God's Ways vs My Ways..

Many things in God's kingdom are backward from the world's way of doing things. Jesus said in Matthew 18:4, "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.'"

Let us ask the Lord to lead us through the wilderness of death to self.

"Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off [died to] the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" (Colossians 3:9-10).

The deeds of the old man are his hypocrisies. He covers himself with fig leaves, pretending he is something or someone he is not. He has all kinds of reasons to justify his coverups. Though many of these coverups seem quite spiritual, there is no justification for the hypocrisy.

The word"Jordan" means "descending." The words "put off," as in "putting off the old man," have a similar meaning. They are both from a root word that means "to sink down." Three Hebrew words that mean "to humble," also mean to sink down. So crossing the Jordan is humbling ourselves.
Yes, the Jordan is the beginning of true humility in our lives. The new man, renewed in knowledge of the image of God, begins to be revealed. He is exactly who he appears to be, warts and all. He is comfortable with who he is—someone in the process of being transformed into the image of Christ. He is not self-conscious about who he is, only intent upon and grateful to be growing in grace through faith in Christ and making disciples of the same heart and mind.

"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians 2:5-8).

If we want to go on with the Lord, there is no way to escape the work of the cross in our lives. Jesus said emphatically, "And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:27). In spite of this, many Christians unknowingly reject the trials and tribulations of the humbling work of the cross in their lives. In doing so, they are wrestling with God.

I have heard ridiculous statements by people whose entire lives are committed to the things of God—except for the cross. One friend once said, "I'm sick of hearing about the cross. I want to get on with living!" The irony of this statement is that there is absolutely no way to attain the ongoing ongrowing fruit of the resurrection life except through the cross. And there is definitely no way to avoid it when we commit ourselves fully to Christ. I am happy to say that my friend has finally gotten her arms wrapped tightly around the cross and adoring it.

I once heard a minister say, "We do NOT have to go through the wilderness to get to the promised land." What he was saying is we do not have to come to the cross to inherit the promises, to which I reply, "Apostasy!"

The choice is clear. We can have counterfeit religion, settle for the traditions of men, or we can have Jesus. In the Word of God, there is too much said about suffering to be denied. The choice is clear. We can have counterfeit religion, settle for the traditions of men, or we can have Jesus. It's a choice that is before every believer each day of our lives.