L
Bearing His Cross
As a retired veteran with 22 years of military service in both the Navy and the Air Force, I can attest to how ineffective a unit can become if every person does not do their assigned tasks to the best of their ability. Many battles have been lost because of cowardice in the face of the enemy or lack of training . As a soldier of Christ, I was guilty of "spiritual cowardice" in the presence of the enemy because I was never properly trained to be a proper soldier. I did everything that Jesus said I shouldn't do. i had "hidden my candle under a bushel" and I became my own victim by inflicting wounds upon myself by not speaking up for my beliefs when they (my beliefs} were attacked by my co-workers and others around me. I did not remain silent because of a lack of belief, I remained silent out of fear. I was afraid of being labeled a "Bible Thumper" or a "Jesus freak". I often felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit after I had "kept silent" but I usually buried these feelings which grieved the Holy Spirit even more. I was constantly one of the walking wounded. I would tell people that I was "a born again believer" but my actions and the evidence of my life belied this statement of faith. I was convicted of this many times when people would tell me "I never knew you were a Christian". What a condemnation of my personal faith. I had been such a "closet Christian" that most of my friends and the people around me never knew that I professed Jesus Christ as savior.
I was guilty of wanting the crown, but not the cross. Jesus tells us in Luke 9:23: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." I have thought about this scripture many times. During one of those times as I was in prayer about what "taking up my cross" meant, an image formed in my mind. The image was of Jesus Christ hanging on the cross. His blood was flowing down and covered the cross with the visceral gore that came from His great suffering. There were many people around the cross (in modern clothing). Some reacted to the scene by turning their backs and walking away while making derisive remarks. Some stood around and looked in wonder as Jesus cried out "Father forgive them..." and did nothing, preferring to remain close as if to see what would happen next. Some reached out tentatively to touch the cross but pulled their hands back in revulsion. Then a few, very few knelt and embraced the cross. They wrapped their arms around it and held it tightly. They were covered by His blood and a look of joy came over their faces.
I asked the Lord to tell me what this image meant. He told me "You cannot take up your cross unless you first embrace mine". The impact of this image is changing my life. I have realized that Jesus has indeed chosen me and that I was not to be an idle watcher but an active participant in God's work. I realized that even though Jesus has chosen us out of this world, we must choose to take up the cross that He has for us. I could no longer stand comfortably by and allow others to do the work that He has called me to do.
It is His cross that we must bear; not the one that He was crucified on but the one that He gives us. Jesus implies that we are unable to follow Him unless we take up our cross. He ties denial of self with the taking up of our cross. We cannot do the latter unless we have done the former. We must also realize that it is not a cross of our choosing but one that He chooses for us. Whatever the task or burden He desires for us to carry, we must carry it willingly. This is the evidence of having denied self in order to carry His cross. Can you imagine what chaos there would be in the Kingdom of God if we were allowed to choose our own cross. I was guilty of this desire, If I could not choose "my ministry" or do it "my" way then I would sit back and let someone else do it. I was a pathetic example of the malaise that has infected the body of Christ in so many
ways. I see rampant evidence of this belief in the church today largely because we as church leaders do not teach or preach that the average believer is truly a "soldier for Christ" [Ref, 2 Timothy 2:3-4] I am not saying that we don't mention it in our sermons and our Bible studies because I have heard it both preached and taught. What I am saying is that it is not continuously reinforced as a basic belief of church doctrine.
Improper Training leads to defeat
The most difficult thing that I have had to deal with as a Christian is my involvement in spiritual warfare. As a believer in the victory that Jesus won on the cross, I felt assured that His shed blood made Satan a defeated and therefore powerless enemy. I was half right. Satan is indeed a defeated foe but he still has power to deceive us and to tempt us to believe in half-truths. I believe Satan has a three-phased plan that he uses against all people. The first phase is to stop people from hearing / learning about Jesus. If he fails at that then he employs the second phase which is to stop people from receiving Jesus as their personal savior. If he fails at that then he pulls out all stops in phase three, which is to stop believers from maturing in Christ and allowing Him to be Lord of their lives. I firmly believe that every believer is locked into this third phase of spiritual warfare until they are called home to be with Christ.
Note: Satan never bothers the lost for they are already his. He comes against the believer that sets out to lead the lost to Christ. When we strive to draw closer to God and become obedient servants, Satan does everything he can to stop us. If we are not fully prepared and equipped with the full armor of god, we can be easily defeated. If we depend on the Holy Spirit to be victorious on our behalf, then we need to have done our "homework" before we "go and tell".
