The Lifted Warrior
Designed for new and young believers in Christ, this weekly podcast equips you with essential spiritual tools to navigate daily struggles and uphold Christian values. Each episode offers practical strategies to strengthen your faith and stay committed to a life fully submitted to Jesus. Join us as we encourage and empower you to stand firm in your walk with Christ.
The Lifted Warrior
Deny Yourself, Take Up Your Cross
The distinction between following Jesus and merely admiring Him forms the powerful foundation of this episode. Drawing from Matthew 16:24, we explore Jesus's challenging words: "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross and follow me."
Most believers consider themselves followers of Christ, but many have unknowingly positioned themselves as fans instead. A fan cheers from the sidelines, appreciates from a distance, and enjoys the spectacle without participation. A true follower, however, emulates Christ's example, becoming a doer of the Word rather than merely a hearer. This distinction isn't about enthusiasm—it's about action.
The cross we're called to carry daily isn't simply a metaphor for suffering, though suffering may come. More profoundly, it represents purpose—the God-ordained assignment for which we were created. When we substitute our own "good ideas" for God's divine purpose, we effectively leave our cross on the ground. As Proverbs 14:12 warns, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."
Our spiritual journey requires daily surrender—not just of sinful desires but of our own wills, our own plans, even the paths that seem logical or beneficial. This isn't about self-deprivation but about exchange—trading our limited vision for God's perfect plan. True discipleship means asking each morning, "God, what should I be working on today to fulfill the purpose you've given me?"
The world doesn't need more admirers of Jesus—it needs followers who will heal the sick, cast out demons, and win souls for the kingdom. Will you deny yourself, pick up your cross of purpose, and follow Him today? Stop pursuing what's merely good, and start pursuing what's God.
What's up, guys? On this episode of the podcast, we're going to be having a discussion based off of Matthew 16 and 24. And this is where Jesus is talking to the disciples and telling them that in order to follow me, that you must deny yourself and pick up your cross daily. But before we get too far into that, I want to welcome you into the podcast, welcome back to the Lifted Warrior, where, once every two weeks, I give you wisdom and strength concerning life's daily issues, according to 2 Corinthians, 10 and 4, so that you can live a life from a spiritual standpoint and fighting with your spiritual weapons and not out of this flesh. So back into it. So let's just start with the verse first and then we'll kind of go from there. But this verse is again Matthew 16 and 24. And it says Jesus. Then Jesus said to the disciples if any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross and follow me. Well, let's backtrack, hold on, before we get too far into that. We're going to get back into it, but before we get too far into that, I really just want to say really quickly to all the mothers out there who may be listening.
Speaker 1:Happy Mother's Day. Mother's Day was this past Sunday. If you are a mother, I pray that you know you were celebrated well. If you're not, I pray that you celebrated the mothers in your life very well. And then also just want to celebrate myself. I turned 30 this past week. That's a, that's a milestone. So, yay, 30 for myself. I turned 30. Um, but it is through the womb of a woman that we enter this earth, so that's the only way that we get here. We got to at least acknowledge and accept not even not accept, but acknowledge and honor those that have sacrificed in many different ways in order that we may be here. So please, if you didn't go back, go, please go and honor your mother or the mothers that are in your life because they deserve it. Matt go, please go and honor your mother or the mothers that are in your life because they deserve it.
Speaker 1:Now back into the episode, so I'll read it again. But Matthew 16 and 24 says Then Jesus said to his disciples if any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.
Speaker 1:So, just again, thinking about this, what we have to understand and what we need to look at in this verse, the first thing is just the understanding that if we truly are being followers of Christ, or are we truly being followers of Christ, are just those that admire him. And what do I mean by that? A follower is someone that walks after the way of another. So if we're truly following Christ, then it means that the things that he did, the things that he told us to do, that we would be walking into those things. We wouldn't just be doing what we want to do, we wouldn't just be, you know, going around like a days ago. We wouldn't just be, you know, going around like a days ago. We wouldn't just be, you know, just admiring what he does and loving the word, but not walking it out, not loving those around us. But we'll truly be his disciples, we'll truly be ones that do the same thing that he did, we'll truly be ones that go and begin to affect change in the earth, the same way after the same way that he did. So we first have to ask ourselves are we truly his followers? In other words, are we being hearers of the word only, or are we actually allowing the word to transform us enough to the point where we are following in the footsteps of Jesus? And to give more word to that, simply look at James 1 and 22. And it says but be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in the mirror, for he observes himself, goes away and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.
