Luke 9:23 ( 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)
Christians are parading themselves with their names tagged with Christ’s in the world, but, unfortunately, most of them are still operating outside the kingdom, for they’re not committed to that cause for which they were redeemed.
They didn’t possess the violence to take the kingdom by force; they preferred a mediocre state to press forward to where God desired for them.
There are Christians by birth, and there are also Christians by name or by association; real Christians are those who became Christian by new birth.
They were born again by the works of regeneration through new birth; old nature is a shelf, which gives way for new nature to manifest.
Whoever has yet to experience the power of regeneration is supposed not to call him or herself a Christian because, in the end, they will still be counted with goats living with the sheep.
Every Christian had the marks of identification; if the world doesn’t know, God knows who belongs to Him, and this is what will usher them into the divine presence.
Real Christians are the ones by new birth; calling you Christian doesn’t make you one; the Bible says, it’s not all who called me Lord, Lord, shall inherit the kingdom of heaven, but only who do the Will of my Father “.
Some spiritual experiences after salvation can only be understood by a regenerated soul; it’s only the believer in Christ who will believe that the word of God is true.
There must be changes that’ll take place within and without that make those who surround you testify that truly you’re a Christian. If this doesn’t manifest your salvation is incomplete.
These are the criteria that confirm your new birth, self-denial, carrying your cross daily and following Christ’s steps to His presence.
If these three characteristics are not found in you, your Christianity is questionable.
Jesus analyse what must be found in a born-again Christian; it’s these attributes that qualify you to become one of Christ’s disciples and make you different from others.
Even the power of darkness won’t deny it because it’s incompressible to them.
Denying self means you must bury your will inside the Will of God; the self is an obstacle to spiritual advancement; it must be taken out of the way for you to move forward to where God is taken you.
Flesh is the nature of the serpent inherited in the fall, which must be disposed to be able to have a divine nature; no one can see the face of God with it; it’s an abomination before God.
Whoever pleases the flesh becomes God’s enemy; that is why a believer must take it out of the way if he truly desires the manifestation of His presence.
If you’re yet to overcome the flesh, it becomes a hindrance to moving forward; that flesh you failed to subdue will become a hindrance to the place of Calvary.
For you to deny self, you must go to Calvary and crucify it there; that is where its power was subdued, and the head of the ancient serpent was bruised by the Lord’s crucifixion.
Calvary is the place to receive more grace to obey God’s word with the help of His spirit.
Carry your cross is to be identified with the dead, dead to the things of the world and its allurements.
The Mark of the Cross signifies death; anywhere it’s found indicates that the person is no longer alive, so we die daily to live inside God.
Nothing will harm a child of God for His life is hidden in God.
To bear the cross daily is to die daily to the power that takes men captives, die to sensual desire, die to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life, and die to the fashions of the world and it’s allurements, died to pride and arrogance where anger had no place in your spirit man.
Death to the flesh means humility and total surrender to the spirit of God in every direction.
We died in Christ to truly live and fulfil the purposes for which we are created.
If your flesh refuses to die, your spirit man can not live; the death of the flesh is what quickens the spirit.
That is why Christ told us to carry our cross and crucify ourselves daily to prevent the spirit man from the rudiment of the world and every demonic attachment.
It’s the flesh that attracts all these and changes the cause of life to make it miserable; if it’s taken out of the way, there are no more obstacles on the way to progress.
Jesus Christ carried His Cross and crucified the flesh; in His resurrection, he came with a glorious body; this is the potion of every believer who desires the presence of God; our flesh is the obstacle to greatness until it’s removed from the way it’ll be difficult to reach our destiny fulfilment.
The cross Christ told us to carry is more spiritual than physical; it’s not to be displayed on your body; some put it on the necks and still enter prostitute den, and some put it on and stay with infidels of society in hotels and bars.
Carrying the cross indicates that you’re no longer part of this world of decadence and you have been transformed into the heavenly realm where you’re living the life of heaven on earth.
The third one is said categorically by the LORD, ” follow me”.
After denying self and bearing the Cross, the next step is following Christ.
Christ came to the world to show us the way to the presence of God; He is the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except by Him.
If we digress a bit from the way, we will surely miss the road. His word is the way that shows the road to the Father.
This is where the devil fights against believers most. He may not interfere in some areas, but the way of following Christ is what annoys him and his agents.
When you start following Christ, everything will fall into the right places in your walk with God; he is the example to follow; anything He is against is what God hates, and we must also reject it for the benefit of our souls.
Following Christ in humility and following him in obedience to the Will of His Father, He came to do the Will of God to show humanity the way of obedience.
Gospel doesn’t permit us to follow the preacher but the one he preached; God does not have grandchildren; we are all children of God.
Prayer: Father lord take me to Calvary and have my flesh buried there so that I may live in you, in Jesus name amen.
