What Does It Mean?

This is not a quiz. I just want opinions based on the Bible.

Take up your cross and bear it and follow me.

What are the crosses?
What does it mean to bear it? Do we let something rule our lives and just pray about it or do we take action?
What does it mean to follow me? Love God and your neighbor? Evangelize?

I think it means:
Whatever problems we have, we need to deal with them in a manner which God would approve.

What does it mean to you?

For me, it means giving up everything for God, just as Jesus did when He went to the cross.

Your crosses are what God gives you in this life as responsibility. And no it is probably not family, job, etc. It could be a task you have to perform, an unlovely (internally) person you need to deal with and show God's love to, it could be a cause or a person or peoples you need to pray over and for - even against your own logic because it is hopeless, it can be your past - because it became a ministry, or it could be the foolishness of man - showing love to someone unloved, providing a meal to a down and outter....... It could be having had a world class criminal for relatives and no one will listen to your witness, because you are one of "them".

And those are just my examples, I live with.....
What do you think your might be?

(and be careful how much a starving man eats, it can bring on some tragic consequences.....)

Mark 8 v 34 says whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves then take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will
lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit their soul.

The amplified version of this is good this says: If anyone intends to come after me, let him deny himself (forget, ignore, disown and lose sight of himself and his own interests) and take up his cross and (joining with me as a disciple and siding with my party) follow with me (continually, cleaving steadfastly to me).

If you read Mark it is set in the context of the crowds following Jesus. I think personally that where ever there is something to be had for free there will always be a crowd (still is true today). Jesus fed the crowds, healed them, preached to them etc. Maybe many of the crowds followed Jesus for what they could get out of it. But I believe Jesus was warning them that there is more to following Him than their our own self interests to think about.

After all it led to His death on the cross and for later Christians, death as they were tortured and fed to the lions. I think the real test here is not that we are fair weather friends to Jesus, but that we are true friends, true followers, not just in it for what we can get out of it and just for out of our own self interests.

I remember hearing someone say that we have to become less self centred and more Christ centred and that is the true meaning of taking up your cross - to put ones self interests aside and truely follow where Christ leads.

I was brought up in foster care also OFM - a while back someone on CC said if you have problems when younger it means you get a chance to develope your overcoming muscles sooner than most. I kind of like that and I know that God has been there with me when I was younger I can see that as I look back.

My cross is losing my best friend in the world, my wife, in divorce. The circumstances surrounding it were a surprise to me. I knew of some things I could have done better. However, many lies were told which I cannot refute. They have changed how people look at me now. My personality has changed for the worse because of the events surrounding my separation and divorce. My life is not longer useful to me. I have little hope of a decent life now. My age is a hindrance.

I bet I have aged ten or more years because of what happened to me. I look in the mirror and no longer see the man I used to be. My looks are actually different. I have difficulty sleeping and I have trouble concentrating. All because I lost what meant the most to me in life, I am nothing.

I work with the guy that took her away. I realized I am not a man, but a worthless lump of flesh with no guts. I am taken advantage of at every opportunity at work. I was put into a job that I hate. My evaluation was good, but my raise was a joke. I feel I am fighting a losing battle. A guy that just got hired, doing the same thing as me, makes more than I do and I have to show him how to do the work properly.

I face humiliation like this every day. Folks I know patronize me. They treat me like I am in denial. I was so proud of myself before the separation. Now, I don't have enough confidence to go to church. I feel as if everyone will see right through me to the weakling I am.

So many things went on behind my back for so long. I was told I knew. I did not! It hit me so hard that I ended up in the hospital. I have struggled since June 2011 just keeping myself in clean clothes and doing household chores.

I injured my ankle in a motorcycle accident. I was the only one in it.(embarassing) I had a LaFranc's fracture. Like if my foot got caught in the stirrup when I fell off a horse and the horse dragged me. This is how the doctor described it. I was told I was faking by my ex. I was on insurance for being off work after this happened. That is when my wife left me. This is not the only reason, it is just one that helped cause my current situation.

I made little money normally. Just enough to pay bills and eat. After she left, the insurance only paid 60% of a forty hour week and I had to go on government assistance till I could get back to work.

