The Cooling Stream

Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)

• In whatever a man does without God, he must fail miserably, or he will succeed more miserably.
  
  
• The Bible said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it” (Luke 9:23-24).
  
  
• Self-denial is more than merely trying to suppress our natural desires.
  
  
• True self-denial means we must see things as Christ saw them, regard them as He regarded them.
   
• We must take the will of God as the very life of our being. We are no more to think, “What should I like to do?” but “What would the Living One have me do?”
  
  
• Getting only what we want is succeeding miserably. True success is found in losing our lives for Jesus’ sake and finding them again full and free in His will.
  
  
• True self-denial means we must live and grow more like the Master, and show more of His love to others.
  
  
• The spirit of humility and self-denial precedes a deeper and closer walk with God.