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Deny Yourself And Take Up His Cross? - 11/10/2008 10:10:45 PM
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MyCatSmokey2006
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I don't understand what Mark 8:34-35 NKJV means when Jesus says: "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him DENY himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will find it."
What does Jesus mean by "denying" yourself? Does He mean giving up some worldly pleasure, such as a favorite food, to spend more time feasting on God's Word? That's what I thought it might mean.
What about "taking up his cross"? Does this mean that I have to bear my sorrows and burdens alone?
What does He mean if I save my life, I'll lose it? Does He NOT want me to eat healthy and exercise, because that would save my life from medical illnesses that might result from not losing weight?
Please back up your answers with Biblical and other legitimate (sp?)references. Thank you.
_____________________________
Melissa
<---Smokey
Tribute to a Good Friend (Blog Entry)
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RE: Deny Yourself And Take Up His Cross? - 11/10/2008 10:21:47 PM
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Dancre
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Hi Melissa,
What Jesus means by Deny yourself is to deny doing things your way and only your way. For instance, I want to watch TV all night instead of doing what God wants me to do. Jesus never said it would be easy, but He did say He would be there for you. Basically, He's saying is instead of living your life your way being sinful, doing bad stuff, do what God wants you to do. It doesn't mean you can't feast on His word, it means turn off the TV and read His word. It's not a law, but do it out of love for Him. Does that help?
Let me also add, you are never expected to walk alone, but always with Him and sometimes, He'll even carry you. :)
kim
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RE: Deny Yourself And Take Up His Cross? - 11/10/2008 10:24:34 PM
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Dancre
Posts: 1305
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quote:
What does He mean if I save my life, I'll lose it? Does He NOT want me to eat healthy and exercise, because that would save my life from medical illnesses that might result from not losing weight?
oh hon!! Of coure He wants you to eat right and exercise!! Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and it's good to take care of the temple. Melissa, don't let Satan beat you up like this, you don't deserve it. You are loved by Him more than you can ever know.
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RE: Deny Yourself And Take Up His Cross? - 11/10/2008 11:12:25 PM
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LCannon
Posts: 1225
Joined: 2/22/2007
From: Lebanon, OR
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Matthew 16:24-'Many people interpret this verse, "Let him deny himself ice cream" or "Let him deny himself some luxury down here." What this verse says is "Let him deny himself of himself(his will and his arrogance)!" You already know that the hardest person in the world to deny is yourself. To deny myself dessert is hard enough but to deny myself is difficult indeed. To deny myself is to put self out of the picture and to put Christ in the place of self. "And take up his cross, and follow me." We are not to take up Christ's Cross but our own cross as an inheritance of His. There is a cross for you and a cross for me—that is, if we are going to follow Him in obedience to and in the same Victory as He.'(J.Vernon McGee)
_____________________________
"It may be that when the angels go about their task of praising God they play
only Bach. I am sure, however, that when they are together en famille they
play Mozart and then too our dear Lord listens with special pleasure."(Karl Barth)
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RE: Deny Yourself And Take Up His Cross? - 11/10/2008 11:23:07 PM
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Liveloved
Posts: 2061
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quote:
ORIGINAL: LCannon
Matthew 16:24-'Many people interpret this verse, "Let him deny himself ice cream" or "Let him deny himself some luxury down here." What this verse says is "Let him deny himself of himself(his will and his arrogance)!" You already know that the hardest person in the world to deny is yourself. To deny myself dessert is hard enough but to deny myself is difficult indeed. To deny myself is to put self out of the picture and to put Christ in the place of self. "And take up his cross, and follow me." We are not to take up Christ's Cross but our own cross as an inheritance of His. There is a cross for you and a cross for me—that is, if we are going to follow Him in obedience to and in the same Victory as He.'(J.Vernon McGee)
These thoughts are absolutely right. Our flesh wants self denial to be about giving up things because we can discipline ourselves and do pretty well and feed our pride. Ooh, that's exactly what it is not. Self denial is to give up our selfishness. . . me, me, me at the center of my life. Philippians 2 describes the downward steps to humility. It's a great lesson on self less ness which self denial is all about.
And it is our cross. But He picks it. It is not of our choosing. It is the saying 'yes, Lord' to what He chooses for us in life.
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RE: Deny Yourself And Take Up His Cross? - 11/11/2008 7:23:41 PM
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Bluethread
Posts: 1659
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1 Cor 6:19-20 "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body."
Thes verses are not talking about self flagulation. They are talking about your relationship with Adonai. Remember, everything we have belongs to Adonai. That includes our bodies. We are responsible to see that they are used properly. We are like a nice truck. The 1 Cor verse tells us that we are to take care and not engage in fast and risky behaviors that can unnecessarily damage Adonai's assets. The verse you are refering to is the other extreme, we are to get out of the garage each day and do good even if that does put us at physical risk some times.
_____________________________
"Show me wherein I have errored and I will hold my tongue." Iyov(Job)
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RE: Deny Yourself And Take Up His Cross? - 11/16/2008 10:08:12 AM
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timf
Posts: 466
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What does Jesus mean by "denying" yourself?
2 Corinthians 5:15
And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
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RE: Deny Yourself And Take Up His Cross? - 11/22/2008 5:50:50 PM
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jbow
Posts: 631
Joined: 2/16/2007
From: Dixie
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It means to walk in the Spirit. It means to take your old nature and nail it to a tree because it cannot be reformed. It means to walk in newness of life and not in the flesh. You know what the lusts of the flesh are and what the fruit of the Spirit is. If you walk in the Spirit you will manifest the fruit of the Spirit, if you walk in the flesh you will manifest the works of the flesh. The only way to NOT minifest the works of the flesh is to, by the Spirit, put to death the deeds of the body... take up your cross and follow Him, (by walking in the Spirit as He walked).
J
_____________________________
"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."
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RE: Deny Yourself And Take Up His Cross? - 11/22/2008 10:43:03 PM
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colliefan
Posts: 2991
Joined: 4/12/2005
From: Raleigh, NC
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The audience to whom Jesus was speaking knew exactly what this phrase meant as it was common to see comdemed men carrying their crosses to the place of their execution. In other words, they were dead men walking.
As Christians we are called to be dead to the flesh/sin but alive to Christ through Christ. Luke adds the word "daily" to this command so our task is to have a long obediance in the same direction. It involves a contiual renewing of the mind.
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RE: Deny Yourself And Take Up His Cross? - 11/27/2008 5:18:59 PM
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Sammy_S
Posts: 513
Joined: 10/6/2007
From: Brampton,Ontario
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quote:
ORIGINAL: MyCatSmokey2006
I don't understand what Mark 8:34-35 NKJV means when Jesus says: "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him DENY himself, and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will find it."
What does Jesus mean by "denying" yourself? Does He mean giving up some worldly pleasure, such as a favorite food, to spend more time feasting on God's Word? That's what I thought it might mean.
What about "taking up his cross"? Does this mean that I have to bear my sorrows and burdens alone?
What does He mean if I save my life, I'll lose it? Does He NOT want me to eat healthy and exercise, because that would save my life from medical illnesses that might result from not losing weight?
Please back up your answers with Biblical and other legitimate (sp?)references. Thank you.
The passage means that whoever desires to follow him should/and will not seek after his own will but seek after God's will.He must also pick us his cross,which means that he must understand that suffering,hatred and even death may come his way simply because he/she loves Christ.
_____________________________
Christ saved you from the wrath of an almighty God. Hell is just a revelation of that. I always tell people this. God saved you from Himself, God saved you for Himself and God saved you by Himself."
Paul Washer
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