This Life is Not MINE

  It is often so easy to get into the mindset that the life we are living is all about us, meaning OUR wants, OUR desires, or to do whatever pleases US alone.  Let me state simply, it is NOT.  As a follower of Christ, the Lord graciously has been opening my mind up to this Truth more and more.   I am not sure if I fully understand it myself, but that is where I must lift up my concerns and confusions to the Lord.  I am to trust in Him and in what He teaches through His Word.  As Proverbs 3:5-6 states,  "Lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths."  I know that I do not fully understand all that is contained in Scripture, but it is only by His grace and mercy that He will lead me to a comprehension of it and to a peace that He is in control. 

   So, let me get back to the point of this post.  Our focus in life should not be to please ourselves nor to follow after what we alone desire, but it is ultimately to pattern our lives after what the Lord wants for us.  As a great passage in scripture teaches,

 "...None of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself.  For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord.  Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's."  

(Romans 14:7-8) 

 

   What this passages is teaching is that the focus of the Christian life is never to be oneself.  EVERYTHING we do should be to please our sovereign Lord.   

    Another one of my favorite passages that clearly teaches this truth is found in Luke 9:23. 

"Then He (Jesus Christ) said to them all, 'If anyone desires to come after Me, 

let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow me." 

     Now this is indeed a very great passage of scripture. It definitely is stated here that one who follows Christ is to live a life of self-denial.  This kind of self-denial is a desire to obey Christ and to live a life that is honoring and pleasing to Him.  

       This way of life does not come naturally, of course, because it is in the human nature to live only for oneself, and to seek our good alone, but it is only by the grace of God, through salvation, that He gives us the desires and wants to follow after Him.  It is a growing process, friends, and a daily one at that, but be confident in this Truth: 

"He who has begun a good work in you will complete

it until the day of Jesus Christ. "  

    I pray that He will show and open up to you, as He has to me (and will continually do so), the meaning and the understanding of the Truth contained in His word.  

  So, it is important to know that our lives are Christ's, not our own. 

Are you denying yourself, taking up your cross daily, and following after Christ?

Thank you for reading and have a great rest of your weekend! :)