Pick up our cross daily and die to self:

Matthew 16:24

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].

Example: Read the Word and follow the example of Jesus. Love like He loved, share truth like He shared it, serve others like He served them. Lay aside our wants and desires to fulfill His. This is the opposite of being self-centered. Life is not all about us.

Romans 12:1-2

Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].

Example: Verbally lay down our will, our plans, our wants, our desires. We must give Him everything. Present our bodies as a living sacrifice, meaning we lay ourselves down to Him and focus on kingdom purposes. His plans are perfect and we must know His will for our lives and walk in His will and plans.

Make the conscience choice to submit:

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,

but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.

Fast: If we want to bring our flesh into submission we must fast. The flesh does not want to submit but fasting forces it to. I have invited my dad to come share about fasting. Watch my page for more details.

Example: Daniel Fast, fast for a specific number of hours, fast social media, or fast a specific number of days. Ask God for direction

At the Feet of Jesus (Mary and Martha): We must take time to really get in His presence and sit at His feet. This is where we really develop a personal one on one relationship with Him. We must spend time talking to Him and then listening to what He wants to say to us. We must not just come to Him when we are in need and with a long list of requests. We must spend time with Him the same way we would our best friend. We must also spend time asking Him to make us look more like Him. Luke 10:38-42

Example: Pray and journal, talk to Him and then listen to what He wants to say.

Kingdom Focus: Ask Him what your kingdom purpose is, focus on the eternal and not the temporal.

Faith/Trust: No matter what the situation looks like we must fully submit to God’s plan. We pray for Him to change us, grow us, and make us more like Him, but often as soon as He puts us on the Potter’s wheel it gets uncomfortable and we just jump right back off.

Anointing: it is a process that is often painful. It is in the crushing where the oil flows.

I want to leave you with this thought, and I really want you to analyze yourself as I do myself very often.

Are you willing to take the thing that you want most: your hopes, dreams, plans and lay it down at the feet of Jesus and say not my will Lord but Yours?  If I never do any of these things Your will not mine. When we fully surrender it doesn’t matter what it looks like we say yes Lord and I thank You. I may not understand, but You know more than me and I trust You with my entire life.

When we step out on faith we only have to do the things He tells us to do. As soon as we do that He takes the rest and does what only He could do. It is two parts. We put out there what He says for us to do and then He takes it and makes the connections that He needs to make. He puts it in the hands of the people He needs to put in. Our only job is to surrender to what He tells us. We don’t have to go a step further. He says do this we do it and then we give it to Him and we move on to the next thing. We don’t have to worry about it. We don’t have to think about it and we don’t have to wonder if it made the right connection. That is really not even our business. Our business and job are to do that thing He said to do.

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].

His plan is perfect, and His will is perfect. If you want to walk in His perfect plan and you will first be willing to submit to Him, fully and 100%. Submission is not only key in our walk with the Lord, but also to victory in every area of our lives.

When we lay ourselves down we gain so much more. He is made strong in our weakness. We cannot do life our way, we mess it up every single time, but His way is perfect. If we could just get to a place where we really trust Him and His plan our lives would never be the same.

God wants 100%, not 50%, not 90% and not even 99%. He requires our all. Jesus held nothing back from us and we should not hold anything back from Him.

What is that one thing you are holding on to, holding behind your back hoping He doesn’t notice? Now is the time to lay it down.

Blessings,

Nichole Henson, Fullness of Joy Ministry