The Daily Cross in Prayer [podcast]

Paula White Exposed [video]

THAT’s My King! Pastor Lockridge [video]

Powerful Prayers from Children-This Will Shake You [video]

The Fear of the LORD is to Hate Evil: Pride, and Arrogancy #shorts [video]

Prayer is inseparably connected with knowing God (John 17:3).

(Excerpt from the book I Die Daily)

“My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” Psalms 5:3

Let’s isolate and dismantle these words of God a bit. Under the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit, David says to the LORD:

That He (God) would hear his (David’s) “voice”
That “in the morning” the Psalmist would arise and seek God in prayer
Deliberately “in the morning,” he would “direct” his prayer and praying to the LORD – “in the morning … I will look up”

From this passage, we see that David planned or scheduled, in an intentional and calculated fashion, to meet with the LORD every morning. The phrase “in the morning” appears twice in this inspired transmission of the Holy Ghost. The man whose heart panted after the LORD – to behold His precious beauty – declared that he would “direct” (point) his prayer upward to the LORD “in the morning.” (Ps. 5:3; 27:4; Acts 13:22) Communing with the LORD was priority to David, and therefore occupied first place in his daily life. He sought the LORD firstly as he arose from sleep, and before he went forth into his day.

Jesus commanded that if any person will come after Him – truly follow Him – he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Him (Luke. 9:23-24). There is no place that the cross applies more than in daily prayer. The moment one arises, he will choose either to seek God or dwell upon self-sentiments and such. He will seek Christ, or he will seek his own salvation or rescue from his troubles. We all make a “daily” choice:

“… choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15

No different from those covenant saints the LORD spoke to in this important passage, those whom we dwell among are serving self – the flesh – and yet we are called upon by the LORD to “choose” to daily serve Him rather than self. We are called to “be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life.” (Phil. 2:15-16)

The LORD is calling us to purposefully declare Him as the LORD and Master of our lives, and this we do by making the premeditated decision to seek Him daily in prayer communion. Like Joshua, the way we “choose” to “serve” God must be premeditated, deliberate, daily, and in practicality. Daily, early morning, first fruit prayer is all three of these. It is the fruit of the crucified life – the life that is dead to self and in whom Christ dwells and reigns. – “Ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God.” (Col. 3:3)

To those who seek God and not their own devices, there are many benefits (Ps. 68:19).

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

The precious peace of the “Prince of Peace” rules and reigns and makes sound the hearts of those who deny self’s ability to overcome and solve issues and problems, and instead earnestly and diligently rely upon God’s power to do such for them (Isa. 9:6; 26:3).

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.” Isaiah 26:3-4

As we fix our whole being upon Jesus Christ, our thoughts will be upward to His “glorious high throne,” which is “the place of our sanctuary.” (Jer. 17:12)

God is calling each of His saints to give his whole being to Christ, and to those things that “are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Php. 4:8).

So, according to Philippians 4:6-8, saints are to rely upon the LORD and not self by submitting all their requests in prayer to Him who is their Source, and to think upon those things of Christ which are “true … honest … just … pure … lovely … of good report … if there be any virtue … if there be any praise.” It is upon “these things” that we are instructed to “think on.” (Phil. 4:8)

God’s thoughts are infinitely higher than ours, and yet it is not until we become truly “crucified with Christ” that we are going to be ruled by His thoughts and peace (Isa. 55:8-9; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 4:6-7).

Changing the way one thinks is being done by millions of people who are not regenerated (not born again). New age and religious teachers hold this thought transformation teaching closely. Anyone can change the way they think for self-serving reasons – to stop smoking, to visualize and earn more money, to have more self-esteem, etc. However, hell still awaits all who are not born again, and that takes facing the living God and Judge in repentance for sin and placing all faith in Jesus Christ, the only Savior (Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5). The only renewing of the mind and thoughts that brings glory to Jesus Christ, is that which begins with one casting his whole being upon the LORD afresh – presenting himself a “living sacrifice … unto God.” Let’s look at Romans 12:

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2

Those who are presenting their bodies to the LORD as “living sacrifice(s)” are infused and enabled by His grace to keep their minds or thoughts stayed (fixed) upon the LORD and not self, as they look for Jesus’ soon return (Col. 3:1-4). They trust Christ and not their own strength, reasoning, whims, philosophies, or wisdom. As they give themselves over to Christ and His infinite divine power, and become weak in self and self’s abilities, Jesus’ power raises them up to trust Him and rely upon Him alone – to rest the weight of their whole beings in Him who is able. They first declare that they are not able, and that only “God is able.” (Eph. 3:20; 2 Cor. 9:8) These are they who have and are finding out in a personal way that there really is nothing impossible with the LORD!

