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“Deny Everyday Now Yourself! (D.E.N.Y)”

By Ramesh C.Reddy
Pittsburgh Standard

June 13, 2009

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SCRIPTURE:
"But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. "Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. "Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." (Mark 8:33-34, NIV)

OBSERVATION:
I asked myself what did Jesus do after rebuking Peter?
Jesus called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said:
1. If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and
2. If anyone would come after me, he must take up his cross and
3. If anyone would come after me, he must follow me.

I decided to look at point one today.

INTERPRETATION:
I asked myself what is the significance of Jesus saying, 'he must deny himself?'
To know the significance of Jesus saying, 'he must deny himself', I decided to focus on what does 'deny' mean.

According to www.dictionary.com, 'deny oneself' means, to refrain from satisfying one's desires or needs; practice self-denial.

Right after Jesus rebuked Peter by saying, 'Get behind me, Satan!' 'You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men', Jesus makes a profound statement to the crowds regarding 'denying oneself'.

It goes to the heart of having in mind the things of God than the things of men. It comes down to refraining from satisfying one's own desires or needs. Instead, the crowds and disciples are reminded to satisfy the desires of God and God alone which Jesus claimed to be. This also meant refraining from satisfying one's own needs compared to the needs Jesus knows we need to have.

IMPLICATIONS:
I saw important implications for my own life. At the heart of the matter is if I or anyone would come after Jesus, there are conditions to follow. The first and foremost condition is 'he must deny himself'. I am told to deny myself if I would go after Jesus. This means no matter what my credentials are, my occupation is, my status in life is, etc, I cannot follow Jesus unless I make a conscious decision  to deny myself and the things of men over the things of God.

Jesus is setting the stage midway through the Gospel According to Mark by emphasizing 'denying oneself'. Jesus is emphasizing the 'cost of following Jesus'.

There is a cost to follow Jesus and it is not free because we have to give ourselves up. Only when we are ready to give ourselves up can we go after Jesus.

HOW GOSPEL GIVES ME TESTIMONY REGARDING D.E.N.Y:

I believe Jesus is saying to me, 'Ramesh, if you would come after me, you need to deny yourself' otherwise why come after me.' Yet, in today's society, sadly there have been many days,  I have chosen to go after the things of men than the things of God and still expected to be called a follower of Christ when I have not  really followed Christ by my actions. Yesterday, Steve, Jeremy, Josh, and myself talked about that about how our lives as followers of Christ should be and should not be. This does not mean, I feel I have lost my Salvation because those who come to Jesus, Jesus will never let Satan snatch them away. However, I want others to see I am a follower of Christ by the fruit I bear with the Lord's help.

Jesus said, "You will know them by their fruit"

I have been guilty of not always denying myself and still saying that I am a follower of Christ  when my actions do not always reflect that. There have been days I feel I am no different than a non-follower of Christ and that makes me sad. I cannot honestly say that I am following Christ continuously when my actions actually show that I am following the desires of the devil. I don't want that and neither does Jesus want that for me.

 Jesus wants my actions to reflect that I am following the things of God than the things of men. Jesus wants me to deny myself to follow Him. For that to happen, I need to take the help of Jesus daily and focus on Him and Him alone. I cannot follow Christ apart from the transforming power of the Holy Spirit working in my life. It is His grace that justifies me and it is His grace that sanctifies me so I can be transformed by His grace.

That can only happen when I realize daily that I cannot save myself from my fleshly desires that are the result of the deadly virus known as sin that specializes in hedonistic principles commandeered by Satan. This so reminds me of Romans 7:14-25 which is a prayer I have prayed so many times. Right after that, I have the promise of Romans 8! Praise the Lord.

If I cannot save myself then someone has to do the saving and this is where my Messiah, the Anointed One, my Savior comes into the picture. The crowds and the disciples had Jesus right with them to help them follow Him. To the disciples, right before rebuking Peter, Jesus had shared about being killed and being raised to life on the third day. I could not follow Jesus Christ on my own if it were not for Jesus intervening in my life through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus Christ who had no sin became sin for us that we can have the righteousness of God.

Jesus absorbed all my sin upon the cross at Calvary and released His precious cleansing blood for all humanity to take as its antidote for this deadly virus known as sin. The donor has been provided in Christ.

Now the question became whether I would accept the donor's blood or think I could follow Jesus on my own because His teachings are so good. I came to realize that I cannot follow Jesus on my own and deny myself no matter how much I love Jesus' teachings until I accept His sacrificial death on the cross for me and know that only the Holy Spirit can help me bear fruit that makes others see that I am a follower of Christ. Sanctification is a process and I need Jesus' help daily.

