| Luke 9:23 23 And he said to them all, "If any man desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. [To follow is to be led by the Spirit. To be led, you must persistently and patiently sit in humble silence to wait on the Lord, as you listen for his word within your heart to speak to you; then you must obey Him. Self-denial occurs by obeying the Lord's commands you hear instead of your will, (His will, not your will); this is the inward cross of self-denial. First, He will lead you out of darkness to a sinless state; to then guide your thoughts, words, and works; which works show His glory and love to the world.] | Mark 8:34-35 34 And when he had called the people and his disciples to himself, he said to them, "Whoever would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. [To follow Jesus we must first seek to hear the Lord speak to us by patiently and persistently listening in humble silence. To obey what we hear Him command us to do is to follow Jesus. From the Word of the Lord within: "Stop following men. Everyone listen to what the Spirit says; this you follow. Master following. Follow precisely; do not deviate."] 35 For whoever would save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.2 [Those who live in the flesh (sinful nature) cannot please God. Rom 8:8. You must mortify all sin in your body to save your soul and obtain the superior life of God, making Christ the Lord of all your words and deeds, while on earth, and then forever. You lose your life at the conclusion of your crucifixion of self, with many many acts of commanded repentance, several trials with suffering, and then the baptism of fire, which is the baptism of death. For detail on this baptism of fire and death, see the footnote to Matthew 3:11-12 on this site] | Luke 14:27,33 27 And whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.4 [The blind guides of Christendom ignore the cross and tell their followers that they are already saved just by believing in Jesus; but unless you carry the inward cross of self denial to crucify your selfish lusts, passions, and desires, you will be banned from heaven at death. To come after Christ you must wait in humble silence, listening for Him to speak to you from the Word within your heart; faith is to hear Him, and then you must obey Him. Self-denial occurs by obeying the Lord's spoken commands instead of your will, (His will, not your will); this is bearing the cross — the inward cross of self-denial.] 33 So likewise, whoever does not forsake all that he has cannot be my disciple.6 [Everyone who has forsaken houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit everlasting life. Mat 19:29. When you continually deny yourself and obey the Lord's commands, you will forsake your entire selfish life, and thereby save your soul to live Life in union with God.] | |||||||