Pam Padgett ... teacher
As Jesus was teaching His disciples, He told them the following ...
Mark 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is
better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go
into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: 44 Where their
worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. 45 And if thy foot offend
thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than
having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be
quenched: 46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to
enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be
cast into hell fire: 48 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched.
It stood out to me how important it is to guard our souls.
When we see in our lives temptation to sin or something keeping us from doing what is right in the sight of God, we turn to God, willing to make the
changes He shows us by the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit
shows us a change we need to make in order to guard our souls, we do that.
At one point I worked in a high profile area and was being promoted.
But I was saying and doing what would make me look good to executives of
the company, becoming corrupted as I sought to please people instead of
seeking to please God. When my attention was drawn to my corruption, I
asked God to show me what to do. I believed I was led by the Holy
Spirit to transfer to another area (which had a very low profile) and
request to not lead any projects for a time. This was a little like
cutting off a part of my body, since this cut me off from the visibility
and praise I had once had. But this greatly helped me to simply work
with integrity and try to please God in what I said and did.
I was reminded of the following ...
Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his
disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 35 For whosoever
will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for
my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. 36 For what shall it
profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Things of this world can seem important ... status, relationships, excitement, money, promotion, appearances ... to name a few. But these are not as important as our souls.
Comments by Joan Boney ...
Often the very things that our flesh desires are the traps which end up holding us in bondage ... desire for status, relationships, excitement, money, promotion, appearances ...
If we deny ourselves (Mk 8:34) we refuse to give in to our fleshly desires.
The key is prayer: Asking God what HE wants us to do when we have a "good" idea. Often it will be opposite to our good idea. In such cases, we "deny ourselves" in order to do what we believe God has shown us after prayer.