Have You Took Up Your Cross

Luke 9:23-25-Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

I have heard people say about a illness they have, “That’s my cross to bear!”

A illness or a deformity is not a cross, a illness or a deformity is something that is placed upon you, you don’t have a choice in the matter.

But a cross is something you choose to carry.

Jesus chose to come to this world, He chose to carry His (Our Cross) cross, He chose to die for our sins

How do we know that?

John 10:17-18- “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”

It was His choice to take up the cross, His choice to be the sacrifice for our sins.

THE DONUTS:

The cross that we have to carry daily, has to be sacrificial, it has to be something we are willing to sacrifice and it may not always be the same sacrifice.

Some days it maybe to sacrifice time to help others, to listen to others, to comfort others, some days it maybe to sacrifice money to help others.

But no matter what is required of you just remember is….Daily!

Also remember that it is our choice to carry it, our choice to do it!

But don’t forget the important part….To deny our self.

In the book, Dying to Live, author Clive Calver offers an unique example of what it means to take up our cross every day. Calver writes, “An old friend of mine once put it very simply. He confessed, ‘I want to die to myself, and I want to be crucified with Christ. But I know that as soon as I can I will want to compromise myself away from the cross. What I need is a Roman guard at the foot of my cross to ensure that I never come down.’ He is absolutely right. The cross does not have just a one-time impact on our lives. And remember, none of us can die to another person’s cross – each of us has to surrender to our own. Then we live our lives from that perspective, because each cross is personal, Jesus said that we must take up our cross daily to follow him. That is the secret to moving on in God.

The Lord does not expect perfection, but he does celebrate progress”

There are a lot of people willing to give of the time, their talents, their resources, but they are wanting something in return, something that will benefit them in the long run!

But when we take up our cross daily with the one and only purpose of glorifying God!

You are going to have to deny yourself, because there are going to be days that you want to do what you want to do, not what God has opened the door for you to do.

That is when you have to deny what you want to do and do what He wants you to do, then you will be truly following Him.

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

Control life….Lose it

Surrender life…Gain life

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The surgeon sat beside the boy’s bed; the boy’s parents sat across from him. "Tomorrow morning," the surgeon began, "I’ll open up your heart..."

"You’ll find Jesus there," the boy interrupted.

The surgeon looked up, annoyed. "I’ll cut your heart open," he continued, "to see how much damage has been done..."

“But when you open up my heart, you’ll find Jesus in there."

The surgeon looked to the parents, who sat quietly.

"When I see how much damage has been done, I’ll sew your heart and chest back up and I’ll plan what to do next."

"But you’ll find Jesus in my heart. The Bible says He lives there. The hymns all say He lives there. You’ll find Him in my heart."

The surgeon had had enough. "I’ll tell you what I’ll find in your heart. I’ll find damaged muscle, low blood supply, and weakened vessels. And I’ll find out if I can make you well."

"You’ll find Jesus there too. He lives there."

The surgeon left. The surgeon sat in his office, recording his notes from the surgery: "...damaged aorta, damaged pulmonary vein, widespread muscle degeneration. No hope for transplant, no hope for cure. Therapy: painkillers and bed rest. Prognosis:" here he paused, "death within one year."