If any man will come after me.

"Then said Jesus unto his disciples,  If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24 KJV). In this passage of scripture, Jesus makes it very clear that if any man come after Him they must deny themselves. Self-denial is possibly the hardest thing we have to face in our walk with Christ, because we have our will, wants, and desires. It is especially harder because this world is full of those wants and desires. This world surrounds us with desires that self has a hard time trying to ignore. However, when we make up our minds and finally decide that the only way we can get any closer to Jesus Christ is to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him, then the wants and desires of this world will become the least of our priorities. It isn't that Jesus doesn't want us to be prosperous here on this earth, but that we put Him first above everything else that surrounds us. He wants us to enjoy life and the fullness of it, but He must lead us and be our first priority and first business of the day. There's nothing wrong with having nice things, a good job, or a beautiful place to live, but if Jesus Christ is not the overseer and first in our lives, then it's all in vain. He wants first place in our hearts and nothing less. God bless you all.