How to die to myself?

[Sheep]

I would like to know more about dieing to oneself. I know it doesn't work overnight and a persons faith is perfected by deeds/doing.
You can't just sit around and expect something to happen, a step of faith need to be taken.

Anyway, does someone have some kind of information where to start. I've prayed to Jesus a million times to help me to die to myself. But before I know it, I'm back on wanting something from someone or expecting something in return. Most of the time I get disappointed.

Some info on this topic will really be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[james g]

good luck trying to crucify yourself.

 

[Thiscrosshurts]

Discern the Spirits,whether they be from God.
Self crucifixion is quite possible.
It starts by picking up your cross and following him.
The first step after being filled with the Spirit is to
examine your prejudices and see if they agree with the character of God.

Next examine the little prison system we have built in our minds.Are there any prisoners.Anyone that we have not forgiven or are Judging are our prisoners and some of them we treat better than others.We are supposed to set those captives free.
Pray for your enemies.Bless those who spitefully use you.
This is the path to Golgotha.The beginning of the journey of death.

By the way God has to do this,not you.
Remember the second temptation of Christ was to fulfill scripture by casting himself down from the pinnacle.Our part of this is to react to every situation in love.Knowing that all things work together for good.

Focus on the new life and let God work on the death part.
It is a process,if it happened in a month you would end up in a mental hospital because people would say you are not yourself and they would be right.

 

[MelodyC]

The fact you have recognised the need to die to yourself and crucify your sinful nature is the first step.

The previous poster Thiscrosshurts has given you some good advice.

Keep reading the Word of God. The Word of God challenges us as we need to change. Each person is different and it you may have sin areas you are weak that I don't have a problem with and vice versa. So don't compare yourself with other Christians. We all walk our joruney with Jesus at a different pace.

Pray and ask God to Help you change to be more like Jesus. God will answer your prayer because it aligns with God's Will for you (actually for all of His children).

Do try to take steps you can that will help you keep away from temptation. I stopped soon after becoming a Christian going out with a certain set of people who kept enticing me into sin. There are practical things you can do.

Remember the Devil will keep trying to tempt you at your weakest. Notice the Devil turned up at the end of Jesus doing a forty day fast in the desert not at the beginning because Jesus would be weak at that point. And the Devil persisted. Then left but only to wait for another opportune time to tempt Jesus again.

LK 4:1 Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry.
LK 4:3 The devil said to him, "If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."

LK 4:4 Jesus answered, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone.' "

LK 4:5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours."

LK 4:8 Jesus answered, "It is written: `Worship the Lord your God and serve him only.' "

LK 4:9 The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. "If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written:

" `He will command his angels concerning you
to guard you carefully;

LK 4:11 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.' "

LK 4:12 Jesus answered, "It says: `Do not put the Lord your God to the test.' "

LK 4:13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.

Unlike Jesus you might give in and fall into sin. Don't worry about that. Pick yourself up and dust yourself off. Know even when we fail and sin Jesus is advocating on our behalf before God and your salvation is still intact.

1JN 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

You have to just keep trying and eventually you will suceed and gain victory over the sin in your life. Never give in! Never surrender! That is the only way.

I'm 30 years in Christ and I have some great victory over sin in that time. Mainly recently. I still have some areas where I fail the Lord and no doubt Satan will be back to tempt me to sin again.

Our salvation is based on Christ's death on the Cross not how well we obey God in our Christian walk. Just remember that when you fall into sin.

2CO 5:16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

You are the Rigteousness of God THROUGH Christ Jesus and not your own efforts. Praise God! That remains the same even when we sin. We are still righteous before God. So all we have to do is repent(not as in salvation but as in not wanting to keep sinning) of that sin and move forward.

 

[AudreyNicole]

I am currently working on this myself, and though I am no expert, I do have one thing that helps me.

