Deny Self

11/2/2020

John 14:15 “If ye love Me. Ye will keep My commandments.”

Seems simple, doesn’t it? Yet I struggle with this so much. If I love Jesus, I should be able to keep His commandments. When am I ever going to learn that this journey is not about me, but about Him? I will make excuses for myself and how frail I am in my humanity. Shameful. Jesus did not leave me alone to keep His commandments; He gave us the Holy Spirit to help and guide me. It requires focus on, and submission to, Him. Jesus never forces me to do anything, but wants me to obey Him out of faith, love, and devotion. Chambers writes, “We have to obey Him out of oneness with the spirit. That is why whenever Our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an IF—you do not need to unless you like. ‘If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself,’ let him give up his right to himself to Me.” I do not follow and obey because of an enacted rule, but because of submission, love, and devotion to God.

To know Him, obey Him, and reflect His love to others should be my ultimate purpose in life. Chambers writes, “When once God’s Redemption comes to the point of obedience in a human soul, it always creates. If I obey Jesus Christ, The Redemption of God will rush through me to others lives, because behind the deed of obedience is the Reality of Almighty God” Such profoundly beautiful words, and ones that are achieved by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our lives through absolute surrender to God. I love that God can, and will, create something beautiful even through brokenness via all of those who obey in devoted faith in our Savior. Amazing grace.

John 14:15-21 “If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The ones who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”