Matthew 16:24-26 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me]. For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity]. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world [wealth, fame, success], but forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

I want to take a few moments and really break down this scripture because Jesus tells us exactly what it looks like to be His follower.

Deny Ourselves: What does it really mean to deny ourselves? It means to deny our flesh—things and desires it drives us to fulfill such as lust, addiction, critical attitudes, pride, sin, over indulgence, bitterness, unfrogiveness, self-pity, anger, etc. It also means that we seek His desires for our lives and not our own. Our wants for our lives need to line up with His plans for our lives and not the other way around. Instead of trying to pull Him into our will for our lives it means to lay our will down and get into His will for our lives.

Take Up Our Cross: It means to stand firm on His Word. We must side with His Word and not the world no matter the cost….and it will cost us something. It will cause us to be different than others, stand out, be made fun of, and even at times to be hated because of our stance on Biblical truth. The Bible does not change and we must have it as our firm foundation in our belief system and in our lives. We cannot just go along with the world or even lukewarm Christians because it is easier. Standing for Christ is not easy, but it is required as His followers.

Belief in Him: Belief in Him means having faith in Him. Faith means we trust Him and His Word even when our circumstances and the enemy says something differently. Faith means we view the Lord through the lens of His Word and not through our emotions, situations, and the lies of the enemy.

Being His Example: As a follower of Christ we need to get to know Him personally so that we can be more like Him. That means spending time in prayer and reading the Bible. We cannot know Him without being with Him and reading about what He taught, how He taught, how He felt, and what He did. We cannot be an example of someone we do not fully know. We can find ourselves only representing part of His character if we are not careful. That is why it is so important to get to know Him for ourselves through prayer and His Word and not just rely on others to teach us who they think He is.

Dying If Need Be: One day we may have to choose to stand for Christ and lose our lives. It is not like that in America yet, but I do believe at some point it will get that way and we must have it firm in our heart that we will choose Him no matter the cost. If we cannot even stand up for our beliefs in the face of being left out or made fun of we need to pray for the Lord to help us be bold for His truth and then we must CHOOSE to be bold for Him. It is not easy, but it is necessary.

If we are not following Him like the Bible shows us we should then we are not really following Him at all. It is not up to us to decide what following Him should look like. We must get into His Word and following Him the way it is outlined in the Bible.

If you are not following Him the way the Bible says to I want to encourage you to go to Him in repentance, change the way you follow Him, change any behaviors or attitudes that need to change, and start (if you are not already doing it) having a consistent prayer life and Bible readying plan. Do not let the enemy get you stuck in condemnation. Condemnation is never from God. He sends conviction to drive us to Him and the enemy brings condemnation to run us from Him. It is important to know the difference. God loves us and He wants a relationship with us. Start where you are at and seek Him. He will not hide from you.

Blessings,

Nichole Henson

Fullness of Joy Ministry

Fullnessofjoyministry@gmail.com