There are things in my life that I cannot overcome, no matter how hard I try no matter what I do, I can't do it. But thankfully God can, so while He's working on that, I'm just making sure that I'm following His will, reading the Bible, and engaging in fellowship. While I do all this good stuff, He is at work on the bad stuff, and over time I will be molded and transformed to be more like Him.

Don't focus on what you can't do... instead, focus on what you should do (the Bible tells you what to do)... Dwell on the things of God.

Also, it seems you may need God to fill up your "humility" and "love" tanks. You said you are always wanting or expecting things from people. But true love does not expect things in return, and humility means doing things without necessarily being "paid" or "honored". Perhaps you should pray more for the fruits of the spirit than for crucifying the flesh.

Here are the fruits of the spirit, you may want to dwell on these:
love, peace, kindness, gentleness, goodness, self control, patience, joy, and faithfulness.

 

[Sheep]

Thank you so much all of you.

Your answers really help. Especially the part where I'm too focused on my faults / bad stuff. I must keep myself busy with the good stuff - with God, while He is busy on fixing the bad stuff for me, and that is only something He can do.

I can really relate to AudreyNicole. To expect something back from someone or to receive what "self" wants all the time. I really can't overcome it. No matter how hard I try. But I realized that I need to concentrate on the fruits of the Spirit. Thank you for this. I will start praying and meditate on the Fruits. By telling me this I just realized something, yes the light bulb just came on

Thanks so much.
Lots of Blessing for all of you.
xxxxxxxxxx

 

[james g]

THE CROSS GOD'S WAY
It was on the cross of Calvary that God, in Christ, dealt fully and finally with self, the nature from which all our sins flow. "We know that our old (unrenewed) self was nailed to the cross with Him in order that (our) body, (which is the instrument of sin), might be made ineffective and inactive for evil, that we might no longer be the slaves of sin" (Romans 6:6 Amp.). The reason there is no other way for self to be denied is that God has done the work in this way: our identification with Christ Jesus in His death and resurrection! It is done; now ours to believe.
"The 'flesh' will only yield to the cross; not to all the resolutions you may make at a conference, not to any self-effort, not to any attempted self-crucifixion; only to co-crucifixion, crucified together with Christ (Galatians 2:20). It is not by putting yourself to death, but by taking, through faith and surrender, your place of union with Christ in His death. That is the blessed barrier of safety between you and all the attractions of the flesh, and that makes the way open to do the will of God." --G. Watt
The cross of Calvary resulted in the death of the Lord Jesus, both for sin, and unto sin. In that He died unto sin, He died out of the realm of sin, and He arose into the realm of "newness of life," eternal life. And our identification with Him on Calvary took us into death; down into the tomb; up into "newness of life" (Romans 6:4). First, Romans 6:3 -- "Baptized into his death"; then, Romans 6:4 -- "buried with him"; then, Romans 6:5 -- "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection"; also, Colossians 3:3 -- "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God"; therefore, Romans 6:11 -- "Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Praise the Lord! it all happened at Calvary: our sins were paid for, our sinfulness was dealt with, and both by the ultimate -- DEATH. And we receive the benefits of the work of the cross simply by reckoning on, believing in, the finished work of the cross. First, through the Word, we find out what God did about our problem. Then, as we become thoroughly convinced of the fact and begin to understand it clearly, we are able to agree to 'reckon' it true. And as we exercise faith in God's fact, we begin to receive the benefits of that finished work in experience. Was it not true in the matter of our justification? Yes, and we will likewise find it to be true in the matter of our emancipation from the slavery of the self-life.
"The powerful effect of the cross with God, in heaven, in the blotting out of guilt, and our renewed union with God, is inseparable from the other effect -- the breaking down of the authority of sin over man, by the crucifixion of self. Therefore Scripture teaches us that the cross not only works out a disposition or desire to make such a sacrifice, but it really bestows the power to do so, and completes the work. This appears with wonderful clarity in Galatians. In one place the cross is spoken of as the reconciliation for guilt (3:13). But there are three more places where the cross is even more plainly spoken of as the victory over the power of sin; as the power to hold in the place of death the 'I' of the self-life; of the flesh (the outworking of self); and of the world (2:20; 5:24; 6:14). In these passages our union (identification) with Christ, the crucified One, and the conformity to Him resulting from the union, are represented as the result of the power exercised within us and upon us by the cross." -- Andrew Murray
As we learn to stand upon the finished work of Calvary, the Holy Spirit will begin to faithfully and effectively apply that finished work of the cross to the self-life, thereby holding it in the place of death -- inactive -- resulting in the "not I, but Christ" life.

