Dying to Self DAILY | Discipleship Series | Deny Yourself, Take Up Your Cross & Follow Jesus

[SPEAKER_00]: Do you follow Jesus Christ every day of your life?

[SPEAKER_00]: Today we're going to be talking about how to follow Jesus and pick up your cross daily to follow Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to read a Bible verse here.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's found in Luke's Gospel chapter 9, verse 23, and he said, and he said unto them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a daily walk with Jesus Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: But when we do that, I'm going to tell you what, as a Bible said there is now, therefore, no condemnation, whatsoever, so you're no longer condemned.

[SPEAKER_01]: Once you've got saved, once you have accepted Jesus Christ, repented of your sins, you've been baptized.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so there is no condemnation whatsoever.

[SPEAKER_00]: Welcome back to the discipleship series with me and Pastor Elwood.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're so excited today to talk to you about how to pick up your cross daily.

[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to come to you with a lot of ways that Pastor Elwood and I walk daily with Jesus, some things that we do and to keep us on track and just strengthen our relationship in Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know a lot of people have gotten into a very comfort zone of a tradition of a Sunday type of faith, and it takes more than one day a week for you to walk with Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: It takes every day.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Bible says, daily, that means every single day that you wake up, you have to make the decision to follow Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you get that decision every morning that God breeds the breath of life in you and you wake up, then you have the decision to follow Jesus or to follow the world or to follow Satan or to follow yourself.

[SPEAKER_00]: you have these choices that you make every single day.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so Pastor Elwood and now we're going to go over some scriptures today and just try to encourage you and show you the path that we are on and how we follow Jesus every day of our lives.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, we've got to understand as Christian people we have a coronal nature.

[SPEAKER_01]: That colonel nature never leaves us.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's continually there and so therefore there's a struggle going on and it's a battle between the Spirit of God and and I guess what you might say the Spirit of darkness out there but there's a struggle within our life and we have to make up our mind.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when you get up of a morning, set your feet up on the floor and just think to Lord for another day of life that he has blessed you, think to Lord that you're able to get up and walk across the floor, and you're able to see here a taste, a feel, whatever may be the case.

[SPEAKER_01]: In order to think to Lord every day,

[SPEAKER_01]: because the struggle is going to come down to the day.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'll guarantee you, it will come.

[SPEAKER_01]: And because we have those two nature's fighting between us.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so therefore you've got to make up your mind.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when you make up your mind, you'll be better all.

[SPEAKER_01]: You've got your mind set on walking with Christ, doing whatever you can for him.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when you get your mind set, it doesn't give no place to waver.

[SPEAKER_01]: But if you don't have your mindset, there's a place to waver in there, and this is what's Satan is looking for.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's looking to pull you one way or the other, and I told this story so many times before.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's like the Alaskan, or the Eskimo that had the two dogs when I'm black and when I'm white, and he'd take them down and he'd fight them, and the one that he would bet on would be the one that would win.

[SPEAKER_01]: And somebody asked him, said, how do you know it's going to win?

[SPEAKER_01]: He said, the one that I know it's going to win is the one that I fed and I starved the other one.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so it's the same way with us.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you starved your spiritual man, the black dog will win, so to speak.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_01]: But when you feed that spiritual man every day, get up and walk in there if it's just five minutes to open your Bible to a scripture someplace, just to be in the presence.

[SPEAKER_01]: of God, and knowing that this is a word of God, or to, I guess what you might say, lift your spirits.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_01]: That as you get this day going, your continual thoughts is on Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: Hey, man.

[SPEAKER_00]: Well, how do you start your day?

[SPEAKER_00]: That was a very good opening to that question.

[SPEAKER_00]: How do you start your day?

[SPEAKER_00]: Every single day, when I wake up personally, I ask God, very first thing that I ask and when I open my eyes, is how can I serve you today?

[SPEAKER_00]: what can I do today for you, Jesus?

[SPEAKER_00]: How can I advance your kingdom?

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's the, that's how I start my day.

[SPEAKER_00]: No matter what, that is my first thought whenever I open my eyes in the morning, is how can I serve you today, Jesus?

[SPEAKER_00]: Because that's, I'm a disciple and I want to be used by Jesus in every single day, in every hour and every minute of my life, I want to be used.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so that's my first question to God, is how can you use me today?

[SPEAKER_00]: How can I serve you today?

[SPEAKER_00]: What can I do to

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think that's so important because, you know, God directs and guides my day and it starts with that question as soon as I open my eyes and have that question and I ask the Lord that that is me saying I am a willing servant and I want to serve you today no matter what that looks like no matter what this day brings about I want to serve you today, you know, place somebody in my way show somebody a divine interaction and encounter and let me minister and let me just serve you today.

