Take My Hand Inspirations
My Cross to Bear
Have you dropped your
cross? Have you left it at a familiar
place, but have gone to a strange place?
Have you rejected your cross for a different kind of lifestyle? Stop everything right now and go back and
get it. Be fast about it. Jesus is coming soon!
“And he who does not
take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life [in the world
without Christ] will lose it, and he who loses his
life for My sake will find it.”
(Matthew
10:38-39, NKJV).
You may be asking yourself, “Why
must I take up my cross?” Your
cross, as was Jesus’ cross, is that which symbolizes tribulation, persecution,
and denial of self (Matthew 16:24). The
cross reminded Jesus how He was to die by taking in all the sins of
humanity. Your cross and mine are to
remind us that we are not above our Teacher, nor better off than our Master
(Matthew 10:24-25). As Jesus bore His cross,
if we call ourselves His followers, so too must you and I bear our own cross.
“What is my cross to
bear?” For every disciple of Jesus Christ, there is
a specific “cross” to bear to remind us that, as our Lord and Saviour was unfairly
tried, persecuted, mocked, shamed, and crucified, so too must we go through the
same “shock” to receive our crown.
Your cross could be the daily affliction (deep pain) you receive by non-Christian
family members and “friends” because you confess Christ Jesus as your Lord and
Saviour and vigilantly live (with reverent fear of God and trembling against
pleasures of sin) according to His Word, the Holy Bible.
My tears have been my
food day and night, while they continually say to me, “Where is your God?” (Read how King
David bore his cross in Psalm 42 by praying to the “God of my life.”)
Your cross could be your giving more power to your flesh to control your
thoughts and actions than to empowering your new spirit—the Holy Spirit—to take
control over a bad habit, and you just can’t seem to stop: gossiping, masturbating,
lying, losing control of your cool and insulting in fiery anger. And you tearfully ask the Lord, “Why, if I am
a Christian now, don’t these attitudes and behaviours in me that I hate so much
keep coming out? I thought when I became
a Christian all this would go away?”
For the good that I will to do, I do
not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no
longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me (that is, in my flesh). (Romans
7:19-20).
Your walk with such a cross
will seem unbearable at first, but as you allow the Holy Spirit to work in you,
day by day, it will get lighter until it’s exchanged for your crown. Take control of that cross and silence the
devil by glorifying about the goodness of the Lord, thereby crushing gossiping;
closing your eyes to pornography and opening your mind (your soul) to singing praises
to the Lord, thereby mutilating masturbating; untwisting your tongue to rather
laughing with it in the harmony of telling the Truth about Jesus (and about everything
else), thereby lacerating every kind of lying; and blasting that anger in you
with the fire of the Holy Spirit, rejoicing as He changes your anguish into His
loving kindness.
Your cross could be the never-ending cycle of mockery by unbelievers at
the workplace because you won’t go out and drink with them after work, or party
with them at nightclubs, or engage in foul language, worldly dressing or evil
schemes they earnestly plan against other workers and even the boss.
Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and
persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is
your reward in heaven. (Matthew 5:10-12a).
Your cross could be those terrible memories of what you did in your past
that you are still too ashamed to think or to speak about. Yet these painful pictures are there to
remind you how to stay focused on Christ and win other souls that may be in
that same situation you once were in.
For example: If
alcoholism once ruled over you and you did unscrupulous things when
intoxicated, now that you are a born-again Christian, any time you see alcohol
or someone else behaving as you once did, your “cross” is to go out and win
that inebriated soul to Christ.
Your past experiences are to
propel you (without hesitation) to right those wrongs by helping others to be
free in Christ. If you refuse to try to
win that lost soul, then ask yourself, “Am I worthy of being in Christ, who
gave up His life to save me?”
Emphatically, No. You must pick
up your cross, deny yourself, and follow Jesus.
Apostle Paul testified, “ . . . a thorn in the flesh was given to me lest I be
exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three
times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, ‘My grace
is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore, I
take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in
distresses, for Christ’s sake.” (Read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10).
Do you suffer from an
infirmity, that sickness has been with you for so long, and it torments you all
the time? Carry that cross with dignity, dear Christian. That
cross is there to keep you humble, otherwise, you would walk as someone so proud
and arrogant that you’d refuse to see the suffering of others. Your infirmity is to produce compassion for
all other souls who are locked up, imprisoned and yearning for Christ’s
compassion through you. Please embrace this terrific truth: Our time here on
earth is very short compared to eternity in heaven in which you will wear a
brand new glorified and gorgeous body free of every kind of sickness, so you
can dance forever in the arms of Jesus!
Are you bearing your cross? Are you currently experiencing any
infirmities, reproaches, persecutions, distresses, or have been denied of what
makes your flesh (and ego) happy and instead are shedding countless tears
throughout countless number of days and nights, all for confessing Christ Jesus
as your Lord and Saviour to the world around you?
If your answer is, “Yes”, may
the Lord give you more grace to carry it on.
If your answer is, “No”, then be very cautious when men praise
you and say, ‘You are good.’ For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of
God (John 12:43).
Therefore, hellfire is creeping at your door.
Therefore whoever confesses
Me before men, him I will also confess before my Father who is in heaven. (Matthew
10:32). But
whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in
heaven. (Matthew 10:33).
Your cross is your public confession and weapon against all
the powers of darkness to be used to minister to this dying world. Your cross appears like weakness to the world,
but the longer you walk with your cross, the devil knows you will become the
strongest of Christ’s warriors: For when
I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10b). Dear Christian,
carry on!
HELP ME TO BEAR MY CROSS, O LORD. IN JESUS’ NAME I PRAY. AMEN.
© 2017 by Take My Hand Inspirations, a
division of PepParadise Society Ltd. All
rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
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exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Unless otherwise stated, all scripture
quotations are from The New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas
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Take My Hand Inspirations
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