November 20, 2008
Nothing Less than Everything (pt. 1)
“Nothing Less than Everything” is my new project and I couldn’t be more excited about it.
NTLE has becore more than an album title to me. It’s a life mantra and a life message. As you know, the Lord works through our lives to encourage others using the very things that He has done in us.
God has been challenging me toward a deeper level of self denial. In Mark 8:34 Jesus said, “Anyone who would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Jesus calls us beyond mere belief in his existence and even beyond acknowledging Him as Savior.
The first Part of His Call bothers me the most. If my desire is to pursue Jesus I must practice denial of self. I am more self-centered than I want to fully tell you about.
I don’t like saying “no” to Darrell.
I’m not talking just about issues of sin, it’s a daily struggle for me not to indulge myself in things that comfort or please me. Starbucks coffee is one of those things. It’s not a sin to enjoy coffee (I hope) but to feel that I need it every day to set things right is a problem. Would I deny myself of something like that today as an act of worship to the Lord? The more I say “yes” to every appetite in me - the easier it also becomes to say “yes” to harmful indulgences (sins).
Self denial is not about expressing self righteousness; I have no righteousness on my own. It’s about expressing love for God and developing the character of Christ in me. That’s one reason fasting can be powerful. Saying “no” to something we always say “yes” chips away the vail of the flesh that keeps us from seeing Jesus clearly. It’s about being more “kingdom” focused and less “me” focused.
There’s more I want to share with ya’ll about this - we’ve only touched the surface but I’ll pull up here for now - I have to (I’m in the Starbucks parking lot as I write this :D). Maybe I could say no to Starbucks tommorow. I live within 12 minutes of 5 of them. Please pray for me!
Darrell
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