[SPEAKER_00]: And that's exactly what he does, you know, my messages and the porch talks and the things that I do, it's directed and I believe it's from the very first thing when I wake up in the morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: As soon as I ask God, how can I serve him today, then he gives me messages, he gives me guidance, and he shows me what to do.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now, I know this might be a hard truth, but some of y'all are more faithful to coffee than you are Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: He wake up in the morning and coffee's the first thing on you mind and you make sure that you have that coffee every day of your life.

[SPEAKER_00]: You make sure that mug is full and you make sure that you have your drink.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's an unfortunate thing because I'm not saying coffee's bad for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's fine if you drink coffee.

[SPEAKER_00]: But it's unfortunate that that would be more of an obedience act that you have rather than waking up and reading your Bible, rather than waking up and praying, rather than waking up and having your priority to

[SPEAKER_00]: So first, be like Jesus, I need you more than coffee.

[SPEAKER_00]: I need you more than anything in this world.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so having that sort of, you know, healthy relationship is so important that should be the first thing on your mind when you wake up in the morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: It should be just like a lot of people's coffee is where that's a lot of people see coffee as what they function.

[SPEAKER_00]: And they wake up and I mean, this is a bunch of the world.

[SPEAKER_00]: And they wake up and if they don't have this coffee, this drink, then it's like, why can't wake up?

[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't know how to function today.

[SPEAKER_00]: But that should be Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus should be your top priority to where you wake up and you can't function without him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because that's how you walk with Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: You walk with him and he guides you.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Holy Spirit within you guides and leads you to all truths.

[SPEAKER_00]: You shouldn't be able to wake up and have your day go about.

[SPEAKER_00]: without Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's not an option when you are in a relationship with Him and when you call yourself a disciple of Christ then you should wake up and make him a priority and need Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know Paul said, I die daily.

[SPEAKER_01]: He said, I die daily and the attitude that we're going to have when we wake up.

[SPEAKER_01]: going to depend on how we walk for Christ's day.

[SPEAKER_01]: We can walk it in anger, bitterness, envy, strike, whatever may be the case.

[SPEAKER_01]: But when we wake up a bit more than that, and I wake up, I set up on the side of the bed because I got to get these old bones moving.

[SPEAKER_01]: Uncle Arthur's trying to creep in from time to time place to place, but anyway, but when we wake up today,

[SPEAKER_01]: We ought to have that scripture up on our heart and up on our mind.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is a day that the Lord has made.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to rejoice, rejoice, and be glad in it.

[SPEAKER_01]: I've heard people curse the day that they walk in the work, custer job, things like this.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I'm going to tell you what, when you wake up and say, this is day that the Lord has made, I'm going to rejoice.

[SPEAKER_01]: You need to rejoice in heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: to walk with Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'll tell you what, these people that you meet after, they don't want to see somebody look like a kale-leat no-cud.

[SPEAKER_01]: They want to see somebody with joy and peace in a heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: They want to see somebody that's happy because happiness is contagious.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's right.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, joy is contagious.

[SPEAKER_01]: with people.

[SPEAKER_01]: So when you got the joy of the Lord and the day that you have woke up and you're going to rejoice all this day, whether you burnt your husband, biscuits or whatever it might be the case, you're still going to rejoice because you still got another one now.

[SPEAKER_01]: You can train on the first one and get it right on the second one, but anyway, we need to rejoice in the Lord.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when you rejoice in the Lord,

[SPEAKER_01]: And your walk will be so much more spiritual, your walk will be so much more into reach out to somebody else that you come in contact with its grocery stores, someplace getting gas or whatever may be the case, even your neighbor.

[SPEAKER_01]: or you even rejoice but you mother-in-law and all that good stuff but I'm telling you what when we wake up of a morning and tell ourselves this is a day that the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in and I know some people out there is they got physical issues they got problems they may have cancer or whatever may be the case

[SPEAKER_01]: But you can still rejoice because God has given you this day of life, this moment, this second because we never know when it's going to be our last, but let us rejoice in the Lord.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I'm not coming after you are trying to condemn you when I say this, but a lot of Christians have not read their Bible's.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when I say I'm not trying to condemn you, it's because I was once that way as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I spent a lot of my life not reading the Bible.

[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know that it was a daily practice.

[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know that it was something that would carry me through the day, and I didn't understand how to apply it to my own life.

[SPEAKER_00]: No one really ever taught me that.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I grew up Southern Baptist, and I went to church every Sunday, and sometimes on Wednesdays, and I thought that was enough.

[SPEAKER_00]: But then I found myself in predicaments in life where I was just indistress.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, just not living a life of happiness.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was so sick.

[SPEAKER_00]: I had bunches of diseases in my body.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was depressed.

[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, I had all these things going on, but yet I was like, but I'm a Christian.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, yeah.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I didn't know how to help myself.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was literally helpless.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it was because I didn't know my word.

