No more Idols

 

What do you have to give up and what sacrifice are you ready to make for the sake of Christ? Back in those days when I used to be lukewarm in the faith, I wouldn’t take a second look at the word, ‘’self-denial’’. That word sure didn’t exist in my wordlist.. I had   it all my own way clearly because  I was LUKEWARM. I understood the Gospel my own way and in a daily attempt to redefine what God had already defined, I became far  more halfhearted in the things of God. It goes to explain the length at which I had deceived myself and  could NEVER have a  life-changing relationship with Jesus without accepting the full gospel devoid of choosing what and what not to believe and accept as God’s unchangeable truth. I muddled in falsehood not committing to the absolute truth. They were days when one only goes to Church to be seen, fill the empty seat at Church, or for this one reason, ‘’ my family and friends will think badly of me if I didn’t go’’ which’ driving priority was purely ‘’self’’. I didn’t LOVE what God loved and the opposite of this is true. At a point I thought God would be asking too much of me especially from a little someone like Janice if He told me I wasn’t serving Him RIGHT!. I didn’t feel the need to have an experience with God beyond the lifeless and shallow one I encountered back then. WHAT WAS WRONG WITH JANICE? She simply wasn’t ready to DENY herself of all the pleasure and excitement locked up in a wild youthful heart and a society devoid of God.

I wasn’t ready to give up MYSELF for the sake of Christ and that consequently marked me as a very false disciple of Jesus. This Word was true in my case - Isa 29:13  And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men.  

Christ Jesus made a profound statement in the book of Matthew 16:25 saying, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

As I grew closer to God, I realised it was downright necessary to deny myself and carry my cross daily if I chose to follow Christ and become a true disciple of His’. I have to allow it embrace my will, mind,  power and interests. I must surrender my will daily and seek to do God’s will only. I must give  lodging  to no other thoughts than those of God alone. I must totally surrender my interests that are not in line with God’s Word and that work to take the place of God in my life. Things that hold us back from being right with God or growing in Him can be boiled down to the fact that we won’t deny ourselves and take up our cross daily.  Undoubtedly, it’s pleasing, for a while to follow our own will and desires. But then by following our desires in anything, we brace the rebellion of our hearts and follow the way of Baal. When we eat the food we enjoy the most though it’s not good for our health , we often increase a bodily disease. True or false? 
 It satisfies our taste alright, but it will make us sicker right?. It brings pleasure, but it also brings pain and death! Hence to deny ourselves, is to give up our own will, no matter how much we may want our own way. It’s to deny any pleasure that does not come from God and does not honor Him. Sometimes to deny ourselves means God has to take us through the fire of purification because it’s often necessary to pluck out, so to speak, an eye or to cut off an ear. There are some habits of sin we are so attached to that we can NEVER be separated from them without extreme pain. This is when you allow God to come in and burn up all the impurities. It hurts alright but this must be.  I should choose the loss of a limb instead of letting my whole body perish. When I was lukewarm, I was dead in sin and senseless. I wouldn’t part with the sins I loved though I knew they were hated by God at a point. I would still come to God anyway, full of lust and unholy desires and I leave the same way totally unchanged because I would not DENY those things which were things I idolized.  

BUT NOW, I know just how relevant it is to DENY my flesh of what it WANTS.

Giving so much ATTENTION to things much more than we do to God goes to show we have put those things FIRST and have placed God on the last bench. Sad indeed because some of us young/adult Christians don’t recognize where we have fallen. These are serious issues…It’s a SAD DAY. In our world today, we are taught to deny ourselves nothing and give our body what it yearns for at any given time. We are NOT told to get out of our comfort zones and give up the fun stuff that take up the place of God in our lives yet how many are perishing today because they drove God out of the throne of their hearts and swapped Him with other gods – idols?.

The average Christian today will not want to give up anything for the sake of Christ. We assume it’s ENOUGH to accept Christ in  our lives and continue to live exactly the way we lived yesterday. That’s being LUKEWARM! We are NOT truly living for Christ until we lose a limb for His sake. Until we give up that THING that makes us step on God’s foot, we are NOT truly living for Him.   

 Let’s get on to the practical side…..

Do you ever wake up with God on your mind before you even think about FACEBOOK and BREAKFAST? Is God the first person you communicate with whenever you wake up from bed? We give so much attention to TV; MOVIES, SOAP OPERAS, FACEBOOK, AND EVERY FORM OF ENTERTAINMENT and spend VERY little time praying, bible studying and fellowshipping. We have set up gods in our lives that we reverence and have refused to deny ourselves of these things. IT IS JUST AS SINFUL AS THE SIN  OF FORNICATION! We must learn to discipline our eyes, our mouth, our hands, our feet, our ears and our tongue. We MUST guard them with all diligence.  If you realise a thing wants to take God’s place in your life don’t hesitate to cut it off….it can even be FACEBOOK! 

Yes I know people who have deleted their Facebook accounts because they felt it was being a hindrance and since they didn’t have much strength to control the way they use the social network, they had no other choice than to delete  their account because they said they had to MAKE it to HEAVEN at all cost . It might seem crazy or foolish to anyone including some Christians but it is the wisest thing to ever do.  That is to empathise that if something is getting beyond your control and you feel you can no longer handle them and those things are obviously stealing into your time, prayer life and bible study life, cut it off! You don’t need the devil’s permission to do that. Just so you don’t have idols in your life. Really, don’t allow these things to CONTROL you! YOU are meant to CONTROL them so when the opposite of this is happening, recognize there’s something wrong, wake up  and take a fast U-TURN.  Give up the sinful habits, porn, masturbation, fornication, gambling, and the little gods like social media networks that take up all your time and breathe. You are being challenged today!!!! What do you have to give up and what sacrifice are you ready to make for the sake of Christ? If you haven’t given up anything yet or sacrificed anything yet for the sake of Christ, then you are NOT TRULY a disciple of Christ.

I have learnt one most important thing and it  helps me guard my heart with all diligence as I continue in my walk with Christ. That is, The enemy of my soul WILL USE ANYTHING and ANYBODY as an intrusion in hopes that he might keep me bounded from moving forward in my relationship with Christ Jesus.

 Time to do some RESISTING - Jas 4:7  Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

DENY YOURSELF AND CARRY YOUR CROSS DAILY……

 Rev 3:17-19  For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.

   I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

   Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.

 Blessings, Peace and Love,

Janice Makafui Doussey.