Luke 9:23 – 24 says this: Then He said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”

This verse spoke to me in a different way than it ever has in the past (which is why it is the LIVING WORD – amen). When Christ uses the word “daily,” I believe He is reminding us that the action of following Christ is an ongoing and purposeful decision.  We are to be intentional with our walk with Him and intentional with our faith, words, choices and actions.

So often people believe “I did my part when I asked Christ into my heart.” And they truly believe that was their part in taking up their cross. NO! God wants a daily relationship with us. He wants us to daily remember that we are His child and that we are alive because of Him. Our act of worship and love and thanksgiving should be a daily act.

But I believe the other part of this verse is the word “cross.” The cross was an act of complete and pure love and sacrifice. Christ is reminding us that in this life there will be pain, heartache, fear and sacrifice. Often times people turn away from God in times of pain and hardship believing there can’t really be a God if He would allow such horror and pain. NO! God tells us clearly that satan is the prince of this world and that there will be pain and hardship in this life.

Just because we have a relationship with Christ does not exempt us from hardship, as it did not exempt Christ from hardship. But Christ promises to be with us in and through the hardship and often times we come out so much stronger and with a better understanding of our loving God – stay focused on Him in your hardship.

Just as Jesus lived with purpose and intent about being the light of this world – daily, so must we. Just as Jesus lived a life of pure love and sacrifice in obedience to God the Father – daily, so must we. When we die to this world and self and we begin to live for the eternal, for God – daily, we will then be truly alive!!!

Examine your life right now…what are you truly living for? What is the main focus and drive behind your daily choices – for your life? Are you living for the things of this world or for the eternal? Are you taking up your cross – daily?

Living for the things of this world are temporary at best. Look around the room you’re in – when you are out today, look around your city. Everything eventually breaks, falls apart, dies – nothing of this world is lasting.

The “riches” of this world are fleeting – but life in Christ is forever. More precious than gold and silver is the love and life of Jesus Christ. Live for the everlasting and don’t die for things that are dying right along with you….Live for Christ.

This morning when I was leaving Zumba class, I walked past a beautiful bed of flowers at the church. Beneath that beautiful bed I could faintly smell manure. Immediately the thought came to me and made me laugh out loud at the obvious symbol.

Many times we try to make ourselves look beautiful on the surface, but underneath that surface is a world of manure. We live a life focused on only the surface to be sure that everyone else sees a strong successful person with no pain, sin or trauma in their life.

We waste so much time focusing on the surface, that we never take the time to go deeper to try to clean out or deal with the manure.

I am a key offender of this. So worried about what everyone sees on the surface , rather than addressing who I really am, on the inside.  What I got from that was a very shallow life, which only ever made me feel empty inside.

During a recent “coming to Jesus” moment in my life, with my marriage, God opened my eyes for the first time. I saw the whole picture – not just my surface – not just who I believed myself to be, but everything I really was.

The amazing thing is, God did this with such love. No judgment – just “Hey Tammy, why are you expecting perfection from others when you have this pile of manure hidden beneath your own surface?” I was convicted for the first time.

I saw the darkness in my own heart for the first time. I began to pray daily and the first thing I asked, daily, was “God, please take this darkness from my heart.” Eventually I added that He would make satan a footstool at my feet and that he would no longer be allowed to whisper his hateful lies to me anymore.

Chains began to break and the “stink” of my manure began to fade. What I am learning in life is this. Many of us will start out with worrying about our surface and ignore the manure inside. BUT once we become aware of the manure, and with real repentance, ask God to remove that manure, what I found is that the manure is what makes us stronger in our faith and makes our outsides mirror our inside – beautiful, just like that bed of flowers.

My relationship with Christ is so much stronger now BECAUSE I saw what He saw. And I watched as He lovingly helped me through my stink, as my Father and Counselor, to bring me to a place of true repentance, forgiveness and peace.

Many of you have “manure” buried under your surface and feel trapped because you don’t know how to change it or you are hanging on to it as a wall of protection. There is freedom from that bondage and that freedom is called Jesus Christ.

He tells us to give Him our burdens and He will lighten our load. He is your Father, and as a father, He loves you beyond measure, beyond words. Give your manure to Jesus – because only He is able to truly clean your heart, cleanse your soul and give you true freedom from sin, pain and heartache.

My prayer today is that you will allow Christ to create in you a truly beautiful surface through cleansing what is inside your heart – removing your manure and setting you free.