[SPEAKER_00]: I didn't know how to stand in the Word of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: The Word of God is the truth.

[SPEAKER_00]: And the truth always covers the lies.

[SPEAKER_00]: And how are you going to be able to fight spiritual warfare if you don't know the truth?

[SPEAKER_00]: If you don't know the Word of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I really encourage you today to make it a daily practice.

[SPEAKER_00]: When Jesus says to pick up your cross and follow Him daily, how do you follow Him if you don't know His walk?

[SPEAKER_00]: How do you follow Him if you know nothing about Him?

[SPEAKER_00]: How do you follow him if you haven't read his commands?

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the Bible says that if you love me, you will keep my commands.

[SPEAKER_00]: That's what God said.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you love God, you're going to keep his commands.

[SPEAKER_00]: But how do you know his commands if you hadn't read the Bible?

[SPEAKER_01]: Right.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's so important for you to get in your word.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, this is also something that the enemy will try to keep you from.

[SPEAKER_00]: Every day you have a choice, whether you read your word or you don't.

[SPEAKER_00]: And every day, the enemy may whisper things to you and say things like, you don't need to read today or you can't understand this or, you know, whatever it may be the case, there's a lot of excuses that will come into your mind to keep you and prevent you from reading the Bible.

[SPEAKER_00]: But there are a lot of ways, listen, we live in technology world right now, you can listen on the audio books, you can read a kids Bible, a youth Bible,

[SPEAKER_00]: in.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so there's really no excuses for you not to know the Word of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you call yourself a Christian, you've got to know what Jesus said to be able to follow him.

[SPEAKER_00]: Otherwise, it's impossible.

[SPEAKER_00]: You can't follow Jesus if you don't know anything about him and you don't know the Word of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I know this harsh.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know that a lot of people don't tell you that.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of pastors and churches that don't ever tell you to read your own Bible.

[SPEAKER_00]: But this is a personal

[SPEAKER_00]: with Jesus Christ, and a personal relationship is between you and that person, and you are to get to know Christ, and if you love Him, then of course you're going to want to know more about Him.

[SPEAKER_00]: You're going to want to know everything that He has done.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so when you read your word, that's what it teaches you.

[SPEAKER_00]: It teaches you how to please Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: It teaches you how to follow Him daily.

[SPEAKER_00]: It teaches you how to pick up your cross.

[SPEAKER_00]: It teaches you how to fight spiritual warfare.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's all there, but it's your choice.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's your choice whether you read daily or you don't.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's Caleb already said, when she gets in her word, and you get in your word, then, therefore, you have the ammunition that you need to fight.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's exactly what Jesus did.

[SPEAKER_01]: He used the word owning.

[SPEAKER_01]: As you follow Christ and walk with Christ, have you read your Bible enough, to know the Scriptures, that when He does come,

[SPEAKER_01]: that you can rebuke him in the Master's Name of Jesus Christ, and you can fight that battle.

[SPEAKER_01]: And God will give you the strength.

[SPEAKER_01]: He will give you the strength.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, over the Paul, we look at him and when the trials of life came on him, and I'm telling you what, as we look at Paul's life and what he went through, and many of us was still be standing.

[SPEAKER_01]: How many of us, but Paul,

[SPEAKER_01]: was sold out, was sold out to God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I wrote some of these down.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, I can't remember them all.

[SPEAKER_01]: Five times he was whipped with 39 stripes, three times he was beaten with rods.

[SPEAKER_01]: One time he was stoned and drunk outside of the city and lived for dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: Three times he was shipwrecked, and a night, a deep.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was in the pearls of the water, pearls of robbers, pearls of his own country, man.

[SPEAKER_01]: and then he's in the pearls of heathers in the pearl of the city and pearls of the wilderness and see, and even in the pearls of false brethren.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_01]: False brethren.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was weariness and pamphleness.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was hunger and thirst cold and neck in it, and the cares of all the church.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he said, who is weak?

[SPEAKER_01]: I am not weak.

[SPEAKER_01]: He said, if I'm going to glory, I'm going to glory and the infirmities will call the Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, that's right.

[SPEAKER_01]: He was so down, he was walking the walk, and he was talking to talk.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so many people today, we see him talking at talk, but we don't see him walking the walk, and I'm telling you, as I've said, I had a long young man telling me one time, he said, I want to be just like Job.

[SPEAKER_01]: I just want to walk as close to God as I possibly can.

[SPEAKER_01]: Two weeks later, he's gone from church.

[SPEAKER_01]: I don't know where he went to, but a lot of people were talking the talk.

[SPEAKER_01]: But are they walking the wall?

