in ourselves there is the shadows of bitterness, anger, distress, ungratefulness, and desire.
Let’s face it, we are often overcome by one of these things within us.
Yes, they are brought out by circumstances of our lives, but the power of the Holy Spirit is in us, will we not yield to Him, and deny our self-life?
Letting His Life shine through ours?
We can either go back, and make ourselves of no account in the kingdom of God,
Or we can truly lose all these things that make up our old life: our way, our rights (what right do we really have, if we belong to Christ?), and our preferences; and let Jesus bring another child into the glory of God.
You can not have both your life, and Christ’s life being manifest through you.
One will be seen, the other will be denied. Which will it be, Christian?
This is a process, and it is one where every area of your life is touched: your past, your future, your plans, the way you think, your way of doing things.
But, I must stress, and this is important: This is between you and your Lord.
No one can intrude here.
It comes down to: “Not my will, but thine”, everyday.
If you do, you will come to the place in your experience with God, where you are no longer resisting His Will in anything. Therefore God’s power is flowing through you, unhindered.
Are you ready for Christ to lead you into a closer relationship with Him?
He said, “ If” any man will come after Me.
So it is not forced. It must be a love relationship. Nothing will make the way easier, than the growing knowledge of His love to you.
The question is: will you come after Christ Jesus, by denying yourself, picking up your cross and following Him?
It’s your life, what will you do with it? Keep it for yourself? Or Follow Him?
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 