Speaker 1:And I truly believe that that sounds like a lot of us in church culture. It sounds like a lot of us where we go to church, or we even go to Bible study, or we listen to whoever our favorite pastor is, a preacher, whoever it is, whoever our favorite teacher is, we go and we listen to these people preacher, whoever it is, whoever our favorite teacher is, we go and we listen to these people. However, when it comes to actually enacting change, when it comes to actually walking and picking up what they're teaching us, as soon as we leave their presence, we no longer understand or we no longer know how to implement what it is that they were teaching us, because we have become great hearers of the word. We've become even great, not just great hearers, but we've become great ameners of the word. Well, we'll go and we'll shout, we'll dance, we'll leap for joy and all of these things, but when it comes to living that thing out from Monday through Saturday, then we have an issue in our hearts, and it's because we have not yet truly been transformed enough and we have not picked up our cross enough to be able to truly follow Jesus and what he has spoken to us and what he has declared to us.
Speaker 1:So what I want to do to you, what I want to challenge you with today, is for you to begin to pick up your cross and begin to walk with it. And as we continue to go into this conversation, you'll see that I'm not necessarily talking about the suffering of this lifetime, I'm not necessarily talking about anything in that nature, but what I'm truly talking about is your purpose. What has God purposed you to do? What is it that he has enacted you for in this earth? What is it that he has created you to do that. You are not doing that every day. You get up like God. I know I'm supposed to be doing this, but you know I got bills that's due God. You know I got different things that I'm working on that I need to get set in place before I can ever begin to take on the purpose that you gave me. And when we do that, we are leaving our cross on the ground every day. Instead of picking it up and walking with it, we're leaving it on the ground. Now I'll explain more on what I mean by that. Just follow me, but I'll explain more.
Speaker 1:So a fan is someone that cheers for and praises someone for what they do, but a follower is someone that emulates what they see that person doing. So again, I know that in this current culture, I know that in this current day and age of social media, we have confused a follower with a fan, because social media says that you know, if I click a button and I'm just keeping tabs on what this person is doing, then I'm following them. But no, you're a fan of that person, you're a fan of their life, you're a fan of what they preach, you're a fan of what they're doing, but you're not truly a follower of that person unless you are following in the way of what that person does. So unless you're actually going out and doing the same thing that that person does, you're not truly a follower, you're just a fan. And for many of us, we've been fans of Christianity, we've been fans of Jesus, we've been fans of the disciples, but we have not truly then begin to make ourselves disciples and made ourselves true followers of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:So the next part in this text that I really want to speak to. It says turn from yourself as ways. And again, when we think about this, the same way, when we think about picking up the cross, we often think about suffering. We think about, you know, dying to this flesh. But the selfish way that I want to talk about here is not necessarily sin. It's not necessarily your sinful nature. It's not necessarily you wanting to go out and drink and you want to go out and smoke or party or, you know, go and fornicate, whatever. It is no, that the sinful nature is your desire and your want and your will to do anything that is not in line with the purpose that God has already ordained you for from the beginning of earth.
Speaker 1:So, if we look at it. If we look at it in this way, let me just pull it up. If we look at Philippians 2 and 18 says no, no, not, I'm sorry, it's Proverbs, proverbs 14 and 12. I'm going to get to Philippians 2 and 18 later. But Proverbs 14 and 12 says there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. And the same thing that this proverb is saying is also the same thing that Jesus kind of references. If you go down to verse 25, it says if you try to hang on to your life meaning if you try to hang on to the way that seems right to you then you're going to lose your life, which ends to death. However, if you give up your life for his sake, you will save it.
Speaker 1:So the same thing that Jesus is saying is really echo in this Proverbs 14 and 12, where it's saying that there's a way that seems right to us, but, however, that way leads to death. Why? Because it's not in alignment with what God wants for our life. And so anytime we step out of alignment with what God wants for us and we begin to focus on what's good instead of what's God, then we begin to slowly walk ourselves over to death, because we're not just out of his alignment, we're not just out of his provision, we're not just out of his will, but we are also out of and we become into direct opposition with what he wants for our life and we begin to stop that even in time, that you're doing anything that is not necessarily God. You're sowing seeds of sin. You're sowing seeds of sin is anything that exalts itself against the knowledge of Christ, anything that exalts itself against the authority of God. So anytime you begin to focus on and walk out what's good and not what's necessarily what's God, then you begin to put yourself and put your, put your, put anyone else around you also in a place where you're going against God and you have now brought God's wrath on yourself because you're focusing on what's good and not on what's God.
