Congratulations. Your gift of a new day is here. Ready to live it big? You're listening to the Big Life

Devotional podcast. Now, here's Pamela to get you fired up for all God has available for you today.

Well, good morning, beautiful. Welcome to a brand new day of life.

Happy Thursday, my friends.

Y'all, I was just telling my Big Life mentoring girls who are watching this live

that I might look a little rough this morning because I feel like I had a wrestling match

with the Holy Spirit to write today's devotional.

Clearly, somebody is listening and God's been trying to get you to surrender, but you're not surrendering. I've been wrestling

it out with the Holy Spirit as to what he wants me to share with you.

So here it is.

Listen up.

The title of today's episode of the Big Life Devotional podcast is,

You're Denied.

Have you ever thought about what it means to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus?

If I'm being honest, that doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun.

I like to make everything fun. It's who I am. It's how I'm wired. I can turn the hardest work into something fun. I can take any old boring day and make it memorable. Everything becomes an

adventure when you are riding with me. But this, this doesn't sound fun at all. So Jesus, are you saying to follow you, we can't have fun?

Are you saying every day has to be miserable? Are you saying everything has to be hard and serious?

Here's where we get this all wrong.

This whole denying self and taking up our cross sounds miserable, but it's not. It's actually the best trade you will ever make. It is giving up what you could create on your own to accept what only God can do with your life.

Jesus said in John 10, 10, I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

Other translations describe this life that Jesus is offering as

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