 

[james g]

WHY STRUGGLE?
"But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18). Our Father allows the believer to struggle with self, not for victory, but for defeat. Then the "wretched man" learns to rest in the Victor. Once you have begun the Christian walk, and know the blessedness of it, you are not trying to correct yourself, for you know that all has been removed from the eye of God; and you insist on the fact that self has been to the Cross, and that Christ is your life. The old man was crucified, and you cannot reform him; all attempts of amiable people to reform him are only denying the fact that he has been dealt with in judgment. The responsible (law) man is not before God now. It is now the day of grace. Everyone who receives His grace is set free from the domination of the old man. The appeal to the believer now is not to do, but to look." -J.B.S"The believer is never told to 'overcome sin,' but to reckon, on the ground of his death with Christ, that he has died to it. On the basis of death, he is told not to 'let' sin reign in his life. It is to be dealt with by an attitude of death, not by 'overcoming.' The believer therefore is not to be spending his whole life in getting victory over sin, but understanding his position as having died unto sin." "[We] are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18).

 

[late4dinner]

Hello!

I have an idea!
Do these things:
a; think about God as much as you can all the time.
b; do everything for God as much as you can all the time.
c; say everything you say to glorify God and please him as much as you can, all the time.
Pour yourself, heart and soul, into serving God and you will automatically spend less time on your own selfish desires.

Imagine that you are a bucket and your self is the water that fills you to the brim. Rather than trying to get rid of the water, allow God to fill you with one big rock, Jesus Christ, and this rock will push all the water out!

How does that sound?
Best wishes,
late4dinner.

 

[Zstrastwa]

Hello!

I have an idea!
Do these things:
a; think about God as much as you can all the time.
b; do everything for God as much as you can all the time.
c; say everything you say to glorify God and please him as much as you can, all the time.
Pour yourself, heart and soul, into serving God and you will automatically spend less time on your own selfish desires.

Imagine that you are a bucket and your self is the water that fills you to the brim. Rather than trying to get rid of the water, allow God to fill you with one big rock, Jesus Christ, and this rock will push all the water out!

How does that sound?
Best wishes,
late4dinner.

Hehehe I like this reply. It works too, it's just recentley worked for me! =)

I had an addiction to playing videogames. No matter what, I would have to play a MMO (Massive Multiplayer Online game) or any game for that matter. It would become my day and night! It's been that way for some time... until recentley. I told MYSELF, "James, STOP IGNORING JESUS... there's a reason He's been warning you about this! It's taking all your time, you never open your Bible... MAN, WAKE UP..." etc etc.

So I prayed about it. I told God, "You know my weaknesses, as I do. You know the ones I ignore and ones I don't even know I have. Help me God. Please. I will follow what you say."

THE END.

For a while now I have felt an urge to read my bible, come to sites like this, talk to everyone I see, reach out and show love to everyone, I notice sin even more now, my yearning for God and His wisdom has grown massivley... it is so true what I've heard... give it to God, He will take care of it. Or, like Jesus said, "Seek and ye shall find." AMEN. Thank you Jesus for I feel so fulfilled even when 3 hours of constant reading and strong thinking gives me a headache!

 

[Sheep]

Wow, thanks so much for all of your replies.