Speaker 1:I need to get back to where I was. So turn away from your selfish ways, turning away from what I think is right, turning away from what my mind says is right, turning away from even what logic says is right, but literally only focusing on what God is doing, only focusing on that and not worrying, not caring, not even getting into the understanding of like what I could be missing or what I should be doing, but simply focusing on God. So I got to turn away from what I think is right. I know many of us have ideas in our head, many of us have thoughts in our head, many of us have different things that we put to our mind. That seems good, it seems great, it seems amazing. It seems like so many people will be impacted by what you have decided to do. But you have to stop and ask yourself is this my selfish desire or is this God's desire for my life? Because if it's God's desire for my life, then I have to pick up this cross and I have to walk with it. But if it's just my selfish desire, if it's just my flesh, if it's just what I want to do, then I'm truly out of the will of God and God has no reason to bless what I'm doing. Let me keep going. Let me keep going.
Speaker 1:So in this text, peter was wanting to hold on to Jesus because he did not yet understand the purpose that Jesus had to. He was wanting. He was wanting to hold on to Jesus because he did not yet understand the purpose that Jesus had on his life, what he truly came here to do. He understood that this is the Messiah, but he didn't fully understand that this is the man that he came here to die. He came here to bear this cross. A part of his purpose was to die on that cross. And so if we're looking at what our selfish way is versus what the cross is, and understanding that if the cross is a symbol of what Jesus came to do versus our selfish way, it's just what we wanted to do. So if we're taking up this symbol of what Jesus's purpose was daily, then we're taking up what we're supposed to do daily.
Speaker 1:So that means when I wake up in the morning, I have my prayer time. I'm asking God, god, what am I supposed to be working on today? When I'm waking up and I'm reading my Bible, I'm saying God, what in here is supposed to help me carry this cross today? What is it? What is in here is supposed to help me accomplish your mission in the earth today? What is in this word? What is? What are you trying to release to me today in order that your purpose and your will gets accomplished in this earth, and not my selfish desire? I'm hoping this is landing for you as good as it hit me.
Speaker 1:And so we have to deny our own thoughts and our own will in order that we may truly be those that follow Jesus and not be those that follow the good thing. There are many out here that are following a good thing. There are many out here that are following the logical thing. There are many out here that are following a good thing. There are many out here that are following the logical thing. There are many out here that are following the way that seems right to them, but there are not many out here that are following Jesus. Oh my God, I feel that there are not many out here that are truly following God, and God is looking for those who will lay down themselves, who will lay down what they think is good, who will lay down what they think is right and simply follow him.
Speaker 1:He says I've had enough with people that are following the good thing. I want people that will follow God. I want people that will pick up that cross and say this is my purpose. Whether it feels good, whether it hurts, whether it, whether it, whether it, whether it, whether it, it causes me to go through pain and suffering. Whatever it is, this is the purpose that God has put me in here in this earth to do, and I'm going to pick it up daily Again.
Speaker 1:I kind of already went to the, I got ahead of myself, but many times we look at this verse and we we equate it with the cross and we equate it with suffering. But the cross, yes, it was a place of suffering, don't get me wrong, I'm not, I'm not disqualifying that. Yes, it was place of anguish, it was a place of suffering, it was a place of death, and we all go through that in some type of way in this life. However, the more important thing that it serves is it serves as a symbol of purpose, the purpose that Jesus came to save, the purpose that Jesus came back to redeem us, and so the same purpose that you see every time you look at that cross and you look back on what Jesus did on Calvary, you can say because Jesus accomplished the purpose that he came to do, which was being obedient unto death, I can do the same thing. I can do the same thing, I can go and witness to the uttermost parts of the earth. Why? Because it's not me that's doing it, but it's the Holy Spirit that Jesus left me that's going to enable me to do it. And so, because he accomplished his purpose on the cross, I can accomplish my purpose in the earth as well. He accomplished his purpose on the cross. I can accomplish my purpose in the earth as well.
Speaker 1:And I want us to begin to view the cross from that perspective so that when we hear this verse, when we hear Matthew 16 and 24, we don't just look at it as, oh, I got to suffer through this lifetime. Yes, you got to suffer, but you also have to accomplish your purpose. You have to go and make sure that the purpose that God set you out to do and set you out to accomplish, that it gets done every single day, not just when it feels good, not just when people are applauding you, not just when you got the backing of some people that are fans, not just when all the eyes are on you, but even in your darkest hour, when everybody turns away from you, even in your darkest moments, when that seems like there's no one encouraging you, can you still follow the plan that God had for your life? Can you still pick up that cross daily and deny yourself and say God, I know it doesn't feel good, god, I know it doesn't look like what I thought it would look like, god. I know it doesn't fit what I thought my life would be, but, god, I still trust you because you are the one that created me. And because you're the one that created me, I trust you more than I trust myself. I trust your will, I trust your purpose. I trust what you created me to be more than I trust myself, because it's easier to say well, god wants me to have a good life. He is okay with me not completing or working on the things he called me to do, because he wants me to be blessed. He wants me to have a good life. And yes, it's true, god wants to bless you and he has everything in it, within his hand and within his arsenal to bless you. But his blessing is dependent upon you being obedient to what he called you to do. See, we don't like that word. We don't like people telling us that God wants to bless you, but it's depending upon you being obedient.
