Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Crucified Pt.3

There are a couple of announcements we want to share with you. Be prayerful concerning the ministry in Africa and the team that's getting ready to go over. A lot of exciting things are happening! The latest e-mails we received this morning mentioned some great things that are taking place. By the way, there seems to have been an answer to prayer concerning the article that was in the newspaper there. At this particular point, the newspaper says that it wants to print the accurate story--not just a retraction, but a larger story in a more prominent spot in the newspaper, bringing the real story. So, can you say, "Praise God!" for that? Amen! So, just continue to pray and believe that God will be honored in the midst of that.

The church in Eldoret is growing. They have a learning center where the teaching tapes are available. Many of the teaching tapes that we have are daily devotionals, and Tony said that people are there all day, just studying the Word of God and preparing their hearts. The same thing is starting in Umoja with Ron there, and great things are taking place. Ron said there's favor being given to us in the Christian bookstores. All he had were 15 copies of "Adam's Rib"; he took them down, and I think in the first week, 13 of them sold! They really need that teaching in that area, so be prayerful about that. This is an indicator that there is a hunger for teaching. They don't have teaching in these areas. All they hear every Sunday morning that they get together--every service is a message on "Be Saved." So, if you're saved, and you've been saved for 30 years, every service you hear, "Get saved" again. They don't have teaching on discipleship, on sanctification, or on body ministry. Body ministry is a foreign thing. The thing that I think blessed me as much as anything was Tony's comment that in the Eldoret church--the same thing is going on in the Umoja church, and the others are beginning to come along--but Tony said that the body ministry is just like here at home. He said that you dismiss, and for hours nobody leaves! You don't see that in any church that I've been acquainted with there in Africa. He says that there is far more ministry (just like there is here) that goes on afterwards than during the service, as the body of Christ is being edified, as these things are being applied to one another's lives, and as we're really just loving one another in letting the Word of God be alive in us.

So, continue to pray. Those of you who are getting ready to go to Africa, you're going to be so blessed, praise God! I'll share with you what I shared with the other team. Don't go over there thinking we're coming as "bwana, the great prophets from America." We have knowledge, we have ministry to bring to them, and each of you has gifts. But we also have a lot to learn, so go with a spirit of learning and being ministered to as well as ministering, and it'll be a very profitable trip for you.

Let's continue along with our study on being crucified. We were in the book of Colossians in our last session. I want to take a few minutes and go to a couple of the key passages that we're all familiar with in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 16, and also in Luke 14. Then we want to go back to Colossians 3 a little bit, in understanding what this crucified life really is. We heard the utterance tonight about the privilege it is really to be nailed and identified with Him on the cross. If we've been crucified with Him, if we've identified with Him (Romans 6 says) in that death, in that crucifixion, then we're going to reign with Him in the power of that resurrection. The knowledge of the crucified life of Romans 6 is what brings us into the sanctified life of Romans 8. It takes away the dilemma of Romans 7: "The things that I want to do, I don't do; and the things I don't want to do, I find myself doing." But being crucified with Christ brings us into Romans 8: "I find a new law, the law of spiritual life in Christ Jesus, which has made me free from the law of sin and death." How do you get there? How do you get into that new law, that experiential walk in the spirit, the law of spiritual living in Christ Jesus that makes us free from the law of sin and death, that law of the power that's in each one of our members to where we just keep doing the things that we don't want to do? How do you get over there? How you we get free? You choose.