[SPEAKER_01]: If we're going to follow Christ, if we're going to walk as Christ wants us to walk, we've got to get this word written up on the tablets of our heart, or we can remember and then when Satan does come, when you got that word written up on your heart, and it's deep down in your soul, you'll be able to turn your other cheek as the Bible said, even though it's hard sometimes, and walk out there in the victory of Jesus Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: So you just walk with the Lord, with all your heart, with all your mind and serving, and with all your strength.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'll tell you what He will bless you, because my Bible tells me in Romans 6 and 4.

[SPEAKER_01]: He said, therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism and to death.

[SPEAKER_01]: That like is Christ, with risen up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also shall walk in the newness

[SPEAKER_00]: Oh, life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yeah.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm telling you folks.

[SPEAKER_01]: If I don't, I'm telling you what.

[SPEAKER_01]: We just want us to get ready and buckle up, buttercup, and let's walk the wall.

[SPEAKER_01]: That God has called us to walk.

[SPEAKER_01]: And let us have the joy and victory in doing it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, people will say things about Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: People will laugh at you and talk about you.

[SPEAKER_01]: So what?

[SPEAKER_01]: If they don't do it to you, they'll do it to somebody else.

[SPEAKER_01]: But let's just do what Christ wants us to be.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_00]: How is your obedience to Christ?

[SPEAKER_00]: How obedient are you to Jesus?

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, as a disciple of Jesus Christ, you gotta obey Him.

[SPEAKER_00]: And there's a lot of times in this life that people want to do the big things for God.

[SPEAKER_00]: They want to have a big mighty move.

[SPEAKER_00]: They want to go and, you know, be the forefront of some big movement.

[SPEAKER_00]: They want, you know, the big things.

[SPEAKER_00]: But that comes with the small act of obedience.

[SPEAKER_00]: Very good.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the very first time that God ever told me anything audibly, he told me to move.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when he did, there was a lady, and she was crossing the street, and I was actually at Hobby Lobby, which I don't even go shopping anymore.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's been years since I've even enjoyed things like that.

[SPEAKER_00]: But anyways, I was at Hobby Lobby, and I was crossing the parking lot, and there was a lady there.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when I heard move, it was a loud, audible, just shook my core, move.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I looked and I thought maybe a car was about to hit me and I'm like, what?

[SPEAKER_00]: And it just, it took me a moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: I was shook for a moment.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm like, move.

[SPEAKER_00]: And then I saw this lady and she was like, hobbling a little bit to her car.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I was like, oh, I need to go pray over her.

[SPEAKER_00]: And at first, my flesh kind of thought it.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I was like, well, that's kind of weird.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I'm not just going to walk up to her and just be like, I cannot pray for you.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, this is something that I had never practiced.

[SPEAKER_00]: I had never done this before.

[SPEAKER_00]: So it seemed odd.

[SPEAKER_00]: It seemed unfamiliar.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I was kind of scared.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I had the moment where I questioned it, I'm like, did I really hear God?

[SPEAKER_00]: Or was that, you know, what was that?

[SPEAKER_00]: So immediately my flesh was attacking what I just heard.

[SPEAKER_00]: But then I'm like, you know what, I'm going to do it.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so I went over to this lady.

[SPEAKER_00]: She had just had back surgery.

[SPEAKER_00]: I placed my hand on her back and started praying in faith.

[SPEAKER_00]: And she's just bawling like,

[SPEAKER_00]: She was about to get her car like it was just it was such a divine encounter and I just knew I'm like the Lord sent me to have this divine interaction here and to have enough faith to pray over this woman how dare I almost not do it and so from that moment on and this was years and years ago but from that moment on I learned that the small active obedience the times that he tells you that even small things if you don't listen to those how can you trust you with the big things

[SPEAKER_00]: And so it's so important in your life to realize are you being obedient to God in the small things?

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, mine would be simple stuff like I would wake up in the morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I would look at my clothes, my choice of clothing.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, back in the day before I was sanctified before, you know, I would maybe wear some things that were a little too revealing.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I would look at myself in the mirror and I would immediately be like, would I be ashamed if I met Jesus today in what I'm wearing?

[SPEAKER_00]: And I know that it's a touchy subject because a lot of people think, oh, and the Bible talks about how it's not your outward appearance that God looks at is your heart.

[SPEAKER_00]: But when you're obedient to Christ, everything in your life measures up to that obedience and you're love for Him.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so it does become a thing of, hey, am I honoring Him with what I'm wearing?

[SPEAKER_00]: Am I honoring Him with what I'm doing today?

[SPEAKER_00]: With what I have planned today, is this honoring Him?

[SPEAKER_00]: If I go into a bar, that doesn't honor Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: If I start drinking, that doesn't honor Jesus, be sober-minded.

[SPEAKER_00]: And there's so many moments in your everyday life that you have these choices.

