Take up Your Cross

Matthew 10:38

and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.

Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus told His disciples, "If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

Luke 9:23

Then Jesus said to all of them, "If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

Luke 14:27

And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.

We must firstly look at what the cross represents. 

Galatians 6:14 NLT As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.

The cross represents death to one nature and life in another. The human nature that is in rebelliousness against God is placed on the cross to die and then a new nature, God's nature, takes its place. The entire scene of Christ's death, burial and resurrection must play out in our hearts and minds as we believe that we have been included in that same death, burial and resurrection. Daily we must believe our sin and fleshly desires are nailed to that cross to die and that we now live in Him that raised us. 

We carry a hope in us for those who believe. We carry the same burden that Christ did. Daily, we arise and make a choice, cross or no cross. Do we run in terror from the cross and let our nature live or do we let it die. Paul says, I die daily which means, he puts himself on the cross each day so that God can be in Him. 

This may sound confusing so let me try to break it down.

The flesh or human nature is everything that is not God. So if God is patient, kind, good, long-suffering, gentle, self-controlled and so on, then our flesh is impatient, mean, evil, rough, out of control and selfish. This flesh seeks only itself where God is selfless and seeks not His own. That's why He can love us even though we've lived apart from Him. The flesh is the attitude,  the mind set that we are number one. This attitude needs to be nailed to the cross every day. How?

Again it's a mind set, a belief, a faith. We must believe that our nature has died in the body of Jesus on the cross, we then believe that in the resurrection,  we are given a new nature, God's Holy Spirit. In His Spirit, we can walk in oneness with Him. It again is by faith we do this and it is possible, I'm living proof. I wake up each day saying thank you for loving me, living in me and being who I am today. I yield myself to the Spirit and let Him work in me to order my steps, my thoughts, my language and anything that needs to be clean in me. In faith I believe He will do His will to change the things that need to be changed and govern the things that need to be governed. 

Have you ever tried to tell yourself, I'm gonna have a good day today then one thing doesn't go how you planned and you fall apart. What if, you never plan for the day at all and say, God you are in control of my heart and my mind, no matter how things go, your Spirit will keep me calm, full of love and in you. Our minds are supposed to be renewed in Him

Romans 6:4

We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Colossians 3:10

and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Can these words not just be words but be life in us. The words point to the direction we should go, the action is believing in those words and that God will implement them in us if we have faith. Walking in them is the direct result of our faith in the words being accomplished by Him in us. If we just treat them as words on a page, then we cannot move forward in them. However, if we treat them as truth, unchangeable truth, that can be fulfilled in us, then they produce life. 

To God be the Glory!