Renovation of the Heart
Radical Goodness Restored to the Soul (1|3)
Pages 59-63
• Self-Denial
• Losing Our Lives to Find Them
• Doing What You Want - God’s Way
• Taking The Cross
TOGETHER read the devotional and the scripture.
INDIVIDUALLY take notes in your journal on what stands out.
Galatians 2:20-21 (NIV) I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!
Luke 12:24-26 (NIV) “Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?”
Matthew 10:37-39 (NIV) “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
TOGETHER pray for one another.
INDIVIDUALLY answer the questions in your journal - process your devotional notes and pray.
”John Calvin (1509 - 1564) ‘For as the surest source of destruction to men is to obey themselves, so the only haven of safety is to have no other will, no other wisdom than to follow the Lord wherever he leads. Let this, then, be the first step, to abandon ourselves, and devote the whole energy of our minds to the service of God.’”
What does this mean? Do you agree?
Self-Denial
”Christian spiritual formation rests on this indispensable foundation of death to self and cannot proceed except insofar as that foundation is being firmly laid and sustained. The ruined life is not to be enhanced but replaced. We must simply lose our lives - that ruined life about which most people complain so much anyway.”
How do you see “self-denial” (advocated by Jesus) as being different from “self-rejection”?
Losing Our Lives to Find Them
“When Jesus said that those who find their lives or souls shall lose them, he was pointing out that those who think they are in control of their lives will find that they definitely are not in control: they are totally at the mercy of forces beyond them, and even within them. They are on a sure source to disintegration and powerlessness, of lostness both to themselves and to God. They must surrender.”
What do you believe Jesus means when he speaks of the necessity of losing our souls or lives and finding them again? How do you begin to do that? What does this journey or process look like?
Doing What You Want - God’s Way
“Jesus’ words on not being anxious about what will happen to you and his admonitions to consider the flowers and birds will seem obviously sane and right, whereas they previously sounded obviously crazy and wrong, or ‘out of touch with reality.’”
Do you agree or disagree? In a culture glorifying being “self-made”, “pulling yourself up by the bootstraps”, and “keeping a stiff upper lip” is this crazy talk? We live in an age where anxiousness has a death grip on our culture and people turn to numbness and/or escapism, how do we explain this teaching of Jesus to our neighbor?
Taking The Cross
“Those who are not genuinely convinced that the only real bargain in life is surrendering ourselves to Jesus and his cause, abandoning all that we love to him and for him, cannot learn tho other lessons Jesus has to teach us. They cannot proceed to anything like total spiritual transformation. Not that he will not let us, but that we simply cannot succeed.”
Why can I not be Jesus’ apprentice (disciple) if I do not take up my cross and follow him? (Matthew 10:37-39)
EXTRA READING:
“Men of our time believe that all the insanity and cruelty of our lives, the enormous wealth of few, the envious poverty of the majority, the wars and every form of violence are perceived by nobody, and that nothing prevents us from continuing to live thus.”
- Leo Tolstoy (1828 - 1910)