Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ! I am pleased to share the Word of life for your spiritual edification and empowerment!
The scripture in Mark 8:34 says, " Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me." The title of my message is: " Carrying the Cross! The above famous words from Jesus appear in all three of the synoptic Gospels ( Mark 8:34; Matthew 16:24; Luke 9:23).
They have two different interpretations. One interpretation focuses on suffering as a " witness" to the Lord. The other interpretation focuses on the suffering that we face as we "die to ourselves." Ìn this message , we want to focus on the first interpretation, asking what it means to carry the crosses that come to us in this life.
In my next message, we will take a look at the power of the cross to help us die to sin and self- centered ways of thinking and acting. We all have Crosses to carry! When we look at the call to take up our cross, we tend to think of the way God asks us to accept and embrace the sufferings and hardships that come from living in this fallen world. While we have a difficult time understanding why a good God allows his people to suffer, we all know what suffering feels like, and we can understand how it can be linked to the cross. (1 Corinthians 1:17-18, Psalm 30:5).
The kind of suffering can be physical or spiritual or psychological. It can range from cancer to the inner wounds caused by someone who persecutes you because of your faith. It can come in the form of a stillborn baby or in the form of a healthy child who is not doing as well as he or she could do in school. It can come from our standing up for Innocent life in a culture of death, or it can come from having to endure the pain of a broken relationship.
Whatever, its source, we all have situations in our lives that we could honestly call " crosses" that we have to bear. It is important to see, however, that before we accept or embrace any cross we may encounter, we should feel free to ask the Lord to remove it from us. Yes, Jesus told us to carry our crosses. But at the same time he himself healed many people.
He removed their crosses because of his love and compassion. Just as Jesus removed the crosses from these people, there are many instances where he wants to remove ours. He knows all about our suffering, and he is with us. He loves to heal us. ( John 16:33, Isaiah 53:3-5, Deuteronomy 31:6-8, Acts 10:38). I do not know what cross you are carrying right now, but the Lord is saying give me your yoke and take mine which is light . ( Matthew 11:28-30).
It can be the cross of a sour marriage or relationship, take it to Jesus. It can be the cross of a nagging illness, broken heart, bitterness, unforgiveness and barrenness, just cast it all upon the Lord, he will sustain you. ( 1 Peter 5:7, Psalm 55:22, Luke 4:18, Psalm 34:17-19). Let us all carry our crosses and move on with our lives.
The Lord will not let you fall with your cross, he will be with you to help you overcome all trials and temptations in this life. ( Romans 5:3-5, Romans 8:35-39).
Carrying the Cross is a sacrifice for both physical and spiritual victory in our lives!
May God richly bless you for reading this message!
Evangelist Fanuel Masikati
Email: Divinerevelations7@gmail.com
Cell: 263778495363
No comments:
Post a Comment