Number one: deny yourself
Number two: pick up you cross daily
Number three: follow Jesus…why? Because Jesus is the only one who lived on this earth and fought sin till the end. He never gave into sin, even though in His humanity, He could have chosen to do so. Hebrews 12:4 puts it this way; “In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” Jesus, on the other hand, did. Imagine with every choice, every emotion, every thought even, Jesus always and only did the Father’s Will. When the enemy tried to put in selfish thoughts into the mind of Jesus, Jesus always destroyed that seed with the Truth. Three words, “It is written” were His greatest weapons. Is it ours? How can it be if we are not in God’s Word?
I always think of it as a quiver full of arrows so I can fight this good fight of righteousness…every verse I memorize, every Biblical principle I learn, every successful experience I have when I lean on God and fight the temptations that hound me…all these are arrows in my quiver that I can pull out at any time and have victory over wicked old Jezebel.
We must learn to follow Jesus and live our lives as He did. Adapting His Way to our current culture and situations. Using His Truth to conquer wrong attitudes and temptations. Living in His Life so that we can love God with all we’ve got and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. The Way, the Truth, the Life…this is Christ and only as I am, and remain connected with Him can I know what I need to do, then actually do it. And understanding I was never meant to do this alone is key. We will wrap it up tomorrow…
1- Deny yourself
2- Pick up your cross daily
3- Follow Jesus
<>< Peace, Diane
