"Finding Your Life By Losing It"

"And He (Jesus) said to them all, 'If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
For whoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it.
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" -(Lk. 9:23-25)

Jesus in this text gives what seems to be a great paradox, about how we are to deny ourself and lose our life, by "taking up our cross daily" and "following Him"; And, in return.... we "find" our life? What does this all mean?
I once saw a news reporter on TV (the "60 Minutes" show) interviewing the famous New England Patriots quarterback -Tom Brady- who is quite possibly the best in the NFL. The Patriots had just won their 3rd Superbowl in (I think) four years. And the reporter asked Brady a very simple, yet probing question: "So how does it feel for you, having won your 3rd championship in the NFL?" And his answer startled me; He paused for a moment, and then said... "You know, it's great and everything; But I would have thought that with each championship there would have been a greater high, but that isn't the case. And I've wondered to myself... 'Is this all there is to the pinnacle of success? Is this it?'"
Isn't it amazing, how that any of us can strive and work toward something; And then, even if we accomplish that thing, once the dust has all settled, we find a sort of emptiness and disillusionment , a lack of satisfaction by feeling there is still something MISSING???
Such was the case with SOLOMON from the Bible. He had reached "success" in the world's eyes, having become powerful, wise, and wealthy; There was no lack for him of material goods of any kind. Yet, it did not fulfill him, and this is what he said:... "Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do: and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and no profit under the sun." (Eccl. 2:2).
These are two examples of men who "found" their life, only to "lose" it because it did not bring true meaning and satisfaction. Some people try to overcome this feeling by simply taking on a "new challenge", thinking the attainment of that will bring them true happiness. Others can't handle the let-down, and turn to drugs and/or other vices of every sort. And we all know of certain others who, at the height of professional and worldly success, end their life through suicide (ie; Marylyn Monroe).
According to the Bible, only ONE THING can satisfy a person, giving him peace, and that is... the Presence of God:
"For He satisfies the longing soul, and fills the hungry soul with goodness." - (Psa. 107:9)
"...In Thy Presence is fulness of joy; At Thy right Hand there pleasures for evermore." -(Psa. 16:11)
"My Presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest (peace)." -(Ex. 33:14)

This "Presence of God" is likened unto "Living Waters":
"For My people have forsaken Me, THE FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATERS, and have hewn them out wells, broken wells that can hold no water." -(Jer. 2:13)
"But whosoever drinks of THE WATER THAT I SHALL GIVE him shall never thirst; but THE WATER THAT I SHALL GIVE HIM SHALL BE IN HIM A WELL OF WATER SPRINGING UP INTO EVERLASTING LIFE." -(John 4:14)

There is only one Way to dwell in the Presence of God, and that Way is JESUS. "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes unto the Father (God) but by Me." -(John 14:6)

And while Jesus is the only Way, .......

The CROSS is the only means to enter the Presence of God.
"But God forbid that I should boast, save in the CROSS of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." -(Gal. 6:14)
"For I determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him CRUCIFIED."
-(1 Cor. 2:2)

Now at this point, most people would say... "Ok, yeah, that's great; Sign me up to be saved: Jesus died for me on the Cross... I believe, it's done, and now living for God should be automatic, and I'm on my way to heaven! Halellujah I'm a Christian, and should be able to 'just say NO' to sinning; that is... if I really love God. "
But wait just a minute... there's one huge obstacle still in the way, for day-t0-day living.....
"SELF". Man, from Adam down through to the present, and even after he receives salvation, still loves his life and wants to save it. This "SELF"-life is called the "flesh", and according to the Bible (Rom. 8:8) "they that are in the flesh cannot please God." And ... "if we live after the flesh we shall die." (Rom. 8:13). The flesh operates in it's own unique way (which of course is not GOD's Way), and that way is SELF-effort of works through some sort of "law" or"laws". Only there's a big problem with that: "The strength of sin is the law." (1 Cor. 15:56), so what end's up happening, is that as we're attempting to keep these laws, "SIN" (or the SIN "nature") is actually stimulated and strengthened (much like dormant grass given water and fertilizer, and then coming "back to life"). And then we end up with ..."what I hate, that I do." (Rom. 7:15), with a "sin/repent, sin/repent, sin/repent" vicious cycle. And by the way... these sins include far more than the obvious and well-publicized incidents of IMMORALITY that we've all heard of (the tele-evangelists, etc.). They also include the ugly sins of gossip, jealousy, hatred, and mean-spiritedness (such as what we find in the example of the "elder brother" in "The Prodigal Son" parable of Luke 15:25-30).
Now some might say... "What do you mean? I'm not under any 'law', I'm under grace, and according to Rom. 6:14, sin doesn't have any dominion over me!". Yes, but...
we can put ourself back under "law", by making ANYthing a "law", even a good thing in and of itself: Such as... "I need to pray x minutes each day." or... "I need to have a disciplined daily study of the Bible." or "I must not listen to hip-hop music." etc.. Of course, the main Law which people try to keep is God's Moral Law- "The Ten Commandments", which actually is un-attainable by our own efforts, but is designed to serve as "'a school-master' to lead us to... CHRIST." (Gal. 3:24).
"For Christ is the END of the law for righteousness to everyone who BELIEVES." -(Rom. 10:4)
The focus of living in the flesh is... "What can I DO to EARN justification with God?" ,
while the focus of living in the Spirit is....
"I TRUST (BELIEVE) in what Christ has ALREADY DONE for me to be justified. So now I desire and do supernaturally (by the help of the Holy Spirit) those things which I'm supposed to do to please God."
The key question is not... "What am I not doing that I am supposed to be doing?", but rather...
"AM I 'IN CHRIST'?"