Late4dinner - what an amazing idea. I've "accidentally" stumbled upon this (I think its the Holy Spirit that beat you to it - haha) I've been at it for a month now. And you know what, it really works!! I'm so concentrated on Jesus and His teachings and learning more and more about Him, I completely forgot about what I was moaning about in the first place

Now I really understand the verse in the Bible where they say: Keep your eyes on Jesus. Well I'm definitely keeping it on Him and if at any time I feel down again, I just remind myself to keep my eye on Jesus again and everything is back to the way it should be.

Thank God for Jesus!!!!!!!!!!! And thank God that everything about Him will never end, imagine if we knew all about God - "ok, this is getting old, next subject" But thank God that He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent and He will never be fully understand not to mentioned grasped by the human brain I think you can spend a lifetime knowing Him, studying Him and it won't even be the tip of the iceberg

Thanks to all and blessings to all.
Sheep
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[AudreyNicole]

Wow, thanks so much for all of your replies.

Late4dinner - what an amazing idea. I've "accidentally" stumbled upon this (I think its the Holy Spirit that beat you to it - haha) I've been at it for a month now. And you know what, it really works!! I'm so concentrated on Jesus and His teachings and learning more and more about Him, I completely forgot about what I was moaning about in the first place

Now I really understand the verse in the Bible where they say: Keep your eyes on Jesus. Well I'm definitely keeping it on Him and if at any time I feel down again, I just remind myself to keep my eye on Jesus again and everything is back to the way it should be.

Thank God for Jesus!!!!!!!!!!! And thank God that everything about Him will never end, imagine if we knew all about God - "ok, this is getting old, next subject" But thank God that He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent and He will never be fully understand not to mentioned grasped by the human brain I think you can spend a lifetime knowing Him, studying Him and it won't even be the tip of the iceberg

Thanks to all and blessings to all.
Sheep
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I am so Happy to hear of your progress and success in Christ. Praise God, He is so wonderful to help us! And yes, thank God for Jesus! What would we do without Him?

I thank God everyday that I will never know Him completely. That can be kind of disappointing if you have the wrong attitude, but when you think about it with a right attitude, its pretty amazing! Isn't it just so exciting that we can spend every moment of everyday growing in our knowledge of Him and still not even begin to know Him completely? Its like a never ending hobby... but one that never gets boring or annoying lol. I'm so grateful that this lifestyle isn't like going on a diet. Diets don't last that long... its a life change, but only a temporary one. This life change is permanent and complete. We will never stop losing weight, but we will always keep growing in our knowledge of Him. We will never graduate, we will never master this topic, we will never know all there is to know! That's how BIG He is!! YAY!! Haha!


So anyway, I'm glad we can celebrate this fact, and I'm so happy to hear of your success. Praise God!! and God bless!!

In Christ's name,

 

[Brother Mike]

Great Advice!!!

Some very great Advice here............

We see a great example of dying to oneself looking at Jesus in the Garden.

Jesus did not want to go to the cross, did not want to die for anyone's sin, and certainly did not want to go to hell to be separated from the Father.

Jesus felt this way, though he knew the will of God concerning him, and under his own free will could have backed out, and called a legion of Angels to rescue him.

Jesus said something very powerful....

Not my will be done, but your will be done.............

Jesus went against what he wanted, and did as God asked him to do.
This lesson goes a little beyond just trying to not sin, and be nice to folks. This is a complete path for your life.

Php 2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Jesus was not Automatically obedient unto death...... He "BECAME" obedient. This is something he made a effort to do.

We may not be willing to do some things God ask us to do, and it may not even seem like a good idea for our financial standing, or pleasent surroundings, but we can "BECOME" willing.

Jonah and Saul were examples of this...

Jonah did not want to preach the Word of repentance, and certainly never was willing. Saul Was told not to take any spoils... but lo and behold he brought some goods back and only half obeyed God.

If we examine the everyday sin issue, we must keep in mind that not stealing, sleeping around, gossip, and the list goes on is our reasonable service. Many do well in this area, but miss the big obedience picture, and there is one reason they miss it..

