Skip to main content

Come, Deny, Follow



            I spend my life trying to follow Jesus and teach others how to follow Him also.  I love to hear how unique each person’s story of transformation in Christ becomes.  There are no instant formulas to transformation and Christlikeness.  I stopped looking for the formula long ago.  There is a pattern of transformation.  Christians for centuries have been talking about spiritual growth using three stages—purgative, illuminative and unitive.  I have recognized these patterns in my own transformation and in the lives of others.  I find them helpful to understand what is really happening to our souls.
            I am astounded when I find myself at peace in a storm or not fuming at someone who has acted against me.  That is not me!  I know that it is Christ living in me.  How does that happen?  How do we open ourselves to the kind of transformation that makes us better than we are?
            I see the pattern in Luke 9:23.  It is the instruction that Jesus gave to his disciples that birthed their transformation.   Then he said to them all: Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  The first stage of transformation is coming to Jesus.  You have to have a want to follow Him.  This usually happens after you have followed all the multitude of directions the world promises for happiness and satisfaction.  Once you have explored all those categories and found them lacking, you begin to want Jesus.
            The next phase is harder still; you begin to be willing to deny yourself and obey Him.  Obedience to Jesus is not easy on a soul.  Though we want Him on some levels, we soon recognize that we don’t really want the sacrifice part that is necessary to have him.  Obedience isn’t easy, that’s for sure.  It doesn’t get easier, but it helps when you experience the rewards of obedience to push your soul forward.  I wrestle with God to give over the obstacles in my mind to follow His seeming irrational urging to move in a certain direction.  When He asks me to love my enemy, for example, it might take a time of wrestling before I’m willing to do the opposite of what my mind tells me to do.  Denying yourself is a conversion of your mind.
            It’s only after coming to Jesus—wanting to follow Him and not the world, hearing from Him then denying myself and picking up my cross that I get to the real fruit of the spiritual life—following Jesus.  When you are close enough to follow Jesus, your spirit is united with His. 
            Come, deny, follow—it is a pattern, not a formula.  I have found this rhythm producing fruit in my life.  When I stop coming to Jesus and denying myself, I realize after a time that I am not one with Him.  That’s when I come again and tell Him once more that I want what He wants for me in this life.  He shows me how I am not obeying, not denying myself.  I struggle until I obey—the good thing is that I don’t have to like it; I just have to do it.  All of the sudden I feel the joy and peace and pleasure of His good and pleasing and perfect will!
            I hope you can see your spiritual life in this pattern too.
Copyright © 2014. Deborah R Newman teatimeforyoursoul.com  All Rights Reserved.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Pilgrimage that Started with Tears

                Who would think I would shed tears deciding to set out on a wonderful journey that I have longed to take for many years?   Before I was ready to fully accept God’s invitation for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, I had to journey to a place of agreement between what my soul wanted and what the Lord wanted for me.   For years I have been declining opportunities to travel to Israel—not because I didn’t want to go but because I wanted to go with my husband by my side.   I know that God could have arranged that for me, but instead He asked me to accept that He wanted me to be willing to go and leave everything behind.   When I was asked to make a decision about going on a Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, God gave me this verse in answer to my prayer -- Debi, observe therefore all the commands I am giving you today, so that you may have the strength to go in and take over the land that you are cr...
2 comments
Read more

The Effects of the Holy Spirit

The Effects of the Holy Spirit               Can you imagine that the very Spirit of God is given to humans who believe in God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ’s death, burial and resurrection?  Just thinking about the Holy Spirit makes me realize that I can do better.  I am not left to my own resources when it comes to praying, having faith, obeying God, doing what He asks me to do.                 No one understands the depth of sin’s effect on a soul better than God.  Every action He takes has been to reduce the effect of evil that was unleashed into our world when sin was merged into His perfect universe.  We never saw it coming. Even Adam and Eve did not see what hit them.  God has counteracted with the effect of faith after sin by enabling sinners to be affected by His ho...
Post a Comment
Read more

Holy Saturday

Nothing is written about the events of Holy Saturday except Luke 23:56, “they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.” These few words speak volumes about our life with Christ.   What was it like for these ladies to rest on the Sabbath?   They had watched carefully, they knew how quickly Jesus’ body was laid in the grave. The men had brought spices and linens, but they had little time to properly anoint this most precious of all bodies.   As the women watched carefully, they made mental note of the supplies that would be necessary to complete this sacred act of burial as it should be. They spent the last few hours before sunset to prepare the spices for this holy act of reverence. The Sabbath signaled the time for rest.   I’m sure they didn’t feel like resting, but by complying out of obedience they were probably served by its benefits.   Their minds racing from the horror they had just witnessed, at best they could allow their bodies to rest and ...
Post a Comment
Read more