The Life I Strive To Live
A lot of the time, I feel like I cannot be writing a blog post about God because I'm not in the "right place with God" to be doing so. But then I quickly remind myself how nobody will ever be in the "right place with God" because we all fall short. As humans, we are all Unworthy because we have all sinned. I sin every single day no matter how hard I try. It just happens. WE ARE HUMAN. But of course, as being a follower of Jesus, I try my hardest to run from sin and instead follow the path Jesus walked. We must constantly be running from all evil and trying our best to live like Jesus. And if you never began this relationship with Christ, It's so simple! "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9 (ESV) So today, I was studying through Matthew 16 and a few things hit me. I wanted to share. Btw, I would love to do a weekly devotional on here or somewhere on the web. I think it would build me up as a christian and I would love to share what God has spoken to me to encourage all of you. Anyway…
Matthew 16:24 (ESV)
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
What does this all mean? Taking up a cross?! Are we actually supposed to find a wooden cross and carry it like Jesus did?! Of course not haha. Jesus already did that for us. I believe this is one of the most powerful verses in the bible. It's necessary for living the life Jesus called us to live. Let me go into what this means.
1. Deny yourself
2. Take up your cross
3. Follow Jesus
By living the life Jesus called us to live, we must first deny ourselves. That simply means denying our self will. This life is not about what we want, but all about what Jesus wants for us! We must constantly be surrendering our lives to Jesus and giving ourselves up to him so He may do a work in us. If we do not deny ourselves, Jesus won't be able to work on us. Let go of all your trials and problems and give it up to the God of all creation to take care of. Let Him be in control. I know every time I try to take control, I always fail.
Next, once we deny ourselves, we must take up our cross. I love how my ESV study bible puts this. It translates taking up your cross to "embracing God's will". Every single moment throughout our days, wherever we may find ourselves, we must always be living a life pleasing to God. The way we talk to people, serve people, hang with our friends, etc. If what we're doing does not seem to be pleasing God, then it's definitely something we need to let go of. If we're not pleasing God, we cannot be growing closer to christ. Sin is sin and we must flee it immedietely.
Then the last command is to follow Jesus. This is an every day routine, not just a thing you do when you go to church on Sunday. I try to read my bible and talk to Jesus everyday. It's necessary for a Christian to do this in order to grow with christ. I love to compare it to people in a relationship. If a couple is in a relationship but talk only ONCE a week for 5 minutes, how are they supposed to stay together or learn more about each other? It's impossible haha and extremely awkward. If we're not talking to God everyday and seeking him, how can that relationship be alive? I know how hard it is to start reading your bible everyday, but sometimes you just have to push really hard in the beginning. Then eventually, God will take off and begin working in you. The moment I gave up smoking weed everyday, I begin to seek Jesus in the word everyday and that hunger for him begin to build more and more! It's amazing how Jesus works. He wants to grow closer to us more than we want to grow closer to him. The GOD of all creation loves us more than we can ever comprehend. super cool.
And this 3 step process is a daily commitment. Everyday I pray to God denying myself and asking for forgiveness for constantly messing up as a human. All I want to be is more like Jesus and that won't happen if I'm not in the word everyday. If we only seek Jesus once a month, not only will that relationship be dead but it also opens doors for Satan to come in and tackle us. Talk to God like you're talking to any one of your friends. He knows EVERYTHING about us. Be straight up simple with him. He loves that more than anything!
I haven't done a post about God in a good while and this was definitely refreshing! I consider this more of a rant than a devotion because I simply just started typing. Hopefully this made some sense. Thanks for reading if you got up to this point :)
I love you guys. If you have any prayer requests or questions, just send them to my ASK. I'll try to answer as many as I can. And even if I don't answer yours, it doesn't mean I didn't see it. I will pray for every thing I see! Jesus hears all our prayers :)
okai bye!