REAL LOVE CARRIES THE CROSS

DAY 13: REAL LOVE CARRIES THE CROSS

JUICY JULY 2026: ZOE UNLEASHED!

TEXT: JOHN 14:15–31

BIBLE STUDY: MATTHEW 12

 

Welcome to Juicy July 2026, Day 13!

Yesterday, we entered the Garden of Intimacy. We discovered that God did not create us merely to work for Him but to walk with Him. We learned that intimacy is the atmosphere where the Seed of God’s life flourishes. We also explored the practical ways of cultivating fellowship with God: through prayer, silence, listening, worship, obedience, meditation, waiting, and the continual practice of His presence.

 

But today, we must answer an even deeper question.

 

How does the life of Christ actually grow inside us?

 

How does the Seed of Zoe planted within us break open until Christ is seen in us?

 

Today, the Lord is inviting us into even a deeper journey.

 

May He open our eyes to see that every act of obedience is another opportunity to eat of Christ, every surrender weakens the self-life, and every cross carried in love brings us one step closer to the manifestation of His life within us.

 

May the Holy Spirit teach us in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

START FROM DAY 1 HERE IN CASE YOU ARE NEW. DON’T JUMP THE STUDY THANK YOU.

 

LOVE IS THE PROBLEM by Dynamite Films Africa

AUDIO: Play Here on YouTube Music

 

OPENING PRAYER

Father, thank You for bringing me into another day of this glorious journey. Open the eyes of my understanding today. Remove every veil from my heart, and let me see Your truth as You desire me to see it. Let Your Word become life to me, not just knowledge. Teach me by Your Holy Spirit, and let the life of Christ become more real to me than ever before. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

EXHORTATION: REAL LOVE CARRIES THE CROSS

Memory Verse:

“But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence (to the Cross).” – John 14:31 (KJV)

 

If I were to ask you today about the greatest problem facing the Church, so many different answers would immediately come to your mind. Some people would argue that our biggest issue is prayerlessness, while others would point to worldliness or the open presence of sin in the body of Christ. You would hear many complain about a lack of sound doctrine, a lack of deep holiness, or the absence of true revival and the raw power of the Holy Spirit.

 

While all these observations are incredibly important and true, I believe the Lord is actually pointing us to something much deeper than all of them.

 

The greatest, most pressing problem in the Church today is simply a lack of love.

 

The issue is not that we do not pray, because many believers are praying every single day. It is not that we do not fast, because many of us fast regularly, and it is certainly not that we do not attend church, because people attend services faithfully week after week. We cannot even say the problem is that we do not know the Scriptures, because there are many believers who can quote chapter after chapter without missing a word.

 

Yet, after years of doing all these religious activities, the beautiful character of Christ is still not clearly seen in many of our lives. The truth we must face is that:

 

The Christian life does not grow merely by spiritual activities; it only grows by love, because love is the exact atmosphere in which the life of Christ flourishes.

 

Everything we have studied over the past twelve days has been leading us to this exact point. When we were born again, God planted His incorruptible Seed inside us, as 1 Peter 1:23 reminds us. He then prepared a beautiful Garden of Intimacy where that Seed could be constantly watered by the refreshing River of the Holy Spirit, inviting us into deep fellowship so the Seed could grow.

 

But now we must ask ourselves a very serious question: what actually makes that spiritual Seed grow until we look exactly like Christ? The answer is not emotional excitement, nor is it mere religious activity or outward compliance to church rules.

 

The answer is love! The specific kind of love that deeply delights in God, longs to please Him at all costs, and gladly chooses His will above every other human desire.

 

This is the exact reason why Jesus did not say the greatest commandment was to pray more, preach more, or work harder for the ministry. Instead, He made it clear in Mark 12:30 that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, because absolutely everything else flows from that single foundation.

 

True prayer flows from love, obedience flows from love, and genuine holiness, worship, and sacrifice all spring from that same source. In fact, even the Cross itself flows from love.

 

When love is missing, Christianity quickly dries up into mere religion and heavy duty, but when love truly fills the heart, obeying God becomes a beautiful delight instead of a stressful burden.

 

My dear sisters, perhaps the Lord is asking each of us today the very same question He asked Peter in John 21:15: “Do you love Me more than these?”

 

He is not asking whether you preach on the altar, whether you serve in a department, or whether you know many Bible verses by heart. He is simply asking if you love Him, because until the matter of love is completely settled, every other part of your Christian walk will always struggle to survive.

 

Love is not just one random topic among many others; it is the solid, immovable foundation upon which every single part of our life in Christ must be built.

 

THE SEED MUST DIE

“Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” – John 12:24

 

One of the greatest, deepest mysteries in the Kingdom of God is the powerful truth that true life only comes through death. God has already established this exact principle throughout everything He created in nature. If you look at any physical seed, it contains real life inside it, yet that life remains completely locked away and hidden as long as the seed stays whole and intact.

