DYING TO SELF
Wednesday – August 28, 2019, Av 27, 5779
Greetings my dear partners and friends of this Ministry and this blog and welcome back to our Bible Study of the Book of John. If you are reading this on Facebook, please take a moment to hit the “love” and “share” buttons to provide feedback to us and to further the spread of the Truth. God is so good, and He is nothing but good. The featured picture today is of the coast of Maine near the lighthouse in Ogunquit. Now, let’s turn our attention and focus on our primary Bible text and read it aloud.
John 12:23-26 (KJV)
23 And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour is come, that the Son of man should be glorified.
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
The lesson Jesus is presenting here is that to function fully in the Kingdom of God we must die to self. As verse twenty-four pointed out, unless we die to self, we cannot bear fruit. There you have it in a nutshell. On first read it might seem that Jesus wants us to live some sort of horrible life and not enjoy life in order to be productive in the Kingdom of God. Nothing could be further from the Truth! God wants us to have a hilarious journey! His Word provides us with the most joyous and abundant life. One can’t even start to imagine this life without Jesus, without the help of the Helper (the Anointing). We need and have been freely given the mind of Christ so that we can see all the goodness of the Kingdom of God Jesus died for and has freely made available to us. Our God provides the abundance of the Blessing, other gods brings the curse which has no goodness at all. Sin the entry into a cursed life seems alluring at first or at a distance due to the deceptions, lies, of the devil but it will eat our lunch. The path of sin seems easy, a shortcut to happiness, but boy is that a deception, it is nothing but misery, it brings stealing, killing, and destroying into our lives. The path of righteousness brings the abundant life (free of sin consciousness – free of condemnation). Now, let’s focus on verse twenty-five for a moment.
John 12:25 (KJV)
25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
The English word “life” appears three times in this verse. The first two are referring to the soul (mind, will, emotions) and the third is referring to the God kind of life or life as God knows it. When our soul is leaning to its’ own understanding, we will never see the God kind of life. Only the Truth, the Word of God can bring the God kind of life or life as God lives life. To the unrenewed mind the God kind of life does not even compute but to the renewed mind it is possible to have glimpses and to understand that we are living way beneath our station as children of God, the sons of God. Eternal life, life as God knows life, starts at the moment of salvation, all of the God kind of life is on the table before us. Our part is to know it, declare it, and walk it out. Just how much poverty of any sort do you suspect that God tolerates? The word “loveth” is not agape (God kind of love) but phileō which is friendship speaking of friendship with the world. Remember, we are commanded not to have friendship with the world, world systems, thoughts, words, and ways.
James 4:4 (KJV)
4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want anything to do with being an enemy of God. As obvious as this seems, it is not just the unsaved who are opposed by God, but many in the Church. They are an enemy of God for they embrace the ways (thoughts, words, actions) of the world. As I am preparing to close for today, I want to remind us all, me included, that we cannot walk in the fulness of our Blood Covenant so long as we are living according to natural understanding, we must die to self.
Hebrews 9:16-17 (KJV)
16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but I want this testament (Blood Covenant) in full force. Lord teach me to die to self just as you did in the earth that I may do the things you did and the greater things.
Until our next publication, as a Bible Teacher and Prophetic Voice I speak this blessing over each and every one of you, receive it by faith in Jesus name!
Numbers 6:24-26 (AMP)
24 The Lord bless you and watch, guard, and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face to shine upon and enlighten you and be gracious (kind, merciful, and giving favor) to you;
26 The Lord lift up His [approving] countenance upon you and give you peace (tranquility of heart and life continually).
By: Dr. David Wood, Author, Bible Teacher, and Prophetic Voice
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