WE HAVE A WILL............

When God's will is involved, we have to get our self out of the way.

Feelings is one area that needs to be put under. You can check yourself in this area if you find yourself saying "I feel this" "I feel this way" "I always feel"

If you catch yourself always speaking how you "FEEL" about something, then you know there is a good chance your missing God on some other areas of your life... Out of the abundance of your heart, your mouth is going to speak...

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Get in a habit of speaking the Word, instead of how you feel. This is a key to hearing God more clear, and getting your feelings out of the way.

Example:

Man.... I am always feel tired after work..

(The Word)

Man, it was a long day at work, but I am getting stronger.

Joel 3:10....... Let the weak SAY I am strong........ (Say what God said instead, and it's not based on how you feel.)

As we transform ourselves with the Word of God, and putting those feelings under, God is more able to get across to us some great and awesome things he wants to do for our lives.. It's not that God is not talking, but it's that we can't hear at the place we are at, and we want God's best...

You can get to a place where you may not be able to stand someone, yet hear God to give them money, or help them... Move to anywhere the Lord ask without thinking a thing about the how, or money. This is when you have died to yourself, and it's all God!!!

It starts by getting in the word, and practicing (Yes, spiritual things need sowed in and practiced) only saying What the Word says... get your mind renewed.

Someone asked Mr. Wigglesworth how he was feeling, Mr Wigglesworth turned and looked at this person and said... "Bless God, I don't even ask Mr. Wigglesworth how he feels... I tell him how he feels.

And so greater things and God power will be in our life, as we conform to the way God thinks in line with his word..

Jesus Is Lord.

 

[Greatness4life]

Waiting On God.

I believed in all that has been posted here but I just want to add a little things to what has been said.

In my years of following the Lord I have found out two ways that the Lord uses to break us and cause us to die to ourselves. The first is in His presence, while the second is in the presence of our brethren or unbelievers.

Dying to oneself is as result of of daily dyind in God's presence, one cannot experience the grace of the cross without embracing the agony of it. You must first learn how "to learn of Him". This can only be achieved when you Wait on the Lord daily. And this waiting does have two faces. I'm going to dwell more on the first one, which is Waiting On The Lord.

At least no matter how busy your days may look like, you must endaevour to spend time with the Lord. Although, your morning devotional may be there but, that has nothing to do with Waiting on the Lord.

Let me give a practical example;
As a person, I usually separate myself to wait on the Lord; at such time my focus of spend time with Him has nothing to do with "prayer request". The only prayer that may likely come out of my heart is "Lord, I am here, I just want to behold You and ministered to You, I surrendered my Spirit, Soul and Body to you alone, just do as You please in me today........" after such words, I may porstraite or Kneel down and remain silent for couples of minutes or Hours in His presence. Such time the Lord may choose to speak to me or not but I'm not bothered by that.

At the begining of this waiting, you may find your mind wandering from one place to another but don't be bothered; just tell the Lord what you are thinking or your mind is wandering about and ask your Soul to be restore (which include your mind). As you continue to practise this on daily basis, let it be done where you will not be disturbed by anyone. The Lord will start coming to you, and begin to open your eyes to see area you need to repent from, area that your soul has been scattered and need restoration. This is where your brokeness will start from, and dying to yourself will be the outcome of your waiting on the Lord. Dying to yourself is not by confessing positive things rather it start from waiting on the Lord on daily basis.

Once you begin to do is, the Lord will be responding to your waiting in His presence. I must also say this.. Assuming you are in His presence and the Lord spoke or show you a picture that you have anger inside of you, don't say No to it. Agree with Him and ask Him to forgive you of your anger and deal with it. But thats not the end, wherenever you see yourself manifesting anger, don't prentend that you are not angry or that you are gentle rather openly confess it to Him. (I wish I could dwell on this)....