Speaker 1:God has been asking you, many of us. God has been asking us to do the same thing for the last five years. I don't know where that number came from, but for the last five years, god has been asking us to do the same thing repeatedly and we've constantly put it off. We've constantly said, god, I'll do it tomorrow. We've constantly said, god, I don't have enough to do it. We constantly said, god, I don't know if anybody will listen to me. We constantly said, god, I don't know if I have enough to do it. And God has said I know you have enough to do it because I'm the one that created you for the job. I wouldn't be asking you to do it if I didn't know that you could. So we got to get away from doing the thing that seems right or doing the good thing and get back focused on doing the God thing.
Speaker 1:Am I doing the thing that pleases God? Am I doing the thing that fulfills the purpose that is on my life? Am I doing the thing that picks up this cross daily? Am I doing that thing? If I'm doing that thing, then I'm in good company, I'm okay. But if I'm not doing that thing, then I have to turn and I have to examine what it is that I say I believe. Do I truly believe that it's Christ who lives and not me who lives within me? Do I truly believe that I'm dead with Christ. If I do, then I have to pick up this cross of purpose. What am I doing daily to accomplish what he has purposed me to do? Let's move, let's keep going.
Speaker 1:There are many out there who believe that they are following God because they love him, and you truly do love him. You love God, but if you are not following the purpose that has been God given to you, you are not truly following him. You admire him, you truly do admire him and you truly do love him, but you're not necessarily a follower unless you're doing the things he did. Are you going and loving your neighbor? Are you raising your children in the admonition of the Lord? Are you, are you going and spreading the gospel every chance that you get? Are you being obedient, even unto death, to to what God has told and commissioned you to do? Are you doing those things? If not, you love God. I trust me, I believe you do. I believe you truly do love God, but you are. You have not made yourself a follower yet.
Speaker 1:And and hear me, in this upcoming time of where we are, in this upcoming time, and not just in the US, but in the world, there's enough people that admire. We don't just need people who are standing on the sidelines. We don't just need people who come and love to hear a good word, but we need people who have the ability and are bold enough and are brave enough to then go and be a true follower. Meaning I go and do what I saw Jesus did. Meaning I go and I heal the sick. Meaning I go and I pray for the dead. I go, yes, I go and I pray for the dead, knowing that, if it's God's will that the Holy Spirit will raise him up. I go and I pray for those who are hurting. I go and I pray and I cast demons out and win souls back into the kingdom, because my Bible tells me that these signs shall follow them that believe. So if I believe and I am a follower of Christ, then all of those signs have to follow me. So are we going out and are we doing those things? Are we being who God called us to be? Are we doing that? I believe that many of us really are fans and this is going to sound harsh, but I'm talking to myself as well. So if it sounds harsh to you, I'm sorry, but I'm also talking to myself. Many of us are fans. We have not truly met ourselves disciples. We haven't met ourselves disciples yet we haven't.
Speaker 1:Jesus was obedient to the call on his life, even unto death. Are we Jesus? Made sure that the ones he loved and that loved him did not interfere with his ability to hear and follow the instructions of the father? Do you, do we? And I'm gonna say this one last time. But see, being a follower is not an easy task. It means you have to give up something, and that something that you have to give up is your own will, it's your own plan, it's what you think is best, and you have to deny yourself so that Christ may live.
Speaker 1:So, as we wrap up and as we begin to move out, man, what I really want us to do these upcoming two weeks is simply focus on what God has called us to do. Don't focus on what's good. Don't focus on what's good. Don't focus on what's the most readily available, what's anything outside of God. We have to get rid of the good and focus on God, and if we do that, I believe we'll be in a much better space mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and the body of Christ will be in a much better place. I love you guys. I pray that this episode was able to bless you in some type of way. I pray that you were able to glean something from this. I pray that the Holy Spirit would go and touch you wherever you are, and that he would speak to your heart, that he would cover your heart, that he would cover your mind and that he would be the solution to making sure that you accomplish the purpose that God has placed on your life. Until next week, guys, y'all stay lifted.
