John 12:24, ” I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop.” HCSB
Good morning friends in Christ! We are talking about dying to “self” here in this verse and this goes against our human nature. Jesus reminds us that if we do not die to ourself than we will be alone. The verse following this one tells us that if we lose this life we will keep our eternal life. Once we are saved we then lead a life of sanctification, which can be painful at times. Jesus is pruning and cutting away the areas of our life that will not produce fruit for Him. We may be inclined to remain just as we are; change is scary, unknown, difficult, and painful. We may like or even not see a problem with what we still cling too. When Jesus begins to prune, we need to be willing to allow Him to work in our lives.
Dying to self is hard and only possible with God’s help. We long to be more like Jesus, so we need to be humble and allow the painful pruning and death of our old self. The benefit of death in this way, is a life of blessings that will glorify God. What God does in our life is not secret. The wonderful changes in our heart are evidenced in the things we say and do. So everyone touched by our life, is blessed by seeing the fruit of Holy Spirit moving in us.
Friends are you willing to die to “SELF” today? Will you loosen your hold on that ONE thing that you cling so tightly to? Allow God to cut it away and bury it to bring Him glory and you blessings through the pain. You will be eternally grateful that Jesus loves you so much; He lovingly toiled in your life to remove what is not producing godly fruit! You will not regret this death, you will rejoice as all of heaven will, as well!
Love and Prayers, Paula Nebel
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