Because it is through His death on the cross, Jesus made a way for me to follow Him. What Jesus' death accomplished on the cross and my acceptance of His death and resurrection is what began the process of Salvation in my life.

So when I was a Hindu I could never say that I was following Jesus Christ because following Jesus Christ is more than following His teachings. A Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, etc can believe Jesus' teachings are so awesome and good that they need to be followed but none of them can really follow Christ without acknowledging Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Him.

Also, I need the help of the Holy Spirit so I can be focused on the things of God. I praise the Lord for His promises that we can have the mind of Christ! How awesome is that!

I learned long time ago that the teachings of Jesus cannot be cherry-picked for my satisfaction and the two most important things to know are that 'I am a sinner saved by grace and it is not of any good works that I can produce that God saved me, because all our good works are like filthy rags to the Lord, but because God loves me so much that He does not want me to perish but have Eternal life. God knows the only way for humanity not to perish is allowing Jesus to become the bridge for humanity to reach God.

I was separated from God by my sin. Before I came to Christ, I would wake up in the morning and tell myself that 'I am going to be good today' and start out with 100 points expecting to finish of the day with 95 points so I could have a solid 'A' for that day. But, you know what it never happened because there were always areas in my life where I faltered. It was because of sin the deadly virus that kept interfering.

As I turned my life over to Christ, God's Word that says, 'No one is good, not one, all have fallen short of the glory of God' made so much sense to me.

I was trying to be good on my own apart from Christ but I kept faltering and also what I felt being good was not God's definition of being good since God stated in His Word: 'All your good works are like filthy rags'

They are filthy because sin makes them filthy. Only the detergent that Christ provided made that filthy rag white as freshly fallen snow. The detergent was the blood of Christ in which my body was washed to make me clean. Praise the Lord! I am so thankful for the cross and what Jesus did for me to save me.

I can deny myself when I focus on Christ with His help and His help alone. In Christ alone will I glory for He is my strength and my Salvation so on Solid Rock I can stand and all else is sinking sand.

I ask you now dear friend, why deny yourself in the one life you have to live?
Dear friend, Satan would love nothing better than you giving into hedonistic principles and acting on them but you should resist it for the sake of what Jesus Christ did for you. We should have so much gratitude and love for all Jesus has done for us on the cross of Calvary that following Jesus Christ is where we will find our true joy and happiness in Him and Him alone. Also, because one day we can wait for Jesus to say to us, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'

Jesus should be our Master. Jesus can say that friend, when you deny yourself to go after Jesus. As shared before, that can only truly happen when we realize that sin has captivated us from following Christ so the issue of sin needs to be handled first and foremost. This starts with looking to the finished work of Jesus Christ.

Jesus came to deliver you and me from the destruction of sin and finished His ultimate work on the cross by paying the ultimate price. Jesus offered us the antidote on the cross and allowed us to nail Him there hands and feet. You and I have been given freedom in Christ because we nailed Him there.

You maybe thinking that I did not nail Him there because I was not even born then nor was I there. Friend, Jesus Christ died for the sins of the past, the present, and the future. His Blood was shed on the cross to provide the antidote for all who would receive it. Yet, Jesus did not force that antidote upon anyone. When sin was absorbed by Jesus, that moment I like to think of it as a small portal being opened for us to receive the Blood of Christ to purify us from all sin. But we have to receive His blood.

If we choose to go our own way thinking we have the answers and don't need Christ, we make our own hearts hardened to the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I don't want that for you friend. Jesus loves you so much that Jesus paid the price for you and me, coming back to life to save.

Jesus denied Himself and followed the commands of the Father that we can be saved and He asks you and me to do the same and deny ourselves and follow Him. To follow Jesus means to obey His commands. To obey His commands, we have to be in the Word of God using it as our instruction manual. Everyday, we can have nuggets of truth to follow.

For example, today being Sat, June 13, 2009, I have also read Psalm 13 and Proverbs 13. In Proverbs 13:13, I learned, "Obey God and succeed. Despise God's Word and find yourself in trouble."

Of all the sharing it is really simple to come to Christ. It starts with acknowledging that a deadly virus is in your system and has made you act in a way that is contrary to the Word of God. In essence, you are confessing that there is a deadly virus inside of you and you need help. When you do that, you should also have a desire to repent or turn away from those sins. In other words, you need to have a desire to surrender your life over to Jesus and do that so He can handle the virus. When you do that, He will come into your heart and start a transformational change that starts with His precious blood cleansing you of all your sin. In essence, you are confessing Jesus is Lord and He alone has the power to do that and also you are believing in your heart that Jesus is your Savior because you accepted His saving power in your life knowing Jesus died for your sin, was buried, and came back to life on the third day to save. You can be saved friend.