 

A seed can look very beautiful, polished, and healthy on the outside, but unless it falls straight into the dirt and its hard outer shell breaks completely open, the powerful life trapped within can never be released. The outer shell simply must die and give way before the hidden life can finally appear.

 

This is exactly the state where many Christians are stuck. The incorruptible Seed of Christ is already living inside them because they have been genuinely born again, they possess eternal life, and they have the Holy Spirit inside their spirits. Yet, despite all these spiritual blessings, the beautiful character and power of Christ are scarcely seen in their daily lives because something else is still very much alive and sitting on the throne: the self-life!

 

The divine Seed inside them is fully alive, but the stubborn outer shell of their flesh is completely refusing to die, which is why Jesus immediately connected true spiritual fruitfulness with the process of death in John 12:24.

 

Notice very carefully that Jesus did not say the seed was completely lifeless before it fell into the ground. The Seed already possessed a glorious life, but what desperately had to die was the tough outer shell surrounding that life.

 

In the exact same way, the very moment you gave your life to Christ, the pure life of God entered your spirit, but closely surrounding that divine life is your old self. This old self is the flesh, complete with its own personal desires, selfish ambitions, hidden pride, quiet fears, personal preferences, protective reputation, comfort, and stubborn self-will, and that heavy shell must be continually broken.

 

Every single time you allow your self-life to rule, Christ remains hidden from the world, but every time that self dies, the beauty of Christ is beautifully revealed.

 

This is precisely why Jesus repeatedly spoke to His disciples about the absolute necessity of denying ourselves, warning us in Luke 9:23 that if anyone desires to follow Him, they must deny themselves and take up their cross daily.

 

Jesus looked straight at you and said to deny yourself, because:

the absolute greatest obstacle to the manifestation of Christ in your life is usually not even the devil, but the self that still stands up to insist on its own rights, its own comfort, its own reputation, and its own way of doing things.

 

When the Lord looks at all these things and says, “Let it die,” He is not calling you to a place of self-hatred, but rather to a beautiful place of total self-surrender. Our Heavenly Father is not trying to destroy you or make you miserable; He is simply trying to clear away every single obstruction that prevents the glorious life of His Son from shining brightly through you.

 

One major way the Lord gets to have the life of Christ break forth and shine brightly out of us is through the CROSS. 

 

The spiritual reality is simple: if there is no death to self, there will be no manifestation of Christ, and if there is no Cross, there will be no glory.

 

The Seed must die, not because God takes any delight in death itself, but because He deeply delights in the glorious, overflowing life that only death can release.

 

 

JESUS CARRIED THE CROSS LONG BEFORE CALVARY

“That the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do.” – John 14:31

 

If you were to ask average believers when Jesus actually began carrying His Cross, most would immediately answer that it started on the specific day He carried that heavy wooden beam to the hills of Golgotha. But when you look closely at the scriptures, you will realize that this is not the complete truth.

 

The wooden cross was simply the final, highly visible expression of a spiritual Cross that Jesus had been carrying quietly throughout His entire life on earth. Jesus carried His Cross every single day of His life; every morning He woke up, He deliberately laid down His own human will, ensuring that every decision He made was governed by His Father’s voice, every miracle He performed was done according to His Father’s specific instruction, and every single step He took was in total obedience to His Father’s leading.

 

We can clearly see this truth through His own testimonies in scripture, where He openly declared in John 5:19 that the Son can do nothing of Himself except what He sees the Father do, and in John 8:28 that He spoke only what the Father taught Him.

 

What about in John 6:38 when He said that He came down from heaven not to do His own independent will, but strictly the will of the One who sent Him?

 

Let us imagine the weight of that reality for a moment: Jesus was God in human flesh, possessing all authority in heaven and on earth, yet He deliberately and consistently refused to live by His own personal preferences. When Satan tempted Him in the wilderness in Matthew 4:3-4 to turn stones into bread, Jesus certainly had the divine power to do it, but because the Father had not spoken that instruction, He completely refused, choosing to remain hungry rather than satisfy His physical appetite outside of His Father’s will. That daily restraint was the reality of the Cross!

 

Therefore, Calvary was not the place where Jesus first carried the Cross; Calvary was simply where the hidden Cross of His daily life finally became visible to the entire world!

 

For more than thirty long years, Jesus had been quietly crucifying self, denying His own will, and choosing His Father’s pleasure above His own desires, meaning the wooden Cross simply revealed outwardly what had already become His deep inward lifestyle. This is exactly what He now asks of every single one of us today.

 

The true Christian life is not merely about believing in the history of the Cross, but about carrying it ourselves every single day, because every time we choose the Father’s will over our own, our self-life dies a little more, the Seed breaks open, and the glorious life of Christ is beautifully released for the world to see.