“And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” Mark 10:27

Abraham trusted God. He is our human example of a man who walked with God – by faith believing that God would raise up that to which he died. Concerning the promise of a son being born to him and his aged wife, the Bible records these words from the LORD to His servant Abraham:

“Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.” Genesis 18:14

If God can and will split the Red Sea for His people, and cause a 100-year-old man and his 90-year-old wife to have a child, what in your life can’t He do? (Gen. 17:17)

Here’s yet another question posed to our hearts from the LORD:

“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27

God requires that we die to self-will, self-help, and self-esteem, and lay our lives in His holy, perfect, and more-than-sufficient hands. He can then work in us and in our lives – raising up His holy standard and power to glorify Himself in and through His children. Nothing will be impossible for the LORD to perform in the lives of those who deny themselves and, like Abraham, trust God to raise up His solutions, answers, and blessings to bring Himself glory.

“(As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth (makes alive) the dead, and (God) calleth those things which be not as though they were.” Romans 4:17

God called forth Isaac out of Abraham’s loins when it was an otherwise impossibility in the natural. In your life, beloved, “Is there anything too hard for the LORD?” (Gen. 18:14)

Our connection with God is all about relationship, and the quality of that relationship is exemplified in our prayer lives – or lack thereof. If a person is pursuing the LORD, he has a prayer life. He lays down his own desires and life and seeks God’s life. This is perhaps in no other scrutiny seen more clearly than in the value he assigns to his prayer life, and the heart affections and time he is willing to invest in it.

In Psalms 63, the Psalmist captures the life of the person who truly has a heart after God.

“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches. Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.” Psalms 63:1-8

The following is an excerpt from My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers:

“’At that day ye shall ask in My name.’ John 16:26. We are too much given to thinking of the Cross as something we have to get through; we get through it only in order to get into it. The Cross stands for one thing only for us – a complete and entire and absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is nothing in which this identification is realized more than in prayer.

‘Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him.’ Then why ask? The idea of prayer is not in order to get answers from God; prayer is perfect and complete oneness with God. If we pray because we want answers, we will get huffed with God. The answers come every time, but not always in the way we expect, and our spiritual huff shows a refusal to identify ourselves with Our Lord in prayer. We are not here to prove God answers prayer; we are here to be living monuments of God’s grace.

‘I say not that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father Himself loveth you.’ Have you reached such an intimacy with God that the Lord Jesus Christ’s life of prayer is the only explanation of your life of prayer? Has Our Lord’s vicarious life become your vital life? ‘At that day’ you will be so identified with Jesus that there will be no distinction.

When prayer seems to be unanswered, beware of trying to fix the blame on someone else. That is always a snare of Satan. You will find there is a reason which is a deep instruction to you, not to anyone else.”

PRAYER: Father, please bless this life to honor You and Your will first and foremost in this life You have granted, by my being authentically crucified with Christ. Please unite my heart to fear Your holy name and to number with wisdom this short time on this earth as a gift from You. I love You, Jesus, and thank You for dying for my sins and for the resurrection power of the Holy Ghost You placed in us upon salvation, and the infilling of the Holy Spirit. You must increase but I must decrease. This moment, if never before, I declare and deliberately decide to place You first daily in my life – I am crucified with Christ. Early will I seek Thee. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Capture Points

Discuss Psalms 5:3 along with Mark 1:35 and the importance of daily and first fruits prayer in the life of every disciple of Jesus.
Transcribe onto an index card and discuss Romans 12:1-2 (KJB recommended).
Write out on an index card Mark 10:27: “And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” (KJB)

Prayer | Support | STORE |

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A Word of Encouragement on Ministering to Others

“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.” 1 Peter 1:23

It’s God’s Word, the “incorruptible seed” of the truth of God that shatters that which stands between Him and sinners. Listen closely and grasp these divinely inspired Word through the prophet Jeremiah:

“Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?” Jeremiah 23:29

The rock of unbelief is broken by the words of God entering the hearts of men. The light of divine truth pierces the darkness:

“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” Psalms 119:130

When the very words of God enter the human heart, by its nature – light – darkness is exposed for what it is.