The doctor's missed a broken bone in the x-ray and sent me to rehab too soon. I had to go back in the cast and stay off of work an extra eight weeks. I lost so much weight. I went from 225 to 175 in 6 months. Good for my cholesterol and blood pressure, but I had no clothes that would fit and no money to buy any.

I was, mentally and emotionally, so out of it that I couldn't remember how to do anything. I had to relearn how to pay my bills, make food for myself and generally take care of myself. I used to make dinner and baked goods for my wife and I. I was more the cook than she.

Going to the doctor was difficult. I have a car with a clutch. No one would drive me, not even my own family. I had to borrow a car with an automatic transmission and put gas in it when I needed to go to see the doctor. This took money from bills I needed to pay. I don't know how I did it.

My mom, who turns ninety in the middle of October this year, was sent into a home for patients with dementia. I was told, by my brother who is retired, that I needed to help my mom. I could not even do that very well. I was on a crutch and in an air filled plastic boot type cast. I was a mess.

The lies told were so damaging to my reputation, I don't know if I will ever recover from them. Folks still think I was and still am, at times, faking my problems. I get anxiety so badly, I cannot even do simple arithmetic. I have an associates degree in Electrical Technology and have used trigonometry and Boolean algebra.

I am sorry for letting this out. There is so much more. I may never recover. I sometimes pray that God will have mercy and take me home. I can't concentrate on one thing for long.

I am getting better. I couldn't even remember where the keys were on my computer and I have been to community college for microcomputer concepts and got straight A's. Now, I am able to type without looking for the letters. This is how I used to do it. I just need to watch because I sometimes hit the I when I want the E. It is weird and I don't know why it happens. I find myself swapping two words in a sentence when I talk. Ex.I ate a bowl of barley beef soup today. Instead of: I ate a bowl of beef barley soup today.) I rarely did that before. It is more common now.

All I wanted was a good marriage. An open and honest relationship. Someone I could share my life with. Someone I could trust. Someone who would not lie to me or cheat. I guess I was fooled. Maybe I should say, I was/am the fool.

I am estranged from my own family now. Luckily, I have a sister around my age who has gone through similar circumstances and she is helping me to keep moving forward. I haven't seen my son(22) or daughter(26) in a long time. My daughter has two children and I don't see them. I was seeing them, but after all of this stuff has happened, they don't want to see me. They talk to me once in a while on the phone, but I have not seen them in over a year.

My cross is heavy. My burden too much for me. I barely have the energy to keep going. My heart is broken. My will is gone. I have only Jesus and I don't know if even He is listening to me. I will not stop asking for help, mercy or both. Knock and it shall be opened. Ask and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find. Even the dogs get the scraps from the table.

I should have made my username JOB. Although, I am not nearly as righteous as he and that is why I did not use it.

There is so much more. It's just too much right now.

Sorry for the rant. Thank you for letting me find a little bit of peace. God Bless You All.

nw2u

The frown is not supposed to be in the above post. I didn't put a space where I should have. It should be a beginning parenthesis.

Will be praying for you.

I didn't tell you why I choose the word HOPE in the other thread, I choose it because I saw a glimpse of my future and I knew I had things to look forward to.

Sometimes I feel like I have a bunch of things pile on top of each other too. I realized I had to let go of some things and had to fight for some things. God is bigger than all of this. He can change everything with the snap of a finger. And He has for some people. I don't think you should ever stop hoping or believing. A pastor once said, "Jesus died so we can get out of bed every morning." You say you don't know if Jesus is listening, but He is. When He came to die, he did it more than just to save us from hell. He came because he knew we were broken, and wanted to give us hope. So He is there for you. Is there any way you can get back with your wife?

This is what it means to me:

We take up our cross through faith and we are willing to identify with Christ despite temptations and tribulations because of the glory of eternal life. Romans 8:18- For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

The bible says we are to run the race set before us looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.
Heb 12:1-2- Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Lastly, taking up our cross entails living in humility, showing love to others, and making no provision for the flesh but putting it under subjection to God.
Basically, I believe it denotes obedience to God, the result of genuine faith.

“I will cling to the Old Rugged cross and exchange it some day for a crown”.

