"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."
The commitment Christ is asking from all those who follow Him is to be faithful, to trust, to serve, and to commit to live in a manner holy and acceptable unto God. Just making the right moral decisions in our Christian life isn't enough, because then we are missing the 18 inches from head to heart if we 'just' make 'good' choices. The true, on-fire for Christ Christian walk is a life that focuses on others and how to impact the world for Christ in all manners, all situations, and all places.My pastor gave this quote in church last week:
"You don't need to know God's will and how the path will lead in order to trust Him. You simply need to follow."
Now the word "simply" doesn't mean "easy". Simply in this context means leaving the fleshly fear on the doorstep where it belongs and taking the Savior's hand. Walking beside the One who died for you, who wants to protect and hold you and never let you go.
The Christian life isn't about rules, it's about relationship. Going to church on Sunday and Wednesday are wonderful times of getting challenged in the Word, fellowshipping with like-minded Christian friends and encouraging everyone to walk with Christ in the days to come. But ultimately, your relationship with God is going to grow the most from your daily time with Him. Setting aside the world's pressing agenda and, as the verse says, 'taking up the cross daily' to follow Him.
(Excerpt from L.L's books)
"When God's spirit is given His rightful place in a young person's life, He transforms their personality to reflect His beauty, His grace, His selflessness. He can overtake any personality, whether you are outgoing or more reserved. And either way, the end result is always the same: We decrease, He increases. You don't lose your own personality. Rather, your personality becomes what it was intended to be: A tool to draw eyes to Jesus Christ and not yourself."
Living in this perverse world and crumbling society can be extremely difficult on Christians, living a
life set on fire for the Lord can be difficult, you will face persecution for choosing a different path, for carrying the cross as Jesus asks. But you never saw any of the great men and women of the Bible live, what we consider "normal lives". They never stopped defying the world's standards and following Christ's standards!
We were born to live lives that stand out and away from the world! God chose you specifically, for a certain purpose in this brief time on earth...I want to be able to say that I didn't "rust out for Him" I "ran out everything for Him!"
God Bless!!
