Deny Yourself, Pick Up Your Cross Daily, Follow Jesus

We are called to Follow Jesus. Jesus is the shephard, we are His flock. We are to hear His voice and follow Him. We are called to follow in His footsteps and walk as He walked. We are to imitate Him and become like Him.

Jesus came here in the flesh as the expressed image of the Father. That means HE is Love. We are to imitate Him, and become love.

In order to imitate Him you need to open your eyes and begin to see things from His perspective. You need to look at how He lived His life and understand what He was trying to do. You then need to figure out how to apply that understanding to your life. As you do this, you will get to “know Him” and He will get to know you.

He provides very direct instructions in how to do this in a robust way: Deny Yourself, Pick up your cross daily, and follow Him.

Deny yourself means to set aside your own self-conscious identity and cut off the selfish agendas that drive us. We need to realize this life is not all about ME and my ego, it is about allowing God to operate through ME to flow His love to others. God’s love is perfected when it flows through us to others. Self-centeredness gets in the way of this flow, it diverts and hords God’s love in ourselves rather than letting it flow through us to others. We need to flow God’s love through us, you can dable in this by finding ways to helping others. This, at least, gets you moving in the right direciton.

Deny yourself is a critical step to truly becoming love.

Love does not try to draw attention to itself. It does not brag about how good things are going or complain about how bad things are going. It remains focused on how best to serve and help others.

Love does not try to build itself up or parade itself around. It does not seek credit for what it has or what it does. It doesn’t matter what your car looks like, it doesn’t matter how big or fancy your house is. It doesn’t matter if anyone notices when you spend time or money doing something nice. You need to shut down your ego and get it out of the way for God’s love to flow through you to others.

Love does not build itself up by putting others down. We are each God’s children and deserve to be treated with love. He promises to treat you exactly as you have treated others. Don’t build yourself up at the expense of others. Don’t tear others down just to build yourself up. Find ways to lower yourself and serve others; the last will be the first in His kingdom.

Love is not focused on money or material things. Love is focused on using our gifts, talents and resources to do good works for other people. Find ways to be nice to people, loving others, helping those in need physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Love does not worry about what others think or say or do to it. It does not get puffed up when people say nice things, it does not take offense when someone treats it badly. Don’t seek credit for doing good; Don’t let the left hand know what the right hand is doing.

Love is content. It does not envy what others have or take actions to maliciously pursue or take it.

Picking up your cross challenges you and helps you become Love:

Love is willing to sacrifice and suffer for a good cause. God sent His son even while we were rebelling against Him as sinners. Jesus was willing to suffer and die on the cross for us, even while He was being rejected by the very people He came to save. He not only was willing to suffer for us, He said nothing while it happened and forgave those who did it to them. God knows exactly what has happened to you and what you think, say, and do to others. He promises rewards in heaven for suffering wrongs in this life without retaliating.

Love forgives and does not hold grudges. Love sees the best in people. Love sees each of us as God’s children struggling in a fallen world. Love forgives them of misguided actions and is willing to move forward. You are called to absorb wrongs and forgive 70×7 times. You are even called to love your enemies, pray for them, and bless them. You are to overcome evil with good.

Follow Jesus and love will blossom into faith and bring Him glory:

Love is focused on the hope of eternal things rather than the trials and tribulations of our individual earthly life. Jesus focused on the Fathers work, and He did the Fathers will. Stay focused on God and His purpose for our life. We are here to bring God glory. What can we do to serve Him and bring Him glory in our earthly life and how can our earthly lives help others gain an eternal life with Him.

Love has hope and high expectations for God’s divine purpose and plan, Jesus was willing to pick up his cross and die for us on the promise of resurrection on the third day. We trust in Him and His plan even when things are not going well for us in this life.

Please take seriously the opportunity to deny yourself, pick up your cross daily, and follow Jesus. Imitate Him and become love. Walk as He walked, Become the light as He was in the light. Become a bright beacon for His kingdom. Stand boldly on judgement day because you have become like Him in this life.

Hope this helps.

Love Your Enemies? How Can I Do That?

Introduction – A Calling to Love Your Enemies

Most folks get the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do to you”. Most folks also get the second of the great commandments: “Love your neighbors as yourself”. This principle forms the basis fmany of the rules for civil society:.no murder, stealing, lying, or other abuses agaisnt others. This is pretty easy to understadn and pretty easy to embrace when theings are going well for you and when you view your neighbors as those folks you are working with, or are dependant on, for you success. It gets significantly harder to embrae when certain folks are working against you or doing things to harm you. Are they really my neighbor? They are my enemy! What they did was wrong! I deserve to see justice! They need to be held accountable for thier actions!! The bible says hate your enemies, an eye for an eye! Well that was what the old testsment said. Jesus changed the game by calling us to “Love your enemies” . wow, that can be tough. How do you do that? Jeuss showed you how, and it is not an optional calling if you want to spend eternity with Him.