You say, "Well that's easy. I've chosen so many times." No. The things that you really want and have chosen to go after, you've probably acquired, because most of us get what we really want. Can anybody say "Amen!" to that? You say, "Well, I haven't gotten everything I want. I want to be a billionaire, and I want..." No; but you've acquired in your own strength morsels that have satisfied your lust in the quest. You'll never get enough, but you wanted more, and you got more. It cost you your peace and your joy; it cost you your sanctification; it cost you your reputation. But you got what you wanted: the momentary pleasure, the vainglory of men's praise, the vanity of momentary gratification. And the wise man, who had everything you think you want, said, "It's vanity." The dude had more money--he had silver dunes! They just stacked up silver, because it meant nothing to him. He had so much money that every time they brought him silver, he said, "Just throw that in the pile over there; it doesn't mean anything to me." How many of you would like a silver dune in your backyard? You say, "Yeah; then I'd be satisfied!" The wise man says, "No, you won't." He lived in palaces where everything was covered--utensils of solid gold, not this cheap gold-plated stuff! He had a thousand women at his beck and call. His name was praised among the nations as one of the most powerful and wise men to ever live. And we hear him say these words, but we don't believe them because we haven't been crucified. If you have been crucified, you'll believe what this man's getting ready to tell us. He said, "It's all vanity; it's all vexation; it is meaningless. There's only one thing that will satisfy you: love God and keep His commandments." How many of you believe that tonight? Do you? What' the fruit of your life?

So, let's go into this study one more time. We've gone into it so many times, but maybe one more person will be set free, because others have in the past. Maybe this is your turn. Maybe this study is your turn. What will be the determination? The sovereignty of God? No. God, in His sovereignty, has already provided for you all things that pertain to life and godliness. The decision is yours. What's going to make the difference tonight is the desire of your heart. When you pant for His presence like the hart does the brook, when you seek Him with all of your heart, you shall find Him. You haven't found Him yet? What do you think is lacking? God, or your seeking with all of your heart? He is no respecter of persons, and He's not willing that any should perish. He's the giver of every good and perfect gift. It comes down from the Father of Lights, with Whom there is no variableness neither shadow of turning. He is no respecter of persons, the Scripture tells us.

Let's go over to Matthew 16, and we'll start for this evening. We find the Lord saying this. Jesus is speaking to His disciples in Matthew 16, verse 24, about the crucified life. "...If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me." Self denial is the evidence of the crucified life. When was the last time you denied yourself of anything? Now, stop and think what I'm talking about. When I talk about denying yourself, I'm not talking about the fact that you denied yourself that thirteenth portion of the baker's dozen of Krispy Kreme! "You know, I just really felt that I needed to bring my body under, so I didn't eat that thirteenth donut." That's not denying yourself. Isaiah 58 speaks of the chosen fast of God, and there's something that's very interesting in fasting. In this study, you're going to see that fasting becomes a part of a disciplined life. Our bodies crave food, and we need it. But we can abuse our bodies, and we mustn't do that, because it's the temple of the Holy Spirit. Some of us worship our bodies, but we can't do that, because we're to have no other gods before Him. We're to understand the Scripture that says bodily exercise profits little. If you're more into exercising your physical man than you are your spiritual man, your life's out of order, and you need to deny yourself. Is it harder to go without your workout than it is to go without your devotions? Then you're worshipping the wrong god.

So, we need to deal with these areas of our lives and look at them in terms of self denial. This chosen fast of Isaiah 58 is a very interesting thing. The concept is this: "I abstain from this, that I might honor God with my offering." And the offering could be financial, it could be my gifts that are being used, or it could be my time in edifying others in the body of Christ. But the key to this thing is that I am abstaining from something that I put value on so that I could spend time in something that I put more value on. And it's not obligatory. I don't have to; I choose to. I'm blessed! I get the opportunity to put my self down that I might lift others up, because it is more blessed to give than to receive. Do we believe that? We teach our children that. How many of you, as a child at Christmas, truly believed that? The flesh doesn't believe that; it's not buying it, man! "It's more blessed to give than to receive." You're not going to convince kids of that; they are receivers! But as you mature, you understand the principle that it's more blessed to give than to get. You understand it as you get older, and you start giving with your own time and your own efforts. It's not Dad giving you five bucks to go down and buy something for Mom, but you've earned it, and you're giving out of your own volition and out of your own endeavor. You are now offering something up, and you experience the excitement of watching that person open the gift or receive the gift and the value that it carries with it. To the mature person, it is more blessed to give than to receive.

