A Better Version

A Better Version of Who?

The message on Sunday really triggered something good on the inside of me! I’ve used the phrase, “Becoming a better version of myself,” so many times. As I write, I’m reminded of the lyrics I would rap years ago, “UMMA DO ME!” I would repeat it all the time and whole time I was still lost and had no clue on what I was doing or was going to do!

Becoming a better version of myself isn’t going to get me far! Even my “BEST,” needs CRUCIFYING! It’s not about me but about God! His strength is made perfect in my weakness. It’s not in my strength but in God’s! My weakness should force me to dive deeper and dig deeper into the embrace of Christ!

Matthew 16:24, was the scripture that Pastor began with! Jesus said in order to follow Him, we MUST deny ourselves! We have no choice but to pick up our cross and grab hold of His! I’m thinking of what it means to deny something! There are so many benefits in that! Thinking of myself in a humorous way, there are times that I have to deny myself that Ele cupcake because my body doesn’t need it! No matter how satisfying it is, I know that healthier choices are better for me in the long run! The same is true for our spiritual lives! When we deny our flesh of the things it desires when we know that it’s not beneficial for us, it brings us closer into the confines of Christ! Denying our flesh allows our spirit to become more nourished and fit for the kingdom! If we continue to indulge in those things that God has clearly said was off limits, we allow ourselves to become more dysfunctional than we were before!

Denying ourselves mean living a life before Christ where we aren’t fickle in our thinking! It means knowing without a shadow of doubt that it’s God or nothing! Revelation 3:15,16 speaks of being lukewarm and how we are truly spiritually useless! The Message Bible says you are stale and stagnant! Makes God want to vomit! Well sheesh! I see how you feel! That alone has me like yeah, I desire to live like Christ and Christ, alone! Aiming to be a better version of myself will send me in spirals! Choosing to deny ourselves, helps us to see what God needs for us to change and transform Into!

Create in me a clean pure heart Lord! Search me and see if there is any wickedness within me! Daily must we press into Christ! Daily we must deny ourselves from feeding our flesh! We sometimes make it harder than it has to be! God is never telling us we have to be perfect! He is saying, as Pastor expressed Sunday, that we are to live Holy! It’s Holiness over perfection! Our focused isn’t on the Work, but on the power of Christ and walking in His Light!

If Jesus is our example, then there is no possible way for us to be better versions of ourselves! There just isn’t any way at all! Holiness in Christ makes us different! It gives us a renewed sense of purpose in Christ! Holiness prompts us to surrender and repent to regain a new heart!

Pastor said, “why do we have PTSD to everything BUT sin?” I could have hit the floor! It’s so true! We run away from everything but what we need to run away from! This isn’t an attack on anyone who battles with PTSD, we are praying for healing and deliverance NOW, in the name of Jesus! We submit to the ways of the world instead of submitting to Christ! We allow the enemy to terrorize us and we do nothing! We argue and wrestle with God when He wants us to do better and be better!

The WORD says when you know to do better and don’t, that is SIN! (James 4) There is no longer an excuse for living how we want to live and living based off of our own desires, when God has given us the blueprint on how to surrender and how to deny ourselves!

The deeper we get into God’s word, the more we will be able to hear when HE SPEAKS! God’s Word is His Voice! God’s Voice is His Word! The issue we have is on whether or not we have been in the WORD!

We have to allow Holy Spirit to have full access to us! Not bits and pieces! Trust me when I say, that God truly does reveal Himself when we begin to truly seek Him and deny ourselves! God wants us to know His ways and Live according to His ways!

We are on a great path to total surrender to Christ! This entire series has been phenomenal and we are just on the cusp of it! There is much more that Pastor will share after Self-Care Sunday!

Remember, we’re on a quest of Becoming Better Versions of Jesus!  

I love you all!

YOLO Signing Out! 🖤💛✌🏾