By Lance Lambert
If any man come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. These words, spoken by the Lord Jesus without any preamble are the very heart of discipleship. Here we have the heart of what it is to be a child of God. This is not just something to do with deeper life, this lies at the center of the gospel. Inherent within our very salvation, is a surrender to the authority of God. When He is dwelling in us, untrammeled by our will, when we have let go of that self-life, and when He is Lord, we find that He will overcome in us. The question is not how to live the Christian life but how to die. If we learn to die with Christ, the Christian life will take care of itself--blossoming, growing and bearing fruit.