“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” Psalms 19:7

YOUR PRAYER: Father, please make me a consummate soul winner, in Jesus’ name, amen.

Many times, due to a lack of the cross in our lives, are we not rather in the flesh instead of the Spirit and therefore do we not attempt to force or coerce the truth of God on others?

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6

EVER BEEN THERE? There are times when we are to “earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints” and other times when the enemy is trying to get us to take the bait, to bite on something minor and not be quiet, listen, and meekly minister the Word and love of God (Jude 3-4; Ephesians 4:15; 2 Timothy 2:24-26). May God bless each of His children to be led by His Holy Spirit in each instant and glorify Him, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Preaching AT someone and ministering TO someone are mutually exclusive. Are we preaching in our own self-righteous wrath and don’t yet realize it? The words of James are stinging and should be memorized:

“For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” James 1:20

May God fill us with His love and bless each of us to edify (build up) the members of His body.

Both rebuking and ministering are certainly Scriptural and yet, personally, I can look back in regret and see that when God wanting me MINISTERING TO someone, I was instead preaching AT the intended target/person. They are not a target but an eternal soul heading to Heaven or hell. And at times, God will mercifully lead His people to send forth a strong rebuke in order to turn the sinner to Himself.

There are many instances in Scripture where unrepentant rebels are dealt a hard blow with strong preaching, strong rebuke – the call to repent (Matthew 23; Acts 13:10; Revelation 3:19, etc.).

I wonder if it would help up today if we paused to consider the process that transpired in our own lives. Though salvation is instantaneously imparted upon repentance, it most likely took a few people sowing the seed of God’s Word in our hearts before we repented and received Christ, right? Is that what happened in your life? It sure is in mine. I didn’t stop and get saved the first time some bless-ed disciple ministered to me. Did you?

When we put a seed in the ground to get a crop, it has to first be planted and then it begins to germinate, right? Then comes the crop and the fruit. This is a process and Paul speaks of it when he writes:

“I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. 8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. 9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

Here below is a passage the LORD quickens my heart to pour prayerfully over on a regular basis:

“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” 2 Timothy 2:24-26

PEOPLE go public about a lot of things. It’s time for God’s people to GO PUBLIC about JESUS!

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

Like everything in Christ’s kingdom, nothing works outside of the cross – the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ happening in our lives daily.

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Recovering Biblical Womanhood [podcast]

by Lindsey Griffin

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 ‘𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗱’ 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝘂𝗽𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗲𝗱?

The more I think about this, the more I wonder whether we have been taught to look at male responsibility through the eyes of a child watching someone else get something she didn’t get.

“He gets to be in charge? That’s not fair! I want a turn.😠”

But what if what we have been calling a privilege was actually a responsibility?

The more I study the responsibilities Scripture places primarily upon men, the less I find myself coveting them. Headship sounds wonderful if all you see is the seat at the head of the table. It looks very different when you realize that the man sitting there is supposed to answer for what happens at that table.

Biblical authority isn’t simply getting your way. It comes with responsibility, sacrifice, service, provision, protection, difficult decisions, and ultimately accountability before God. Scripture repeatedly connects greater authority with greater accountability. “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” (Luke 12:48). James even warns that not many should become teachers because teachers “shall receive the greater condemnation” (James 3:1).

“My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.” James 3:1

And that has made me rethink the entire way women have been encouraged to view male leadership.

Maybe instead of asking, “Why does he get to have that authority?” we should have been asking, “What does God require from the person to whom He gives that authority?”