 

LOVE IS THE POWER THAT CARRIES THE CROSS

“But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave Me commandment, even so I do.” – John 14:31

Now we arrive at the absolute greatest secret of the Cross, which forces us to ask a very vital question: what exactly gave Jesus the supernatural strength to carry this heavy cross every single day? Was it just rigid discipline, human determination, or a sense of mere religious obligation?

 

The answer is a beautiful “No.”

 

It was purely love!

Jesus did not obey the Father because He was forced to do so by some heavy spiritual law; He obeyed simply because He loved the Father with every fiber of His being.

 

Notice His exact words right before He walked out to face the agony of the wooden cross: “That the world may know that I love the Father.” (John 14:31)

 

For Jesus, the Cross was not just a cold act of duty; it was the ultimate, public demonstration of His deep affection for His Father, meaning that every single act of obedience throughout His earthly life was simply His own beautiful way of saying, “Father, I love You.”

 

This truth changes absolutely everything about how we view our Christian walk today. You see, so many Christians obey God the exact same way a slave obeys a harsh master. Some people only obey because they are terrified of divine punishment, others obey strictly because they are chasing after material blessings, and many are constantly exhausting themselves trying to earn God’s acceptance through their good works.

 

But Jesus operated on a completely different level, obeying for one single reason: pure love.

 

When love fills your heart, it completely transforms obedience from a heavy, frustrating burden into a deep, beautiful delight, which is precisely why 1 John 5:3 reminds us that this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous or heavy to bear!

 

Can you see that, dear sis? The commandments themselves do not change, but what radically changes is the state of the heart that is trying to obey them!

 

A heart that is still completely full of self will always complain, grumble, and find God’s standards too high, but a heart that is truly full of love will always find joy in pleasing Him.

 

Let’s take a young lady who wants to hit her sibling for doing something bad to her. And her mother steps in and says, “Please don’t beat her; for my sake, don’t beat her. If you love me, don’t do it.” The lady might still feel a strong physical desire to deal with her sibling, but the deep love she has for her mother instantly restrains her. She stops herself not because the rule itself is fun, but because the relationship with her mother is far too precious to damage.

 

This is exactly how Jesus lived His life on earth; the love of the Father completely constrained Him, because He loved the Father far too much to ever grieve Him, live independently of Him, or pursue His own personal agenda.

 

2 Corinthians 5:14:

“For the love of Christ constrains us…”

 

This is the exact point where many of us must stop and honestly examine our own hearts before the Lord. Why is simple obedience often so incredibly difficult for us? Why do we struggle for months to forgive people who offend us, why do we constantly resist the clear instructions of the Holy Spirit, and why do we keep negotiating with the plain truth of God’s Word?

 

The real issue is not that God’s commandments are too difficult or unrealistic for us; the real issue is simply that our love for Him is still too small!

 

Whenever you love your self-life, your comfort, or your opinions more than you love God, obeying Him will always feel like a heavy, frustrating punishment.

 

But the moment God truly becomes the absolute greatest affection and desire of your heart, obedience naturally becomes your sweet language of love.

 

When you reach that beautiful space, the Cross completely ceases to be a burden and suddenly becomes a glorious privilege. You are no longer obeying merely because you are afraid of consequences or because you feel forced to; you are obeying because your heart simply cannot bear to disappoint the One you love so deeply.

 

My dear sisters, this is the exact kind of mature, deep love that the Holy Spirit desperately wants to produce inside each of us today. A love that gladly looks up to heaven and says, “Father, Your will is more precious to me than my own comfort, Your pleasure is more important than my earthly reputation, and Your Word matters far more than my temporary feelings. I love You too much to ever choose myself.”

 

This is the only love that has the power to carry the Cross, and it is the exact love through which the beautiful life of Jesus Christ is fully revealed to the world.

 

THE GREATEST ENEMY OF LOVE IS SELF

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” – 1 John 2:15

 

If love is truly the ultimate answer to our spiritual growth, then we must ask ourselves what the real problem is that we are unable to break into it.

 

The Bible gives us a very straightforward, simple diagnosis: the problem is not that we do not know about God enough, but rather that we still love ourselves far too much.

 

When the Apostle John warned us so clearly not to love the world, he immediately broke down exactly what he meant in the very next verse, explaining that all that is in the world: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but is of the world.

 

If you look closely at these three things, you will realize they are all just different faces of one single enemy, and that enemy is “Self.”

 

Self is the inward voice that constantly cries out that it wants what the flesh desires, wants what the eyes see, wants people’s admiration, and insists on having its own way, its own comfort, its own reputation, and its own rights. That is the everyday language of the self-life.

 

The love of the Father, however, speaks a completely different language. It simply asks, “Father, what do You want?” and says, “Not my will, but Yours be done.”

 

These two kinds of love are bitter rivals; they can never sit on the throne of your heart together. The more you pamper and love yourself, the harder and more stressful it becomes to obey the simplest instruction from God, but the more you fall in love with the Father, the easier and more natural it becomes to completely deny yourself.

