Self-denial 

 
[Ed. note: Yesterday, as well as today and tomorrow we have devotionals written by Lynn Green, long term YWAM leader, member of YWAM's Global Leadership Team.]

Jesus said,  "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself…" (Mark 8:34).  

Self-denial is the cornerstone of spiritual growth.  Jesus emphasized it again and again:

Luke 9:24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

Mat 18:9 If your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away.

Luke 14:26,27 If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters--yes, even his own life--he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

There is no doubt that our brothers and sisters who live lives of deprivation and persecution have an "advantage".  Each and every day presents them with the contrast of following Jesus or choosing a life of greater ease and freedom from threat.  The choice before them is often stark and obvious.  As a result, they cannot and do not escape Jesus' demand that they should deny themselves daily, take up their cross and follow Him.  

We, who were born into more comfortable circumstances, where our faith does not make us vulnerable to persecution, battle with a mortal enemy who attacks us with stealth and subtlety.  The Apostle Paul refers to this enemy as the 'old self'.   "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-" (Romans 6:6)  

The power and subtlety of our self is such that succumb to its demands again and again, choking our new life in Christ-unless the Holy Spirit comes to our aid, exposing self and enabling us to deny our self.  Pray for the Spirit of Jesus to shine His light into your life, revealing the old self where ever it is at work.

Daily Bible 

Love Feast Beginnings Pt. 3 
by Tom Bloomer, International Provost, University of the Nations

(Part 3 of 4)
During the meal, all remained seated while one group served the others. Each week a different group would take that responsibility. Sometimes there were special songs and music but it was all completely oriented toward worship to the Lord: it was not just Christian entertainment.

At the end of the meal, the love feast leader gave a meditation on one aspect of the character of God, from the Bible. Then from that meditation, we went straight into a time of worship, still seated around the tables. The worship was not directed from up front, anybody could lead out in prayer, read a passage of Scripture, start a song, etc. The worship would last at least an hour, or even two, time would stand still, nobody wanted to leave.
We waited upon God together, in His Presence.

In other words, it was a vertically- and horizontally-oriented meal, not just horizontal. When His Sabbath is honored and His people commit to holiness, the Lord makes Himself present in an unforgettable way. . . .

We saw the fruit of the love feasts over the years, it was one of the only times that all the staff, with all the students, and without many outsiders, met with each other and with God. Sometimes guests would make commitments to the Lord after being there with us.

YWAM Lausanne learned to worship God during the love feasts (because as late as 1974, we didn't know how to worship yet, we had 'singing').

From Lausanne the love feast spread to other YWAM bases, then in 1974 the Cunninghams took it to Hawaii, and it went around the YWAM world.

Later, as Jannie Rogers has said, "The god of the weekend stole it away." He's pretty powerful ....and it's true, it was a tremendous amount of work. The hospitality crew would spend most of Friday to prepare the tables, and they prayed about the seating, even which singles to seat together (really!). Just folding the napkins took ten people a full hour, after lunch. And as base leader, I took the whole of Friday afternoon to prepare the meditation for the love feast, and to prepare myself, and to pray for the evening. Later we switched the love feast to Friday evening, and took Saturday as a full day off.

(to be continued. For full article go to www.ywamconnect.com/sites/resource and click on the link to Syndicated Column Archives)

 
We don't discover our gifts and callings by searching, but by serving. --Loren Cunningham

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