Directions for Life

"If any one intends to come after Me, let him deny himself--forget, ignore, disown, lose sight of himself and his own interests--and take up his cross, and...follow with Me. For whoever wants to save his [higher...] life, will lose [it]...and whoever gives up his life for My sake and the Gospel's, will save [it]." (Mark 8:34-35, Amp) When Jesus said those words, He wasn't just giving us a prescription for getting to heaven. He was telling us how to live a superior life right here on earth. You see, there's a high life that we can live right here, right now. But to get in on it, we have to lay down the way of life that most of us are accustomed to. We may have to let go of the very things we've been trying so hard to latch onto. We have to set our hearts instead on doing what God wants us to do. That's what Jesus did. He didn't live His life for Himself. He lived it completely for God. He did only what the Father told Him to do--and He lived in total victory. It's time to realize that getting born again is not something we do just to miss hell. Our purpose is to please God. To lay down our lives in order to fulfill His desires. To be His special possessions in the earth and to do whatever He tells us to do. Our top priority is to give ourselves to Him and to live in communion with Him. To spend enough time with Him that we can hear His voice and respond in obedience. Only when we do that will we be genuinely fulfilled. Only when we do that will we be able to live the high life we've been longing for. Scripture Study: Acts 20:7-24