Matthew 16:24-26: Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for Me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”

Are you a believer in Jesus? If so, are you living the blessed life that God through Jesus desires for you? The very moment that you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, you became born again by faith. If we truly desire to live a blessed life, you and I must continue to obey by faith. It’s one thing to believe in Christ, but once we accept Him as our Lord, our relationship with Him takes on a different dimension. In order to receive the blessings that have been promised to us as children of God, we must begin to obey God’s will and His voice when He speaks to us and not our own desires.

Our faith in Jesus as Christ has given us access into the grace of God. Now that we’re standing in His grace through faith and not in our own works, His favor will supply all of our need. When we understand this concept in our hearts, it will free us to give and to obey all that the Father asks of us. In Matthew 16:24-26, Jesus tells us that if we desire to keep our life, we must deny our “self” nature and follow Him. So, a person cannot just say they’re saved and think that they will have “a blessed life” if they have no intentions of continuing to obey by faith. However, if they will choose to obey and deny their “self” nature, then the promises of the covenant that they have entered with God through Jesus will become theirs.

By faith, Abraham and Sarah received the life of God in their old age to have Isaac. It was through faith that this miracle occurred, but the plan of God for them didn’t stop when they received their promised heir—it had only just begun. God instructed Abraham to take Isaac, his only son, to Mount Mariah and offer him upon an altar unto the Lord.  This act of Abraham’s obedience illustrates what Jesus told us in today’s verse. We must deny our fleshly desires in order to live “the blessed life.” Let me point out something that is essential for you to know in your walk of faith: had Abraham disobeyed God’s command to offer Isaac because he loved him more than he trusted God, Abraham would have forfeited the blessing of God. Anytime we as believers decide that God’s requirements are too great and choose instead to preserve self, we forfeit the blessing of God on our life that comes through His promises.

Since Abraham did obey and offered Isaac up to the Lord, God revealed to Abraham another way—after he obeyed. If you read Genesis 22: 1, you’ll see that this event was only a test. If God asks us to give up something that is of value in order to continue in obedience, then know that it is a TEST of our love. He wants to know if we love “self” more than Him. If you love God more, then He will see to it that goodness and mercy follow you as you obey. God provided a ram, which was caught in the thicket, but Abraham didn’t notice it until after he had obeyed God’s will. In chapter 22, the Word tells us that the ram was behind Abraham as he faced the altar. After the test was completed, and Abraham had passed it, God could bless both Abraham and his descendants forever. That sounds like a blessed life to me! Whoever seeks to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for His name’s sake will find it. Allow goodness and mercy to continue following you today as you lose your life for His.  —submitted by Asa Dockery, US