DEATH TO SELF - a message that God is ALWAYS emphasizing - are we listening? are we obeying?

This post comes from another one of my blogs Keto4Christians Link - But I felt urged to repost it here. Why? Because we are in a desperate hour in our nation and globally. An interesting convergence of events has been happening - the Asbury Revival 2023, the start of Lent, the start of the Global Jesus Fast, the release of the Jesus Revolution movie - and then in the natural, the strongest set of winter storms since 1989 according to the media have been hitting California, where the Jesus People Movement was birthed in the late 1960s/early 1970s. 

Here's my blog post - worth the read if only to get the quotes from Thomas à Kempis' The Imitation of Christ.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a non-fasting day. Today, I'm back in the saddle. And in many ways, the marathon begins on Day 5 because the first fast part of Lent (Ash Wednesday till the 1st Sunday) is a 4-day fast. From here on out, for those who are fasting Lent without food, the fasts are 6 days (Mondays-Saturdays). I got to wade into the water in the initial 4 days, but now we get serious. 6 days on, one day off until Pascha/Passover/Easter.

Many of God's people are self-reflecting, repenting, and re-committing themselves to the Lord in this season. I am particularly impressed with three Roman Catholic Christians - Mark Wahlberg, Jonathan Roumie (Jesus in The Chosen, and Lonnie Frisbee in the Jesus Revolution), and Jim Caviezel (Jesus in Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ) who are urging people to join them during Lent, by downloading the Hallow App - https://hallow.com/ during this Lent and to read/study with them Thomas à Kempis' 15th Century classic, The Imitation of Christ

When some famous actors, one of them, Mark Wahlberg, is undoubtedly a top A-List Hollywood actor are calling people to read/study and live out The Imitation of Christ, we should TAKE NOTE:

How about a few quotes to get us all convicted today and to realize that God is doing something remarkable!

"If you want to learn something that will really help you, 'Aim at being UNKNOWN and THOUGHT OF NO ACCOUNT'".

"We are all of us weak, but you should consider yourself the weakest of all".

"A really great man/woman is humble in his own eyes, and considers all distinction and honor worthless".

"It does no harm to think yourself inferior to every other person, but it does a great deal of harm if you think yourself superior to even one other person".

"Anyone who considers his own life with thoroughness and honesty has no reason to judge another harshly".

"A man who desires the true eternal glory has NO INTEREST in the glory of this world; but anyone who looks for this world's glory and in his secret heart does NOT DESPISE IT, is shown to have but little love for the heavenly glory".

"A man who cares nothing for praise or blame knows great inward peace...If you are attending to what you really are within you, you will not care what men are saying of you.  Man looks at the outside and weighs actions - God looks at the heart and probes intentions".

You can't make this stuff up! People are crying out for REVIVAL. They are talking about it (and in my circles it is ENDLESS).

But what if we began to do what Thomas à Kempis was saying is the KEY to the Christian life? What would happen if all the "self-promotion" all the talk about bigger platforms, more influence, more followers, etc. ended? And if we began to really believe that the prophecies about a "nameless, faceless generation" were real prophecies!

What if God decides to use a few devout Roman Catholic actors (at least 2 of them are Charismatic Roman Catholics) to really wake up Christian America?

Let's get serious - let's die to ourselves. Let's not just TALK about God getting all the glory. Let's make sure He gets all the glory. Maybe an army of us Protestant Evangelicals needs to download the Hallow APP and join in the deep dive into The Imitation of Christ (which by the way is the 2nd most-read Christian book after the Bible in Church History).

When I first read Thomas à Kempis back in the 1990s it revolutionized my faith. When I re-visit even one of the aforementioned quotes, it has the same effect today.

Will I forsake any and all desire for honor, for renown, for reputation? Will all that I do ONLY be for the Glory of God and the exaltation of the Name of Jesus? That is my prayer as I seek to IMITATE CHRIST.

For such a time as this.