The hardest goal with the greatest joy
View all responsesIt’s hard for humans to surrender — to intentionally give full control of our life to someone. Here’s how Jesus Christ states that challenging goal. “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.” I believe that self-denial, embracing the execution of our hopes and desires, and faithfully and consistently obeying the living Jesus is the hardest goal that can ever be set, but that it paradoxically produces life’s greatest joy.
The most exciting part of my life is my interaction with Jesus. Nothing else can compare to having a close and continuous relationship with Him.
True Christianity isn’t about what you do. It’s about what you allow Jesus to with you. To open your heart and let the living Jesus work in and thru you (although very difficult) is to step into the greatest adventure on earth. Christians are supposed to be led by God’s Spirit (“Christ in you,”) not by their personal desires, feelings, and choices. (See Romans 8:14.)
Christians need to listen to Jesus, obey Him, and express adoration to Him, more than they need to hear another sermon about Him. If you aren’t aware of Jesus prompting you to do something, then saying, “Yes, Lord,” doesn’t really mean anything.
What Jesus did in history opened the door so that His followers can surrender to Him to experience and be led by what Jesus is saying and doing today. Jesus is continually amazing me by what He’s doing inside of me. When I first encountered the risen Jesus, something instantly happened deep within me, and I was forever changed and continually connected to Him heart-to-heart.
The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee (where I live) was built by a rich riverboat owner whose life was transformed when he surrendered to the living Jesus. He wanted a place in Nashville where Jesus could be proclaimed without being controlled by a particular church. Although it became the internationally known home of Country Music, the original intent was to proclaim the love, power, and presence, of the living Jesus.
Are you ready to embrace the truth of my short poem and to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow and obey the risen Jesus?
Thoughts, feelings,
And desires
Can be accepted
Or rejected;
Selected
Or neglected;
Reflected
Or deflected;
Collected
Or ejected.
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