23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself[set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross daily [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].
24 For whoever wishes to save his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], but whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake, he is the one who will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].
Luke 9:23-24 (AMP)
When I carried my cross through the streets of Jerusalem, it was an outward acknowledgment of the spiritual alignment with the Father’s will that I had already accepted at Gethsemane. Not My will, but His be done. It was the sign that no matter the cost, My life was in alignment with His purposes.
I have asked you to take up your cross daily, and follow Me.
This means that every day you must intentionally surrender each part of your life to come into alignment with My purposes. You must put aside any agenda, ambition, pride or offence and choose to re-align yourself to Me every day.
At the start of your day set your heart towards Mine, sacrificing your life to Me and allowing My Spirit to work in you. But this is not where it ends. There will be multiple opportunities within your day to stop, examine your heart, and re-align with My will and purposes for you. Choices to rise above anger and choose kindness; to resist putting yourself first and instead to build up another; to rise above your emotional responses and to seek My counsel first before reacting. Re-align your spirit to Mine at every opportunity that you have.
Activation: Sit with Jesus and ask Him to show you the reality of what it means to take up your cross daily. Use the verses below from Psalm 5 and picture yourself laying out your life on the altar before Jesus and the Spirit coming as fire to burn off all of your wordly intentions, so that only a pure heart remains. Be intentional throughout your day to take every opportunity that you have to re-align yourself back to His will and purposes.
2 Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray.
3 In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will prepare [a prayer and a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].
Psalm 5:2-3 (AMP)
#lionbites
Unapologetically Marcia 