Loser
You’re a loser, at least I hope you are. NIV Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. Jesus said people who follow Him have to be losers. In this verse the Greek word for deny is Apernaomi, it means to completely disown, to utterly separate oneself from someone. Seperate yourself from yourself and I think you’ll enjoy the experience. You’ll like the new you. Have a great weekend, LOSER!
It is scary how easy it is for pride to creep into different circumstances of our lives and tell us how great we are. It seeps in and says you are saved you don’t need baptism. It says you worked hard so the spoils should be yours alone to enjoy. For me personally I have found my Christian walk to be a consistant battle with my own pride. From the time I was saved I began putting up barriers between myself and God. I said well that doesn’t apply to me so I won’t do it. What is amazing is that even when we put up these walls God will come in and tear them down. He will bring new people into our lives to speak into our circumstances and through conviction the holy spirit reveals our “loserness” and matures us. I am so thankful that I don’t have to be a winner to follow God. What a burden that would be. God is awesome!
I’m a LOSER and proud of it!
It’s crazy to think that this grandiose sense of entitlement that plagues us today dates back to Cain and Abel…this sort of cocky pursuit of gaining greatness outside of the will of God. Moses (who had at one time battled feelings of inadequacies) puffed up quick when striking the rock. It doesn’t seem like he even had time to think about the consequences. It’s not always impulsive. We can sometimes go through pain staking measures to get what we want. David was very deliberate when arranging Uriah’s death.
God used these men for greatness…that had to feel good! To possess Solomon’s wisdom, Samson’s strength or Peter’s charisma must have been off the hook, crazy cool. The residual effects of that much power cannot be ignored. We should be deliberate in seeking humility. He is going to continue to do great things in our lives so we have to keep ourselves in check. It always stinks when someone else has to humble you. I was humbled by someone else this week. It was embarrassing and it stunk. I want to be a loser not a schmuck.
I’ve lost my life…and give Him praise! The day before you posted Loser, I was walking the streets in a town near the High Atlas Mountains in Morocco and walked past “Jesus” and tried to ignore Him.
You see, I had been asking Him to expand my territory (even more than it is). I left my very modest hotel room and went to purchase some fruit. I was excited to have purchased 3 bananas, 4 oranges and two apples. Walking back to my hotel room, I passed this elderly man who saw right through my plastic bag filled with fruit. He very gently asked me for a piece. I walked past him, trying to ignore his request. About 50 feet from him, Jesus spoke to my heart very clearly “Mike, I just asked you for a piece of fruit and you ignored me! You asked me to enlarge your territory, this is part of it.” Yes, I had just walked past “Jesus” and ignored Him. Conviction so gripped me, I made an about face…walked up to the man and presented him with a banana and an orange. He shook my hand with deep gratitude. I walked off feeling “mission accomplished”. “When I was hungry, you fed me”
When you lose your life…your bananas, oranges and apples aren’t yours either!
Mike,
I’m glad to see you are joining the conversation. I hope you will comment regularly and keep us enlightened with your travels.
Jimmy,
How much better to lose your life than to lose your soul!
Jesus said, “For what is a man profited if he gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man
give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26)
He is the greatest loser
who gambles with his soul and looses!!