Self-Sacrifice Is a Must

Many today interpret what Jesus said about the two greatest commandments like this: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and that is myself." We rarely remember the golden rule that many in my generation were taught in school: "Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you." It is truly now interpreted among many as, "Do unto others, before they do unto you." How sad we have become, spiritually and physically. While we value our physical appearance more than the character inside, we also value the one that has gained much in the way of temporary material wealth or fame much more than the one that has built a firm foundation spiritually through self-sacrifice and much study and prayer. An enlightened Christian will be one that has invested into the Kingdom of Heaven and not just on Wall Street. We must invest in the things of Yahweh God and His Son, our Messiah and Lord.

Why has the Christian community assimilated so much into the secular world when it comes to our value system and world-view.

Unfortunately, it is the product of spiritual laziness and selfishness that slowly found it's way into the Church over several generations. Certain men crept into the Church without being renewed spiritually and became leaders. Making the spiritual things so much mystery and focusing on the physical, because they could not understand what they did not themselves possess. Today, the hunger for those things spiritual in the Christian's life have led many to try strange doctrines to re-ignite that spiritual fire within, a pitiful attempt to reach the place of spiritual fulfillment in Christ Jesus.

The way to reach this place of enlightenment and power in the Holy Spirit is not a secret, and there is no short-cut to attaining that deep loving relationship with the Lord. It is the same principle that builds a deeply committed marriage, and that is the following:

1. Spending time with the one you love, communicating (talking and listening)

2. Giving up things that the other does not like and not regretting the loss.(putting them first)

3. Making everything you own available to the other without reservation.

4. No looking back to the life before commitment and dwelling upon it.

5. Do not long for other companions, through thought or deed.

6. Make a permanent decision to Love the other without reservation.

If we do these things we will be successful in any covenant relationship(marriage or Christian discipleship). It takes a self-sacrifice, are you willing to spend that time in study and prayer, giving up the things dear to you from the world and walking in humility, recognizing the leadership of the Lord? If you are, you will become a deeply powerful Believer and Disciple for Christ. We cannot serve two Masters, we must choose to make the commitment to follow Jesus down the long, narrow road, no matter the cost. It is then that you will experience true Holy Spirit power in your life, not merely an emotional experience.

Mark 8:34-35

Take Up the Cross and Follow Him

³⁴ When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ³⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.

It is accredited to A.W. Tozer as saying, "Among the plastic saints of our times, Jesus has to do all the dying, and all we want to hear is another sermon about his dying."