Reading: I Corinthians 15:31-32, 31I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die."
When Paul states “I die every day”, what does that mean? A dead man, doesn’t worry about his hair and how it looks today. A dead man, doesn’t expect people to do anything for him. A dead man, does not pursue things that satisfy the flesh because the flesh is not alive and, therefore, does not have any needs to fulfill. I am reminded of the movie “Pirates of the Caribbean” when Captain Barbossa tells Elizabeth Swann about the curse that they are under. He said there is no food to fill the appetite, no drink that can quench the thirst, no desire that can be fulfilled because we are just dead men walking about. Men, today, let’s die to the fleshly desires and the needs and wants of the flesh. Today, in regards to our fleshly desires, let’s be dead men walking about. The only way that we can truly be alive in Christ is to be dead to yourself.
If you were to be dead to yourself today, truly dead, what would that look like?
If the only part of you that were alive today is Christ, how will you live your day differently than you normally would?
Challenge: First, pray and offer God all of your fleshly desires today, every last one of them. Acknowledge before Him that you are setting those things aside today and living as a dead man to those things. Secondly, all throughout the day, consciously remind yourself that you are dead today and the only part of you that is alive is Christ and his wants and desires for you today.
REVIEW
Were you truly able to die to yourself today? If so, what did that look like?
How did dying to yourself and living in Christ make an impact in your day?
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I was noticing the other day while driving thru my neighborhood how many people cannot park in their garages due to having so much stuff packed in there. And we worry about something happening to that stuff. We always feel that we can't get along with the next new thing or we need more of whatever it is. We need to learn to be content with the blessings we have already received. When our thoughts are consumed on our stuff we cannot focus on what God wants us to be about.
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