Breakthrough | Freedom | Dominion.
Luke 9:23 KJV,
“And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me”.
The term CROSS symbolizes “self-renunciation”. It signifies a renunciation of the worldly pleasures and a commitment to dedicating oneself entirely to fulfilling a higher purpose, namely serving God.
Carrying a cross demands unwavering strength, devotion, and concentration in order to reach its ultimate destination. It necessitates the complete involvement of an individual’s physical, mental, and spiritual faculties.
That’s why the Bible says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). Hence, embracing the path of the Lord necessitates entrusting Him with the entirety of one’s heart, rather than merely a fraction.
In Matthew 19:27, Peter, the disciple, articulated a profound statement indicating that the disciples renounced all worldly temptations and pleasures in order to faithfully follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
“We have left everything to follow you” Peter said.
By wholeheartedly surrendering to God and allowing His grace to permeate every aspect of one’s being, one will experience the full manifestation of God’s divine blessings. By doing so, one’s spiritual inheritance and privileges will be protected from Satan’s attempts to steal them, a fate that often befalls those who only partially commit themselves to God.
The cross requires total surrender, dedication, passion and service. Before Jesus attempted to carry His cross, He surrendered. He said, “Not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). He demonstrated dedication and focus in the task ahead and it is incumbent upon us to emulate his example.
It is imperative that we fully submit to God’s will in all facets of our lives, as Christ selflessly sacrificed everything for us on the cross.
We are called to offer Him everything we have, reflecting the significance of taking up our cross and following Jesus. By relinquishing our own desires, we pave the way for a remarkable revitalization in our lives, enabling us to encounter a heightened sense of divine power, anointing, and triumph in our spiritual journey.
As Jesus bore the cross on His shoulder and journeyed to “Golgotha, the place known as the skull,” where He was crucified, He relinquished all worldly desires, remaining steadfast in fulfilling His mission of sacrificial death.
Through His faithful acceptance of the cross, Jesus was exalted by God as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. The crucifixion was an inevitable necessity for Jesus, without which He would not have attained His royal status.
The pathway to a higher resurrected life in the kingdom of God is through the cross. There are no short cuts to the cross, the path is unavoidable.
“If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me (Luke 9:23)”.
For the believer who is seeking to faithfully follow the teachings of the Lord, there are no quick fixes. The allure of temptation to stray from the path of righteousness is ever-present, particularly when one aspires to lead a life of Holiness.
The challenge to abandon one’s faith and succumb to the alluring tactics of Satan is genuine. In a world where people are constantly exposed to sinful temptations that cater to base desires, we find ourselves amidst a society dominated by Satan, referred to in the Bible as the “god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4)”.
In a society where people prioritize tangible evidence over faith, one which is described in the Bible as influenced by the “lust of the flesh, lust of the eye, and pride of life” (1 John 2:16), Christians often find themselves besieged by temptation.
Despite this, the scripture in 1 Corinthians 10:13, God reassures believers that “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.”
If God strengthen Jesus to carry His cross, and if Jesus is asking us to carry our cross (denying the self from sinning), rest assured that Christ can help us overcome any plot and trap set before us by the enemy of our faith (Satan and his demonic agents).
The door way to a greater resurrected life in God’s kingdom is through the cross and Satan will attempt to keep you away from a life of the cross.
When the cross is avoided, the flesh dominates and your spirit becomes dormant leading to confused and double mindedness. The Bible calls this condition “being unstable in all your ways” (James 1:8).
There are three types of death that every believer must go through in order to walk in a greater victory in the Kingdom of God.
- The first type of death takes place during Salvation when you first surrender and give your life to Christ. This is when you die to the world of sin and you are made alive again in Christ to live unto righteousness (Romans 6:11). That’s why the Bible says in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me”.
- The second death takes place during water Baptism where the believer is immersed in water (symbolic of Christ’s death) and raised out of the water (symbolic of Christ’s resurrection). That’s why the Bible says in Colossians 2:12, “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead”.
- The third death perhaps is the most difficult where most believers are either ignorant of its process or refuse to acknowledge its existence. Some do not even know that this is a vital process of spiritual growth and part of accelerating into a higher level with God. Jesus said, “if any man must follow me, they must pick up their cross daily (Luke 9:23)”. Apostle Paul understood this revelation when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:31, “I die daily”.
Everyone’s cross is different.
In Church history it is recorded that Peter met his demise on a cross, believed to have been inverted out of deference to the Lord Jesus, whom he did not wish to mimic in the same manner of crucifixion.
Similarly, Andrew, another disciple, is said to have been crucified on a cross in the shape of an X. Each individual’s metaphorical “cross” may vary, but ultimately serves the same purpose: the relinquishment of worldly desires and the renewal of one’s spirit in the power of the Holy Ghost. Taking up one’s cross should not be mistaken for a literal death, but rather a symbolic shedding of one’s sinful inclinations.
The greater the depth of our sacrifice, the greater the potential for spiritual growth and the manifestation of divine power. Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, believers are granted the strength and ability to surrender to God’s will and embrace a transformative journey.
God has given the believer His Holy Spirit who is inside of you to empower and enable you to go through the process of dying to self and experiencing the true power and presence of God.
Prayer
Pray that God will help you to trust Him even more, that if there is a cross for you, then there must a greater purpose as well.
Declaration
I declare, that I am blessed and empowered to bare any burden that the Lord may ask of me because His burden is easy and His yoke is light.
Author: Andrew A. Osei
Recommended: Cross-less life part 1&2, by Andrew A. Osei
Hi andrewaosei.org webmaster, Your posts are always on point.