Luke 9: 23, 24.
“Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
Christ carried His humiliating and agonizing cross because of an amazing love that He had for His people. In order to bring salvation to a lost and dying world He had to be obedient to His Father’s will. He fulfilled God’s purpose in His life and in His death, when He denied Himself of all rights and gave of Himself, freely and obediently, in His sacrificial death on the cross.
As His followers and as His disciples we have been commissioned to Go and make disciples of all nations Matthew 28:18 -20. We have been called to represent Christ in this same world lost in hopelessness and despair and for the job, God has equipped His people with spiritual gifts, talents and skills to use in His work of building others up in the faith. Taking up our cross daily, is to be “obedient” to Christ in the work He has called us to. It may take us into frightening unknown places and places that aren’t pleasant. It may take us to beds of illness, heights of financial despair, rejections and disappointments, but through it all, ‘Self’ must take a back seat to allow us to get out there and be efficient in proclaiming the Good News of the Gospel of Christ to our circles of influence in a world filled with the hopelessness of a lost eternity.
Is it easy? No, it’s not easy! Discouragement sets in time and time again. We become tired, fearful, dissatisfied and discontent. Hurt and broken we can fall away becoming like strangers to our faith on the skid row of our circumstances. Our desires get out of whack and our priorities get all mixed up. No, it’s not easy to be obedient to our Savior and our cross, so our cross for Christ must be a daily evaluation supported and bathed in prayer, for there is no room for ‘me’ on my cross as I carry it for Him. The irony of it is that our cross of obedience is the only way to fulfill His plan for our lives and the only thing that will bring abundant life to our living. We can’t explain it, it’s just His way! To try to hang on to selfish pleasures will only take us into the pit of sin and bring ruin, desolation and hardship and that’s where we don’t want to find ourselves.
Let’s remember, If the Lord calls us to it, He will take us through it, no matter how difficult the calling, if we keep our eyes on Him and off of self. The bonus? He will bring the blessing along the way.
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♫❤♫❤♫❤B L E S S I N G S♫❤♫❤♫
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Hope and Healing In Hard Places 