Jesus really changed the game, His came to earth as a suffering savior to usher God’s kingdom into the earth. He created a path we can follow to experience the kingdom here on earth. Following that path includes a challenging calling to “love our enemies”. Understanding this calling helped me better grasp what God was doing when He sent His son, what Jesus was doing with His earthly life, and why we are called to deny ourselves and pick up our cross daily. It connected the dots for me and things make a lot more sense as a result. This post is my attempt to bring the same revelation to you to help you on your journey with Him.

You are called to love your neighbors AND your enemies.

The Old Testament teaches us to love our neighbors but to stand against our enemies, especially those who actively rebell and hate God.

“Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
For they speak against You wickedly; Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.” Psalm 139:19-22

Folks are to be held accountable for thier actions and to repayed for thier adverse actions against others; an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.

“If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.” Leviticus 24:17-20

Jesus sets the bar much higher now that He gets here. He uses the sermon on the mount to set expecttions for participation in God’s heavenly kingdom. We need to not only love our neighbors, but truly love our enemies as well. We show this love by willfully suffering whatever wrongs they did against us and not retaliating. We are to have mercy on them and forgive them rather than administer justice. We are to not only to avoid retaliating but repay their evil deeds with good deeds. We are also to pray for them.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” Matthew 5:43

Who are your enemies?

There are two groups of folks that could be considered enemies, the first are those who are actively working to cause you harm. The second are those folks described in the old testament who were rebelling against God, whether they had directly impacted you yet or not. Those impacitng you could include:

Folks who curse you: Anyone speaking negative things about your past, present, or future. Anyone using words which diminish you, your integrity, your intentions, your contribution, your future potential, or inherent value as one of God’s precious children.

Folks who hate you: Anyone who dislikes you or has hostility against you. Anyone viewing you as an adversary to be disliked, or avoided, or attacked, or defeated. Anyone thinking or willing or taking actions with the intention to do harm to you.

Folks who spitefully use you: Anyone manipulating you or your resources maliciously for their own gain.

Folks who prosecute you: Anyone taking an organized and intentional course of action to adversely impact you.

Loving Friends is easy

Loving friends and neighbors is easy and takes no sacrifice. Loving an enemy, and looking past what they have done to harm you, is much harder.

“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. Luke 6:32-34

How should you show love to enemies?

It helps to define a couple of commonly used terms here:

Justice: We are accountable for our actions. Choices have consequences. Damage must be repaid. We will get exactly what we deserve eventually.

Mercy: Withholding punishment that someone deserves or has earned. ex: Placing yourself at the mercy of the court for a lenient sentance..

Grace: Giving someone someting good they have not earned. Ex: You are saved by grace through faith. It is a gift, not someothing you earn.

Loving enemies is not a trivial challenge because it goes contrary to principles of Justice where folks should be held accountable for their actions. ie: An eye for an eye. Loving enemies requires us to show mercy and not repay them in kind for their harmful actions. Not only that, we are called to flow goodness to them even when their actions did not deserve it. We are to show both mercy, and grace.

“…I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.” Luke 6:27-31

Why should we love our enemies?

We should love our enemies because God loved us even while were were acting as enemies ot Him.

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” Romans 5:10

“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:10

Why should we be willing to suffer harm, have mercy, and forgive our enemies?

We should be willing to suffer harm from others in this life because Jesus was willing to suffer harm because of our sins. God had mercy and sent His son, Jesus was full of mercy and forgives us. He suffered for us, the least we can do is suffer for Him.

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” Ephesians 2:4-5

“Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.” 1 Peter 4:1-2

Jesus offers a heavenly reward

Jesus promises your reward in heaven will be great for your suffering any loss in his name. Having mercy for the acts of your enemies, not retaliating with punishment they deserve and truly forgiving them is the first part. Showing them grace with good works they have not earned, and Offering prayers based on recognizing their inherent value is part of the cross Jesus asks you to pick up. Recognizing God’s mercy and unearned grace towards you, and showing the same for othersthem perfects the flow of God’s love into you and through you.

“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful. Mark 6:35-36

“…that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:45-48

Just to be clear, this is not optional nice to have activity. God’s forgiveness of your sin is contingent on your forgiveness of the sins of others.

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15

So how do you go about loving your enemies?

Mentally separate the sinner from the sin.

