When the Holy Spirit told me to “make the sacrifice” regarding something very significant in my life and ministry, I knew this topic is critical not just for me but for everyone desiring to live life to the fullest as a totally devoted follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Just because we say we believe in and love the Lord does not mean we are totally devoted to Him. Total devotion requires forsaking all for Him He leads us to sacrifice in following His will for our lives.
I am afraid many as I did for years get excited about the Lord and following Him and jump in eagerly into the deep of an intimate relationship with Him and of seeking and striving to fulfill His will – up to a point.
But as soon as trials come, as hardships arise, as sacrifice is required of us as God wants us to do something whereby we will need to leave our comfort zone, deny self, let go of our wishes, ways, and wants that do not line up with God’s will for us, we swim as fast as we can out of the deep into the shallow water. The shallow water of a lukewarm relationship with God. And of a half-hearted effort to continue to seek and fulfill His will for us day by day.
Jesus is ultra clear about what He will ultimately do to lukewarm believers in Him.
“”I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” Revelation 3:15-16 NKJV
Oh, please do not swim in the shallow waters of faith in Jesus! Please do not be lukewarm!
Then there are some of us who swim even a little further out of the deep waters of intimacy with Christ and hoist up our bodies up out of the water onto the shore, turn our backs to God, and go chasing after the pleasures of this life. Choosing to make no sacrifice at all and not to deny self and forsake all for Jesus but instead to forsake Jesus for self and all that our flesh desperately craves and clings to that does not please and honor God and grieves His Holy Spirit.
Oh, please do not leave the deep waters of intimacy with the Lord and swim hurriedly for the shore where lie the fleeting pleasures of this life! There is no true lasting satisfaction in loving and serving self and living for self-pleasure. Worst of all, let us not grieve the Holy Spirit of God in refusing to forsake all for the Lord He desires we forsake!
Friend, there is no greater joy and satisfaction than in the Lord, having a forever relationship with Him, making any and all sacrifices He calls us to make for Him, than deep, awesome intimacy with Him, and than living to love, worship, serve, obey, and glorify God now and forevermore. No matter the cost. No matter the sacrifice.
Please make the sacrifice. Forsake all for the Lord Jesus Christ today and forever and ever, AMEN! I believe in the grand scheme of things, and in the light of eternity, you will have no regrets.
But if you do not make the sacrifice God calls you to make and forsake all He calls you to forsake and do not live humbly and wholeheartedly for the Lord no matter the cost to your flesh, I believe the consequences you face will be eternal.
Please, friend, cry out to God almighty in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to reveal to you His will for your life day by day and to give you the strength and all you need to forsake all for Him He says you must sacrifice for Him. I believe the rewards you will ultimately reap will be eternal! The greatest reward of all being the Lord and an unfathomably rich, beautiful, vibrant magnificently intimate personal everlasting relationship with the Lord! To the Lord be the glory, AMEN!
“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. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matthew 16:24-26 NKJV
“So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:33 NKJV