23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,[a] and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?
- Luke 9
Most of us want to please GOD by following everything HE says. But it is easier thought and said than done. To follow Yeshua requires a lot of sacrifice which includes denying yourself. What do you mean by denying yourself? Denying your identity, your right to have, your dreams? Denying yourself is killing the human sinful nature. Of course we do not know how sinful we are and the fullness thereof unless GOD shows us. But we start by surrendering everything we are and have to GOD. It is very hard but GOD has promised to turn beauty for ashes. We may have achievements in life, things that we are proud of, but this is not who we are for who we are is found in GOD. We are His sons and daughters.
Yes we have many dreams and desires. The world encourages us to pursue those dreams and desires, but not everything is for our benefit, and only GOD truly knows our great destiny for which HE has planned for us ever since the beginning of time. So what do we do to save our lives by losing it? We lose our right to ourselves, our plans and dreams and surrender them all to the LORD and HE will form greater dreams in your heart that you could ever think of. HE has the blue print for your life, but in order for you to follow it, you have to spend time with the Maker, going up to the mountain where He is and seek Him. Keep seeking and asking Him to guide you even when you can't see what HE is trying to do or see the end from it. When things are not going where we want them to, what HE requires of us is trust, complete trust in the Father's heart and love for us, HE loves us beyond our understanding and HE wants the very best for us.