 

Can you see the thing, sis? Oh, may the Lord give us understanding. 

 

This is the exact reason why Jesus declared in Luke 9:23 that if anyone desires to come after Him, they must deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow Him. Every single day we wake up, self will demand to be crowned as king. Self will always crave easy comfort, human recognition, quick revenge, personal convenience, loud applause, and the right to be vindicated, but the Cross steps in and says a firm “No” to dethrone self so that Christ alone can reign.

 

This is exactly why carrying the Cross is a conscious, daily decision.

 

For example, the Holy Spirit might gently whisper to your heart to pick up your phone, call a certain person, and apologize to them, but self will instantly rise up to argue, asking why you should apologize when you were not the only one at fault. In that exact moment of friction, the Cross says, “Go.”

 

Other times, the Holy Spirit will nudge you at dawn to wake up and spend sweet time with Him, but self will complain and beg for just a little more sleep, while the Lord commands you to “Rise.”

 

It is the same silent battle when the Holy Spirit tells you not to post that angry comment online, not to answer back in malice, to forgive a painful wrong, to stay quiet in an argument, to give your money generously, or to simply wait on God’s timing.

 

Every single one of these ordinary moments is the Cross in action, and every single one of them asks you the very same searching question: “Who do you truly love more?”

 

My dear sisters, we must realize that our greatest obstacle in this Christian walk is not a lack of spiritual opportunities, and honestly, it is not even the devil. Our biggest problem is that self is still sitting comfortably on the throne of our lives, blocking the beautiful Seed of Christ that is longing to grow and break out from within us.

 

That tough outer shell of self must continually crack, because it is only as self decreases that Christ can truly increase.

 

As self dies, love finally gets the room to flourish, and as love flourishes, obedience ceases to be a frustrating duty and becomes a joyful lifestyle.

 

It is through this joyful, love-driven obedience that the glorious life of Christ finally shines through us for the whole world to see, showing us that love is the ultimate cure for the self-life, and the Cross is the exact place where that cure is beautifully worked out every single day.

 

THE LOVE OF MARY MAGDALENE 

“Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping…” – John 20:11

 

If someone had stopped to ask the disciples right before the crucifixion, “Who among you loves Jesus the most?” almost everyone would have probably pointed straight to Peter, John, or perhaps James.

 

After all, these men had left their families, businesses, and everything they owned just to follow Him. They had walked closely with Him for over three years, witnessed His mind-blowing miracles firsthand, listened to His deepest teachings, and traveled with Him through every village and city. There was absolutely no doubt that they loved Him dearly, but the glorious morning of the resurrection suddenly revealed that not all love is the same.

 

Very early on the first day of the week, while the sky was still pitch dark, Mary Magdalene rose up and made her way directly to the cold tomb because her heart simply could not stay away from Jesus. Even though she believed He was dead, her soul still longed for Him, and she just wanted to be as close to His resting place as possible.

 

The moment she discovered that the massive stone had been rolled away from the entrance, she immediately ran with all her might to inform Peter and John. The two disciples hurried down to the tomb, looked inside, saw the linen cloths lying empty, and quickly realized that His body was completely gone.

 

Then, the Bible records a very striking and sober reality in John 20:10, stating that the disciples simply went away again to their own homes. They packed up and went back to their normal comfort, but Mary absolutely refused to move! She stayed right there, she stood in the cold, she wept bitterly, she searched with her eyes, and she waited because her deep love simply refused to leave. Even after the topmost leaders of the church had gone home, Mary remained at the tomb, her heart completely refusing to accept His absence.

 

When she bent down to look inside the tomb once more, she saw two glorious angels sitting exactly where the body of Jesus had lain, yet even that spectacular spiritual sight did not satisfy her heart!!!

 

The angels spoke to her, but she was not looking for angels or a supernatural experience; she was strictly looking for Jesus!!! Ayaaaa!

 

When she turned around and saw someone standing nearby, she assumed in her grief that He was the gardener and pleaded, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” If you look at those words carefully, you have to wonder how one single woman expected to carry the heavy body of a dead grown man all by herself.

 

The truth is that love was not calculating human impossibilities or thinking about the physical difficulty; love simply wanted Jesus at all costs!!!

 

Then, in one beautiful moment, everything changed as Jesus spoke just one single word: “Mary.” Immediately, she recognized His voice, because deep love always recognizes what mere religious familiarity can never understand.

 

Because of this persistent affection, she became the very first person on earth to see the risen Christ!!! Not Peter the rock, not John the beloved, and none of the rest of the twelve apostles, but a woman whose heart simply refused to leave His side.

 

There is a profound lesson here for every single one of us today, because so many people follow Jesus purely because of what His hands can give them. Some follow for miracles, some for the platform of ministry, some for financial breakthrough, and others just for quick answers to their prayers.

