HOW TO OVERCOME MOMENTS OF CRISES
March 20, 2019
DO NOT RESIGN TO FATE – DON’T GIVE UP
March 22, 2019

DO NOT COMPROMISE YOUR VALUES

 
March 21st 2019

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.” Philippians 3:12.



As a Christian, the course of your journey through life is already mapped out under the footsteps of Christ your Lord and savior! You have to carry your cross along the way! The Master told the young seeker of truth, “Go sell everything you have and give to the poor, then come carry your cross, and follow me” (Ref. Mark 10:17-21 ) Ordinarily, to carry one's cross and follow the Master means that we should leave behind all the allurements and temptations of life, and follow the footsteps of the Master and strive towards perfection (Ref: Matthew 5:48) The Master is not quarrelling with anyone being wealthy per se, “but He has a problem with being possessive”. Here, the Master is drawing a difference between “being possessive” and being rich. To be possessive of wealth is to be attached to riches above every other thing, and to carry on life as if wealth is everything. This is not good enough, for it is written that man must not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from God. However, to be wealthy is to apply your wealth for the good of everyone! Hence the Master says to the young fellow, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, then pick up your cross and follow me. To pick one's cross and follow Jesus is to undergo a process of inner transformation wherein on a daily basis, we are able to nail onto our inner cross, all the temptations and a natural pullback in life. For instance, if an impure thought to do harm to another crosses your mind, you are expected to take hold of it and nail it onto your inner cross. There are so many thoughts to do what is not right that cross our hearts daily. Do NOT let such thoughts to take hold of your life. They would ruin you!


Let your mind guard the door of your heart, and decide what comes through. When a sinful thought pops up in your mind the first time, it is only a temptation – a “suggestion” from the devil. But you can choose to deny that thought access to your heart! In practice, that means that as soon as you become aware of the thought, you disagree with it. You don’t dwell on it. The thought meets a firm “no” in your mind. You don’t permit the thought to pass through your mind and come into your heart. Denying these sinful thoughts is how you take up your cross daily. The good news is that when you suffer in your flesh, that is to say, when you take up your cross and deny the sinful thoughts that come up into your mind, you will actually cease from sin! You will become actually transformed by the renewal of your mind!


Prayer
Father in the name of Jesus Christ, I thank you for your word today. Father, deliver me from my weaknesses and give me the strength to grow in the Spirit. AMEN.


FURTHER READING: Matthew 16:24-26

 
 
 
Mary Lawrence-Dokpesi
Mary Lawrence-Dokpesi
Mary Lawrence-Dokpesi was born in Nigeria to Patrick Abuda Obeakemhe and Juliana Fatimatu Obeakemhe, both from Ogbona Town. With a master’s degree in law, she was called to the bar at the age of twenty-two, and she is currently the principle partner of the law firm Mary Lawrence-Dokpesi & Associates. She is also the founder of two philanthropic organizations: the Living Waters Mission and the Rose Croix Foundation. In addition to law, Lawrence-Dokpesi was drawn to spiritual pursuits at an early age, having begun studying philosophy, theology, chaplaincy, and spirit therapy by the age of eighteen. Inspired by her spiritual calling, she has produced ten intensively researched manuscripts on spiritual matters. Although Understanding the Spiritual was the last to be written, it is the first to be published. Lawrence-Dokpesi is a mother and a wife living in the city of Abuja, Nigeria.

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