So the Lord goes on, and He talks here about that denial aspect and the need for us to come and take up the cross. Look at verse 25. "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life [now here's the key to this whole thing, beloved] for my sake shall find it" (emphasis added). You see, there's the motivation. It's not so that I can feel better about myself. It's not so that I can appear to be more spiritual. It's not so that I can, in fact, become more spiritual. "The more spiritual I am, the more God's going to bless me." Now it's becoming about me--my spirituality, my stature, my reputation, and my propensity to be blessed because of my obedience. But you're not obeying; you're just following the letter of the law, and obedience is an attitude of heart. True biblical denial, Jesus goes on to teach us, is the fact that we are abstaining from something that we value because we value His reputation more. It's for His sake; it's for the glory of God; it's to honor Him. It's just all about the Lord. Everything that I'm choosing is based upon, "What will bring Jesus more honor in my life? How can I more honor Him in the offering up of my time, my talents, etc.?"

"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world [everything in the natural realm], and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" That's a very valid question. I've shared this before, and some people are really taken aback when I say this, but I really mean it. If you're not going to serve God, sell out to the devil! If you're going to sell your soul, get something for it! Eat, drink, and be merry, because you're going to die, and you're going to give an account. If you believe in God, you know that one of these days, we are all going to stand before Him. And every man is going to give an account of everything in his life. What will you give in exchange for your soul? Why would you sell out cheap? I value my soul, and I was getting everything from the world I could get when I lived in the world. Then, when I was arrested by the love of God and purchased by the blood of Jesus, I realized truly that I'm no longer my own. I've been bought with a price, and my soul is not mine to squander in the world. My body is not mine to join to some prostitute. My life is not mine to squander in the acquisition of temporal things that are going to burn someday by the justice of God and the holiness of God. You see, the crucified life is realizing you're not your own. It's coming to grips with the fact that you've been bought, and you are not your own. The crucified life is a life of slavery. Yes, we are love slaves, but we are slaves nonetheless. Have you been crucified in your mind? Do you really think that you still have the right to choose whether you're going to obey the Word? "Let me decide whether I'm going to do the Word here or not." Dead men don't have that right; slaves don't have that right.

So, when the Master is speaking to us here, and He's asking what is it going to profit you to gain the world, He's putting the true value for you and me on our souls, on our lives. What will it profit you to gain everything the world can offer up? Think about that--to gain the whole world! When Satan was tempting Jesus, he took Him up on the mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. And he said, "This is mine. I have the power to give these kingdoms to anybody I choose. Just bow down and worship me, and it's Yours." You say, "The devil's never offered me the whole world." Do you want to know why? Because he can get you for less. Think about it. You've sold out cheap. What would you give in exchange for your soul? What do you think the rich man in hell gave? It says that the rich man in hell lifted up his eyes, being in torment. And Lazarus, who used to sit outside his gate, and the dogs licked the sores on his body, is now in Abraham's bosom. Lazarus is obtaining the blessings of God, and the rich man who lived with all the gaiety of life and all of the abundance of life is now in torment in hell. He says, "Just let him come and bring a touch of water to place upon my tongue!" What do you think he would have been willing to give then? But, you see, you don't get a chance then. Today is the day of salvation, the Scripture says. Once we've entered into that realm, there isn't another opportunity.

So, the Master speaks to us and says, "For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." Every man according to his works. It's pretty easy to crucify self to the world if we have an eschatology that really believes that, at any moment, Jesus is coming back. It's pretty easy to forego that momentary pleasure when we realize that by doing that, by disciplining ourselves, we are investing in eternity. If we believed that the Lord was coming back at the moment we were satisfying our own covetousness, our own lusts, our own pride, or our own system of justice--if we really believed that the Judge was going to appear, we'd conduct ourselves differently. The crucified man is the one who really believes in the imminent return of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's purifying himself, even as He is pure. It's a discipline; it's a decision; it's a constant laying down of our lives.

Look over at Luke 14 for just a second, let me show you something, It's the same principle, but there's a phrase here that I want to make reference to that is a blessing. Luke chapter 14, verse 25 (and you can look down through 33), "And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." We've talked about the fact that people don't want to hear this teaching on personal crucifixion. We want Jesus to be crucified, but we want to be glorified (and that is coming).