WE LOSE OUR LIFE BY BEING LOST "IN CHRIST"

To boil this down even further...

WE LOSE OUR LIFE AS WE CONTINUALLY, ON A DAILY BASIS, TRUST IN CHRIST AND WHAT HE HAS DONE ON THE CROSS ON OUR BEHALF, PERIOD.
THIS IS THE "SIMPLICITY THAT IS 'IN CHRIST'" (2 Cor. 11:4)

Life in this Way allows God's Grace to flow to us continually on an uninterrupted basis, and for the Spirit of God (His Presence) to empower us for victory over "the world", "the flesh", and the devil.
"For the law of the Spirit of Life IN CHRIST JESUS has made me free from the law of sin and death." -(Rom. 8:2)
If we try to mix law/works in with this, we FRUSTRATE the Grace of God (Gal. 2:21) and "quench" the Holy Spirit (1 Thes. 5:19)

Unfortunately, this happens all the time in most churches, and as a result, there is little or no moving whatsoever of the Holy Spirit.
Man in the flesh always try to earn righteousness (which is actually "SELF-righteousness"); This fosters pride & self-will = "The way of CAIN"
but
Man in the Spirit simply rests in what Christ has already done on the Cross on his behalf;
This fosters humility & reliance upon God = "The Way of ABEL"

"Now to him that works is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that does not work, but believes Him that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." (Rom. 4:4-5)

In closing, let us now break down our key-note scripture passage in detail:

"And He said to them all, if any man will come after Me (the criteria for Discipleship), let him deny himself (nor asceticism as many think, but rather that one denies one's own will-power, self-will, strength, and ability, depending totally on Christ), and take up his Cross (the benefits of the Cross, looking exclusively to what Jesus did there to meet our every need) daily (We must renew our Faith in what Christ has done for us, even on a daily basis, for satan's strategy & effort is always to move us away from the Cross as the object of our Faith, which always spells disaster), and follow Me (Christ can be followed only by the Believer looking to the Cross, understanding what it accomplished, and by that means alone (Rom. 6:3-5,11,14; 8:1-2,11; 1 Cor. 1:17-18,21,23; 2:2; Gal. 6:14; Eph. 2:13-18; Col. 2:14-15).
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it (try to live his life outside of Christ and the Cross), but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it (When we place our faith entirely in Christ and the Cross, looking exclusively to Him, we have just found "more abundant Life." (Jhn. 10:10)

Many today in the modern Church world (and I used to be one of them) sincerely want to please God, but because they are mixing grace and law, they frustrate the grace of God, quench the Spirit, and are not living the abundant Life which Christ has purchased for them with His Own blood. I believe this is the reason for the many moral failures of ministers and laity alike across America. The Message of faith in THE CROSS for daily living must resound from the pulpits regularly (not just once or twice a year, if at all!) in order for the true Church to once again have a viable impact of reform in society.
There is only one true Gospel (means "good news") found in the Bible, and that is ...

God's Presence (the Holy Spirit, Who gives abundant supernatural Life) "IN CHRIST" through faith in THE CROSS ALONE, and not just for initial salvation, but for daily living.

"I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me." - (Gal. 2:20)

[One life lost,... but another Life found.] Halellujah!!!!

To the Lord Jesus Christ be glory both now and for evermore!