Wednesday: DENYING MYSELF

This week, I am exploring what God says about setting my mind on things above. As I enter prayer now, I reflect on God’s instruction: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

Lord, I desire to focus on You. Allow my mind

to be transformed by the reading of Your Word.

Let me consider the Word of God from Mark 8:34-38

Then he 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. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

If I truly want to follow the Lord, these instructions teach me. He tells me to do three things:

1. Deny myself: In my human condition, I act selfishly and put myself first. Jesus said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all” (Mark 9:35).

2. Take up my cross: I need to take up the life of Jesus which includes suffering. Once I deny myself, the Holy Spirit invigorates my life with the life of Jesus and His sustaining power through trials.

3. Follow Him: In my humanity, I am tempted to follow the world. Jesus states this is the wrong path. I need to follow Him if I want to stay on track with Him.

Lord, please help me in each of these areas!

Today I desire to deny myself, to take up my cross, and to follow You.

Jesus understands that I will still wander off track from time to time. The point is that I recognize my actions during these times and confess them as sin.

Lord, I confess my human sinful desires including anxiety, fear, anger, unforgiveness, selfishness, and pride.

Please continue to teach me how to seek You in all things. Amen.

May you be blessed,

Chaplain Wayne Ruckman

www.tolministries.org

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