Daily, we must submit all of our desires, our thoughts, our hopes, our cause, to the vision of following Jesus (Matt.16:24). He is the Vine, and we are grafted in branches, abiding in Him. He is our source, His is the Way, His is the Truth, He is our Life (John14:6). If our identity, our decisions and strategies do not fall within that heart posture, we will wander quickly into the land of the desires of our own flesh, which is ruled by giants with names like selfishness, comparison, anxiety, worry, confusion, lust, resentment, unforgiveness, greed and more (Col.3:5-10). Our flesh is in direct conflict with the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:17). If we allow our flesh to rule us, we are left void of the very peace, guidance, and assurance that our Helper, the Holy Spirit, longs to give us (John 14:6). Whether we know it or not, we can do nothing apart from being submitted to the vision of following Jesus (John 15:5). We can easily turn His calling upon our lives into selfish ambition, fueled by our insecure need for validity in the eyes of others. This perverts the purity of such decisions and strategies we would make in our day away from thinking and acting as a son or daughter being led by the Spirit of God (Romans.8:14), and directly toward an insecure, orphaned mindset of flesh, which cannot please God (Romans 8:8). 

Rather, we must give Him our hearts, our minds, our thoughts early in the morning, that we become fully cognizant of His presence in us, of His beautiful Love for us, and of His Lordship over us throughout the day. How can we not worship Him, once our minds and hearts are set upon the magnificent truths of who He is (Psalm 113:5)? This secures us, protects us from setting our hearts and minds upon the things of this earth, and gives us grace to set our hearts and minds on things above, where the Christ is, seated at the right hand of my God (Col.3:1-4). All of a sudden, we choose to reclaim our calling (2 Tim.1:9), to hear His voice (John 10:27), to receive His love (Rom.8:38-39), to abide in His presence (John 15:4), to use His wisdom (James 1:5), meditating on His Word (Psalm 1:2), assured by His promises (Jeremiah 29:11). His peace fills us, and keeps us focused on the things before us to do, and we are ready to attack our day and own it! The freedom from our flesh is directly related to committing to the vision of following Jesus.