Because I don’t think we can demand all of the authority traditionally associated with men while simultaneously asking society to make allowances for us whenever the realities of being women become inconvenient. We cannot insist, “Don’t treat me differently because I’m a woman. I can do anything a man can do,” and then turn around and argue, when accountability becomes painful, that our hormones, emotions, reproductive stage, or sex should substantially change what is expected of us.

If we want identical authority, then logically we are also asking for identical accountability.

The Bible never says that men are more valuable and women are less valuable. God gave men and women DIFFERENT RESPONSIBILITIES, with DIFFERENT BURDENS attached to them, and neither sex needs to covet what God entrusted primarily to the other.

I’m increasingly grateful that I don’t have to occupy every position a man occupies simply to prove that I am his equal in value.

I have a seat at the table. I don’t need to usurp his seat in order for mine to matter.”

“I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.” 1 Timothy 5:14

Abiding

Either Crucify the Flesh or it will Crucify Christ out of Your Life [podcast]

Fight the temptation or die the death?

Where’s the victory come from?

The Cross – something counterfeits intentionally evade (Philippians 3:18-19). The cross is how we know who is real and who is fake. Refusing to take up the cross means one has denied Christ. This would account for the vast majority of men in ministry today. They are cross-less.

The only people who are truly following Christ are those who are doing it HIS way – and His stated way is the cross, the crucified life (Luke 9:23-24). There is no other way to follow Jesus.

If we don’t crucify the flesh, the evil deeds of the body, the flesh will crucify Christ out of our lives. Pray and read Romans 6 each morning this week.

Jesus conquered sin, death, and Satan by dying and not by first rising up (Hebrews 2:14). This is how we also are brought forth into His victory by Him – through our own weakness. Let’s give our ear to hear Christ’s apostle Paul:

“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10

It’s interesting that the vast majority of pastors today insist that it’s impossible to stop sinning and be delivered – as if Jesus failed, didn’t provide a perfect redemption that dealt with past, present, and future sin and complete victory through it all (1 Corinthians 15:57-58; Titus 2:11-14).

“If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. … 36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:31-32, 36

Victory and our place with Christ are contingent upon our continuing in His truth, abiding, remaining in Christ after He saves us (John 15:1-6).

They have no faith in the overcoming grace of Christ but instead treat it like a license to justify their sin, as they pretend to be trusting God by grace and faith… yet they never make the connection that Jesus came to redeem us and establish us with Him in His holiness as we look with joy for His soon return (Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 12:14; 1 Peter 1:15-16, etc). | Walking in the Full Victory of Christ!

The cross is surrendering. Don’t try harder, just die deeper!

The reason so many don’t take sin seriously and sit under sin-justifying wolves in sheep’s clothing, is because they do not fear nor take God seriously. Then they attack the true messengers of Christ who are declaring that God is holy and His requirement is non-negotiable: that anyone who will know and be with Him eternally cut off occasion for all sin as Jesus commanded in Mark 9:43-49 KJB. They talk about grace but only in the respect that their sins were initially forgiven, yet never in respect to divine grace being the divine influence and enablement in their daily lives to overcome all that displeases Him – as they worshipfully with great gratitude deny self, take up the cross and follow, abide in Jesus (Titus 2:11-14; Luke 9:23-24; John 15:1-6, etc.).

Death, Burial, Resurrection – You go down and God raises you up, daily. That’s the Gospel re-enacted in your daily life. There’s no other way to walk with, to follow Jesus (Luke 9:23-24).

“Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11 For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” 2 Corinthians 4:10-12

Once He shows you this cross revelation it’s over for your sin and Satan! This is the way we “Taste and see that the LORD is good” beloved (Psalms 34:8). The divine economy is a cross economy which cannot be short circuited. There are no shortcuts.

The safest place in His Universe is for us to be “HID with Christ in God.” How does such occur? (Colossians 3:1-4)

“For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3

The more His Word runs rich in your spirit, soul, and mind, the richer, the more cutting and divinely blessed your praying is going to become.

We are crucified with Christ today saints. Christ alone is reigning supreme in us, raising us up out of that death and burial posture. In Jesus’ Name, the “old man” is dead and buried and Christ now lives and reigns in His resurrection power in our lives through us! (See Ephesians 4:22-24.)

Say, pray, memorize Galatians 2:20 beginning right now. Let it be the original Gospel anthem of your life from this day forward.

