To live the victorious Christian life we must deny our own life at every point of challenge. Each day the Holy Spirit challenges us at some point of worldliness, the passions of the flesh, or personal ambition and self-will. Each day we decide either to save our life or to lose it.

If we follow the desires of our flesh and mind we lose our life; we are not given to eat of the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ.

If we deny ourselves, carrying our cross after Jesus, choosing to do the will of the Spirit instead of obeying the demands of our flesh and soul, we are given to eat of the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ. In this manner eternal life is increased in us. In this manner we lay hold on eternal life. In this manner we sow to the Spirit of God.

If we are faithful in sowing to the Spirit of God, then, when the Lord appears, we will be raised from the dead. Eternal life will envelop our physical frame, thus redeeming the body, making it immortal. Then we will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. (Romans 8:11—NIV)

The purpose of the meeting in the air is to enable us to find our place in the army that will follow the Lord Jesus Christ in the attack of Armageddon.

To qualify for this first resurrection, the resurrection that precedes the resurrection of the dead, we must have died in Christ. It is not enough to point back at some previous time and claim we took the four steps of salvation. To die in Christ means when we die we are in intense continual interaction with Jesus Christ, with His body and blood. Only these will attain the resurrection to eternal life. Does this makes sense to you?

When the Lord appears He is not going to call to your doctrine. He is going to call to His Life in you. If His Life is not abiding richly in you, you will have nothing within you to answer the call of the Lord. It is as straightforward, as simple, as plain, as practical as this.

Today by your behavior you are determining what will take place in you when the Lord appears.

This has nothing to do with whether you are alive on the earth at the time or in the spirit realm because you have died; or whether you were buried, cremated, or whether you were blown to bits by a hydrogen bomb. There will be a convergence of the spirit and physical realms in that day and I believe it shall take place exactly as I have described here. Check it out in the Scriptures!

To be continued.