The cross was a device used to carryout capital punishment. Modern devices may range from,
hangman's noose, electric chair, and lethal injection. So, Jesus said, take up the device, that will
be used to put you to death, and follow Me. When a person is saved, they give their life to Jesus and
no longer live for themselves, but for Jesus. Take up your cross, your device of execution, and follow
Me, because you need to die to yourself, in order to live for Him.

There is much more to taking up your cross and following Christ, and I hope this helps.

Obeying from the heart, and repenting of all sin is also part of the counting the cost of following Jesus.






Many today will say its right and good to obey God, but we clearly cannot obey Him as He commands, and others in high profile ministries will teach following and obeying Jesus isn’t the gospel!
Now who is right? God or man?
IF you are still a slave to sin and disobedience, and thinking this is the normal Christian experience, then you are still a slave and IN bondage to sin mocking what Jesus did on the cross to set you free once and for all from the corrupting influences of sin and the devil!
1Jn 3:8 He who practices(produces) sin is of the Devil, for the Devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed, that He might undo the works of the Devil.
1Jn 3:9 Everyone who has been born of God does not commit sin, because His seed remains in him, and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

Those who are born of God, do not continue in sin, and why? Because they repented, came broken before the mercy seat of God, in all humility and contriteness, now with a purified and crucified heart, they can obey God in all sincerity, purity and love, which is the purpose of the command!

Now you must obey from your heart, and keep obeying the word of God, which must be made pure through repentance! 2 Corinthians 7-11.

Apart from this kind of faith (obedience) and walking the purified and crucified life unto Christ, and trusting in His great strength, over the temptations of the devil, is all vanity, and has no power over sin, temptation and the devil!

Heb 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ (who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God) purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Now IF you obey the doctrine of godliness, now having been delivered from the godless life you once lived, it will all make sense to you, as ALL the scriptures must harmonize together!

But how can you know this IF you do not dig deep, look beyond the reformed errors that get you saved in sin, not out of them at some time in the future, and seek the truth with all your strength and diligence!

Remember the truth will set you free, and you are a slave to whom you obey, so if you obey from your heart as commanded, then you will be a slave to righteousness (doing what is right) but the choice is in your will, as to whether you will repent and crucify your flesh, Galatians 5-24, or stay in your sins, falling into willful, presumptions sins that lead to death and hardness of the heart.


Obedience does matter, it’s a privilege and an honor to obey God, BUT you simply cannot do it, unless you do your first works, Rev 2-5, and come to Him cleansed and purged by the blood of Christ, from all dead works!

Jesus came to this world for a purpose and He is our Shepherd that we are to follow and He was the Lamb that was lead to the slaughter...that was His purpose and our purpose is to follow Jesus and to do God's will and walk in the ways of the Lord and that will lead us into persecution to the point of death..what do you do for the Lord to show that you are following Him? Are you showing others the way to Jesus?

Unfortunately, I do not know. I am really self-centered at the moment. I am trying(as evidenced by my reading scripture, talking here and with other Christians)

I don't think I am capable of showing others the way to Jesus at the present. I am still working on me.

For now, this is the best I can do. I am taking baby steps toward recovery and renewal of mind, body and spirit.

I will not give up, though, at times I struggle.

I think your honesty is great...if you want help in how to evangelize, then I have a few sources for you...check out the living waters and way of the master sites hosted by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron and also check out Wretched Radio with Todd Freol and check out one of the worlds greatest apologists today named Ravi Zecharias...not sure of spelling...you will learn heaps, be encouraged in your faith and given good tools to evangelize and pray for wisdom and guidance from the Holy Spirit..be encouraged too by the parable of the sower because that is Jesus story about evangelism and so is the story of Peter pulling up his net loaded with fish..Jesus promised to make the disciples fishers of men for God's kingdom..if you really are saved and you go about it the right way bringing others to Jesus then your reward will be great...so will your persecution here in this life but it will be worth it

I've watched Wretched TV and like it. I've listened to Ravi Z. on FM radio and like many of his sermons.

Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron are not necessarily my cup of tea. I say this because I don't know enough about them to make a good decision. I have seen them on television asking folks on the street about lying, cheating, stealing, etc. I get their message, come to Jesus. (You may think you are without sin, but you are not.)

I really don't know if I am ready for such a big step. I am still trying to make sense of my life, but it is a very interesting thought.

Thank you.