1 Corinthians 15:13 " I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."
Acts 20:24 "However I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task that the Lord Jesus has given to me--the task of testifying to the good news of God's grace."
Christians around the world right now are giving up their lives, their wants, their desires, their safety in order to live in Christ. Some are living in places to preach to a people that have never heard of the story of Christ. Some are being put in jail for not renouncing Christ as Savior. Some are tortured, some are losing loved ones. Some are sacrificing any semblance of comfort in order to live in a place that must be touched by God. In Fox's Book of Martyrs, John Hullier, a devout Christian was tortured for his beliefs: "He went meekly to the stake, and being bound with a chain, and placed in a pitch barrel, fire was applied to the reeds and wood; but the wind drove the fire directly to his back, which caused him under the severe agony to pray the more fervently" (258).
These things are still happening today. People have not stopped giving up their lives in order to live. This book that I'm reading right now, Live Dead, is a fantastic illustration of a group of missionaries who are giving up their lives on a daily basis to reach the Arab world. They have given up everything in order to follow God's commands for their lives.
Are you living dead today? Have you given up everything to follow after the path that Christ has laid out for you? Are you living dead in your prayer life? 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says "Pray without ceasing." James 5:16 says "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective." What are we doing as a nation when we cry out for change, for better things to happen and there is no action behind it? To live dead is to die to our own desires. We must be in prayer constantly. We must be studying our word often. We must be seeking out God's will in our lives. God doesn't just have an overall plan for your life, he has a day by day blueprint of what he needs you to accomplish. So what do you think He's asked you to do for the day? Bring your flesh under the control of God, and find your life by dying.
Whatsoever Things are True
Philippians 4:8
