Last year, while I was in Florida visiting my parents, my husband and
children were in Mexico on a missions trip. When I returned home, they presented
me with a souvenir they lovingly chose and purchased for me. It was a
beautiful wind chime made up of different sized hearts. Of course, I
immediately found a place for it to hang, which promptly reminded me of
a portion of scripture I had been studying during my quiet time. Turn
with me to Psalm 132 and look at verses 3-5 with me...
"Surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into
my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids,
Until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God
of Jacob."
David here is making a vow that he would not settle comfortably into his
own substantial house until he had established a permanent resting place
for the ark of God. You'd have to admit that this is an admirable quality
and one born not only of zeal, but also of the great respect that David
had for the Lord! Such respect was demonstrated by David's own self denial,
was it not? How do you demonstrate your respect for the Lord, dear lady?
Is there a permanent place for Him in your life? Or have you settled
down into a routine, a way of living that has left God out of your life,
minus any sign of self denial at all? Although my wind chime is not quite
as important as the Lord, I immediately found a place to hang it when
my family gave it to me as a demonstration of my respect for my loved
ones. They are important to me and my love for them creates a place for
them in my life and a place for the gifts they give me in our home. I'm
sure many of you will experience this with Mother's Day just ahead.
Sometimes those special items bestowed upon us moms require rearranging
things a bit so that a place can be made for the recent gift we have been
given by our loved ones. Now, I may not want to move those things few
things around, because in my mind I have perfectly and permanently decorated
our home the way I want it to be. But self denial will override such
a selfish attitude so that love and respect for others can be demonstrated
in making a place for their gifts. How can I be so thoughtless as to
place less respect on things that my children have given me and yet find
a permanent place for the things I have purchased for myself??
Ladies, we treat the Lord in much the same way without sometimes even
realizing it! We stubbornly resist rearranging our lives and making room
for those things that HE would bring to us. Sometimes in our personal
lives, in order to find a place for the Lord, we need to move things around
a bit, don't we? We need to prioritize our lives and make a permanent
place for Him! We need to deny ourselves in order to do such a thing...
A permanent place means that God will always hold that place, it's His
and no other's. Does the Lord have that kind of a place in your life,
a place of permanence? Or do you move Him around from first place to
second place to last place, and eventually no place at all.... Self denial
makes room for the Lord - permanently! Is there a sacrifice God is calling
you to make in your life? Can you give up what you would choose for your
life and make room for what He would choose for you??
Galatians 5:24 says, "And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh
with the affection and lusts."
"Have crucified...." Sounds like a settled matter to me! This verse
emphasizes the completeness of the transaction for those of us that are
Christians. It's a done deal, the affections and the lusts of the flesh
are overcome through crucifying the flesh - through self denial! Our
unhealthy affections for this world and the things of this world that
crowd out and fill the place in our lives that rightfully belongs to the
Lord are buried through self denial. Done any burying lately, dear lady?
Or are your personal affections filling up what should be the Lord's place?
David couldn't and wouldn't sleep until the Lord had his rightful place,
and yet many of us go to sleep easily every night never having given thought
to how we treated the Lord that day!
Guess what happens when your personal affections are buried? Your lust
for them is buried as well! You will no longer be driven with desire
for your own way and such desire will be replaced instead with a zeal
for the Lord as it was with David. Room for the Lord is made in our lives
each and every time we die to ourselves. You know ladies, a dead Christian
is one who lives for himself. Perhaps you've been around dead Christians
before... They are without zeal for God, aren't they? I can guarantee
you they are not living a life of self denial but a life of self gratification!
Nothing has changed since the day they were saved as they continue on
with their lives much the same way and with many of the same plans they
had before they called upon the Lord for salvation. How have you changed
since becoming a Christian?? Real change takes place when a zeal for
the Lord is present in our lives, and that is accomplished only when we
have crucified our flesh with it's affections and lusts. It's how a Christian
is empowered to live by the Spirit! What changes have you been resisting
in your life that you need to be willing to allow your heavenly Father
to complete?
Romans 15:1 says, "We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities
of the weak, and not to please ourselves."
