The Secret of Self-Denial

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24).

S

ome might think Jesus is saying, “Since I have to suffer so much to procure your salvation, I want you guys to suffer, too.” But Jesus did not intend this as a morbid invitation to

pain; He meant it as a glorious invitation to intimacy with Him. “If you really want to be close to Me,” He’s telling us, “then

let Me give you the key. Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Me.” It’s an invitation to the highest intimacy, but yet we often avoid it because we think the pricetag is too steep. What we haven’t understood, though, is what we’re buying. It’s like someone offering us a brand-new Mercedes for $20, and us be- moaning the fact that they’re trying to extract $20 from us! Next to what we’re buying, the cost is nothing! Similarly, self-denial is such a small price to pay for the incredible delights of loving communion with our Lord.

If you can receive it, here’s the secret: Self-denial can serve as a catalyst to help propel you forward into greater joys of intimacy in the secret place. Self-denial and intimacy go hand in hand.

Secrets of the Secret Place

Self-denial awakens the flow of life and love in the secret place.

Denying oneself is not the same as taking up one’s cross. To take up the cross, at least in one sense, is to crucify the sinful pas- sions of the flesh. The cross has to do with the death of the flesh, the carnal man. Self-denial, however, has to do with good and healthy passions. Self-denial is the deliberate curtailing of healthy passions and desires for the sake of pursuing Jesus harder.

To clarify, here’s just a sampling of the many ways self-denial can be invoked:

• Fasting from or curtailing intake of food or drink;

• Cutting back on sleep time;

• Bypassing good entertainment;

• Saying no to social invitations/fellowship;

• Lessening time given to recreation/exercise;

• Taking a temporary hiatus from marital relations;

• Accepting a vow of celibacy;

• Spending less when you could afford more;

• Etc.

None of the above activities are sinful. Practiced in modera- tion and balance, they are gifts of God that we might enjoy a fulfilling and satisfying life. But some people want more than a happy life. They want to know Jesus; they aspire to achieve king- dom conquest; they desire to accrue eternal treasure; they long for the outpouring of God’s Spirit in this generation. So they’re pressing into the kingdom with spiritual violence. Self-denial is Christ’s gift to us that enables us to turn up the furnace of our love seven times hotter.

Some spiritual benefits of self-denial include:

Clearer Perspective

The more you deny yourself, the more the scales fall from your eyes. You will begin to see the world for what it is (we naturally get desensitized to the filth of the world system that surrounds us). The world denies itself nothing, so when you

The Secret of Self-Denial

embrace self-denial you are doing something other-worldly. Self-denial demonstrates that we do not love the world nor the things in the world.

It was the lack of food that finally brought the prodigal son to his senses. “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!’” (Luke 15:17). In a similar way, authentic spiritual fasting is a powerful asset in helping us to re-orient again to true kingdom values and realities.

Accelerated Change

When you begin to see how worldliness has infected your lifestyle, grace is released for embracing personal change. The simple truth is that the Lord Jesus honors self-denial. He loves the passionate resolve and humility of those who willingly embrace self-denial, so He rewards it with grace to gain personal purity and true holiness. He gives grace to the humble.

In speaking of fasting, Jesus said, “‘And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins’” (Mark 2:22). Jesus clearly taught that fasting plays a critical role in preparing old wineskins to once again receive new wine. Self-denial has a powerful shaping effect upon the soul, preparing us for the new wine of God’s fresh moving among us.

Preparation For Prophetic Ministry

When something is practiced in excess, you cannot have a voice to that while practicing it in moderation. To have a voice to the excessive, you must sanctify yourself from even the balanced, healthy expression of that practice.

Jesus modelled this principle. To address the greed of the Pharisees, Jesus wouldn’t even allow Himself to touch money. To address the tendency of the Pharisees to concentrate on special garments, Jesus wore a very plain garment. To address their love for the best places at feasts and in the synagogues, Jesus didn’t seat Himself with them. Jesus sanctified Himself from

Secrets of the Secret Place

the good and normal in order to have a voice into the excessive and imbalanced.

Those who carry a prophetic message to the body of Christ usually will embrace self-denial on almost a daily basis. Strategic forms of self-denial qualify us to be stewards of a prophetic mes- sage to the body of Christ.

Ability To Hear God

One of the prime benefits of self-denial is the way it empowers us to hear more clearly from God. Answers, guidance, direction, insight—all seem to flow more freely when self-denial is freely and willingly embraced with grace in the heart.

Mike Bickle speaks so articulately about fasting being a form of “voluntary weakness.” Voluntary weakness, as he uses the term, is the intentional embracing of weakness for the purpose of uncovering greater grace. Self-denial has a weakening effect on the human vessel. It makes us more vulnerable. Those who embrace voluntary weakness have personal ownership of this great principle: “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness’” (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we embrace weakness, His grace rushes in to strengthen us. Those who embrace self-denial will be stronger in hearing God’s voice and understanding His will.

Jesus connected the secret place intrinsically with self-denial.

He said,

“Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:16-18).

Self-denial is practiced in secret. It is done quietly and exclu- sively for God, to be seen by His eyes alone. When practiced in purity before our loving Father, self-denial serves to awaken the

The Secret of Self-Denial

flow of life in the secret place.

Want in on a secret? When your secret place needs revitaliza- tion, embrace the grace of self-denial. Your heart will be touched more readily, your spirit will soar higher, and your awareness of His presence will increase.

Secrets of the Secret Place

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Дата добавления: 2015-10-23