[SPEAKER_00]: You have your choices of what you do and does this glorify God.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so that was a question I started really asking myself on this path of obedience is when I would wake up and whatever I was doing throughout my day, I would say, does this glorify God?

[SPEAKER_00]: If this doesn't honor him, if this doesn't glorify him, then why would I do it?

[SPEAKER_00]: And so those small acts of obedience started really piling up and then I knew like God, you can trust me because if you can trust me with the small things and he can trust you with the big things, I think it's important in your life to ask yourself that question does this glorify God because then you start reflecting on this sanctification journey that you're on and you start making everything about Jesus.

[SPEAKER_00]: And does this please Jesus?

[SPEAKER_00]: Am I honoring God?

[SPEAKER_00]: And if you're not, then you change those things.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's a sanctification process.

[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a beautiful process.

[SPEAKER_00]: But every bit of that is a choice for you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, we walk with Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Holy Spirit's going to let us know.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_01]: And Mark 10, 17.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he told him he said, go and sail all that I have and come and follow me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, in his heart,

[SPEAKER_01]: Uh, hey, this was his, uh, riches, you know, and he didn't want to give it up, and a lot of times people do not want to give things up, and so what we're clinging on to may stop us or hinder our walk with Jesus Christ, and, uh, because I just like this fellow, he wanted eternal life, but he didn't want to give up what he had to give up to get, and because Jesus had got to be first in our life.

[SPEAKER_00]: Yep.

[SPEAKER_01]: But first above all, first above your wife, your children, your husband, your wife, whatever may be the case, he has to be first.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this man's his money, or his materialistic things, was first in his life.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he did not want to give him up.

[SPEAKER_01]: And the Bible said that he went away sorrowfully.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so the Bible does not record any poor for the man ever gave everything up and came back to Jesus Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: We hope he did, but it does not record them.

[SPEAKER_01]: So therefore he didn't want to give up his materialistic things, he didn't want to give up his money, whatever it may be case, and therefore he went away softly.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's very thing is going to happen to a lot of people this day and time.

[SPEAKER_01]: They need a heart check.

[SPEAKER_01]: Where do you stand with Christ?

[SPEAKER_01]: And I have, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've, I've,

[SPEAKER_01]: So each and every person needs a heart check every day of the life.

[SPEAKER_01]: What kind of a heart does they have?

[SPEAKER_01]: Do they have a heart of jealousy?

[SPEAKER_01]: Do they have a heart of envy?

[SPEAKER_01]: Do they have a heart of lust?

[SPEAKER_01]: Or what it may be the case?

[SPEAKER_01]: We've got to get rid of those things and what Jesus did when he said it was finished at the cross.

[SPEAKER_01]: And God has got a storehouse of blessings for us.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if we will just reach out there and get them, a joy and a peace and happiness that He has, and I'll tell you what, we can walk and follow Christ a whole lot better when we don't have material, just to think, it's like a ball and chain.

[SPEAKER_01]: You keep dragging around with you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Check at heart every now and then to see where it's at.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know at the beginning of this lesson, we talked about picking up your cross daily.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I just want to say that when you pick up a cross, it ain't light.

[SPEAKER_00]: The cross is heavy.

[SPEAKER_00]: It's meant to be heavy.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know when Jesus picked up the cross and he had to carry the cross, he was so whipped and beaten and hurting, so much that someone else had to finish carrying that cross.

[SPEAKER_00]: That cross was heavy.

[SPEAKER_00]: When it is metaphorically speaking to pick up your cross, it is showing you that a cross is heavy.

[SPEAKER_00]: Your cross is not going to be a light thing to pick up and carry.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, a lot of people follow the world, and it's easy.

[SPEAKER_00]: You wake up every day.

[SPEAKER_00]: You do things in your daily life that just become repetitive and it's just a part of your day.

[SPEAKER_00]: You wake up and you just have a routine and you get very comfortable in that little bubble and that routine.

[SPEAKER_00]: And what are you living your life for?

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, that's what you got to sit there and reflect on sometimes.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you got to think, is anything I'm doing today, is this for Jesus?

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, have I done anything for Christ today?

[SPEAKER_00]: Everyone in this world can do better at serving Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, and if you call yourself a Christian, then your desire is supposed to follow Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: Your desire of your heart should be to please and glorify God.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so when you're waking up every day and you're going about your daily day and you just have all this routine, does God fit in that routine?

[SPEAKER_00]: where does he fit in that routine and how are you picking up your cross because if you're not picking it up, if you're not doing anything to serve Christ, if you're not spreading the gospel which all of us are called to do, if you're not changing other people's lives, if you're not out here truly being the hands and feet of Jesus and following His walk, then what are you doing with your life?

[SPEAKER_01]: That's right.

[SPEAKER_00]: Jesus in his walk, if you will study, just study the word and see what Jesus did.