“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.” Galatians 2:20

Becoming prayerfully and steadily saturated in the cross message, concept, and application, is the only thing that brought a consistent victory over sin to this disciple.

In the divine economy, the death and burial guarantees the resurrection!

When we His people are dead and buried, His resurrection power is guaranteed. Nothing could stop the resurrection of Jesus Christ when the stone was rolled away! And nothing can stop the resurrection power of Christ working in His saints as they lay down their lives in this fleeting world!

“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” John 11:25

Must Take a Ruthless Stand

Concerning the necessity of a ruthless perspective toward the flesh via the cross, we must recognize that the flesh is a terrorist which means it cannot be negotiated with.

Yet there must be forged in us a ruthless perspective, toward our perception of the “never-going-to-die” flesh, a veritable terrorist with which you cannot negotiate or give place to. It will not die until forced, therefore the disciple must take a ruthless posture toward it – showing no mercy to the enemy of God! See Romans 6, 8; Galatians 5.

Never ever underestimate the depth of the deceit that is in the fallen human heart, human nature 1 (Corinthians 10:12; Hebrews 3:12-14; Genesis 6:5, 12; Jeremiah 17:9).

We must allow no mercy for what God calls sin…the iniquities, the relentless evil within. It must be honestly dealt with, and perhaps we can observe that there are onion-type layers of evil, of deceit that we are buried in from which only God calls us and brings us forth (Proverbs 8:13; Psalms 97:10; Mark 9:43-49).

While Satan and his masquerading ministers seek to diminish the violation and penalty of sin, Jesus exponentially heightens our awareness of sin’s offense against a holy God when He warns us to cut off the hand and pluck out the eye that cause us to offend Him (Mark 9:43-49).

There is nothing in existence more important to stay safe from than HELL. That’s exactly what Jesus Christ taught. Read Mark 9:43-50 in the King James Bible (new versions have butchered that passage).

Rom 7. The cross must be applied with no respect to the evil desires, the sinful dictates of the flesh.

Our outlook toward the flesh should be “kill or be killed.”

“For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.” Romans 8:13

Kill or be killed – picture yourself being put in a room, locked in with just one opponent. Only one of you will be exiting.

A showdown – conquer or be conquered.

Life or death.

Sink or swim.

“But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” 1 Corinthians 9:27

Either the cross will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from the cross.

“The Cross = The Signature of Jesus.” A disciple

“WHEN THOU WAS LITTLE IN THINE OWN SIGHT”

The LORD removed Saul from his place of kingship due to the pride found in his heart that previously was not there. We must remain humble before our God and the only way this can happen is the daily cross.

“And Samuel said, WHEN THOU WAS LITTLE IN THINE OWN SIGHT, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?” 1 Samuel 15:17

The Bible clearly teaches us that if we do not obey the LORD, He will replace us. We are not irreplaceable and only pride in the heart of a person would convince him of such a lie.

When Esther was called upon by the LORD to go before her husband, the king of Persia, and intercede for the people of God, she was warned that if she chose not to obey God, she’d be replaced and her father’s house destroyed.

“For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

Ruthless simply and only applies to the PERSPECTIVE the believer must take toward the terrorist, the flesh.

There can be no concession, no compromise, no negotiating with the flesh. It must die and that only happens as we submit to the LORD.

The flesh will never be reformed, it is inherently evil, and must be crucified.

Those who’ve been saved and aren’t learning the daily cross, the crucified life, will never grow in Christ. The cross life is at the center of the kingdom economy of Christ. There are no shortcuts. Jesus taught that in order to follow Him, we must “deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23-24). Any person whom Jesus has saved and isn’t learning the daily cross, is not truly following Jesus. Listen to the Lamb:

“And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.” Luke 9:23-24

PRAYER: Holy Father, in Jesus’ Name, please do Your deeper work in me. Bless this life You died for to be truly crucified with Christ. Please make me Your authentic disciple. Cut away, circumcise every falsity, fakery, deceitful thing from my heart – everything that defiles me in Your holy eyes. Use me LORD, please. I love You. In the name of Jesus, amen.

Cross Cache, Cross Saturation

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