"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me" (Mark 8:34)
What does Jesus Christ meant when He said to take up our cross? Watch the video below and reflect on what is God telling you right this very moment. (We highly encouraged everyone to share. Just click the Add Comment link below)
We all carry crosses. Each of us having different sizes and shapes. Big or little problems. Some heavy, others light. But as renewed Christians, we in SFC use Christ as our model. We all want to follow Him. But are we really following Him?
The verse coming from the Gospel of Mark and the video above clearly explains how to follow Christ. We must DENY ourselves. TAKE UP our CROSS and follow Him.
Lets examine the following points below and try to relate them to our life.
1. DENY SELF
Denying ourself means to rid ourselves of anything that hinders or is contrary to the Will of God. Although this does not mean that if we want something it is necessarily wrong. Jesus wants us to surrender all our wants and desires to Him and let Him (His Will) take over in our lives. Simply put, always seeking(discerning) God`s will in everything that you do.
2. TAKE UP YOUR CROSS
For many of us, we have a great misconception about our CROSSES. We think that our cross is the burdens, hardships and pains in our lives. Though not partly wrong, the cross is NOT JUST the burden but it is actually an instrument of total sacrifice. Taking up your cross means to give up your whole life to God as Jesus had given His life for us. It is a total dedication of ourselves.
3. FOLLOW ME
Do you value your life so dearly that you always want to please yourself? Do things your way? Credit every success to your own doing? Then you are not denying yourself and serving God. The bible tells us that this kind of person will lose his life eternally. Living a life for Jesus is the way to go. "but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it" (Mark 8:35) Let us then follow the footsteps of Christ.
GUIDE QUESTION:
1. How big is your cross? Can you still carry it?
2. What is God telling you right now?
Personally, I consider my problems, fears and anxiety as my big crosses..I am grateful if I overcome them..but sometimes I cannot do it by myself so I always ended up feeling insecure and helpless..Little did I know that every victory in overcoming my cross is that Jesus took my place..and the time that I feel that im not overcoming my cross is that I rely too much on what I can do..Sometimes carrying my cross is a burden to me..but a voice telling inside me that these cross is a bridge that I may be more close to God..that I may be more prayerful to Him..that I may be more giving to others..and this cross will strengthen my faith and be still to every storm that might come to my day to day life...What God is telling me right now is that we can`t carry something that we could not bear..and if we feel that it is too much for us to bear then He is just a cross away from us..
Date added 2006-10-15 10:06:45
cianne
whew! the video`s simple yet it striked deep down in my heart. I feel guilty for I am just like that boy who wanted to follow Jesus yet not fully ready to to carry my own cross all the way through... Pls pray that I may be able to surrender my all to Him so that I won`t be wasting my time focusing on things that actually do not last.
Date added 2006-08-13 19:47:11
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