Take up your Cross and Follow Jesus

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [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].
MATTHEW 16:24 AMP

Praise God for the blessings of a brand new day and the opportunity to rejoice and be glad in it.

Jesus laid down the conditions required for the disciples to be able to work effectively and efficiently in the ministry.

Firstly, He called for self sacrifice to be able to follow Jesus Christ, set aside self interest and look at the bigger picture of serving the Lord selflessly.

Be ready and willing to go all out for Jesus! The willingness to endure any challenge that might come for the sake of the gospel reaching the utter most part of the world.

Pattern your life after Jesus Christ so that as the world sees you they are reading the gospel of Jesus Christ. Follow Jesus’ life without any compromise so that your life will point others to Christ.

May Jesus be seen in our lives, may we be the carriers of the gospel, may we be instruments of God’s love and may the lost be saved through our obedience. God bless you. Amen.
abmingle

Deny Yourself, Take Up Your Cross, and Follow Jesus

“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]. 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

Praise God for the blessing of a brand new day and the opportunity to rejoice and be glad in it!

In Luke 9:23–24, Jesus lays out the non-negotiable conditions for anyone who desires to be His true disciple. These words, though spoken centuries ago, remain eternally relevant for us today.

Deny Yourself

To follow Christ is to let go of selfish desires and the fleeting pleasures of this world. It is a call to set aside personal agendas and embrace a life centered around God’s will. The disciple must choose the eternal over the temporary, the spiritual over the superficial.

Take Up Your Cross Daily

This is not a one-time decision. It is a daily commitment—a willingness to endure hardship, rejection, and even suffering for the sake of the gospel. It means we should be ready to go all out for Jesus, whatever the cost.

Follow Jesus

To follow Jesus is to live like Jesus. Our lives must mirror His—marked by love, humility, integrity, and truth. When the world sees us, they should see a living reflection of the gospel. No compromise. Just Christ.

Lord, may Jesus be seen in our lives. Make us carriers of the gospel, instruments of Your love, and obedient vessels through whom the lost can find salvation. Empower us to deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow You wholeheartedly. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
abmingle

Taking every thought captive to the Obedience of Christ

We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ,
2 CORINTHIANS 10:5 AMP

Glory and honour be unto God for the blessing of a brand new day and the opportunity to rejoice and be glad in it.

Hallelujah! Thanking God for the power of God that is at work within us. This power of God is what enables us to deal with the sophisticated and proud arguments that challenge the existence and ability of the creator of the universe.

Thanks be to God that by His Word the entire universe was created and this is the same Word that is alive and active today working in us.
We therefore use that authority and take captive of every thought that exalts itself above the knowledge of God. We subject them under the power and authority of God because there is no knowledge that compares to His.

May every thought and argument be brought to the Obedience of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. May we have the revelation that our knowledge and wisdom is nothing if Christ is not part of the equation. Amen.
abmingle

The Lamb of God who takes away our sins

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29 AMP

Praise be to God for this beautiful day and the opportunity to rejoice and be glad in it.

John the Baptist came as a forerunner preparing the way for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Pharisees and Scribes had been asking him questions as to whether he was the messiah they were expecting just because John was baptizing people in the Jordan.

Today’s scripture is the direct Word of John the Baptist when he saw Jesus coming to him to be baptized. Jesus Christ indeed is the Lamb that takes away the sins of this world. Have you encountered Him?

Jesus Christ was crucified on the Cross to redeem mankind from sin and death and to reconcile us to the Heavenly Father. There is forgiveness now for everyone who confesses and accepts Jesus as Lord and personal Saviour.

May the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world cleanse us and guide us throughout the year in Jesus mighty name.

May the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of this world be our Lord and Personal Saviour. May we not miss His great sacrifice that reconciles us to God the Father. Thank you Jesus Christ for saving us. Amen.
abmingle

Take Heed, watch and pray

Mark 13:33 NKJV
[33] Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is.

Praise and glory be to God for this beautiful day and the opportunity to rejoice and be glad in it.

Jesus Christ continues His teachings in parables. Today’s scripture talks about Jesus’ admonition to all of us to be on our guard so that we don’t miss Heaven.

Take heed, watch and pray is a call for us to be alert spiritually for the return of the Lord. It calls for consistency in our walk with the Lord, not to go weary and take a “break” in our relationship with the Lord. The example of the 5 foolish virgins is not too far away, let us remain spiritually alert.

