rec0623-113503<\/a><\/p>\n Edith lived in a little world bounded on the north, south, east, and west\u201d\u00a6by Edith. (Swindoll, 174)<\/p>\n We ALL have the tendency to live in such a small, ingrown world of ourselves, don\u201d\u2122t we?<\/p>\n Aren\u201d\u2122t hot tubs great?\u00a0 A good soak in a hot tub is therapeutic\u201d\u201dit\u201d\u2122ll relax muscles you didn\u201d\u2122t even know were knotted up!\u00a0 And there\u201d\u2122s absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying such therapy.<\/p>\n But think about this\u201d\u00a6<\/p>\n Packer<\/strong><\/p>\n The hot tub is the perfect symbol of the modern route in religion.\u00a0 The hot tub experience is sensuous, relaxing, floppy, laid back.\u00a0 It is not in any way demanding, whether intellectually or otherwise, but very, very nice, even to the point of being great fun…Many today want Christianity to be like that and labor to make it so. (Hot Tub Religion, 61)<\/p>\n But Jesus said something very different about what it means to follow Him.<\/p>\n Jesus came to redeem our lives from uselessness by changing the way we live our lives.<\/p>\n Mark 8:34-38<\/p>\n Executing your selfish desires daily is <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n the only way to NOT waste your life!\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Mark 8:34-38<\/strong> (NLT)<\/strong><\/p>\n 34\u00a0<\/sup>Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, \u201cIf any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. 35\u00a0<\/sup>If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36\u00a0<\/sup>And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37\u00a0<\/sup>Is anything worth more than your soul? 38\u00a0<\/sup>If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.\u201d<\/p>\n Executing your selfish desires daily is <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n the only way to NOT waste your life!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Packer<\/strong><\/p>\n Carrying one\u201d\u2122s cross in Jesus\u201d\u2122 day\u201d\u00a6was required of those whom society had condemned, whose rights had been forfeited, and who were now being led out to their execution.\u00a0 The cross they carried was the instrument of death.<\/p>\n And so, in Jesus\u201d\u2122 words is a call to a self-execution of sorts.<\/p>\n Executing your selfish desires daily is <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n the only way to NOT waste your life!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Packer<\/strong><\/p>\n Accepting death to everything that carnal self wants to possess is what Christ\u201d\u2122s summons to self-denial is all about.<\/p>\n Notice 5<\/span> <\/strong>aspects of this call to self-execution:<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 1. Universal<\/strong> (34)<\/p>\n If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.<\/p>\n \u201cany\u201d\u201d\u201dNO exceptions (\u201cwhoever\u201d)<\/p>\n Bonhoeffer<\/strong><\/p>\n When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.<\/p>\n Luke 14:27<\/strong><\/p>\n And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Chantry<\/strong><\/p>\n It is an absolute impossibility to be a Christian without self-denial\u201d\u00a6The only way to avoid the cross is to follow the world to hell.<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 2. Uncomfortable<\/strong> (34)<\/p>\n If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.<\/p>\n DENY self\u201d\u00a6take up his CROSS<\/p>\n Impaling my selfish, sinful nature on the cross that it may die an agonizing death!<\/p>\n 2 Corinthians 11:24-28<\/strong> (NLT)<\/strong><\/p>\n 24\u00a0<\/sup>Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. 25\u00a0<\/sup>Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea. 26\u00a0<\/sup>I have traveled on many long journeys. I have faced danger from rivers and from robbers. I have faced danger from my own people, the Jews, as well as from the Gentiles. I have faced danger in the cities, in the deserts, and on the seas. And I have faced danger from men who claim to be believers but are not. 27\u00a0<\/sup>I have worked hard and long, enduring many sleepless nights. I have been hungry and thirsty and have often gone without food. I have shivered in the cold, without enough clothing to keep me warm.<\/p>\n 28\u00a0<\/sup>Then, besides all this, I have the daily burden of my concern for all the churches.<\/p>\n That\u201d\u2122s what self-denial looked like in Paul\u201d\u2122s life.<\/p>\n Do you remember the story of Abraham and Isaac?\u00a0 God effectively said, \u201cAbraham, I want you to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.\u00a0 And your cross today is your love for your son.\u00a0 It wasn\u201d\u2122t an evil thing, but a wonderfully awesome thing!