 

But when all those physical blessings and answers seem completely absent, we must ask ourselves who will still remain standing.

 

True love is what remains, what waits, what searches, and what absolutely refuses any cheap substitutes.

 

Love is never satisfied with material blessings when it cannot find the Blesser, and it can never be content with the presence of angels when it deeply longs for the Lord Himself.

 

This is the exact kind of mature, unshakeable love that the Father is desperately looking for in the Church today.

 

A love that stays through the dark times, waits patiently in the silence, and declares that if I have You, I have everything.

 

My dear sisters, may our hearts become exactly like Mary’s; may we love Him enough to seek Him before the sun rises, remain standing when others have packed up and gone home, and desire His personal presence far above any spiritual experience, because those who truly love Him will never be satisfied with anything less than Jesus Himself.

 

“DO YOU LOVE ME MORE THAN THESE?”

“So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?'” – John 21:15

 

After His glorious resurrection, Jesus could have asked Peter so many difficult questions as they sat by the fire. He could have asked, “Peter, why did you deny Me three times in My greatest hour of need?” or “Why did you pack up and go straight back to your old fishing business?” or even “Why did you abandon the high calling I placed upon your life?” But Jesus chose to ask none of these things; instead, He bypassed all the symptoms and went straight to the absolute root of the entire matter by asking:

 

“Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?”

 

This tells us that the real issue on the mind of Christ was never Peter’s sudden failure, his public denial, or even his future ministry capacity. The only thing that truly mattered was his love.

 

When Peter confidently answered, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You,” something incredibly profound was actually happening behind the scenes in the original language of the Scriptures.

 

When Jesus asked the question, He used the word agapáō, which implies God’s ultimate kind of love: a deep, sacrificial love that gives itself away completely and chooses the beloved above everything else in existence.

 

But when Peter responded, he actually used a completely different word, phileō, which means to love someone deeply as a dear friend or brother.

 

Jesus asked him the second time using that same high standard of agapáō, and Peter again replied with phileō.

 

Finally, on the third time, Jesus beautifully came down to Peter’s current level and asked if he even loved Him as a close friend or brother.

 

The Bible records that Peter was deeply grieved at this third question because he suddenly realized that even the human loyalty he thought he possessed had been completely exposed for what it truly was.

 

Only a few days prior to this encounter, Peter had confidently bragged to everyone that even if all the other disciples stumbled and ran away because of Jesus, he would never stumble or abandon Him. Yet, before the rooster could crow the next morning, he had already denied the Lord three times out of fear.

 

Through this painful experience, Peter discovered that sincere human emotions and loud promises are not the same thing as genuine, structural love.

 

True spiritual love is always revealed by consistent obedience, which is exactly what Jesus had already taught His disciples before facing the Cross when He said in John 14:15 that if we truly love Him, we will keep His commandments, and in John 14:21 that the person who holds onto His instructions and obeys them is the one who genuinely loves Him.

 

This brings the searching question straight home to every single one of us today, forcing us to look into the mirror and ask ourselves if we truly love Him more than our personal comfort.

 

Do you love Him more than your physical sleep, your appetite during a fast, the distractions on your phone, or the progress of your career?

 

Do you love Him more than your earthly reputation, your highest ambitions, your personal opinions, your human rights, your daily entertainment, or the loud approval of the people around you?

 

When the Holy Spirit gently asks you to completely let go of a grudge and forgive, do you love Him more than the pain of your offence?

 

When He instructs you to apologize, do you love Him more than your ego and pride, and when He tells you to wait on His timing, do you love Him more than your own urgent timetable?

 

Every single day of our lives, the Lord is still standing before His Church, asking us the exact same question He asked Peter by the shores of the Sea of Galilee: “Do you love Me more than these?”

 

Absolutely everything about our destiny depends entirely on our honest answer to that question. This is because wherever love is made complete in the heart of a believer, obedience ceases to be a struggle and becomes entirely natural.

 

Where obedience becomes a natural lifestyle, the Cross is gladly embraced without reservation; where the Cross is embraced, the self-life of the Seed completely dies, and wherever that Seed dies, the glorious life of Jesus Christ is beautifully manifested in overflowing abundance.

 

LOVE IS PROVED IN THE LITTLE THINGS

“He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.” – Luke 16:10

 

One of the greatest mistakes we make as believers is waiting for a “big cross” to come our way. We constantly imagine that one day, God will ask us to pack our bags and become foreign missionaries, die as brave martyrs for the gospel, or make some enormous, dramatic sacrifice for His Kingdom. But that is not how the spiritual reality of the Cross works at all, because the Cross is usually carried in the very little, seemingly insignificant things.

 

It is carried in the ordinary, quiet moments of everyday life that nobody else sees; one small decision at a time.

