²⁴ Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. ²⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

Matthew 16:24-26 [NKJV]

After the challenging week, I am thankful that I was able to really sleep in late today. I woke up only around 1.30 in the afternoon. Took a nice shower, took a quick break before I began reading the Bible and praying to God. In recent days, all of my daily devotions had a very common theme, do you know what that is? In case you don’t know the answer to that question – it is about denying myself and acknowledging that I need God & Jesus in the center of my life if I want to lead a fruitful, fulfilling and successful life (not just a Christian one). I believe that God has been trying to show me that in learning to follow Jesus as a daily example in our lives is also about acknowledging that it takes time to cast aside our own egos, pride, and what we think we know. It is a continuous daily process. It is not something that we can just do overnight. That is also in Matthew 16:24, Jesus told his disciples that if they really wanted to follow in His footsteps, they must first take up their own crosses. That also means casting aside their own egos and pride. And it also means accepting and acknowledging our own vulnerability. The truth is that we have all spent our lives trying to deny our most vulnerable selves. We try to go out into the world by only showing the part of ourselves that we want others to see. Most of us are afraid to show our weaknesses, or flaws. And to certain extents, we also end up denying those parts of ourselves.

This passage certainly feels very personal to me. I believe that God is trying to tell me that I have to stop trying to deny my own vulnerabilities and weaknesses as a person. I need to embrace it and finally accept myself for all that I am, both the strengths and weaknesses.

Then in verse 26 of the very same passage, Jesus speaks about how sometimes because we chase after all the wrong things in life, we end up compromising our own values, principles and integrity. In pursuit of the things we desire, we end up sacrificing the most important parts of ourselves. And yes, in some cases, we end up losing ourselves in the process. I not sure if that means we’ve sacrificed our souls. But I certainly can relate with the part about sacrificing ourselves to something we are desiring so much. I can definitely relate with what it’s like to want something so much that I would end up sacrificing my own character and integrity to it. Things would get so bad that I would come a point where I would look at myself and not recognize the person that I had become. I had most certainly become someone else. And yes, by that point, I knew that I had already lost myself.

Without Jesus/God in the Center, Everything We Build will be in Vain

Psalms 127:1 also helps to remind of what it’s like to live a life that doesn’t have Jesus or God in the center of it. Yes, I am all too familiar. In fact, if you could look at how my life had turned out in the last few years, you will be able to see that I’ve been pretty much living a life that is void of Jesus or God in it. Well, I may have occasionally prayed and occasionally give thanks to Him. But when you were to look at the big picture, I realized in hindsight that I was only paying lip-service. My mouth may say the right things, but my heart didn’t mean most of it.

As time went by, it became clear now that I had been trying to build “this life” by my own strength, knowledge and understanding. You know, this isn’t the very first time that I’ve tried to do something similar. Prior to my first attempt at this whole daily devotion in 2018, I had already spent many years trying to live by my own strength. I tried to build a life on my own terms. As a result, it still ended in disaster. Everything fell apart. It is also why in a recent daily devotion, I spoke about building a life upon the rock (Jesus and the Word of God). Because trying to live a life that isn’t on solid foundations will only crumble easily when facing a major storm in our lives.

You can spend all that time, energy, money and effort to build that life you desired. But if God isn’t in the center of that life, everything can be taken away from you within an instant. You can lose everything. Trust me. I know. I’ve lost nearly everything. Now, before I lose anymore, I’ve made my re-commitment to Jesus Christ and to God. The last thing I want is to lose anything else. And I’m not referring to material possessions either.

Simon Peter Learns the Lesson of Following Jesus’ Lead

I like to end my daily devotion for today in John 21:3-8. This is a story that we should all think of when we are reflecting about leading a life that is without/with God/Jesus in the center of it. But what does it truly means to live a life that has Jesus/God in the center of it? I believe it is all about giving up control of how we want to live our lives, the direction that we want to take. The steps we want to take. And then surrendering that control to Jesus Christ. It is all about letting Jesus become the captain of our lives. Because the moment we allow Him to take the lead, everything can suddenly turn around.

With my recent daily devotion about how with one touch from God and it can turn our lives around. In very much the same way, I believe now that by surrendering control to Jesus, and allowing Him to come into my life to take the reins, He can quickly turn everything around for me. Amen.

Personal Prayer for Today

Dear Heavenly Father,

I want to come before You today, most importantly to give thanks for all the things that You have been revealing to me this past week. Thank You for speaking me through Your word. Thank You for revealing to me the things in my life that needed attention and correction.

Thank You for showing me that for the past few years, I had been trying to lead my life by following my own pride and ego. As a result of that, I haven’t been putting You at the center of it. I now understand that I had been building my life upon unsteady ground. When the major storm of life came, everything in my life simply crumbled.

Thank You for speaking to me today about how I need to stop denying the parts of myself that I am sometimes also trying to hide from the world. And that it is time for me to embrace all that I am, both my strengths and weaknesses. That is my cross to bear.

Jesus Christ, today, I’m making a decision to change the course of my life. I am welcoming You back into my life so that You can finally take control. I want You to be the captain of my life. I know that with You and God in the center of my life, things will only get better from here on out.

As I continue with the rest of my weekend, I pray and ask that You will continue to speak to me, guide me and lead me. Show me what steps I need to take next.

I vow to give You all the praise and all the glory. In Jesus’ name.

Amen.