You need to get closer to Jesus, and that means saying no to yourself.

One of the best things that ever happened to me was my broken engagement, because it forced me to get serious about pursuing Jesus with everything I had. In the grief of losing what I wanted most, He was the only One who could help, and what a gift it was to finally learn that and have a fire lit under me to get as close to Him as I possibly could. But what I learned in seeking Him with my whole heart, is that I had to deny myself daily if I was going to stay close to Him. I had to learn to say no to me.

There’s no getting around the fact that you will have to say no to yourself in some way to grow closer to the Lord. We are always either yielding to the flesh or yielding to the Spirit. Our actions either feed our fleshly lusts or feed our new man. 

The more we feed our flesh:

• the more lukewarm we become

• the more distant from God we become

• the less we experience victory over sin

• the less joy, contentment, peace and satisfaction we experience

• the more we turn into unhappy Christians

• the less we hunger for God and His Word

The more we feed our spiritual man:

• the more on fire for God we become

• the closer to God we grow

• the more we experience His power and victory in our lives

• the more satisfied, contented, joyful and peace-filled we are in Him

• the more bold we become in sharing the gospel and living right

• the more we will love and grow hungry for the things of God and God Himself

Each day you make decisions to feed one or the other - flesh or spirit. Each day is a series of decisions to grow closer to the Lord or to drift farther apart from Him.

What do you need to say “no” to in order to draw nigh to God? 

• Do you need to deny your flesh sleep so that you can rise early enough to meet with Him? 

• Do you need to deny your flesh it’s evening entertainment so you can study His Word? 

• Do you need to deny your flesh food in order to fast and seek God’s face?

• Do you need to deny your flesh it’s music so that you can listen to music which helps you worship God?

If you obey every whim of your flesh, you will not experience the abundant Christian life that comes with walking in the Spirit. If you obey every prompt of the Spirit, you will not experience the miserable Christianity that comes from walking apart from Him. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6

Your closeness to Christ also changes how you experience singleness. If you walk in the flesh, you will be controlled by your longing, defeated by lust and discontent, and have a very gloomy outlook on life. If you walk in the spirit, you will be feasting on the love of God and satisfied by it! Sins and temptations unique to the single state will no longer have a hold on you! And with your hope fixed on Jesus, you will have sunshine in your heart even as you still have longing for marriage.

May this blog post be the stick that pokes your flesh today, and gives you the determination to surrender all to Jesus and pursue closeness with Him at any cost! It is abundantly, wonderfully worth it.

P.S. If you want to get closer to Jesus but you're constantly losing the battle with your flesh, please don't wait another day to start my course! It is packed full of practical ways to apply scripture, seek Jesus with your whole heart, and finally walk in victory over sin. Get the course.