Living Life For Self = Death

“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as thislittle child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”       — Matthew 18:3-4 (KJV)                          

“If you can’t follow you can never lead, you don’t run a thing until you running to the
King..”        —Lecrae on “Authority”

Greetings brothers and sisters,

The Word laid on my heart today is about humility. All of us as human beings are born prideful inherited from the first man Adam. It’s so easy for us to become so addicted to ourselves in our day to day lives. Everything has become about us and we have come to the conclusion that things must go our way or else. Let’s look at the saying that is widely popular critically.

“Be Yourself”

It seems easy enough to say, “I am proud of who I am. I will be an original and do things in my own way.” On the surface it sounds harmless, but as Christians is it biblical or Christ like? When we made the decision to make Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior we were in fact supposed to “kill” ourselves and our ways and our desires, passions, etc. and to completely and wholeheartedly follow Christ.  Once we became a new creature in Christ the only thing that should matter to us is HIS glorification.  “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be in dying, also] (Matt. 16:24 AMP). We can see here that Jesus made it clear that when we desire to be His disciple we must completely reject our old desires. Again on the surface this may seem harsh, but trust the Lord God who is omniscient. For God is the only one who truly knows what is best for us. The struggling of trusting God versus trusting in ourselves reminds me of the proverb: “There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death” (Prov. 14:12 AMP ). God told us that our ways may seem nice but they will lead to death.

So being ourselves for the sake of ourselves isn’t the way to operate in this life because it will not benefit us in the next life. Going back to Matthew 16:24, Jesus said we should CLEAVE, meaning holding without wavering, even if it leads to earthly death. This is a part of the terms and conditions us as Christians agreed upon when we asked the Lord God to be our Savior. Following Jesus may cost us family, friends, money, acceptance etc. Jesus promised not only will gain these things back plus more, but He also assured us that greatest would be eternal life (Mark 10:29-30). State Farm and Allstate can insure every thing from homes to cars, but God is the only deity that can sell us eternal life insurance. So be strong and “ let us seize and hold fast without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word” (Hebrews 10:23) God’s Words are the surest thing you can hold on to. We signed up to die only to live with Him again! Amen!

So in conclusion, I implore us all to humble ourselves like little children. Let’s think. A child is so innocent, so anticipant, so pure in heart. When children are in the presence of their fathers they feel so loved, so protected, so proud—not in themselves but because they know their Dad is big and strong and capable of doing so much and He is the reason for their existence! Christ calls us all do the same to with God. The scripture says “let him who boasts and glories boast and glory in the Lord” (2 Cor. 10:17 AMP). So brothers and sisters let us not be ourselves but be ourselves in Christ
alone. God bless

-Written by:  P. Shobo

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