\u00a0 And yet, God was testing Abraham\u201d\u2122s love for God.\u00a0 You know how the story unfolds.\u00a0 Abraham proves his love and devotion to God by laying his son on an altar and raising the knife with every intention of slaying his son, just as God had required.\u00a0 But God mercifully stops Abraham after Abraham had proven\/demonstrated his willingness to put himself to death to love God supremely!<\/p>\n What is your \u201cIsaac\u201d this morning?<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 3. Unending<\/strong> (34)<\/p>\n If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.<\/p>\n This is a call to ongoing action!<\/p>\n Chantry<\/strong><\/p>\n Old Christians as well as new converts must bear a cross.\u00a0 One\u201d\u2122s cross is not a disposable item of Christian experience but a life-long burden in this world.<\/p>\n Only when heaven comes can we lay down our cross!<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 4. Unreserved <\/strong>(35-38)<\/p>\n If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36\u00a0<\/sup>And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37\u00a0<\/sup>Is anything worth more than your soul?<\/p>\n Another way to express the idea of being unreserved is to be\u201d\u00a6<\/p>\n a)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>Whole-Hearted <\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Intentional crucifixion of any part of myself that opposes Jesus!<\/p>\n In what areas do I hold back and reserve myself from Jesus\u201d\u2122 control?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Chantry<\/strong><\/p>\n At each stage of growth, more self-denial is required, more painful blows to self, more reckless abandon to serve the Lord Christ with consequent abandonment of one\u201d\u2122s own life. (25)<\/p>\n A key to being \u201cunreserved\u201d in the self-crucifixion Jesus calls us to is to be\u201d\u00a6<\/p>\n b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Eternity-Driven<\/span><\/em> (38)<\/p>\n If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Lewis<\/strong><\/p>\n If you read history you will find tht the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next\u201d\u00a6Its is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this.<\/p>\n Ken Boa<\/strong><\/p>\n If any of us could be transported to heaven for even a five-minute visit, we would never be the same after our return to earth.\u00a0 For the first time, we would have a true perspective on the frailty and brevity of life on earth and the absurdity of giving our hearts to things that will not last.<\/p>\n How much does eternity \u201d\u201c the reality that this is not the end, that you will see God one day, that heaven is forever as compared to this short life \u201d\u201c how does eternity actually effect the decisions in your daily life?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Conclusion<\/p>\n Lucado<\/strong><\/p>\n Self-promotion.\u00a0 Self-preservation.\u00a0 Self-centeredness.\u00a0 It\u201d\u2122s all about me!\u00a0 They told us it was, didn\u201d\u2122t they?\u00a0 Weren\u201d\u2122t we urged to look out for number one?\u00a0 Find our place in the sun?\u00a0 We thought self-celebration would make us happy\u201d\u00a6But what chaos this philosophy creates.<\/p>\n I told you we were going to look at 5<\/span><\/strong> aspects of Jesus\u201d\u2122 call to self-execution, but if you\u201d\u2122ve been keeping up, we\u201d\u2122ve only looked at 4.\u00a0 Here\u201d\u2122s the last and most important one:<\/p>\n Jesus\u201d\u2122 call to self-execution is to be\u201d\u00a6<\/p>\n \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 5.\u00a0<\/strong>Grace-Driven<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Mark 8:35<\/strong><\/p>\n If you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>2 Corinthians 5:14-15<\/strong> (NLT)<\/strong><\/p>\n 14\u00a0<\/sup>Either way, Christ\u201d\u2122s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15\u00a0<\/sup>He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.<\/p>\n Lucado<\/strong><\/p>\n The God-centered life works.\u00a0 And it rescues us from a life that doesn\u201d\u2122t.<\/p>\n Executing your selfish desires daily is <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n the only way to NOT waste your life!<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n C.T. Studd<\/strong><\/p>\n If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice is too great for me to make for him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Message by Chad Kelly rec0623-113503 Edith lived in a little world bounded on the north, south, east, and west\u201d\u00a6by Edith. (Swindoll, 174) We ALL have the tendency to live in such a small, ingrown world of ourselves, don\u201d\u2122t we? Aren\u201d\u2122t … Continue reading How NOT to Waste Your Life<\/span><\/em><\/h3>\n