Day 19: Take Up Your Cross

By





*Mark 8:27-38*
Galatians 2:19-20
1 John 3:16
 Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? 
~Mark 8:34-37


The Call to Follow Jesus” by Jim Evans

These verses (Mark 8:34-37) set forth the expectations for a true believer. Jesus uses his own actual journey to the Cross, his crucifixion, and his resurrection to teach the disciples and the crowd of people following him what they had to do to be true followers of Christ.

Mark 8: 36 stands out to me and when I need reminding of what is really important in my life, I always come back to it. “For what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul.” This is right to the point and should remind us all where to place our priorities.

My childhood years and young adult years were a real struggle and although I was a Christian, my life had no real direction in terms of “living” my Christian beliefs. My real journey to the Cross began with the birth of my first child. I realized then that my life had much more purpose and having Christ in it every day would provide me with the guidance and strength to lead my children on their own journey to the cross.
Life’s struggles never really go away but with Christ in our hearts and providing us with the courage to make the right decisions, we will continue to grow closer to God so that we can become the disciples we need to be.  



Prayer:                                                                   


“Lord, I have decided to follow you.
Give me the strength each day to let go of myself,
to love others, and to seek you.
Amen.”


("I Have Decided to Follow Jesus" --the story and the song)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Seventh Symbol of the Jesse Tree: 12 Tribes of Israel

By
Image
Seventh Symbol of the Jesse Tree: 12 Tribes of Israel And Israel (previously named Jacob) had 12 sons who didn't all get along (despite their Father's dying attempt to gather them together for blessing and peace...). These sons became the 12 tribes of Israel. Genesis 49:1-28  God could have chosen any tribe or any family lineage--God could have skipped the family drama and tribal violence of the Old Testament tribes, but God chose to remain faithful to those ancient promises. God chose to root new  life and new  peace in a previously violent story. Praise be to God!  Just for fun: Which of the Twelve Tribes of Israel are you? (online personality quiz)  Tribe of Jesus: · Matthew 1:1–6 and Luke 3:31-34  describe Jesus as the tribe of Judah . ( “Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed.” ~Revelation 5:5) ·   Mary, Jesus’ mother, was also related to ...
Read more

Eleventh Jesse Tree Symbol: Gideon's Clay Pitcher

By
Image
Eleventh Jesse Tree Symbol: Gideon's clay pitcher The Israelites enter the promised land, but the next generation stops worshipping God. When enemy armies attack and conquer them, the  Israelites turn back to God and cry out. God--in grace--raises up a judges (like Gideon) who leads Israel back to victory.  Gideon 6:11-16, 7:19-23 (or all of 6-8 if you're feeling ambitious)   Gideon--Peace by Karlie Harper I love the story of Gideon because it is an underdog story. In this story we see a man who is so full of doubt of himself that he does not recognize the Spirit of the Lord sitting right in front of him. For someone like me who battles doubt and anxiety, this story is particularly meaningful.  In the verses we see the Lord trying to build up Gideon’s courage by calling him a “might warrior” and telling him “Peace, do not be afraid”. But Gideon, not unlike myself, doesn’t listen to his Lord right away. If we read the story we go on to learn how Gideon—...
Read more

Twelfth Symbol of the Jesse tree: Ruth's wheat

By
Image
Jesse Tree Symbol #12: Ruth, shaft of wheat I n the days of the Judges, famine left an Israelite woman named Naomi widowed and without both her sons. As she moved back to her hometown, one daughter-in-law (Ruth) stayed with her. This  penniless  foreigner--this outsider--Ruth was cared for and brought in to the Israelite family tree... the roots of Christ  Ruth 1:6-9,15-18; 2:1-12 and 16 Matthew 1:1-5                                       Reflection b y Peg Powell After reading these passages in Ruth, I was reminded of one of my favorite stories. Long ago, there was a mayor who lived with his only son in the hills of China. None of them in this village owned a horse, but one day, out of the blue, a stallion appeared at the mayor’s home.  All of the people exclaimed, “How lucky you are.” The mayor said, “We’ll see.” A few days later, the stallion disa...
Read more