“If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.”
Mark 8:35 NLT
http://bible.com/116/mrk.8.35.nlt
In last week’s article we talked about that girl I used to date. You know that girl named World. Shoutout to Ambassador for that. If we’re honest, we all used to date her. Some of us still are or maybe we broke up, but every now and again, we go pay her a visit. Real talk. We get that sensation that we want that old thing back. Like we forget how bad that relationship really was and why we left.
That’s why it’s so important that we die daily for the sake of Christ. This flesh of ours is tough and very persistent. See it’s not just the devil. Yes he plays a part. The Bible calls him the tempter. It also calls him the accuser of the brethren. There’s a middle man in there between being tempted and being accused. The middle man is your flesh.
See we were dead in our trespasses and sins to God and we were his enemies. Christ died for us to pay the penalty for our sins and to put as at peace with God. No longer His enemies. Now He calls us friend and children of the Most High. Now that we’ve been made alive, we have the daily task of killing this flesh. Not physically, because the weapons of our warfare are not carnal or natural things. It is spiritual. Our weapons are mighty through God to pull down these strongholds of death that have been built up into us.
That gospel of Flip Wilson (y’all may not be familiar. Google him. LoL) saying, “The devil made me do it” is not at all accurate. The devil tempted you. If you commit the act, he’ll be waiting on the other side to accuse for committing the act he tempted you to do. See he’s not on your side at all, so he uses the part of you that has no interest in you accomplishing the plan of God. He goes after your flesh. He dangles that carrot out there to get you to bite. The decision is yours.
Christ asks us to give it all up for Him. Not just a little bit. Not just the things you decide you should give up. Get connected in a relationship with Him and let His Spirit lead you and guide you as to what things you need to eliminate out of your life to glorify Him. Jesus blows up everything so He can build it back up into something new. He doesn’t tear down to keep you down. He tears down to build you up into Him. Rooted and grounded in Him that you may be the man or woman He has called you to be.
When we invite Christ into our hearts we already know some people, places and things that have got to go. Every aspect of our lives needs to be served notice that Christ may tell you that you’ve got to go. It’s not that God doesn’t want you to have anything, but if you’re willing to give it up, He can give you exceedingly and abundantly more than you could ever ask, hope, think or imagine.
That leads us to our Throwback Song of the Week. It’s from a brotha out Camden, Arkansas by the name of Tony Tillman fka Brothatone. That was the name he went by early in his career before joining up with Derek Minor and the RMG crew in 2012. This track is from his 2008 release entitled “The Interlude.” The song is called “All 4 The Gospel.” It’s pretty self-explanatory. A song encouraging us to give up all that we have for the sake of the gospel. Check out the track below or tune into the Trackstarz show this Saturday to hear DJ Jeremaya spin this on the 1’s and 2’s for the Throwback Song of the Day. Until next time…
Peace and blessings,
Damo
