Matthew 16:24 TLB
Then Jesus said to the disciples, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.
God wants to have a relationship with you because He loves you. But to have that relationship with you though, you must first believe that His Son, Jesus Christ died to redeem you from your sin. God proved His love by sending Jesus to die for everyone in John 3:16-17.
What God wants from us is in the principles of the Christian life: First. To have a sincere desire to belong to Christ—If any man is willing to be Christ’s disciple.
Secondly. To renounce self-dependence, and selfish pursuits—Let him deny Himself.
Thirdly. To embrace the condition which God has appointed and to bear the troubles and difficulties we may meet in walking the Christian road by taking up our Cross.
Fourthly. To follow and imitate Jesus in deed and suffer all in his spirit.
God is not interested in perfection, self-righteousness or human status, it’s not according to our feelings, emotions and intelligence, it’s all about love, God’s perfect love.
What then does God want from you according to our text?
If any man is willing to go after God and will be a committed Christian, it must be on God’s terms alone, it’s to;
- Deny ourselves and take up Christ’s cross.
- Deny our will, however pleasing, and do the will of God, however painful.
- Follow Christ, only through Him can we attain perfection.
For us to have an intimate relationship with the Lord, we will need to follow Luke 10:27.
Our hearts need to be fully offered to God; He wants all of it, not half measures. That means our hearts need to be fully engaged with Him for us to hear His voice when He speaks, irrespective of who the vessel (messenger) is as seen in 2 Kings 23:25. We would avoid trouble if we hear God and not hear and see man.
We live in the age now, where every scriptural instruction can be circumvented and twisted to suit individuals, but if your presence is not in the Lord’s presence, it will be difficult to align with the will of God. Do exactly what the Lord asks of you, take time to seek His presence in prayer, worship, and fellowship with God and others (church, prayer meetings, bible study;) according to Hebrews 10:25. We cannot love the Lord if these are not part of our daily practices and not allow anyone or anything to deter us from being in God’s presence. Another great benefit of being in God’s presence is the transformation of the heart and restoration of the body.
Love is a huge necessity in the Christian life. Jesus gives the greatest commandment as love in Matthew 22:37, we cannot claim to love someone and not want to spend time with them, intimacy in relationships is dependent on love and affection. Love involves time, heart, presence and commitment to build, deepen and strengthen the relationship. God loves us and is desperate to spend time with us, it breaks His heart when we stray and ignore Him. as seen in Luke 15:11-32, God’s arms are always open in love, beckoning for us to come closer.
Father God wants more of us and He’s waiting to deepen His relationship with us because He loves us.
Shalom