Secondly, Whatever man does unto you. don't try to defend yourself! See them as God is the one initiating it, to deal with something inside of you. I know this may sound somehow to you but if you begin to practise Waiting On the Lord, you will have understanding of this. We, as human being love to defend ourselves whether when we are wrong or right. But, we failed many time because God does not judge any issue either by Wrong or Right rather, He judge you and I base on the source.

We may be right in a given situation but the source of that our righteousness may be totally wrong. I've been in a situation where the Lord began to deal with me on this matter. I remember that some of the things the Lord began to ask me to do were out of it, though they were not easy but when I started to obey, I began to see changes in my life.

A collegaue of mine one day said something that were not true about me (it wa as huge embrassement) , I didn't say anything but went back to the Lord and cried. That day, I asked the Lord that "what that person said, was it true; is that whom I am? Is she saying the true about me" and I repented and also on her behalf. Later, the Lord told me that what she said wasn't true. But, I didn't raised it up with her. She later came back and apologied to me. From that day on, I began to trust the Lord not to defend myself. To be candid, it has never been easy but it has enable me to carry my cross the more and see growth in my walk with God.

You cannot enter into the second stage except, you begin to practice waiting on God. Once you start to wait on God, God will not only expose whom you are to you but He will also deliver you and turn you to a broken person. By that, the Lord has gained you and He has become your Lord.

May the Lord Bless you.

 

[Sheep]

Greatness4Life
<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o> </o>
I’m speechless…………………………………………….. one second, let me just shout to the Lord and tell Him how great He is…………………………………………………….. Thank you Jesus.
<o> </o>
Everything you just told me, is smack down to the last bit what happened to me this weekend (3 days ago) We really do share the same Spirit J
I was really broken on what a colleague at work said about me. It hurt me deeply. The thing is, I whent to her to apologize (I tend to get angry very very easily – and the Lord is working on it) But she just mopped the floor with me and rubbed my nose in it and told me allot of lies that broke my heart. I felt ashamed to be even called human. I cried and cried and spoke to the Lord. I said that, If I’m such a failure, then He must either kill me, or cure me.
The “fight” happened the morning, by the afternoon she smsed me to apologize for what she said and confessed that she is struggling with the same thing – anger problems.
Now, I believe that the Lord takes whatever is bad and turns in into good. The fact that my heart was broken – healed me in a way, if you understand what I mean. I feel allot stronger now, to be able to control my anger. I believe also that the Lord knows about my anger problem and that He is going to strengthen me every time to overcome it, to control it. With Christ I can do anything say’s the Word.
I know that I’m still human, and I’ll still get angry yes. But I believe the Lord is going to help me control my mouth and my attitude if it arises. Because I’m not strong enough, not at all strong enough; and I’m also going to do what you told me, I’m going to tell Jesus that I’m angry and admit it, and then I’m going to give it to Him to handle. The One inside me is stronger than him that is in the world.
Thank you so so much for your testimony. It made me stronger in a way – knowledge is power.
But may the Lord bless you for sharing.
Sheep
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[Greatness4life]

Greatness4Life
<!--?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /-->I’m speechless…………………………………………….. one second, let me just shout to the Lord and tell Him how great He is…………………………………………………….. Thank you Jesus. Everything you just told me, is smack down to the last bit what happened to me this weekend (3 days ago) We really do share the same Spirit . I was really broken on what a colleague at work said about me. It hurt me deeply. The thing is, I whent to her to apologize (I tend to get angry very very easily – and the Lord is working on it) But she just mopped the floor with me and rubbed my nose in it and told me allot of lies that broke my heart. I felt ashamed to be even called human. I cried and cried and spoke to the Lord. I said that, If I’m such a failure, then He must either kill me, or cure me. The “fight” happened the morning, by the afternoon she smsed me to apologize for what she said and confessed that she is struggling with the same thing – anger problems.
Now, I believe that the Lord takes whatever is bad and turns in into good. The fact that my heart was broken – healed me in a way, if you understand what I mean. I feel allot stronger now, to be able to control my anger. I believe also that the Lord knows about my anger problem and that He is going to strengthen me every time to overcome it, to control it. With Christ I can do anything say’s the Word.
I know that I’m still human, and I’ll still get angry yes. But I believe the Lord is going to help me control my mouth and my attitude if it arises. Because I’m not strong enough, not at all strong enough; and I’m also going to do what you told me, I’m going to tell Jesus that I’m angry and admit it, and then I’m going to give it to Him to handle. The One inside me is stronger than him that is in the world.
Thank you so so much for your testimony. It made me stronger in a way – knowledge is power.
But may the Lord bless you for sharing.
Sheep
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx[/quote]