There is one thing that people misunderstand the most about this ministry here. People get mad and leave here, and they go out and tell everybody we're a cult. "Calvary Temple is a cult!" Everybody has a different definition of a cult. But the standard definition of a cult says that cults are very easily recognized by a strong, central leader [we meet that requirement, because we have a strong central leader, and His name is Jesus] and that leader is perceived as infallible [and to that, I say, "Amen!"]. They hold to the fact that their writings are sacred and infallible [and to that, I say, "Amen!"]. So, by this definition, yes, we are a cult. Now, let me give you my definition of a cult. A cult is any religious group that does not recognize the lordship of Jesus Christ and hold to the absolute infallibility of the Scriptures. I don't see "cult" as a bad word. If you go back historically 2,000 years ago when the church was founded, Christianity was perceived as a cult by polytheistic religions. Those who worshipped Zeus, and Mercury, and Poseidon, and Diana of the Ephesians (and would embrace all of these gods from their polytheistic view) looked upon Christianity (that had one God and was not all inclusive) and they were seen as and called a cult.

I'm just saying all that to say this: in the general terminology and thought process of our society today, cultists are seen as extremists. Let me ask you a question. Are you a Christian? If you are a normative Christian, all other religious folks (including professed Christians) will see you as an extremist, because it is absolutely extreme to die to self in the eyes of natural man. It is extreme and absolutely unacceptable (in practice, not doctrine) to serve your God and hold your God more valuable than mothers, fathers, wives, children, houses, and lands. My question to you is: are you ready to be crucified? I want to tell you something. If you don't crucify yourself, it won't be too long before they will. They'll do it for you! I've had people try to kill me, but they were very upset that when they got close enough, they found me already dead! It ticks them off! Everybody who's gotten close enough to me to think they were going to kill me were really angered by the fact that I was already dead, and they couldn't get the pleasure. It's a good way to live--free from the vainglory of men.

Now, let me show you what we're talking about here--this walk in the spirit, this life that is so far removed from the world's value system, because that's what we're talking about. When we're talking about being crucified, we're talking about living separately from the world's value system. Our treasures are different.

So, the Master goes on, and He says, "Listen, you've got to hate your father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brothers, and sisters, and your own life, or you cannot be My disciple." The problem today is that we've made it too easy to get into the church. First Century Christians knew nothing about this, "Just sign a book, and you're a member; show up, and you're a member." Do you want to know why? Because people didn't want to "just show up" because it would cost you your life! Your parents would disown you, disinherit you, and some would actually kill you! The Appian Way was lit with human torches of Christians who were crucified, hung upon trees, and set afire for their faith in Jesus Christ. There aren't a whole bunch of people wanting to join that church! Are you ready to be crucified? Now, thank God that in our country we're not experiencing that yet. Personally, I hope we never have to. Fire? I don't like getting burned; I don't even like a bad sunburn. And to think of Christians who were torched, and to hear the testimony of some of those in the Book of Martyrs who were able to just sing and worship God! There is a grace there, beloved, that is sufficient. They didn't think they could do it either, but He said He would never leave us nor forsake us, praise God! His grace is sufficient; we believe, then, that no weapon formed against us will prosper. It will not cause us to bow our knees.

Jesus goes on and makes this comment. He says, "And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" Again, people come, and we say, "Oh, just pray the sinner's prayer. Ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life, and everything will be great from there on! You're going to be happy and prosperous, praise God!" Not necessarily. Before you set out on this journey called Christianity, you need to sit down and count the cost of this thing. And if it doesn't cost you initially, it will cost you somewhere in the process. Somewhere you've got to die--the sooner, the better. Young people: the sooner, the better. I thank God that, as just a young man, I was able to taste that death and then embrace the grace to die daily. It's not once-for-all. But until you taste it, you'll never know how good it is (as that utterance came forth), how rewarding it is, and how much peace and rest it brings. Everyone else around you is fearful of their treasures being lost, because they treasure their husbands, they treasure their wives, they treasure their children, they treasure their houses, they treasure their lands, and they treasure their own lives. But when you've emptied all of that to acquire the Pearl of Great Price, and you realize that nobody can ever get to your treasure because it's in the heavens where thieves cannot break in, then you have a life of peace. "You can't take My life," the Master said. "I lay it down." What a life He's offered us! What a life that's available if you could just embrace it now, and count the cost, and be willing to lay yourself upon that altar and present your body as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is our reasonable service! So, the Master calls us into that crucified life.

