But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.

Romans 13:14

Every step forward in the gospel is important.  Every lesson learned, every difficulty overcome.  Peter referenced this proverb in his first epistle.

If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

1 Peter 4:18 (portion)

The higher we go in the Gospel, the deeper in His love, the more opportunities we could have to step off the narrow road.

While those who are new to the truth may not be able to tell immediately which way to go, those who have set out on a journey from which they can never return are both constrained to learn more and to live up to what they have been taught in the Holy Ghost (2 Corinthians 10:6).

At every step of the Way, thought, the answer is simply the same.

He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

Luke 6:48

When we choose by the Spirit to dig deep, beyond desires, Beyond our pain, Beyond our own offense, Beyond ourselves, to that place where only He is, we lay a foundation upon a rock which will not be moved.

When we rid ourselves of everything but this, Jesus says, we withstand the storms of this age as they come, and we are not moved by them.  While everything around us may fall away, we stand strong, because we stand upon His Spirit.

Each step of the process, as the Lord strips us, and reveals us to ourselves, we learn to trust Him more, and rely upon Him alone.  As His word separates soul from spirit (Hebrews 4:12), and we recognize that which is Him, and that which is us, we embrace Him, lay down ourselves, and enjoy life.  His abundant life, overflowing into our self (John 10:10).

Though the upward call is generally a downward walk, the heights He can trust us is the depths we have allowed Him into our selves.  Though repentance brought us to the Lord in His faith, ongoing repentance, simply removing from our heart that which should not be there, keeps us in right standing before Him.  He never requires us to feel bad.  The moment a sin is out of your heart, in the blood of Jesus, it is out of His mind.  We still often reap what we sow, as bad behavior often still has very negative consequences in the world in which we life, but the Eternal consequences have been removed, and we can walk in fellowship to the degree that our hearts are fully turned torwards Him.

The simple answer is to put on Christ.  That which we put on is the new man, the new person, the new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).  That which we take upon ourselves purifies our very souls.  We find ourselves loving more, forgiving more, laying ourselves down for Him more.  We find ourselves disgusted worldliness and entertainment, and more interested in the things of the Spirit.

Every step, every recognition, ever insight that the Lord is enough, sets us free from that which would try to control us in this life.  Every bit of truth in which we embrace helps us to recognize how free we are from the elemental spirits of this age (Colossians 2:20).  We have this treasure in earthen vessels, but for a short time.  God created Adam, the first man, after the flesh, and he fell.  All who live according to the first Adam are caught up in his failure, his inability to overcome, and his sin.  Those after the second Adam, however, stand free.  Free to love, free to experience life, free to radiate the love, and power of God, and to lay their lives down for their friends.

So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.

Romans 14:12

We have a responsibility as to how we live.  We will stand before a Holy God, each one of us, and give an account for how we lived.  But, in Jesus, because His blood sets us free, we can stand on that day and say, “Everything I have done, I have done through the life of your son Jesus.”  All our sins our covered, but as we enter into His Rest of the finished work of Christ.  [F]or anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his (Hebrews 4:10).

The man living from the bedrock of the Spirit within does not labor to produce the work of God, but He works in us both to will and to do according to all His good purpose (Philippians 2:13).    As Paul wrote, “Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.” (Colossians 1:29).  Paul labored, and more mightily than even most of the other apostles, yet He knew it was the strength of Christ’s Spirit within him.

As we embrace the upward call, and go Beyond our limits, Beyond our own ability to maintain ourselves anymore, we enter into the realm and of domain of God’s ability.  Where we are weak, he is strong (2 Corinthians 12:9), and when we can no longer maintain it, His hand does.

The walk of faith begins where most people quit, and continues on until either we lose our lives or find ourselves standing victorious in God’s strength alone.  Most Happy are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3).

God’s way is victorious, and, live or die, we stand victorious (Revelation 12:11).  Better to die in faith, than live a coward.

Each step of the way, each stripping, and laying down, leads forward on the upward call, until, one day, when see His face, and finding we are like Him, we are home.