 

For instance, the Holy Spirit might gently whisper to your heart to go and apologize to your husband, but your flesh instantly reacts because you know without a doubt that you were completely right in that argument. In that exact moment of friction, will you carry your cross, apologize and let peace reign?

 

Or perhaps the Holy Spirit tells you to speak gently to your child when they misbehave, but your tired flesh desperately wants to shout and scream out of frustration.

 

These little moments often seem completely unimportant to us, but they are the exact places where our true love for God is tested and proven.

 

Every single prompt from the Holy Spirit presents us with the same two clear choices: will I choose my own will, or will I choose His will? That exact collision is the Cross.

 

Many people waste years thinking they are waiting for God to reveal a massive, global purpose for their lives, while they are completely ignoring His clear voice in the smallest daily matters.

 

We must understand that if we cannot obey Him in the little things of our household and daily routine, He will never entrust us with greater things in the Kingdom.

 

My dear sister, never underestimate the power of these little obediences, because a lifetime of great spiritual fruit is entirely built upon thousands of small acts of loving surrender.

 

The Lord is not merely looking for people who can perform great, loud things for Him; He is simply looking for people who love Him enough to obey Him in the smallest details of life

 

THE GLORY IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE CROSS

“Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?”  Luke 24:26

 

“…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

 

Every single seed created by God carries a great promise locked deep inside it, but no seed can ever enter into that promise until it first falls into the ground and dies. The tough outer shell simply must break before the hidden life can emerge, and the Cross is the exact place where that painful breaking happens.

 

The problem today is that many believers desperately:

Want the glory without ever touching the Cross.

We want the supernatural power without total surrender,

Want to bear fruit without the process of dying, and

Want the power of the resurrection without going through the crucifixion.

 

But God has already established an unchanging, immovable principle in His Kingdom: if there is no Cross, there will absolutely be no glory.

 

Jesus Himself had to walk this exact path while He was on earth. The Cross was never the final end of His story; it was simply the necessary doorway to His eternal glory. He knew that the physical suffering was only temporary, but the glory waiting on the other side would be eternal;

 

He understood that the public shame would only last for a brief moment, but the throne He was going to sit on would last forever.

 

It was pure, unadulterated love that gave Him the supernatural strength to endure it all, and the exact same thing applies to us.

 

Every single time you deny your flesh, something beautiful and eternal is being formed deep within your character.

 

Every time you choose God’s will over your own desires, the personality of Christ becomes much more visible in your life.

 

Every hidden act of loving obedience cracks another piece of that stubborn shell of self until the true, authentic life of Jesus begins to shine through you.

 

This is why the Apostle Paul could boldly and confidently declare in Galatians 2:20 that he had been crucified with Christ, and it was no longer he who lived, but Christ who lived inside him.

 

That is the ultimate, true goal of the Christian life!

 

This love for the Lord will be tested in your marriage, proven in your home, revealed in your relationship with your children, and worked out through your parents or your roommate. It is tested among the very people who know you best and, quite often, the ones who hurt you the most.

 

We must realize that these close, everyday relationships are often the very hands God uses to break the shell of self in our lives. So, you must stop running away from every single difficult person you encounter, and stop praying for God to instantly remove everyone who rubs against your flesh or offends your ego.

 

Sometimes, what you are complaining about as a frustrating interruption is actually God’s perfect instrument of transformation for your character.

 

Every single opportunity you get to completely forgive an offense, every opportunity to swallow your pride and apologize, every opportunity to keep quiet in an argument, to serve others selflessly, to yield your human rights, and to obey God instead of yourself is simply another deep crack in that outer shell.

 

Every single crack you allow is a beautiful opening that allows more of the life of Christ to break forth from within you.

 

This is the absolute true meaning behind our Lord’s powerful words in Matthew 5:16, where He commands us to let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven. That light He is speaking about is not your spiritual gifts, natural talents, or loud ministries; it is the pure, authentic life of Jesus Christ shining brightly through a broken human vessel.

 

When the world looks at you and sees a wife who completely forgives when she has every human right to retaliate, when they see a mother who responds with sweet gentleness instead of fiery anger, when they see a daughter who gladly obeys God above her own desires, and when they see a believer who keeps choosing the Father’s will at all costs, they are no longer seeing a mere churchgoer. They are looking directly at the character of Christ.

 

That is the entire purpose of the Seed, that is the exact reason why it must fall to the ground and die, and that is why we must gladly carry the Cross every single day.

 

This is why Jesus keeps looking deeply into our eyes and asking, “Hey Lizzy, do you love Me more than these?”

