Breakthrough|Freedom|Dominion.
Matthew 10:38 ESV
“And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me”
Many believe that the scripture above is one of the harshest sayings by the Lord Jesus Christ. When you take your time to study the words of Christ in the gospels, you will come to the realization that He never sugar coated His message of the Kingdom. He never water down His message to suit the hearing of His audience or gain their favor.
Whatever the Holy Spirit downloaded in Jesus is what He said and as a result, He had a strong opposition (the Pharisees and Sadducees). His audience only grew when He performed miracles and healings (John 6:2).
One thing for sure, He did not compromise the message of the Kingdom and neither did He ever negotiate with the devil although Satan attempted to negotiate with Him on various occasions. For example, in the wilderness while Jesus was fasting, Satan tried to negotiate with Him to break His fast (Luke 4:1-13).
One of the greatest negotiators in our universe is Satan. No one negotiates better than him. To prove this, one needs to read the communication between Jesus and Satan in Luke 4:1-13. While Jesus was fasting, Satan negotiated with Him to turn a stone into bread and by doing so, he could then lurk and entice Jesus to stop His fast by eating the bread.
Perhaps God has called you to fast and pray for the body of Christ. Perhaps God has called you to be in prayer for the nations or a specific region. Perhaps God has called you into some type of ministry, no matter what the Lord has called you to do, rest assured that Satan will attempt to negotiate with you through the appetite of the flesh and entice you to give up what the Lord Has called you to do.
Remember Satan is very subtle and cunning (Genesis 3:1). He is much older and is an experienced foe who cannot be underestimated. He is much older than any human being alive on earth today. There is only one living being on earth today who is older and experienced than Satan and that person is THE HOLY SPIRIT. Look at what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit in Proverbs 8:23 we read,
“The LORD possessed me (the Holy Spirit) at the beginning of His work, before His deeds of old. From everlasting I was established, from the beginning, before the earth began”
The Holy Spirit knows Satan and his schemes more than any person alive on earth today. He is the only one who can help you defeat the enemy you are facing. Often, the way of the cross is the only path that the nature of the flesh (which is controlled by Satan) can be subdued. Once this is done, it becomes a slave to your spirit man (where the Holy Spirit dwells) who can then rule and bring you in an alignment to your divine purpose designed by God.
The enemy who fights against your divine destiny often dwells in the sinful nature of our flesh. The flesh must die and the cross is the only way to crucify the flesh. That’s why Jesus said:
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me Luke 9:23”.
The Christian who rejects his cross can be of no threat to the Kingdom of darkness. What is the cross? The cross is the sin the Holy Spirit reveals to you that you must give up for Him to elevate you to a higher level in the spiritual realm making you a force to be reckoned with against any Satanic force.
God has called every Christian to a life of holiness (1 Peter 1:16). Where there is Holiness, the true presence of God can be located and where there is sin, the presence of Satan can also be located.
Satan hates the cross because it destroys the power that causes man to sin (1 John 3:8). The power that causes man to sin resides in the sinful nature of man’s own flesh (Romans 6:6).
The sinful nature of man according to Galatians 5:17, always war against the Spirit (the Holy Spirit which dwells inside of man). Therefore, the nature of the flesh that lust to sin against a holy God must be put on the cross daily to die (Romans 8:13).
The word ‘cross’ means self-denial. Therefore, to carry your cross means that whenever the tendencies to commit any sin arises in your body, with the help of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God with you, you make a choice to deny yourself (the sinful nature) from fulfilling the lustful desires that has risen within you.
The sinful nature will always reside in man’s flesh until they enter eternity where they will be given a new body (2 Corinthians 5:1-10). That’s why Jesus said all His followers must carry their cross daily. In other words, the nature of the flesh must die daily according to Corinthians 15:31.
Many Christians today struggle with sin because the teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ about the cross has been neglected. As such, many in the body of Christ are suffering. Many are living a cross-less life. The flesh is reigning in the lives of many and has dominated most churches across the globe pushing away the true divine presence of the Holy Spirit.
Perhaps, you are a minister, or you hold a position in your local church but nevertheless, you often get caught in a trap of Satan to sin. Perhaps you are struggling with sexual sins that has been weighing down on you that the Lord wants you to repent of.
This could be the cross that God will want you to bare by abstaining from sexual sin (1 Corinthians 6:18-19, 2 Corinthians 7:1, 1 Peter 4:1-2). But Satan will negotiate with you by misinterpreting the word of God as he often does by saying God is too gracious and will not hold anyone accountable of sexual sin when the Bible says otherwise.
Perhaps you are a Christian who loves the Lord very much but often struggle to tell the truth. Although you hate to lie, it seems you cannot help it. Remember the Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13) while the devil is called the father of lies according to John 8:44. Therefore, whenever a Christian tells a lie, it opens the door for demonic spirits to enter their life and influence them negatively.
Perhaps you are a Christian but struggle to be faithful in the area of money. Perhaps you are in a business profession and a proposal has been presented to you with lucrative benefits, but you realize that you must bend the law in order to succeed with this business. Although you love the Lord, you must make a choice to either compromise your faith by heeding the voice of the flesh or to listen to the voice of the Spirit.
Once again, the great negotiator (Satan) whispers to you like He did to Jesus in Luke 4:1-13, when he presented all the kingdom of this world, its wealth, power and glory to the Lord. Do as Christ did, reject Satan’s proposal using the Word of God. Then, God will be pleased with you and open a better and greater door of opportunity for you.
Prayer
Pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal your cross to you. Pray that He will enable you to carry it and give you the victory over the nature of the flesh.
Declaration
I declare, that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me in Jesus name, Amen.
Author Andrew A. Osei
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