Someone once told me that “every moment that you aren’t actively giving glory to God you are passively giving glory to yourself”. Giving glory to that selfish and lowly creature that dwells within you that attempts to puff itself up with brief feelings of satisfaction. These pursuits are but vain. They are fleeting as the wind and search the depths of your heart to plant the smallest seed of destruction. That “flesh man” that seeks only that which gratifies and magnifies its self. The same Spirit that inspired the fall, that has tried to lead every man in history astray. Its root so entrenched in pride that it tries to suffocate any Spirit that breathes life.
Pride is our fleshes greatest ambition and our Spirits sole destruction. Pride tries to creep into every thought to dig its fingers into our Spirit and drag us back down into the pit in which it came.
When he asks His disciples to deny themselves. He is asking more then simply putting away their sinful self. He is calling them to greater intimacy. Denying oneself is perhaps the most underrated way to attain a deeper intimacy with Jesus. The things you do on a daily basis may not be inherently bad. Such as: Sleeping, eating, watching a movie, spending time with friends, playing sports, and so on. These are but a few, but anything that falls in the realm of activity that is not causing sin. These seemingly harmless activities can twist the soul into a passive nature that is not actively seeking to give glory to God. We are merely using these comforts to sustain us. I believe that if there is ever a time in which you take these things for granted. Then it may be time to fast from them to restore your heart to thankfulness. How easily do we consume, consume, and consume things without having our heart in a position of thankfulness.
When Jesus says deny yourself. He is telling us to put away that which makes us comfortable. He is calling us to more. He is calling us to put away the dream of a big and fancy homes, to put away with leisure time, to put away with indulgence in food, sleep and romantic relationship whether pure or not. He is calling us to be radical. He is calling us to choose Him over brief comforts.
Western society has taught us to be independent. That we don’t need anybody to support and build us up, that you can do it on your own and once you acquire wealth you will finally have happiness. That I can pull myself up by my bootstraps and rise to any class I choose. This idea is a facade that masks the lie. We must come to realize that we can’t do it on our own. We must restore our dependence, not on “the system”, a government, or another person, but on the one and only King, Jesus. He gave us a representation of this dependence when he allowed us to be nurtured by our parents. When we came into this world as a completely dependent baby. He wants to restore that dependence to Him. He wants our ever breath and need to be in Him.
When the first church really grew in Acts it came down to three things: prayer, worship and fasting. When the believers did this as one body. It grew rapidly. This truth can be applied to our own lives.
When you pray. You are humbling yourself to dependence and belief that God is going to move.
When you worship. You are giving all glory to God. You are making Him the primary focus in your life.
When you fast. You are denying yourself of comforts and reaching a greater dependence on Jesus.
As a believer, if stagnation in relationship starts to show. Then ask yourself if you are devoted to these, and committed to growth.
If we only took a step back from the world and all the things we create in our minds and realize that He created every fiber in our bodies, that the whole universe is held together by Him and was intricately woven from His hand. Then we would have a greater revelation of how small we really are, but in that, knowing that he provided the ultimate sacrifice, and the possibilities in Him are endless.
Be radical. Until Kingdom come. To give anything less than all of yourself is to limit the Spirit from moving within you.
And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:4