 

Prayer

Father, thank You for showing me that the cross is the pathway of love. Teach me to love You more than I love myself. Help me to deny myself daily, to joyfully obey Your voice, and to carry my cross with gladness. Let the Seed of Christ within me grow as my self-life dies, until Your Son is fully formed in me. May my life become a continual expression of love through obedience, bringing glory to Your Name. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

Let us take our other song for the day:

OH TO CARRY THE CROSS by Dynamite Films Africa

 AUDIO ON YOUTUBE MUSIC

 

NOW, WE START PRAYING

Take the song below and just cry to the Lord to break through every layer of hardness, self, pride, fear, and resistance within your heart. Invite Him to pierce every dead and dry place until the life of Christ flows freely again.

May our hearts become tender, responsive, and wholly yielded to the Lord. In Jesus’ Name. Break through, O Lord. Pierce through the deadness of my life, until everything within me lives for You.”

 

BREAK THROUGH, O LORD by Dynamite Films Africa

 AUDIO ON YOUTUBE MUSIC

 

 

TAKE CHARGE

• Father, in the mighty Name of Jesus, I present myself before You today. I sanctify my spirit, my soul, my body, my home, and this entire atmosphere unto You. Let every part of me and every space around me come under the government of the Holy Spirit.
• By the precious blood of Jesus, I declare that this atmosphere belongs to the Kingdom of God. I establish the Lordship of Jesus Christ over this place. Let every power, every influence, every imagination, every distraction, and every operation of darkness be silenced and brought into absolute submission to the authority of Christ.
• I declare that I am a vessel of the living God. My spirit is open to Heaven alone. My ears are open to hear. My eyes are open to see. My heart is soft and ready to receive. Every veil over my understanding is removed in the Name of Jesus. Every resistance to the working of the Holy Spirit is broken.
• Father, breathe upon me afresh. Let Your Zoe arise within me. Let every dead place receive Your life. Let every weary place receive Your strength. Let every dark place be flooded with Your light. Let everything in me that is not of Christ bow before the power of Your indestructible life.
• I command every strange spirit, every demonic presence, every satanic interference, every spirit of heaviness, confusion, fear, distraction, slumber, deception, oppression, and resistance to the Word of God to leave this atmosphere now, in the mighty Name of Jesus. You have no place here. Jesus Christ is Lord over this home, this room, this meeting, and my life.
• I release the rivers of living water from within my spirit to flow freely throughout this atmosphere. Let the presence of God fill this place. Let the ministry of angels prevail. Let the voice of the Holy Spirit be loud and clear. Let Heaven invade this atmosphere.
• Today, I take my place as a son of God, a temple of the Holy Spirit, and a carrier of the life of God. I refuse every distraction. I refuse every condemnation. I refuse every limitation. My heart is fixed on Christ, and I receive all that the Father has prepared for me today.
• Father, take absolute charge. Glorify Your Son. Let Your Kingdom come. Let Your will be done in me and through me. Let Zoe be unleashed afresh in every part of my life. In the mighty Name of Jesus. Amen.

 

START PRAYING

Cry out from your heart:

• Father, I have seen my greatest problem today. It is not my circumstances. It is not people. It is my heart. Break through every layer of hardness within me. Let every stony place become soft before You. Pierce through the deadness of my heart until I can truly love You in the Mighty Name of Jesus.

•  

  Every stubborn outer shell of my flesh, crack by the fire of the Holy Ghost! I refuse to remain alone and unfruitful; oh ye self of mine, crack open for operation life in Jesus’ mighty name!

• Every hidden mechanism inside me that still stands up to insist on its own rights, its own reputation, and its own way, be broken by fire! I strip self off the throne of my heart and I crown Jesus Christ as absolute King in Jesus’ name!

• You spirit of self-pity, hidden malice, and the desire to always be vindicated in my life, loose your grip over my character! I receive the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to surrender my ego so that the life of Christ can break forth in me in Jesus’ name!

• Every time my personal will meets the horizontal beam of Your sovereign will, O Lord, I receive the grace to choose Your path! Deliver me from the spirit of negotiation and argument whenever the Holy Ghost gives a clear instruction in Jesus’ name!

• Every foundational power of spiritual laziness, procrastination, and heavy compromise in my life, in my roots, fighting my spiritual consecrations, burn by fire! When the Holy Spirit nudges me at dawn to rise and pray, I receive the direct empowerment to slay the desires of the flesh and get up immediately in Jesus’ name!

• I execute judgment against the spirit of unforgiveness and bitterness in my life! Even when the hurt is deep and my flesh wants quick revenge, I choose the Cross. I drop my right to be angry, I forgive completely, and I protect my sweet fellowship with the Holy Spirit in Jesus’ mighty name!

• O Lord, deliver me from the deception of waiting for a ‘big, dramatic cross’ while ignoring Your voice in the smallest everyday matters! Give me a sensitive heart to obey the whispers within my household, my marriage, and my daily routine in Jesus’ name!

• The grace to speak gently when my tired flesh wants to shout in frustration, the grace to swallow my pride and apologize first even when I am right, sink deep into my character by fire in the mighty name of Jesus!