You see ladies, self denial is a sign of spiritual maturity, of the growth
that has taken place within you. The Bible says it is the responsibility
of the strong - the mature - to bear the infirmities of the weak. Such
a responsibility can readily be accepted, but only when traveling the
pathway of self denial will one find a place for ministry and ministering
to others! Did you notice the last phrase in this verse though? It says,
"and not to please ourselves." In other words, you can't pick how and
who and when and where you will minister! You and I must not minister
with a mindset of pleasing ourselves. Self denial is ministry minus me.
Subtract self, add others! Such a mathematical mindset gives place to
the Lord to use us as HE would choose and not as we would choose... Below
is a verse that God gave me at the time my husband went full time in the
service of the Lord and it has kept my focus clear since that first day,
in spite of the experiences that have come into our lives and I know will
continue to come:
Acts 20:22-24, " And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem,
not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy
Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide
me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto
myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which
I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace
of God."
Why do you or don't you minister to others today? Have you said no because
you have decided such a ministry is not for you? Who's pleasure is most
important to you when you consider the ministry you are in? I hope it
is the Lord's! I hope HE holds that place in your life and not you yourself,
for only then will you affect lives the way the Lord intended you to. You
see ladies, the more you move God around in your life, the greater the
likelihood is that you'll be easily moved by your circumstances. If you
want to be a rock solid Christian, God has to have a rock solid position
in your life! Today, there are many wacky ways that people are trying
to "find themselves." However, God's way is through self denial. First
find a permanent place for Him in your life and THEN you will find the
ministry the Lord has for you, and THERE you will find your life!!
Mt. 16:24-25 says, "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man 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, and whosoever will
lose his life for my sake shall find it."
By the way, self denial spreads! I hope you will use your strength to
help other Christians and encourage them by your example of such a way
of living. I hope that when others observe your life they find that the
Lord has a permanent place and will be challenged by your priorities. Consider
for a moment how it makes you feel to realize that Jesus willingly died
for your sins.... Doesn't His supreme example of self denial provoke
you to good works? Jesus place now is at the right hand of God the Father
because His whole life was a place in which the Lord could do His work.
May the Lord look at our lives as such a place of opportunity for His
work to be accomplished, amen?
As we bring this study to a close, let's look at verse 2 of Psalm 131
which says:
"Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of
his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child."
Through self denial, we quiet our souls and we learn to behave maturely
and soberly. You've all seen a spoiled child crying out for his own way
- the noise level is unbearable at times! Well, self denial quiets the
noise of selfishness. It brings silence to your soul as you give up and
give in to God. The noise and strife of the inward battle is gone and
peace reigns at once. A selfish child usually needs an outside source
of comfort, but outside sources of comfort are no longer needed for the
Christian who has matured himself God's way through crucifying his flesh.
He is able to behave himself, because he is weaned of self. Many times
when a spoiled child is acting up, the parent blames the ugly behavior
of the child on a lack of sleep or a slight fever or hunger etc. We Christians
do the same thing! It makes me sick how we tend to excuse the behavior
of our old nature. We think things like, "I've been through so much lately, what
do they expect??" Or, "I deserve to have this drink because I've had such
a stressful week at work." Or, "I see no reason not to watch this R rated
movie, after all, it isn't as bad as what I USED to watch." How about,
"I can watch this movie because the swear words are not THAT vulgar and
besides there are only 6 of them in the whole movie and I am also strong
enough to handle the sexual innuendo's too!" Well, let me ask you this
question then - are you strong enough NOT to watch it at all?? Are you
strong enough NOT to give in to your flesh in general?? Ever thought
of making that choice?? Which way of thinking would you say is going
to result in you finding a permanent place for the Lord in your life?
The first few? No way! You'll end up moving God around from place to
place just so you can accommodate your personal affections and lusts!!
Neither are you demonstrating respect for the Lord or your love for Him
with such flimsy excuses for your sinful behavior. Respect is what we
owe God, love is what we give Him... Both matter. Consider too, those
around you, dear lady. Examine carefully those areas of your life that
could cause others to sin. What practice or behavior would you be willing
to give up if it proved to be a bad influence? Or wouldn't you....
In closing, don't fail at finding a place for the Lord in your life, Christian
woman! Don't give more respect to those things that are less important
than your heavenly Father, but rather rearrange your life, increase your
zeal by exercising some self denial for a change and don't rest until
the Lord has that rightful and permanent place of respect in your life!!
Don't just talk about it either, demonstrate it, amen?
Exodus 15:2, "The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation:
he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation...."
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