When we're talking about dying to self and what that's really making reference to, Romans 13 tells us in the fourteenth verse that we're to put on the Lord Jesus and make no provision for the flesh. Make no provision, no plans; give no opportunities. When you enter into this walk of the spirit, when you enter into true Christianity, all the bridges are burned, and all the stashes are emptied out. There was a movie years ago with Dom DeLuise called "Fatso," and he had these stashes of food all around. He was supposed to be abstaining and disciplining his flesh, and he had all of these stashes. You may be hiding it from everybody else, because men look on the outward. But God looks on the heart, doesn't He? What are you holding back? Is there bitterness, envy, fear, strife, or pride?

This crucified life we're talking about here is not easy. Remember that when we started this study, we said that a crucifixion is a horrendous act. There is no glory in it; there is nothing pleasurable in it. It is horrific, it is painful, and it's ugly; but it's necessary, and we've got to do it every day. But do you know what I've found? By reason of use, our senses become exercised to discern good and evil. The more you do it, the more natural it is. You'll notice that I didn't say "easier." I said "natural." It becomes part of my routine. My mind is renewed. I'm no longer having to consider and make decisions. I am programmed to where I instinctively deny self and do the Word of God. We call it "second-nature" or "a conditioned response." It becomes natural to be supernatural. But what's the easiest for you? What comes first to you? What's the first thing that comes to your mind? What's the first action that you take? That causes you to understand the degree of crucified living that you're experiencing. It doesn't mean you're not saved; because if you have an appetite to change, if you're wanting to be different, you're saved. You're born again, and you are a renewed man, because the natural man has no desire for the things of God. But what are you doing to put off the old man, to mortify your members which are upon the earth (Colossians 3:5)? What are you doing to make provision to kill your natural affections? Galatians 5 says it this way: walk in the spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. This tells me, then, that if my members are not being mortified, if I'm not crucifying self, then flesh is going to evidence itself habitually.

Do you want to be free? What provision have you made to be free? You've made a lot of provision to satisfy your lusts. Some of us have gone to years of school to satisfy our lusts and to train ourselves to excel in the world. Some of us have spent hours studying and disciplining ourselves. We walk around boasting about what we got on our SATs. "I got 1200." "I got 1400." "I got 1600." (Well, I got 1200 if you add up all three times! No, I did a little better than that--1201!) What are you boasting in? What are you putting your hope in? Whatever you want, whatever you desire, you're going to do what it takes to get it.

We know that some of us are easier-going people than others; some of us are naturally kinder than others; some are more temperate; some people are more docile, and others are more aggressive. We're different; it's really interesting. You have small people that are slight, and they want to be big. You've got big people, and they want to be small. Natural man isn't happy with where he is. I happen to be one of those people who could get very large if I wanted to and start lifting weights. Even back in the day, I couldn't do what I did when I was young (about five years ago!). But when I was younger, there weren't supplements; we didn't have all of this stuff. I had the natural ability, and as I lifted and worked hard, my biceps were up to 20-7/8. As I mature more and don't have to have the vainglory of men, I don't say 21-inch arms anymore; I say 20-7/8. (It could have been close to 15/16 at times, but who's counting?) I had a natural ability toward that, but do you know what? I had to work. I didn't "wish" 20-inch arms! I've shared with you, and some of you who work out here (like German) have experienced this. You know, German didn't suck that out of his thumb! You work for that! There are times (and I can still remember this when I was working out) that you'd get that last rep in, and you're just screaming in pain. I have hurt myself and experienced pain to where it would bring tears to my eyes in that last rep. I'd drop it, and just walk around and hold myself. And you say, "Why?" For 21-inch arms!