[SPEAKER_00]: He went out and he healed the sick.

[SPEAKER_00]: He went out and he cast out demons.

[SPEAKER_00]: He went out and he showed people love.

[SPEAKER_00]: He preached the kingdom of God.

[SPEAKER_00]: He helped people out of unfortunate circumstances.

[SPEAKER_00]: He showed love.

[SPEAKER_00]: Are you showing love?

[SPEAKER_00]: In your everyday walk, are you showing love?

[SPEAKER_00]: Or are you showing hate?

[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely, you know, you take the mishatch check, right now been to go they I'm sure when they got up at morning They probably didn't know they're going to have to go out there and do what they did not bow before that that I though but they had so much of God in their life that no matter what that he

[SPEAKER_01]: all the other people they was going one direction they was bowing everything and they would not do it now that takes some strength when they get their strength from they got it from God and as they stood there no one after the king said you're going to be thrown into the fire furnace they still stood there they carried Christ they carried God right with them and so they would not turn back no matter what

[SPEAKER_01]: All right, you know, we've come too far, seen too much to turn back and the world may ridicule us, talk about us or whatever may be, but let me taste and we're just going to keep on walking.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've got the paddle to the metal baby and we're going to go forward and we're going to try to help as many people as we possibly can.

[SPEAKER_01]: But sometimes it's not easy, sometimes it is not easy to pick up that cross.

[SPEAKER_01]: and go.

[SPEAKER_01]: But me, Shat, Shadrat, Daniel, you take Noah.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure they laughed at him to scorn, but he kept right on hammering Moses.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure that they talked about him behind his back and they divided the course they did and everything.

[SPEAKER_01]: And but he kept right on going.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because they had their heart set.

[SPEAKER_01]: They had their mind set.

[SPEAKER_01]: And they was going to walk with God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so keep your heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: clear and this nation needs a cleaning of the heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: I really truly believe that.

[SPEAKER_01]: So keep your heart clear and let Christ have total control of your life and just keep walking with the Lord because I'll tell you what, you won't regret it.

[SPEAKER_01]: You will not regret it.

[SPEAKER_01]: When you lay down on your pillow of the night,

[SPEAKER_01]: you can lay down there and thank the Lord that you made it to another day and pray for those people that may have sons said something to you and reject you or whatever may be the case, but you just keep walking the walk.

[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.

[SPEAKER_00]: What can you do daily?

[SPEAKER_00]: That is the, I want to end this, which is asking you that question of what can you do to change and to repent, because that's what repentance is, repentance is a change where you turn away from the sin and you turn towards Jesus, you're repenting of it.

[SPEAKER_00]: So what can you do to repent of some things maybe in your daily life that you need to start walking with Christ with?

[SPEAKER_00]: Yes.

[SPEAKER_00]: What's some things that you can do that you can incorporate in your everyday life, whether it be reading your Bible or praying to the Lord more or asking Him how you can serve Him or going out there and actually serving Him, going out and spreading the gospel, telling people about Jesus, loving on people more.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's a lot of things that we can do in our daily lives to change the way that we are, to line ourselves up to be a disciple of Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: But the choice is yours.

[SPEAKER_00]: So I hope that this lesson today has really encouraged you with that.

[SPEAKER_00]: I hope that today as we have talked about what we do in our daily lives and how we walk the walk of faith that maybe you can too because it is absolutely possible.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know El would talked about Paul earlier, but Paul was sold out to the point where he said even if he wasn't married, even if he didn't have the things of this life that it didn't matter.

[SPEAKER_00]: He said even the times of his infirmities that he rejoices for when I'm weak I am strong he said he realized that no matter what come at him in life, no matter the hardships, no matter the things that he missed out on Paul was sold out for Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes he was.

[SPEAKER_00]: His walk was to be a disciple of Christ and so we all can strive to be a disciple of Christ and to follow him more and to do more things to line our lives up to being a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he walked the walk.

[SPEAKER_01]: He didn't only walk the walk.

[SPEAKER_01]: He talked the talk.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so many people the day is talking the talk, but not walking the walk.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he was absolutely sold out mine soul and body to Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he met him on that world of Damascus that day.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he said, Lord, what would you have me to do?

[SPEAKER_01]: And when he said that,

[SPEAKER_01]: Christ already knew he was a chosen vessel anyway.

[SPEAKER_01]: When he said that, God just simply said his tracks on fire.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he was all for the cause of Christ, not Paul.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was for the cause of Christ that he buried all these problems and burdens that he had with him.

[SPEAKER_01]: But he glorified in his infirmities on the behalf of Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so he was walking to walk, no

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's what we got to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: That is what we've got to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: To be sold out to Jesus Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when we're sold out, why God will bless us, maybe.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, I'm gonna talk one more time about some things that I do personally, that helps me all my daily walk with Jesus because I got to think about some things that maybe could help other people.

