Will you take up your cross if it means your life?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
(Luke 9:23 (NIV))

Do you think of yourself as a disciple of Jesus?

Everyone who professes a faith in Jesus likes to think that they are a disciple, but are we, are you, ready to truly take up our cross?

Each one of us will face a different path as we walk out our lives in faith. It is possible that no two individuals will carry the exact same burden when they carry their cross, but we do know that all of us carry something through life. We either choose to carry our cross or we carry the weight of the sin that we refuse to let go of. It is a choice that each of us must make.

Do you want to be a disciple of Jesus?

If the answer is yes, then that requires repenting of your sins and picking up the weight of your cross as you follow Jesus. Following Jesus is not an easy thing to do. You have changed, but the world around you has not. You have changed, but your friends will still try to get you to fall back into the very same sins that you want to leave behind. Following Jesus may mean that you lose friends. It may mean that you become alienated from family. It may mean a job loss, but it will mean so much more!

Believing in and following Jesus is the only way to the Father and all of the blessings that are promised.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16 (NIV))

Each of us have a decision to make. What are we willing to lose when we take up our cross and follow Jesus?

Will you take up your cross if it means your life?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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How do you express your love?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.
(Isaiah 1:16-17 (NIV))

I want you to think back upon your childhood. Who was it that you looked up to? Who was it that you wanted to grow up to be like?

Chances are that the person you wanted to be like possessed characteristics that could have been reflected in the words of Isaiah. They were an inspiration to be around. It is probably safe to say that most people also enjoyed their company. They stood for what they knew to be right. They lived their lives not for themselves, but for the people that they came into contact with.

Think about those people in your life who have filled this position. What made them do what they did?

Now, take a look at your life. Have you come to embody the characteristics that these other people possessed? Do you strive to fulfill the words of Isaiah 1:16-17. Even though this was hundreds of years before Jesus came, the characteristics are the very ones that Jesus embodied. Hundreds of years before Jesus came to live out these words, God was giving us a glimpse of how He wants us to live. In our society, it is becoming rare for someone to place others first. Placing others first is a sign of love. This love is the highest form of love, for it is an intentional act. It places the welfare of someone else above the welfare of the giver.

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
(John 13:34-35 (NIV))

How do you express your love?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Visit us on facebook