Denying oneself

What does it mean to "die to self"?  Is it even in the Bible?  I don't know if those exact words are in the Bible, but it means to deny oneself, which is in the Bible.  There are things in the Bible that are not worded, like Rapture, but it doesn't mean that it does not exist.  The rapture exists and Jesus is coming quickly, and may be sooner than we think.  I am not a Bible scholar, but I do know that only those who deny themselves daily will have an understanding of the rapture of the church that others don't have.

Dying to self is to deny oneself, as I have mentioned before.  We are to take up our cross daily.  Cast our burdens over to the Lord and He will take care of and sustain us.  He is the God of miracles and the One who knows all that is going on in the world.  God is the One who truly judges.  This I do know.

God has given us a plan and purpose for our lives.  There is just so much that He can do.  I as a human being cannot comprehend it.  It is now getting hard to understand what it means to deny myself as I am trying to write this.  But I believe that it is about serving God and God only.  We are to take up our cross even to the detriment of our own lives on this planet.

Only those who deny themselves and take up their crosses are the ones who will be raptured.  Jesus will return to those who are pure in heart, sanctified, washed in the Blood, saved, and have endured to the end.  I don't know when He will return, or how many people, but those who are pure in heart shall see God.  Those who are the truly saved are the truly sanctified who have been washed in the Blood and have endured until the end.  Endurance cannot be possible unless one takes up their cross and follow Him. 

It took me until this past 24 hours to realize that what was wrong with me was that I have not fully surrendered to the Lord.  I have not denied myself.  I have also not taken up my cross.  My life has been a cycle of doing the same things over and over and over again and expecting different results.  My weight loss routine is a classic example of this.  Insanity is really a cycle of doing the same things over and over again and expecting something different.  Being cured from insanity requires a denial of oneself.  I am not a god, nor do I have the power to deny myself by myself.  I just don't have that kind of power, but God does. 

So what does it mean to deny myself? It means to sacrifice.  It is not optional to deny oneself.  We are to become unselfish human beings and to be bound to Jesus Christ.  We are not only to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior but to surrender, give, love, serve, and endure for Jesus.  We are wrestling against principalities and against our "sin nature".  But we are overcomers who live and walk in the Spirit.  That is what God's word says, and we shall live that way as well.