[SPEAKER_00]: As soon as I wake up in the morning, my first thought is how can I serve you today?

[SPEAKER_00]: How can I glorify you today?

[SPEAKER_00]: How can I honor you today?

[SPEAKER_00]: That's my first thought.

[SPEAKER_00]: and then I take that and I move with it, and so as my day starts and the Lord leads me and guides me to what to do today, you know, a lot of times I'm doing my porch talks, I'm teaching, I'm helping people to know God more.

[SPEAKER_00]: I'm spreading the gospel.

[SPEAKER_00]: That is what each and every one of us should do.

[SPEAKER_00]: Now another thing that is really cool is I minister to everybody I see like everybody.

[SPEAKER_00]: and it gets to the point where even delivery drivers will come to my house and they know that they can come here for prayer.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, right before we started this lesson, today I had a delivery driver on my porch and we got to pray for her right before we started this lesson.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's so important in your daily life that you find those opportunities to serve Christ, that you find those because they will be there.

[SPEAKER_00]: there's always an opportunity and you don't want to miss out on it.

[SPEAKER_00]: There's somebody that you can minister to and you never know who you can dramatically help.

[SPEAKER_00]: There could be someone's life and their salvation hanging in the balance right in front of you.

[SPEAKER_00]: Someone at the coffee shop, someone at the donut store.

[SPEAKER_00]: and they can be right there in front of you and you can have that opportunity to minister to them and to change their lives.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you know, I know a lot of people are fearful of being able to talk openly about crisis like that because it's just not been a practice that you've done.

[SPEAKER_00]: And as I spoke about already in that time that I felt uncomfortable to go and pray over somebody.

[SPEAKER_00]: But when you overcome that and you get yourself out of the way and you stop thinking about, oh, what are they going to think of me and me, me, me, me, me,

[SPEAKER_00]: And you start thinking about, you know what, I'm going to talk about Jesus whether they like it or they don't, at least I tried, at least I ministered, at least I came from a place of love.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so, showing people the love of Christ, it's never a bad thing.

[SPEAKER_00]: And everywhere I go, I try to keep that.

[SPEAKER_00]: first and foremost in my front mindset of how can I serve Christ today, how can I show people to love a Christ and whether you are from home and you know so many people can be keyboard warriors in the bad way and they can be typing out their malicious comments and typing out their hate or how they didn't like this about you or how you said something that they would have said better they can say those things the how many people sit there

[SPEAKER_00]: And I think it's so important to check yourself in every walk of your life and every single thing that you are doing of how you are approaching things.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you are approaching it from a Christ like mindset, if you are approaching it with the grace and the kindness of Jesus or if it's the opposite.

[SPEAKER_00]: And these things you can line up every single day, every single day you have opportunities throughout your entire day.

[SPEAKER_00]: Because time you open your eyes to the time you close them, you have opportunities to serve Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: So how are you going to pick up your cross daily that's up to you in every single time that you have an opportunity and every single time that you have a choice It's up to you Yeah, the Bible said come to me all either burden and heavy late and I will give you rest.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yes, uh, sometimes We've already said the cross gets heavy

[SPEAKER_01]: but you can do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: And for a loved one, for a friend, or a stranger, that you don't even know.

[SPEAKER_01]: You never know how can you, how you can affect their life by just walking up to them and you know, under the leading of the Holy Spirit.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so can we have prayer?

[SPEAKER_01]: Can I pray for you?

[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes you may go to some of them, they don't want prayer, they don't want to hear it.

[SPEAKER_01]: But other times you go to a place that would love to have it because you never know what they're going through, what's happened in their bodies, whether it's hard or lungs or kidneys or stomach, or whatever may be the case, you know.

[SPEAKER_01]: And like I said already that you never know how you're going to affect somebody's life.

[SPEAKER_01]: Until you make an effort to it, and to pick up our cross, I believe that's really what Jesus wants us to do, to reach out to the lost and undone, whoever they may be, wherever they are.

[SPEAKER_01]: But sometimes, people that is living in fine homes, driving fine automobiles, is going through just as bad at times as folks out there that has nothing.

[SPEAKER_01]: and we should never pass up an opportunity to tell somebody about Jesus Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if we'll do that, if we will do that and pick up our cross and walk at the Christ because everybody he come in contact with, he changed their life some way.

[SPEAKER_01]: and the ones that want to be changed and so we can do that as well because we got a world of lost and dying people and hurting people better than bruised and they need some hope and Jesus Christ is that blessed hope.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's our blessed hope and so we can give them that hope.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, the Bible says that everything you do, that you were to do in the glory for the Lord, everything you do, whether you eat, whether you drink, everything that you're doing should glorify the Lord.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I would try to remember that myself with our body as a temple.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this world, man, there are some nasty food out here.

