Summary: Jesus had to die so we could live…we have to die so He can live through us so others can have life!!! Seems painful, but it’s oh so true. The way we think, the way we think it ought to happen and what the Word of God says is completely opposite.

"ARE YOU DEAD YET???”

- John 12:24 -

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much."

I’ll make it plain…Jesus had to die so we could live…we have to die so He can live through us so others can have life!!! Seems painful, but it’s oh so true. The way we think, the way we think it ought to happen and what the Word of God says is completely opposite. It’s like this:

If I want to I must…

… save my life… … lose my life – Luke 9:24-26

… be lifted up… … humble myself before the Lord – James 4:7

… be the greatest… … be a servant – Matt.20:20-22

… be first… … be last – Matt.19:30

… rule… … serve – Luke 22:26-27

… live… … put to death the deeds of the body – Rom.8:13

… be strong… … be weak – 2 Cor.11:30; 12:9-10

… inherit the kingdom… … be poor in spirit – Matt.5:3

… reproduce… … die

It’s the seed principle I’ve wrote about many times. If you keep the seed out of the ground all you have is the seed. But when that seed is planted and then it grows…end of story. Bury it and it rises. Sounds a lot like resurrection!!! Sounds like there better be some spiritual funerals…yours and mine…ouch, but amen. Dying to self, dying to my agenda, and giving all to Jesus. Why do we struggle so??? Why do we want to be in control??? Our lives are not our own, where have I heard that before??? It’s time to give up and give in to Him. The Master says: And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. (Mark 8:34). He said that to the people and us His disciples in case you were wondering. It’s so my desire to do His will. I friend am at a point I have not been before. I want Him and His will like never before. For God to move, for God to bless people through me, because that’s what He so desires…amen???

Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened (made alive), except it die. (I Cor. 15:36). For God to move… we must move…by faith. And faith friend is an act. Get faith by hearing then doing the Word. Put your life in the ground of faith, the soil of success, the dirt of divine direction. “Except it (you) die”. I heard this joke this week: “If you want to see God laugh, tell Him your plans”. Oh, I have my ideas of what I think is best. Or the way I think it will work. But did you see “my I problem??? Me, myself and I, the greatest roadblock for God to move and make a difference in my life.

“In the center of the ring stands My flesh vs. God’s Spirit. The ongoing battle of the ages, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Gal. 5:16, 17). When we are so stubborn, believe it or not God loses and we win. God loses us friend, our part in His plan for us. We think we win, but in fact we’ve lost everything. We must die to our flesh, it profits nothing “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life” (John 6:63) and ”For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not”. (Rom. 7:18). It’s pretty much how we get in so much trouble, “I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness” Rom. 6:19). Here is the “works and war of the flesh and spirit” verses of verses: “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:16 – 25). “Crucified the flesh”, I trust you read that…slowly!!! We must die or we will reap what we sow, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting” (Gal. 6:7, 8). We must make a decision! We must decide whether it is to obey the spirit and therefore be united with God and His will or will the flesh yeild to the body and all the temptations of the material world. In the beginning, when man fell, we/mankind resisted the spirit’s (God is a spirit) authority and became enslaved to the body and its passions. Thus man became fleshly, not spiritual. In other words, man’s sprit was denied its rightful position and was reduced to a prisoner of the flesh.

We have available to us through the Lord a “flesh fighting force”…The Holy Word of God…amen “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him (John 17:2). I have good news for you. The law of the Spirit, and the law of the flesh are not equal in power. “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matt. 26:41). In Romans 8:2, Paul said, ”the law of the Spirit has set us free from the law of sin and death”. The part of us that wants to rebel has been overcome so whenever we want, whenever we choose to live in God’s higher law, the law of the Spirit, we will see it overcome the law of sin and death. Amen. Allow me to illustrate how this work by talking about gravity. The law of gravity is what holds us to this earth so we won’t fly off into space. But there is another law which overcomes gravity and it is quite noticeable when you fly in an airplane. One day the Wright brothers did some aero-dynamic analysis and discovered this higher law, they found with a certain amount of combustion, combined with a certain amount of speed and with a certain air flow, we could transcend the law of gravity. Now the Wright brothers did not eradicate the law of gravity, they just rendered it inoperative by a higher law called aerodynamics. If this law stopped working, such as by an airplane engine failing, then the plan will come tumbling back to the ground because the law of gravity is not dead. It is the same with the law of sin and death. As Christians, this law is still around, it is still at work. But when you combine the combustion of the Holy Spirit with the speed of obedience and the air flow of holiness, you are lifted to a higher plane of spiritual life. We ought to be rising higher and not living under the circumstances of life because of the aerodynamic power of the Holy Spirit at work in us which transcends the law of sin and death. How many of you have seen an acorn move a sidewalk. I mean just break it up because it has fallen in the crack of the sidewalk? An acorn cannot do that, but when you set the acorn free to be what it was created to be, you no longer have an acorn, you have an oak tree and when an oak tree begins to grow, it can move concrete because it transcends the law of concrete. When you accept Jesus Christ into your life, you receive the so-called acorn of the Holy Spirit who wants to become like the oak tree in your life and move aside the concrete problems of your life. And as a Christian, if you are a slave to sin, it then becomes slavery by your own choice. You don’t have to be a slave if you allow the spiritual principles of God loose to work in your life. But the course of direction in your life will depend on whether you are living under the authority and law of the flesh or the authority and law of the Spirit. The once dead/useful for nothing acorn was planted and then literally moved earth. Die and be planted…Am I hearing myself…I Mike Walker must die to live.

This must be our battle cry verse: Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." “Are You Dead Yet???”. We can live a life of obedience, or a life of disobedience. But as Christians, we owe our flesh nothing. You flesh hasn’t done a thing for you. Paul said you are not obligated to the flesh; you are obligated to the Spirit.

There are those who say, but my flesh is so strong. It wants what it wants so badly. And this may be true, but that only happens when you keep feeding it. By what we see, by what we hear, by what we say…the flesh man. When you starve your flesh long enough, it will shrivel up and die. They say it takes 40 days to break a habit, to kill off some of the flesh issues you are struggling. The problem for many trying to break a habit, they indulge during those 40 days, and guess what, they have rejuvenated the flesh and it grows stronger. But when you kill the flesh, you live. Most believers want to serve God and give him their all. But somehow, we manage to fall short. The spirit is willing – that is, the heart, the desire is there, but the flesh is weak – the ability to get it done falls short. The spirit is willing, but the flesh gets in the way. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is lazy. The spirit is willing, but the flesh makes excuses. Flesh and spirit struggle for control of you. We must base everything we do on God’s Word. If you are led by the Spirit, the Spirit of God will always lead according to the Word of God. Sometimes God’s way, the right way is the hard way. Sometimes it takes effort. It always goes against the flesh. But I tell you again and again, the flesh has to be crucified. Follow the Spirit. Know the Word. Let it guide your every thought and action. God has laid it out in black and white for us to see and follow. God wrote it. Jesus lived as the example. We are without excuse. Die to your ways and live to His…amen and amen.

. In closing let us pray for you my friend. Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading c42day, right now. Lord, let this message penetrate their hearts and realize that you have a plan a destiny for their life. Challenge them by you’re Spirit. Give them faith to believe in who they are in YOU. It’s my and I know your desire Lord that they have been challenged to change their life. For sure they have been challenged2Bchanged. In Jesus Name...Amen

If you want to know more about Him go to our "are you challenged2Bchanged" (ru/c2bc) page for help. Or at least e-mail us…thanks, we so much want to hear from you), we would love to hear your response.

God Bless,

Mike & Carole