Matthew 16:24 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Going To The Garden
..We try in our own human efforts maybe to pray more.. various things only to find that so very little happens. He goes right to the problem – it is yourself, it is us. Only The Holy Spirit – the Baptism of The Spirit – can deal with that. That is why He asks us to take the cross up daily and follow Him. We have to go.. into our Garden of Gethsemane – our spiritual place – where we settle this with God as did Jesus. He went literally to The Garden of Gethsemane to settle there the Plan of Redemption that God was going to work through His Son.. to go to the cross. And so it’s the same with us spiritually..
Settling It
.. We have to settle it so that God works the cross in our lives spiritually.. the daily dying to the self life – the selfish life that is in us. That is the hindrance.. self is our worst enemy and Satan knows how to play on that, he’s not stupid. But we that the power of The Holy Spirit is able to deal with us as He did with Christ. He took Christ to the cross for His physical death and raised Him up for our redemption..
Dying Not Doing
..It takes this same power and principle to work that death and resurrection is us. It takes the power of God to work this because we can’t do it.. As we make ourselves available and settle this then The Holy Spirit will come and start to work that death to the Self Life. In other words you don’t have to crucify yourself, you don’t have to actually do anything. It’s simply yielding over to The Spirit and allowing Him to work that within you and me.. .. ..
Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; 3 knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
Philippians 1:29 For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake;
Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