One key step is to separate the person causing you problems from the activities they are doing. We need to love the sinner and hate the sin. Each human being is created in Gods image and is worthy of love and respect. Each individual person has been put here with a divine purpose. The devil has been very successful at spreading lies and leveraging our self-centered nature to keep us from that purpose. Each individual has to find their way to God and their purpose in this fallen world. Many remain lost, or distracted, or confused, and are not on the right path for the life God intended for them. Some have become blind to God’s existence; some have become deaf to His offers to help them. Some hearts have become hard and do not flow love to others in compassion or good works. Some become self-centered enough to manipulate, use, and abuse people for their own gain. Some become rebellious and pursue self-centered agendas to the point of their own destruction, and they cause great distress of those around them. Our challenge is to recognize the created value of each individual, and pray for them to discover God, recognize His love and positive intentions for them, discover the flaws in their ways and repent, get back on the right track so they can become the wonderful loving person God intended when He put them here.

Deny Yourself and Pick Up Your Cross Daily

One key is to not take their acts against you personally. You are being called to absorb any negative impacts of your enemies’ actions: Let evil words roll off your back, take any physical abuse they dish out, absorb any loss of resources or property and not pursue retribution. This is only possible when you see things from God’s perspective and do what He asks of you: deny yourself, pick up your cross daily, and follow Jesus.

Jesus showed us by example what it means to deny yourself. Jesus was with God in heaven since the beginning and chose to came here and live amongst us as a human. He was the son of God and could easily have demanded broad recognition of that position. But instead, He called himself Son of Man. He did not strut around pounding his chest as He had every right to, He humbled himself as a mere human, submitted himself into service for others, and even washed his disciples’ feet before the ultimate sacrifice of his life for us. He wants us to be of the same mind set.

“And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:27-28

“Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Philippians 2:5-11

At the appointed time, He picked up His cross: He willingly accepted humiliation, physical torture, and physical death to fulfill His calling. He said nothing in response to their attacks, He absorbed all that was being dished out against His earthly being to the point of death, and He forgave those who did it to Him.

Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” And they divided His garments and cast lots. Luke 23:34

We are called to follow His model and do the same as we go through our lives. Deny ourselves, pick up our cross daily, and follow Jesus model.

“Then He said to them all, ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me’”. Luke 9:23

Crucify your old self, Put off the old.

You put your old self-centered self to death with Jesus on the cross, you are raised with Him in resurrection into new life.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

When you have actually crucified your old “self”, it is much harder for people to harm you. You realize this life is not about you, it is about Christ forming in you and living through you.

Embrace your new identity.

One powerful enabler to accepting sacrifice in your earthly life is to understand and embrace your new identity. When you accept Jesus as your lord and savior, Your earthly life is no longer the center of the universe, God and His eternal kingdom ibecomes the cetner. When you repent of your sins and accept Jesus as lord of your life, you are born again. You become an adopted son of God. You have a new identity. You are not defined by your earthly life, or by what other people think, say, or do to you. Your identity is defined by God. The second you accept Jesus as lord, you step into righteousness through Jesus. You are a member of the body of Christ. The father sees you as holy and beyond reproach. People cannot take that position away from you by thier words or actions. They can not define you, You are defined by Him and His love..

Keep an eternal perspective.

We are eternal souls and are just temporary residents on this earth. Once we accept Jesus, are born again, and become adopted children of God, we knnow we will spend eternity in heaven. Death in this life sends us to heaven. Jesus promises justice for all wrong doing on the earth. We can be confident that folks will be held accountable or whatever malicious stuff they do in this life. We do not have to enforce justice, we can trust that God will. We actually are promised an incentive in heaven if we sacrifice something here for God’s sake. Humans can speak things, and do things to harm us, but they can not adversely impact our soul if we don’t let them.

“And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10:28

Become the light.

Jesus was the light of the world. When you embrace Him and begin to see things from His perspective, you are in the light. As you transform and let Him form in you, you allow more of His love to flow through you to others, and you become the light. His love is perfected when it flows through you to others.

“He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.” 1 John 2:9-11

Prayer:

Heavenly father, Thank you for creating this amazing place and putting me here to experience it.

Lord Jesus, thank you for being willing to come here and die to pay the price for our sin. You denied your Godly self and served us as the Son of Man, You picked up your cross by suffering and dying for us. I am committed to embracing your model and following in your footsteps.

I am committed to love my neighbors as my self, and to even love my enemies. I pray for your help to have mercy when evil is done agaisnt me. Help me love the sinner but hate the sin. Each of your children are precious and worthy of love. You came to save us, even when we were at war with you. I embrace each of my enemies as your precious children in whom you have planted gifts and talents and have high hopes even though they are currently lost. I pray for them. I pray they hear you knocking and let you lead them back into the flock so they can fulfil their purpose here. I pray for you help me continue to deny myself so that I can show mercy, Help me have one mind with you so that I can show mercy and flow grace with good works for those who seek to do me harm. May I pick up my cross so that your love can flow through me uninterrupted and bring you glory. I ask this in Jesus name.