How much do you want to be like Jesus? Paul said, "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." How much does it mean to you? Are you choosing to have 21-inch arms? Are you choosing to be more temperate? Are you choosing to be more forgiving? Are you choosing to be less vain? How badly do you want it? How badly do you want it? That's what it's all about, beloved. And we've been given everything that pertains to life and godliness. You have been given, by the finished work of Jesus Christ, everything genetically necessary to be like Him. What are you doing with your genetics? What are you doing with the ability to be like Jesus, to get 1600 on your SATs, to look like the Hulk (just not green!)? That's what it's all about. It's about mortifying your members.

Look at what Paul goes on to say in that third chapter of Colossians, and we'll finish with this for this evening. This is one of the secrets. We talk so much about putting off the old man, and disciplining, and abstaining, and fasting (and those things are all vital). Look at verse 9, "...put off the old man with his deeds;" this old man that verse 5 talks about. "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry." Kill those things! Make no provision for the flesh, we saw. "But now also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth" (verse 8); "...put off the old man..." (verse 9). But then you've got to do something else: "...put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" (verse 10, emphasis added). "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another..." (verses 12-13a). Put it on; choose it; desire it. Look for the opportunity to do what's natural for those of us who are alive in the spirit. Exercise it to the point that it hurts the natural man, to where that old nature is so habitually and systematically denied, that even though the twinge is there, it realizes there's no longer a place. There's no place being given for it to express itself any longer in your life. Your tongue is disciplined. Your heart's guarded. Your mind is renewed, because you have habitually crucified and mortified these members that used to dominate you. "I'm free, because I'm now abiding in Him."

Father, we thank You for Your Word tonight. We know the doctrine, Lord; it's the choice to do it.

There are people in here--some of us have changed our physical appearances; some of us in here have changed our address, and we've moved up with the Jeffersons. We've moved to bigger homes and nicer neighborhoods. Some of us are wearing better clothes and driving better cars. Some of us have nameplates on our doors. Some of us have the biggest, best, and newest computers. How many of us have the image of Jesus working in us to a greater degree than it ever has--far more than yesterday? Where your treasure is, that's where your heart is.

Let's stand before the Lord tonight. As Gary plays for us, and we just rejoice in the goodness of the Lord, and as His Word sets us free, and you say, "Man! A message like this just kind of makes me feel like I'm ugly." You are! "It makes me feel like I'm helpless." You are! That's the good news; you're starting to see it. "How can I feel better?" Die. Stop worrying about how you feel. Stop worrying about how you look, and start saying what God said. He's working in us to will and to do His good pleasure. He Who has begun the good work in us will perform it. He will keep that which we've committed to Him against that day, praise God! Faithful is He Who has called you, Who will do it. That's where our hope is today. That's where our boast is tonight--in the finished work of Jesus. As long as you think you can do something, you're alive. As long as you're defending a position, you're defending why you're doing what you're doing, you're defending why you're not quite as committed as everybody else, and you're defending why you're holding onto something--you're not dead yet. "I'm afraid what a commitment like this will cost." You're not dead. It's going to cost you everything; that's what the commitment's going to cost you. And if you don't forsake it all, you're not worthy of Him, period, bottom line. If you're going to sell out for a lousy hundred thousand bucks a year, you're selling your soul too cheaply. Go out and sell cocaine, smuggle diamonds, rob banks, do something worthwhile--or die! What a waste to sell your soul for the cheap price of man's scale of success! "I have set before you this day life and death; choose life." Everything else, the wise man says, is vanity.

As we sing this together, just rejoice in the goodness of the Lord, and taste that free gift, and know that joy which is our strength. "The Greatest Thing In All My Life Is Knowing You." Hallelujah! Oh, we bless You, Jesus! Let's sing it once more; let's just bless Him. The greatest thing is just loving You, Lord, and being loved by You. Thank You, Jesus. Hallelujah!

Lord, we thank You for the grace to love You. And we ask that You would continue to strengthen us and cause us to love You more and to express and evidence our love by the emptying of ourselves and letting You be seen in us. For that, Father, we're going to give You all the glory and all the honor, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody next to you and say, "You need to die." Go in peace; God's love go with you.

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