I wanted to talk to you a little bit about me and my challenge: my personal challenge. Now I don’t mean “challenge” in a negative sense in the way that people may use that word when they are going through challenges as in hard times. Challenges can be very healthy. Challenge can be exciting, whether it is in your career, in your occupation, the educational field or being exposed to new aspects of life. Challenges are a very healthy aspect of our development.
I have been challenged by a specific scripture that I wanted to share with you and I realized that we have to allow ourselves to be challenged by the Gospel. In Luke chapter 9, there are a lot of things that are going on in this record, but Jesus Christ in addressing a crowd that is following him, says “that if anyone wants to follow me, they must first deny themselves, take up their cross daily and follow me.” Now everybody who wants to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ has the opportunity to do so by following exactly what is laid out here. We must deny ourselves. What’s more challenging than that? Right? I mean, let’s be honest.
We have passions, desires, drive, even personal goals that may conflict with following the Lord Jesus. He not only says to deny ourselves, he goes further and then he says “take up your cross daily,” in Luke’s gospel and follow me. In denying ourselves we also have to take up our cross daily, and Jesus did not die on a cross for his own benefit, right? He did it for who? He did it for Ed and for Gary and for Joe and for all of us. So, in light of allowing myself to be challenged by the Word, I realized that I not only have to deny myself, but I then have to sacrifice something that may be of value to me or it’s no sacrifice, right, for the betterment of others. Then I can say, yes, in this course of action I am following Him and I allow myself to be challenged that way.
I was challenged in a negative sense quite literally in recent years, and I felt very unsure, defeated almost, not certain of how exactly I was going to move forward and continue to minister; the picture was not clear to me. And instead of allowing that doubt and that heaviness and that hardship to resonate, I denied that. I said that is not how we are going to be.
There are a lot of scriptures that encouraged me like Colossians chapter 4:17 where Paul tells Archippus that he was to take heed to himself and the ministry that he had received in the Lord, that he would fulfill it. So, in doing this I decided that I’m going to look for where the gaping holes are. I don’t know what to do, but I’m going to go and I’m going to try to do what has the greatest need. Where will I be needed? That’s where I should go. And some of you here grew up with me, like Rich and Vera O’Neal and Jeanie Cali and you guys know that I loved playing football as a kid, and hopefully some of you will be watching the Super Bowl tomorrow, and this will make more sense if you are not familiar with American football.
A running back is successful when he hits a gap, right? No running back on an American football team can bring a ball down the field without a gap, without a hole to run through, right? That’s how there is progress made in a running game in American football. I wanted to go where the gap was, I didn’t want to bump into the line, I didn’t want to just stand in the backfield with the ball and get clobbered, right? I wanted to hit the gap and move down the field. That’s all I wanted to do. And in my mind what that meant was, if I go where the greatest need is perhaps I’ll find a high level of receptivity. If I go where the need is, if I hit the gap, if I want to fulfill my ministry and do what I am supposed to do, if I am going to be challenged by the Word in a healthy sense and allow that Word to challenge me, then we are going to go in and for me personally, I decided we wanted to do something radical. We really wanted to get out there and reach people and do things that I never thought I would have the opportunity to do.
So, I leave you with the question of what is it in your world? I could sit up here and talk about what it is in my world, but I don’t think that matters. What is it in your world? What is the gap that you need to run into? Maybe it’s a neighborhood that needs your attention, maybe you need to start inviting people into your home more and being more open about yourself, maybe it’s conversations that you need to have with somebody, restoring relationships, maybe it’s an anger issue with one particular person, maybe for you husbands, you should help your wife out a little bit more around the house (you’re welcome, wives : 0 ). What do we need to do really to deny ourselves of whatever we feel we are entitled to and show the self-sacrificial love of Jesus Christ to truly follow him?
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