And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:38
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:27
What is the cross in your own history? Have you faced a type of cross / death in your life? If you haven’t got one or faced one then you are still living in the shadows. You may get brief moments and touches, but they will be fleeting and coming and going. If you have a cross and a grave in your history then the Holy Spirit has what He requires for an abiding risen Life with all it’s values to manifest within you. What is this new creation? If you allow Him into you accepting the Lord Jesus, a new consciousness is the first marker and things are experienced differently from then on. You have come alive to things you were never alive before; in every realm things are the same, yet entirely different. You have begun to walk the path of spiritual paradoxes. Being with people and their surroundings seem like there is something new because you have a new consciousness.
With this new consciousness comes a new capacity. The Holy Spirit comes to develop His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23) within you and begin His working His gifts (1 Corinthians 12:1-11) within you, none of which we have by nature. The anointing of the Holy Spirit provides capabilities that the best men and women of the world don’t have. The new creation with it’s new capacities, capabilities for knowing, understanding, and for doing, give the ability to do things we never had before.
The indwelling Presence of the Holy Spirit means a capability and capacity inside of us that we never had before. We ought to prove the Lord in that way. The Holy Spirit will become your Teacher (John 14:26). He will be your instructor and guide for the path He has set before you.
What is the ordinance of baptism really about? Death and resurrection. Death to your old life, and resurrection into the new Life in Him. The act of water baptism is just a symbol of the spiritual baptism that has already occurred in your life… the One baptism into the Body of Christ that the apostle Paul talks about. Then there is the baptism of the Holy Spirit given by Jesus (Luke 3:16). This baptism is a voluntary, asking on your part for Jesus to immerse you completely with the Holy Spirit. It is His timing and way. And this I know about Him … He is always unpredictable, fun, loving, and full of joy. I’ve personally witnessed people fall under the power of the Holy Spirit and just begin laughing with complete joy. Others just began prophesying. Others began speaking in tongues. Many in religious circles have great difficulty explaining the moving of the Holy Spirit. Be careful in denying what might actually be the Holy Spirit moving. Watch for His fruit in their lives after He has come upon them. His gifts are for but a moment in time, but His fruit will remain and grow in them if it is genuine.
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Luke 6:43-45
You might say “I don’t remember any crosses in my life.” Ask the Holy Spirit to show you. He will bring to your remembrance His working in your life. We shouldn’t be looking for crosses or death, but be focusing on His Life within us. There are those moments that do transform us, through pain, and surrender to Him. What is He asking you to surrender and die to? Pride? Self sufficiency? Comfort? Reliance on money? Lust? Fear? The list is long. And it’s a process.
Just trust Jesus. He will make a way, where there seems to be no way.