dying to ourselves

God had no children too weak, but a great many too strong to make use of." —D. L. Moody Hosea 10:1 Israel is a luxuriant vine that yields its fruit. The more his fruit increased, the more altars he built; as his country improved, he improved his pillars.  John 3:30 He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less. In the last blog we talked about following Jesus. Every believer has to carry their own cross and follow Jesus. Today I’m going to write about dying to ourselves, getting our flesh and selfishness out of the way as we grow and become more like Jesus. I know in writing this that I still have a long way to go in this area and to help me grow in this area there will be shaping, molding, trials, and some painful situations ahead. Looking back, when I came to the Lord I was broken and hurting in a lot of ways and very tired and frustrated. Even though I was in this condition it was also a blessing, because the Lord had a empty vessel to pour his Holy Spirit, grace, and love into. What an awesome experience that was at the time, but also though very painful.  John 12:24-25 ‘I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life’.  I also noticed that when I came to the Lord that a lot of things in my life started to change for the better. I started noticing that a lot of the struggles I was having just sort of went away, you know problems, worries, relationships, and a lot of it was just knowing the Lord and my state of mind. But I also noticed after awhile that a few struggles and problems were left in my life. And after time I learned that these were left to refine me, shape and mold me, test my heart and help me grow. I didn’t like them and wanted them gone but God used them for his purpose in my life and still does. So when I was going through this and asking the Lord for help and understanding, he helped me and taught me day by day. Here is a huge verse he gave to teach me, Judges 2:22, ‘I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did.’ The Lord was teaching me to learn his ways and obey him because he loves me and has a plan for me and it was a blessing for me in my walk with the Lord. The Lord has a purpose for the things he does and uses in your life even discipline and pain. We can look at some scriptures and some examples of people in the bible. Even if I want to change and turn from something in my life to grow or become more like Jesus, I know I can’t do it on my own. We can do nothing apart from the Lord and his hand is in everything we do. I know I have free will and I have to yield to the Lord and fear him and want to change in my heart, but he does the work not me. Jeremiah 18:1-3 ‘The LORD gave another message to Jeremiah. He said, "Go down to the potter's shop, and I will speak to you there." So I did as he told me and found the potter working at his wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.’ This translation says spoiled, without the Lord shaping and molding us I think we would be spoiled. Instead of becoming more like Jesus and the salt of the earth. John 15:1-2: “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn't produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”  It says here that the Lord will even prune the branches that are fruitful so they will produce more. We will each be pruned according to his will and purpose for our life. Hosea 10:11-12 "Israel is like a trained heifer treading out the grain--an easy job she loves. But I will put a heavy yoke on her tender neck. I will force Judah to pull the plow and Israel to break up the hard ground. I said, 'Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and shower righteousness upon you.'  I know this verse sounds harsh but sometimes in order for us to become loving and have our hearts in the right place, we need to be disciplined by the Lord or we will just be a good person and mask it and do our own thing. I think we can get pretty good about looking good on the outside but what’s on the inside, God knows.1 Peter 4:1-2 ‘Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.’  I know when I first came to the Lord I was very ready to listen and do his will. In order for me to keep this hunger, he has to continue disciplining me with his love, it’s just the way it is. In order for me to die to myself everyday little by little and get my flesh and selfishness out of the way I will need help from the Lord or it won’t happen. I want to give 2 or 3 examples in the bible of men who the Lord changed. One is Jacob his story is in Genesis 25-49, he was a great guy used in a huge way by the Lord but was selfish and a manipulator in his dealings with people. So Jacob cheats his brother Esau out of his family inheritance and angers him so he flees to Paddan-Aram for 14 years where he starts a family, all in Gods plan. God called Jacob back to his home to bless him with 12 sons the 12 tribes of Israel. But before he used him for this purpose he seams to have changed his life in Genesis 32:24-28 ‘This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob's hip and wrenched it out of its socket. Then the man said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!" But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." "What is your name?" the man asked. He replied, "Jacob." "Your name will no longer be Jacob," the man told him. "From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won." There are some different theories on this about who it was, how and why this happened. But whether the man was Jesus or an angel they allowed Jacob to wrestle with them for a long period. Then he wrenched Jacob’s hip out of socket, which sounds painful and I’m sure stayed with him the rest of his life.  Maybe, before God could bless him or use him for the purpose ahead, he needed to change Jacob. Maybe God tested Jacob to see if Jacob would give up his will and flesh and selfishness and be submissive but he wouldn’t, so he had to humble him for what was ahead and for God’s purpose. The point I’m making is maybe in our life we are fine and God comes in and put us through some pretty hard stuff for how he wants to use us ahead. That’s the sovereignty and will of God for our lives, he has the agenda and plan, we don’t, we follow he leads. Romans 9:19-20 ‘Well then, you might say, "Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven't they simply done what he makes them do?" No, don't say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, "Why have you made me like this?"  The 12 disciples, I love to read about these guys and Jesus and how he taught them. Jesus spent 3 years teaching and training them for the huge part they would do in the kingdom and help starting the church. Even though they were with Jesus it was hard for them to get their flesh and selfishness out of the way and understand the kingdoms ways and why Jesus had to die. As they spent more time with Jesus, learning his ways, seeing his miracles and how much he loved them and all people, they changed and really wanted to serve and give their lives to him. But they needed a little help from God to become who he wanted them to be. Luke 22:31-33 "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith fail not: and when you are converted, strengthen your brothers.” And Simon said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you, both into prison, and to death.”  I’m sure in Peter’s heart he wanted to die for the Lord and do fully what the Lord wanted him to do. But Peter and the others need to mature in their faith so God put them through some testing, refining, shaping, molding, and failure to grow. It says after you are converted, strengthen you brothers, meaning after you change, grow stronger and learn help your brothers. It is good to know how much God loves us and that we can have peace and an understanding why we have to go through some of these things to grow and get our flesh and selfishness out of the way to become more like Jesus.