I'm very glad at your response; I know the Lord is walking a work in you, just keep embracing Him more and more. We are together in this Journey...We may live far distance from one another but as long as we are living in Him, we are closer than the air we breath.
So also is our experiences; Just as it was with Peter was it also with the other Apostles and disciples; They all shared the same experiences, though in different places or situations. As it was with Paul so was it and it is with everyone that God has ever used and will still use.

Keep pressing on in Christ and the Lord bless you daily.

 

[Sheep]

I absolutely agree with you on that one!!

Thanks allot my dear brother.

Hugs in Jesus Christ.

 

[Friend]

As a person, I usually separate myself to wait on the Lord; at such time my focus of spend time with Him has nothing to do with "prayer request". The only prayer that may likely come out of my heart is "Lord, I am here, I just want to behold You and ministered to You, I surrendered my Spirit, Soul and Body to you alone, just do as You please in me today........" after such words, I may porstraite or Kneel down and remain silent for couples of minutes or Hours in His presence. Such time the Lord may choose to speak to me or not but I'm not bothered by that.

At the begining of this waiting, you may find your mind wandering from one place to another but don't be bothered; just tell the Lord what you are thinking or your mind is wandering about and ask your Soul to be restore (which include your mind). As you continue to practise this on daily basis, let it be done where you will not be disturbed by anyone. The Lord will start coming to you, and begin to open your eyes to see area you need to repent from, area that your soul has been scattered and need restoration. This is where your brokeness will start from, and dying to yourself will be the outcome of your waiting on the Lord. Dying to yourself is not by confessing positive things rather it start from waiting on the Lord on daily basis.

That sounds like wonderful advice. Someone could imagine when you talk of dying to yourself, taking up your cross etc. you're talking about self-flagellation, but I feel your advice is what it's really all about. That brokenness before God and a willingness to sit still and listen to Him instead of doing all the talking all the time, and then change according to the promptings you receive from the Holy Spirit.

 

[brakelite]

I would like to know more about dieing to oneself. I know it doesn't work overnight and a persons faith is perfected by deeds/doing.
You can't just sit around and expect something to happen, a step of faith need to be taken.

Anyway, does someone have some kind of information where to start. I've prayed to Jesus a million times to help me to die to myself. But before I know it, I'm back on wanting something from someone or expecting something in return. Most of the time I get disappointed.

Some info on this topic will really be appreciated.

Thank you.

The best way to ensure you die to self is to starve yourself to death. Dont feed the carnal nature. Turn away from all things that entertain, tickle, exalt, or magnify the flesh.
Feed only the spirit. Read the Bible, think upon Jesus, pray constantly, fellowship frequently with other believers, listen to good edifying Christian music, and don't allow culture, modern age thinking or society to decide for you what is flesh and what is spirit. Allow God to lead, trust Him implicitly, and never rely on your own heart to choose the difference, for the heart of man is deceitful above all things.
Bottom line, it is a work that God only can accomplish, and He will if you desire it above all things, and trust Him to do it.

Keep your eyes upon Jesus. By beholding we become changed.

 

[Zstrastwa]

I like this thread, or whatever it's called, not great with forum lingo.
I've never know what dying to yourself was... although I felt I was doing it.
All I know/knew is I wanted God's opinion and what God thought about everything I did in my life.

Thanks to everyone here for their input, great read. =)