Now is the time of Salvation. Don't wait thinking some other time you will deny yourself to go after Jesus. No friend, do it now. No matter where you have been or what you have done, Jesus loves you. You can come to Him as you are because He already paid the ransom for your sin. Look to Jesus and deny yourself knowing He will take care of you.

It won't always be easy but Jesus will help you friend as He has been helping me. There was a time it was really hard for me to submit and I was praying about that when Jesus helped me hear the song, "Jesus Take the Wheel" by Carrie Underwood. I kept praying those words to the Lord because at times it is so hard to let go but I need to let go in areas that are selfish and not Christ-centered. Only Christ can help me and the more I prayed, the more I felt relieved. Anytime I am upset because of what I agreed to do, I go back to the words of that song and make it my prayer.

Friend, denying self won't be easy but when we focus on Christ and loving Him and Him alone, we will be transformed by the power of His resurrection.

IN SUMMARY APPLICATION REGARDING D.E.N.Y:

I learned that denying self and asking Jesus to help me bear fruit will show others that I am a follower of Christ!

May you always know Jesus Christ loves you so much and to deny yourself becomes easy when looked at in the light of the cross.

"Deny Everyday Now Yourself! (D.E.N.Y)"/Why deny yourself in the one life you have to live?"

Prayer:
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much for helping me learn from your Word. Thank you for the time you have helped me ponder about what it means to deny myself and how important it is to come after you. You have taught me the cost of following you Jesus. You have not stated that it will be easy. Denying self is never easy Lord. Time after time I have failed to follow you faithfully because I have been self-minded. Forgive me Lord. Thank you for letting me realize that as I focus on you and you alone, I can follow you. This means remembering that your ultimate sacrifice on the cross paved the way for me to live a life that bears life giving fruit. I know that I cannot be good on my own apart from you Jesus. I have tried and failed. Only when I look to the light of the cross and the blood you shed on the cross for me for my redemption do I fully grasp how goodness can be possible. It starts with you. Thank you for coming into my life and cleansing me with your precious cleansing blood. I need your help to deny myself and follow you. Help me Jesus. Thank you so much for being my Lord and my Personal Savior. You have saved me because no one else could. I give my life to you and surrender to you. Help me Jesus so I do not fall back. Thank you so much Jesus. Thank you that you have heard my prayer and answered me! In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

No matter what you feel in your heart, know that Jesus has come in and resides with you! You are not alone! To make your walk strong with the Lord, spend time in prayer talking to Him as you would to a friend. You don’t need special words to talk to the Lord. Spend time in His Word reading Psalms and turning them into prayer. Next allow God to heal you and speak to you through the Gospel of John or Gospel of Mark before moving on to other Books of the Bible! Slowly, let the Lord show you to which Scriptures He wants you to go to next. It is also important to be part of a body of believers to help you grow in the faith. Find a Bible believing church that preaches the Word of God from Genesis to Revelation proclaiming Jesus Christ our crucified and risen Lord who brings us hope, healing, and help! But beware of churches who do believe in the Word of God completely but there is no freedom in Christ but legalism involved.

As a professional, it is not too late to join a church! As a student, it is not too late to join a fellowship on campus this  new year of 2009! May the Lord's presence and peace fill you with His love now and forever! Amen!

Friend, if you have prayed this prayer and meant it in your heart, you are a new creation in Christ and all old things are passed away and everything has become new! You may feel something or may not but don’t base it on feelings but base your new life in Christ on the promises of our Savior who will never leave you nor forsake you! Amen!

Spend time in His word and let the Lord speak to you! Start out in the Gospel of John! You can also check out the Gospel of Mark which are the devotionals I have been going through.  Learn from Jesus through study and prayer. Also find yourself a church fellowship and a college fellowship you can be part of where you can be part of a community of believers to supplement your own walk with the Lord. Let it be a Bible-believing and Bible-breathing church! Believe in Bible Live Eternally!

Feel free to email me at reddy4hisglory2004@yahoo.com if you want to meet to study the Bible, pray with, talk about Spiritual issues or whatever is on your mind! My number is 412-720-4579

"This is my work and I can do it only because Christ's mighty energy is at work within me." (Colossians 1:29, TLB)

Love in Christ,
Ramesh

Express Your View

Devotional of yesterday:
"Whose L.I.B.E.R.A.T.I.O.N theology do you follow in life?" (June 12, 09, 8:47 a.m.)
We see the interaction between Peter and Jesus. Peter could not stand Jesus telling them that He would be killed so Peter rebuked Jesus. By doing that Peter showed.....  

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