“And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.’” (Luke 9:23-26 NASB1995)

The modern “gospel” says, “Come as you are.” “Bring all your filth with you.” “You don’t have to change.” “You don’t have to obey God.” “Just profess faith in Jesus Christ and now all your sins are forgiven and heaven is now your eternal destiny.” “God’s grace covers it all.” “And if you start to feel guilty for your addictive and sinful life patterns, just ‘claim who you are in Christ.’” But who we are in Christ is who we are in practice in surrender to the will of God in obedience to his commands, or we are not genuinely “in Christ.”

For Jesus Christ taught that if we want to come after him, we must deny self. We must deny and put to death with Christ the sinful passions of the flesh. We must deny all fleshly lusts and desires in order to follow Jesus with our lives. We must say “NO!” to the lusts and desires of the flesh, and we must now follow our Lord in obedience to his commands in holy living. We must be willing to let go of all worldly desires in order to surrender our lives over to the will of God for our lives. For this is the will of God for our lives.

And to take up our cross daily is to daily die to sin and to self, in the power of God, and to let God have his way in our lives. For when Jesus Christ died on that cross it was to put our sins to death with him so that by God-gifted and God-persuaded faith in him we will now die to sin and walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands – all in His power at work within us. And what Jesus went through in order to save us from our sins was very painful. So we should not expect this to be easy, but it can be done in God’s power.

And to follow Jesus is to obey him, to go where he sends us, and to do all that he commands us to do. And this isn’t just about denying self and dying to sin daily, but this is about doing the will of God for our lives. This is about answering his call to his service and to be willing to be used of him in the ways he has for us. So this is about saying what he gives us to say, and about writing and posting what he gives us to write. And it is being willing to be stretched and strengthened in areas not thought possible ever.

For example, when the Lord called me to this ministry, I had never done anything quite like this ever before. I had never written devotions and posted them on the internet before 2004, that I recall. I had never before written hundreds of songs and poems and posted them on the internet. I had never written Christian memes or done video talks and posted them on the internet. And I had never before shared publicly my testimony in such depth. All of this was of God and was/is done in the power of God, too.

So, following Jesus isn’t just about obeying his New Covenant commands and no longer living in sin. Following him involves every aspect of our lives in becoming and in doing who he has for us to be in doing what he has for us to do with our lives on a day to day basis, moment by moment. It involves us being in close communion with him, listening to his voice, and being willing to go where he sends us, to do what he has called us to do, and to say the things that he gives us to say to the people, for their good.

But please know what his word teaches as the gospel of our salvation. For if we hold on to living in sin, and if obedience to our Lord’s commands is not what we practice, we will not have salvation from sin, and we will not inherit eternal life with God, regardless of what our lips profess. For if we are ashamed of Jesus on this earth, and so we don’t obey him in practice, but we live for the flesh, instead, then when he returns, he will be ashamed of us and he will say, “Depart from me you workers of iniquity.” Believe him!

[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 2:5-10; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; 2 Corinthians 5:10,15,21; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 10:19-39; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:1-10; 1 John 2:1-6; 1 John 3:4-10; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22]

He Gives Purpose

An Original Work / June 9, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love

“Listen to Me when I’m calling to you.
Obey freely My word.
Follow Me in all of My ways.
Do all that I say.
Hear Me gently whisper to you
My will for your life and future.
Give all of your life and heart to
Follow Me always.”

Repent of your sins and worship Jesus.
He’s your Lord and Master.
He died for your sins so you could
Live with Him today.
He has a plan for your life and
He gives purpose and direction.
He gives meaning to your life,
So follow Him today.

“I love you so much I gave My life for
You to walk in My ways,
Living for Me each day as you
Bow to Me and pray.
Witness for Me of your love for Me and
Of My grace and mercy,
How I died to save you of your
Sins now and always.”

Taking Up Our Cross Daily
An Original Work / April 12, 2026
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love