Praise the Lord!! Question: What did Jesus mean when He said, “Take up your cross and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23)? When Jesus carried His cross up Golgotha to be crucified, no one was thinking of the cross as symbolic of a burden to carry. To a person in the first-century, the cross meant one thing and one thing only: death by the most painful and humiliating means human beings could develop. Two thousand years later, Christians view the cross as a cherished symbol of atonement, forgiveness, grace, and love. But in Jesus’ day, the cross represented nothing but torturous death. Because the Romans forced convicted criminals to carry their own crosses to the place of crucifixion, bearing a cross meant carrying their own execution device while facing ridicule along the way to death. Therefore, “Take up your cross and follow Me” means being willing to die in order to follow Jesus. This is called “dying to self.” It’s a call to absolute surrender. Read more: gotquestions.org/take-up-your-cross.html#ixzz3Jx1pjLxQ [{Judy}--> There is a wonderful link that explains this further.] Following Jesus is easy when life runs smoothly; our true commitment to Him is revealed during trials. Jesus assured us that trials will come to His followers (John 16:33). Discipleship demands sacrifice, and Jesus never hid that cost. The Biblical definition of Overcome To overcome, in Scripture, means to hear Gods voice, then to follow it in obedience and perseverance. It means to endure to the end, despite suffering, shame, rejection and death. How to become an Overcomer? ~~Calling 1. Fall in love with Jesus~~ If an army does not have a clear vision about what it is fighting for, the army is doomed to be defeated. In the same way, if a Christian does not have a vision, he will soon loose focus and be overwhelmed by the circumstances and temptations of the world. What is our vision? This is our vision: the love of God—this is what we should live and die for. For among all the gifts in heaven, the most precious and fulfilling gift is God Himself and His love. Jesus calls us to overcome; this was clearly expressed in His letters to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation: To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. (Rev 2:21) God desires us to be in love with Him. Without falling in love with Jesus, it is impossible to overcome. That is why in the very first letter to the seven churches, Jesus calls the saints in Ephesus to return to their first love. I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. (Rev 2:2-3) ~~~Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (Rev 2:4-6)~~~ ~~Calling 2. Die to self~~ When Jesus calls us to overcome, he first calls us to enter into his love; then he calls us to enter into his death. To enter into Jesus death means to renounce the world, to give up our worldly ambition, solely live for Him. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (Gal 2:20). Jesus asks us to take up our cross to follow Him, to be faithful to Him even unto death. If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (Mt 16:24). Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (Mt 10:37). Without first entering into Jesus love, it is impossible to enter into His death. On the other hand, without entering into Jesus death, we cannot enter into His love to the fullest, because our natural self is enmity to God. Any reservation for our sinful self is an obstacle to prevent us to love Him. Therefore in order to live in God, we must die to ourselves. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. (Mt 16:25) ~~Calling 3. Behold the Lord~~ In order to overcome, we must let JESUS be our vision everyday. We must submerge ourselves in HIS LOVE and in HIS DEATH everyday Beholding Christ means studying His life as given in His Word. We are to dig for truth as for hidden treasure. We are to fix our eyes upon Christ. When we take Him as our personal Saviour, this gives us boldness to approach the throne of grace. By beholding we become changed, morally assimilated to the One who is perfect in character. By receiving His imputed righteousness, through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, we become like Him. The image of Christ is cherished, and it captivates the whole being. The true seeker, who is striving to be like Jesus in word, life, and character, will contemplate his Redeemer and, by beholding, become changed into His image, because he longs and prays for the same disposition and mind that was in Christ Jesus. . . . He longs after God. The history of his Redeemer, the immeasurable sacrifice that He made, becomes full of meaning to him. Christ, the Majesty of heaven, became poor, that we through His poverty might become rich; not rich merely in endowments, but rich in attainments. attainments: an achievement or the act of achieving; accomplishment attainments [ ə táynmənt ] an achievement or the act of achieving; accomplishment Noun 1. the achievement of the goals that somebody has set synonyms: accomplishment · achievement · realization · fulfillment · 2. a skill, accomplishment, or distinction, especially one achieved through effort
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 03:32:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015