• Every blockage to my spiritual hearing caused by past half-obedience and hidden rebellion, clear out by the Blood of Jesus! I receive a tender, responsive heart that does not keep the instructions of the Lord on hold in Jesus’ name!

• Like Mary Magdalene, I receive the baptism of persistent, unshakeable love for Jesus! I refuse to follow God strictly because of bread, miracles, or platforms. When answers seem silent and others pack up and go home, grant me the grace to remain standing at the altar in Jesus’ name!

• I declare that I will never be satisfied with cheap substitutes! Material breakthroughs will not make me loose my hunger for the Blesser. Father, pierce through the deadness of my past seasons until my life becomes a walking Eden, carrying the raw fragrance of Jesus everywhere I go in Jesus’ name!

• O Lord, let Your holy fire touch my everyday schedule right now! Every religious activity, ministry hustle, or career project that I am doing out of selfish ambition or adamic drive, seize by fire! Let only what is born of Zoe survive in my hands in Jesus’ name!

• I refuse to waste my energy building what cannot pass the test of God’s fire! I receive the wisdom to live only for things worth dying for. I untie my mind from worldly validations and anchor my soul in eternal purposes in Jesus’ name!

• Father, let the life of the Cross give my schedule a clean, divine slim-fit! Time-wasting habits, lose your grip effortlessly! Unnecessary and toxic friendships that drain my spiritual oil, pack your load and fade away naturally in the mighty name of Jesus!

• Lord, I stop running away from the difficult people and messy situations You have placed around me! I recognize them as Your instruments to break my hard shell. Give me the fortitude to look like Jesus right in the middle of the friction in Jesus’ name!

• I declare that my character will no longer be a product of my mood or my feelings! Let the pure light of Christ shine through me so clearly that when people look at my marriage, my home, and my work, they will see the authentic character of the Son of God in Jesus’ name!

• Holy Spirit, pierce through every layer of deadness, resistance, and hard-heartedness inside me! Make my heart tender, highly responsive, and wholly yielded to You. Let the river of Zoe flow unhindered through my broken vessel to a thirsty generation in Jesus’ mighty name!

Continue praying as you are led. 

Then, move on when you are done. 

 

STANDING IN THE GAP

Today, let us lift up before the Lord every family that is waiting for the fruit of the womb, especially those who are presently participating in the Waiting Families program. Many of them are diligently following the instructions, praying fervently, believing God’s promises, and looking to Him in faith.

The Lord has already spoken. He has promised a release of babies. Therefore, we are not praying as those who are uncertain; we are laying hold of His promise and calling forth its manifestation. Amen. Let us pray for them fervently, fam. 

Father, we thank You because You are faithful. Not one of Your promises will fall to the ground. Today, we agree together that the season of waiting for these families represented here is over. Let every promise concerning these families become flesh before their eyes, in the Name of Jesus.

Father, we decree the manifestation of every baby You have ordained for this season. Let every prophetic word You have given us become a living reality in these homes in the Mighty Name of Jesus. Let every conceived promise become a conceived child. Let there be divine conception, healthy pregnancies, safe deliveries, and healthy babies, to the glory of Your Name.

In the Name of Jesus, we speak life into every waiting womb. Let the Zoe life of Christ quicken every reproductive organ, every womb, every ovary, every sperm cell, every hormone, every embryo, every process required for conception and pregnancy. Let the life of Christ swallow up every form of death.

We declare that every barren situation bows before the resurrection life of Christ. Every medical report, every diagnosis, every delay, every impossibility, and every contrary circumstance must submit to the authority of Jesus Christ NOW in the Mighty Name of Jesus.

We enforce the victory of the Cross over every waiting family. Every satanic resistance to conception is broken. Every embargo is lifted. Every yoke is destroyed. Every power delaying the manifestation of God’s promise is judged by the blood of Jesus.

Father, let something holy be conceived. Let the Seed You have ordained for every family be established. Let husbands and wives rejoice together in the fulfilment of Your Word.

We declare that this season shall produce testimonies. Empty arms shall carry babies. Empty cradles shall be filled. Homes that have known years of waiting shall overflow with laughter, rejoicing, and thanksgiving.

Father, we receive these children by faith. We call them forth by name from the realm of promise into the realm of manifestation. We declare that they belong to You and shall be born for Your glory.

We thank You because it is done. We receive these testimonies with joy, and we give You all the praise in Jesus’ mighty Name. Amen.

 

Continue praying as the Lord leads.

Round off with thanksgiving when you are done. 

And then continue below. 

 

 

 

ANNOUNCEMENT

Don’t forget! Our Juicy July Bible Study holds tonight at 9PM (WAT) on Google Meet (Ladies only). Please ensure you are studying the Scriptures as you fast and pray. God bless us all. 

Text for today: Matthew 12

Join the Bible Study Telegram Group Here

See you there, dear daughter of my Father!

 

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