And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said
unto them, Whosoever (anyone that) will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's,
the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the
whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his
soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this
adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed,
when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
Since this is Jesus himself speaking in this passage then we know He is
speaking the truth. He expects us to deny ourselves and follow Him. Which would
mean we place Him first in our life. Not second third or so on.
The first commandment is "You shall have no other gods before me" Exodus
20:2-3 This alone with the above passage tells us God wants our full attention.
He does not say, "Your Pastor should put me first and deny himself" he says,
"Whosoever (anyone that) will come after me, let him deny himself," So we
are each individually to put God first in our lives. Not just when we are in
Church, but the entire day, everyday.
If one reads the entire bible and opens theirs eyes they will see that the
whole bible points to Jesus Christ and it is about knowing Him. So if one claims
to be a follower of Jesus Christ and that they know Him, they will do as He
teaches.
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God
must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently
(constant in effort) seek (to go in search or quest of ) Him. - Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)
This is not about casual reading of the bible and going to Church. There are
many, many people that go to Church every Sunday that do not know Jesus Christ
and will bust hell wide open. (See www.lostinchurch.com for more information
about that.) Knowing Jesus Christ is not about going to Church, following a
Pastor, and walking the aisle. It is about seeking Him with all your heart
yourself. If you do this you will find Him and then you will know Him.
There is no push button thing you can do for salvation. The bible says we
MUST be born-again. That is a process and if you are born-again your live will
start changing and you will put Jesus Christ first in your life. Not just know
about Him or think you purchased a ticket to heaven and you have it somewhere in
a drawer.
We are to walk and live by faith and endure until the very end (Matt. 10.22).
If you are saved you will love and put Jesus first in your life. That is how you
know if you are born-again. Your life changes it’s focus and it then becomes
about knowing Jesus.
My life is my example. I knew about Jesus Christ and believe He was real
since I was 12 years old and even walked the aisle at a Church and was baptized.
But that is not what Jesus said to do if you want to know Him. He said one must
"deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." That is not what I did. I
just attended Church for a while and never diligently sought Him (I believe this
happens to a lot of people that have a push button mentality). I soon stopped
going to Church because of the hypocrisy and thought it must just be some sort
of game people like to play. I don’t think I was saved at that time because of
the following:
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who
says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is
not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in
him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk
as Jesus did.
1 John 2:3-6 (NIV)
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who
loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to
him. - John 14:21
So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee
out of my mouth. - Revelation 3:16 (KJV)
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will
say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in
thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And
then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. - Matthew 7:21-23 (KJV)
I am sure there are more verses but that is all I will list now.
But thank the Lord for a praying Mother at the age of 23 after years of
drinking, parting and things I don’t want to think about or mention God let me
know that He was real. I decided I had to know if Jesus was real, so I got on my
knees and ask Him. Guess what? He let me know He was real. I started seeking
Him. I did not come to know Him over night, for me it took some diligent seeking
through bible study, prayer and talking to people that knew Him. Actually for me
it took until I was 26 until I actually meet Him. I was enlightened to know that
He was REAL and not just someone that people wrote about in the bible or people
used to get your money or someone that was locked up in a Church building. He
proved to me He was real and I have never been the same. It changed me and is
still changing me at the age of 48. I no longer looked to Pastors or people as
the ones who would tell me what God wanted for my life. If you do this it will
not be long before they use you or let you down. I started looking directly to
Jesus Christ who has never let me down and I have learned to live for Him and
not for me. I have learned it is ALL about Him and not about me. Until we come
to know that, whether we are Pastors, laypersons, Elders, Deacons, business
owners or the President of the United States. We will not be saved. If we do not
know Jesus Christ and deny ourselves and give Him the glory for what He has done
for us. He has given His very life’s blood in our stead so we might live with
Him forever throughout eternity. So until we come to know Him we will never know
what salvation. It is not something you can get from a Pastor or anyone else. We
must go to Jesus and seek after Him daily and then we will know the joy of
salvation. We will then want to tell others of this salvation and will not rest
until He calls us home, as we will know what it means to know and love Him.
There is no mistake about people that know Him, they always want to talk about
Him and no not just at Church but everywhere they go. Yes like your first love,
you would talk about them until people were sick of hearing it and you never
understood what was wrong with them. Jesus wants to be our first love today and
everyday of our life and if you know Him you will want the same thing. If you
don’t then you will just think I am crazy, but I really don’t care what people
think. I care what God thinks and what God thinks will echo through out
eternity.
So to me this is what it means to know Jesus. No knowing about Him but
knowing Him personally.
Article by: By David Campbell
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ
Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 (KJV)
The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him - Psalm 25:14
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. ~ Luke 9:62
Luke 13:24
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to
enter in, and shall not be able.
Until Jesus Christ is truly our Lord, we each have goals of our own which we
serve. Our faith is real, but it is not yet permanent. And God is never in a
hurry. If we are willing to wait, we will see God pointing out that we have been
interested only in His blessings, instead of in God Himself. ~ Oswald Chambers
Many come to know Jesus as the Way. A few more go on to know Him as the
Truth. But very few go on to know Him as their life. ~ Rick Joyner