[SPEAKER_00]: Almost every place, every corner, has some sort of restaurant where they hand stuff out of a greasy paper bag.

[SPEAKER_00]: And you have the choices with that as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: You have the choices if your body's a temple and you treat it with care, or you have a choice if you don't.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, there's so many areas in your life that are picking up your cross daily, which lines up with how you can honor Jesus as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: This is with your body.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like I said, your body is a temple.

[SPEAKER_00]: What are you using it for?

[SPEAKER_00]: What are you putting in it?

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, a lot of people have some really bad habits.

[SPEAKER_00]: They have, you know, drugs and addictions and things like that.

[SPEAKER_00]: And those things don't honor God.

[SPEAKER_00]: And when you do any sort of simple nature like that, then that distance is you from God.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, sin is what separates you from God and so picking up your cross daily requires you to look at yourself and see what you can sanctify and see what you can change and see how you can do better.

[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not saying that sitting here as a perfect person.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, there's a lot of things in my own life that every single day I have to dot to as well.

[SPEAKER_00]: Every single day you have things that you have to, you know, literally dot to crucify the flesh and to overcome to be able to walk with Jesus on it.

[SPEAKER_00]: Like, I would say about your carnal nature, it's always there.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we are spiritual beings, but we're living in this flesh.

[SPEAKER_00]: And this flesh will try its best to rule you.

[SPEAKER_00]: It will try its best to have you in this world.

[SPEAKER_00]: But it's up to you whether you follow Jesus or you follow the world.

[SPEAKER_00]: And so every bit of this and every single day, the choices are yours and what you do with yourself, your body, your mind and your spirit is up to you.

[SPEAKER_00]: God is giving you control over it.

[SPEAKER_00]: He's giving you free will.

[SPEAKER_00]: You know, we are the only things on earth that have this free will, but he is given it to us because he loves us and he wants us to choose him.

[SPEAKER_00]: You choose him or you don't.

[SPEAKER_00]: You choose your every single day decisions or you don't.

[SPEAKER_00]: You choose to wake up joyful or mean.

[SPEAKER_00]: You choose to have an attitude or to be pleasant.

[SPEAKER_00]: Everything in your life is choices and free will.

[SPEAKER_00]: Are you going to pick up your cross daily and follow Jesus Christ?

[SPEAKER_00]: It takes a every single day choice.

[SPEAKER_00]: They only you can make.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's right.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's right, only you.

[SPEAKER_00]: is there anything else you would like to talk about that you do on your daily life that helps you stay connected to God and helps you to self reflect and keep yourself in check to make sure you're glorifying God.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know Paul said, pray without ceasing.

[SPEAKER_01]: Continually, I'll tell you what, as you look at your life, pray without ceasing.

[SPEAKER_01]: We ought to be able to walk around.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know we have things to do with things that is going on in our life.

[SPEAKER_01]: but we need to have a continual prayer life.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's just not hit anything, it helped me Jesus, you know.

[SPEAKER_01]: And Paul knew what prayer was.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's the same way as the Christians.

[SPEAKER_01]: As we walk and carry our cross, we're gonna need the strength of Christ to be able to overcome a lot of things out there.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that is thrown at us.

[SPEAKER_01]: And like I said, we have a coronal nature and we cannot get rid of that rascal, but we can't suppressing.

[SPEAKER_01]: through Jesus Christ and because he wants to rise to the top a lot of times and when somebody says something and all of a sudden you want to snap back at him or whatever may be the case you know and that Colonel Nature will come out if you don't keep him under control and it comes through prayer comes through continual reading the Word of God and staying in the Word something may not go

[SPEAKER_01]: Just let a reptator chip, I guess, what you might say, get your peace out there.

[SPEAKER_01]: And sometimes you just need to walk off.

[SPEAKER_01]: And go to your man cave or she shared or whatever it is, and just give it some time.

[SPEAKER_01]: Sometimes that colonel nature wants to take over, and there's only one way to keep it in check.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's who Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, him and him only.

[SPEAKER_00]: I really pray that as we have talked about what we do in our daily life and then also brought you some scriptures of just how to walk with Jesus every day that this is helped you.

[SPEAKER_00]: I pray that it is really convicted some hearts out there.

[SPEAKER_00]: I know that that's hard, conviction is always hard, but it's what you do with that conviction that matters.

[SPEAKER_00]: If you repent, if it grows you closer to Christ, well then it was worth us sitting here talking about it.

[SPEAKER_00]: So we just thank you so much for watching this discipleship episode.

[SPEAKER_00]: Pray that it helps somebody today and that it grows you closer in your walk with Christ.

[SPEAKER_00]: May God bless you and we will see you soon with another Discipleship episode.

[SPEAKER_01]: Amen.