" Denying, Obeying and to Follow"

Mark 8:34- When He had called the Crowd to Him along with His disciples and said: " Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me."

                      This verse is talking about if you want to follow God you have to obey. It is also talking about wanting to follow God, how it is our choice. Jesus Christ does not want to force you into following God, He has the power to but He does not. Jesus Christ allows it to be our will to follow Him, even though how much He loves us and does not want to be seperated from us. But He allows us to make the descision for ourselves. So it is our free will to follow God.


                                                  To follow God, we have to deny ourselves. We cannot hold onto our sinful ways and follow God at the same time. It will be just like living a lie, we will be consider hypocrites. We have to understand that we are no longer in controll of our lives, that we do not know better , that we know ourselves better, and that God does not know better. God is our creator first of all He knitted us in our mothers womb, He knows our likes and dislikes, He knows are strengths and weaknesses and He knows what is better for us. So yes God knows, we cannot hear what God want's unless our hearts are opened to Him and we deny ourselves of our sinful ways.


                             James 4:6 " But He gives us more grace. That is why scripture says:
                                  
                                      " God opposes the proud
                                                    but shows favor to the humble."
                              
                        How I can apply this verse to my life is to deny myself when I think I know better than God. So I need to sit down and pray to God and see how He wants me to serve Him and live my life in this sinful world. I just have to give the day to God. Here is the prayer that I will pray every morning.


                                                    Our Father in Heaven,
                                                       hallowed be thy name,
                                                       your kingdom come,
                                                       your will be done,
                                                            on earth as it is in Heaven.
                                                          Give us today our daily bread.
                                                           And forgive us our debts,
                                                                  as we also have forgiven our
                                                                                  debtors.
                                                            And lead us not into temptation,
                                                                    but deliver us from the evil one.
                                                                     For Yours is the kingdom and the
                                                                     power and the glory forever
                                                                                      amen.
                                                          
   May These Verses Bless you and may you be able to apply them to your lives as well.