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.
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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.
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Stand up Young people and be an example unto the Believers

Let no one look down on [you because of] your youth, but be an example and set a pattern for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in [moral] purity.
1 TIMOTHY 4:12 AMP

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

Apostle Paul was encouraging Timothy to stand tall and not to allow anyone despise his youth.

Young people, stand up and be counted! Influence your world with your deeds and speech.

Whether you are young like Timothy or old, let Christ be seen in your daily walk and interactions with others. As we keep modelling ourselves after Jesus, our lives are ministering to the world.

Pause for a moment and reflect on your life; are you a role model worthy of emulation? Does your speech reflect Christ? Is your conduct aligned to His Word? Are you walking in love, faith and purity? May the Lord equip us to be His worthy ambassadors!

May the Spirit of God quicken us in our inner man so that we will be built up and rooted in Him and boldly declare our stand in Christ!

May God’s image be formed in us and May the confidence we receive in Christ Jesus lead us on to influence and positively affect generations in Jesus Mighty name. Amen
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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.
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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.
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