May the Lord help us to live completely for Christ at all times as we do not know the day and the hour that the Lord shall return for His children. May sufficient grace abound towards us in Jesus Mighty name. Amen
abmingle

Fight the Good Fight of Faith and take hold of Eternal Life

Fight the good fight of the faith [in the conflict with evil]; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and [for which] you made the good confession [of faith] in the presence of many witnesses.
1 TIMOTHY 6:12 AMP

Glory and honour be to God for a brand new day, May His presence be with us this day. Celebrate the goodness of the Lord.

The Apostle Paul admonishes young Timothy that it is important to stay in the faith after all is said and done. Fight the good fight of Faith! There are so many things that compete for our attention and it is important that we keep our eyes firmly on Jesus. Focus on the author and finisher of our Faith.

The preceding verse to the above scripture clearly charges the believer to flee from all appearances of sin and pursue righteousness, faith, love, steadfastness and gentleness.

There should be no room to compromise on the salvation we have received when we boldly declared our position in Christ Jesus. Fight the good fight of Faith till the very end so we can take hold of eternal life through Christ Jesus.

May the Lord energise us to pursue this fight relentlessly. May we continue fighting the good fight of Faith till the coming of the Lord, holding on to the eternal life in Christ Jesus in Jesus Mighty name. Amen
abmingle

Take up your helmet of salvation and Sword of the Spirit

‭Ephesians 6:17 AMP‬
[17] And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.

Glory be to God for this beautiful day and the opportunity to rejoice and be glad in it.

We continue our studies on the various weapons that the Lord has made available to us for our use. Today we take up the helmet of salvation and Sword of the Spirit.

The helmet is worn on the head for protection, all our thinking, thoughts and the majority of our five senses are on the head. We therefore need the “helmet ” to secure our salvation by checking us against things we see, hear and even say. Our thoughts and confessions can keep us or make us lose our salvation so easily. Another defensive weapon we need dearly.

The next weapon is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. This is the only offensive weapon among the set of God’s armour. It is the Word of God that can cut through every situation we find ourselves even through the marrow. The Sword of the Spirit should therefore be with us all the time by dwelling richly in us so that we employ it whenever and wherever it is required.

May the Lord help us to employ the weapons of helmet of salvation and Sword of the Spirit for our defensive and offensive spiritual battles. May we overcome and conquer every battle in Jesus Mighty name. Amen.
abmingle

Take up your Shield 🛡️ of Faith

”Above all, lift up the [protective] shield of faith with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.“
‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6‬:‭16‬ ‭AMP‬‬

Praise and glory to God for His goodness and loving kindness. Thank you Lord for a brand new day and for being counted among the living.

Today we continue our discussion on the armours of God as contained in Ephesians 6. Yesterday we looked at the belt of truth and the breast plate of righteousness. The focus today is to carry our Shield of Faith.

Faith is the basis of our relationship with Christ Jesus. It is our belief that has first qualified us as children of God. It is therefore faith in God and His word that will enable us ward off any darts of the enemy.

Our shield of Faith, our absolute trust in the God of Possibilities will repel all the lies, allegations and accusations that the enemy will fabricate against us to destabilize us and take our focus away from God.

May we receive great power and great grace from the Lord to be able to hold up our shield of faith at all times to repel the attacks of the evil one. May the hand of the Most High brood over His children at all times in Jesus mighty name. Amen.
abmingle

Take up your Cross and Follow Jesus

Jesus called the crowd together with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [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]. 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 and the gospel’s will save it [from the consequences of sin and separation from God].
MARK 8:34‭-‬35 AMP

Praise and honour be unto God for this beautiful day and the opportunity to rejoice and be glad in it.

Today’s passage is the direct speech of Jesus Christ. It is to make clear to us that Jesus does not want any half hearted people to follow Him so He has taken His time to explain what it takes to follow Him.

Is your mind made up to follow Jesus? Are you ready to deny yourself of the pleasures of this world? Are you ready to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel?

Be ready to follow Jesus Christ’s example by going all out to preach His gospel to all no matter the challenges that come our way. Defying the odds to send the gospel to the world, criticism and allegations, open rebuke and rejection, the absence of resources etc should not hinder the preaching of the Gospel.

Be fully available to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to all at all times without any form of holding back.

May God grant us the grace and strengthen our faith to stand firm and hold high the banner of Jesus Christ to the world till His coming. May the Grace to endure to the end locate us in Jesus Mighty name. Amen.
abmingle