What most believers fail to realize is that we empower Satan and give him easy avenues to wound us or even defeat us. This comes when we misuse or misquote scripture. One of the most common errors that I constantly hear is James 4:7. The common usage is "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." I hear this and it makes me cringe, especially since I so often quoted it this way. I thought all I had to do was say no to Satan and he would leave me alone. What I was not aware of was that I was powerless in my own stead to resist the devil. It was not until I realized that the correct usage of James 4:7 is "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." It is only when we submit the issue to God and get it covered by the blood of Christ, that we can successfully resist the devil and then only in the name of Jesus.
We Are Draftees not Enlistees
When we receive Jesus Christ as savior, we are drafted into the Army of God. We do not voluntarily enlist because it was not our choice but Jesus Christ choosing us. I have heard many people say "I was dragged kicking and screaming into God's service". It is not an easy task to be a Christian, and many of us might not have volunteered for service if we knew what that service would entail. We are told in Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." He chooses our path and the work that we are to do, we have no say in the process
We Are Not Alone
Each day we must voluntarily say "Lord Jesus, I will faithfully carry this cross that You have given me as You lead me". We must remember what Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:30 "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Jesus does not give us a cross that we can carry alone. Instead He promises us a light burden (cross). It is only in denial of self that the burden becomes light. Remember that the yoke was put upon oxen so that they could pull together as a team rather than struggling against each other. We are not alone because Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19b "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." This team effort lightens the burden for both. We are yoked together with Christ. He (through the Holy Spirit) helps us carry our cross.
Be Bold
He gives us His strength to stand up for Him. This is something that we as pastor's and church leaders must constantly keep before our flocks so that they will become strong soldiers for Christ. Matthew 10:32 states "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven". I believe the church has erred in the use of this passage. We use it to encourage people to come forward and publically confess their decision to receive Christ in front of the congregation. This verse is meant to lead us to proclaim Christ as we go about our daily lives. It is relatively easy to speak of Christ in church amongst fellow believers but far more difficult to proclaim him in the public square amongst non-believers. To not do so puts us in peril of Matthew 10:33 "But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven".
Every believer is under a mandate from Christ to "go and make disciples". A disciple is much more than a mere follower of Christ. A disciple is one who has been trained to serve and has a heart to serve. We all need to move from being “mere followers” in Christ to being dynamic "committed followers". I urge all church leaders to teach and preach this as a basic doctrine of the church, encouraging them to accept the cross that Jesus has given them and to acknowledge that we are all indeed true soldiers for Christ. Let us all, leaders and lay-people alike take up the Sword of the Spirit and the Shield of Faith and use them to stand strong and fast against the enemy. Let us all boldly proclaim it as a praise offering to God and to all we encounter, proudly and unashamed that "JESUS IS LORD, HE IS LORD INDEED"!
All scriptures taken from: New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
As a retired veteran with 22 years of military service in both the Navy and the Air Force, I can attest to how ineffective a unit can become if every person does not do their assigned tasks to the best of their ability. Many battles have been lost because of cowardice in the face of the enemy or lack of training . As a soldier of Christ, I was guilty of "spiritual cowardice" in the presence of the enemy because I was never properly trained to be a proper soldier. I did everything that Jesus said I shouldn't do. i had "hidden my candle under a bushel" and I became my own victim by inflicting wounds upon myself by not speaking up for my beliefs when they (my beliefs} were attacked by my co-workers and others around me. I did not remain silent because of a lack of belief, I remained silent out of fear. I was afraid of being labeled a "Bible Thumper" or a "Jesus freak". I often felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit after I had "kept silent" but I usually buried these feelings which grieved the Holy Spirit even more. I was constantly one of the walking wounded. I would tell people that I was "a born again believer" but my actions and the evidence of my life belied this statement of faith. I was convicted of this many times when people would tell me "I never knew you were a Christian". What a condemnation of my personal faith. I had been such a "closet Christian" that most of my friends and the people around me never knew that I professed Jesus Christ as savior.
I was guilty of wanting the crown, but not the cross. Jesus tells us in Luke 9:23: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." I have thought about this scripture many times. During one of those times as I was in prayer about what "taking up my cross" meant, an image formed in my mind. The image was of Jesus Christ hanging on the cross. His blood was flowing down and covered the cross with the visceral gore that came from His great suffering. There were many people around the cross (in modern clothing). Some reacted to the scene by turning their backs and walking away while making derisive remarks. Some stood around and looked in wonder as Jesus cried out "Father forgive them..." and did nothing, preferring to remain close as if to see what would happen next. Some reached out tentatively to touch the cross but pulled their hands back in revulsion. Then a few, very few knelt and embraced the cross. They wrapped their arms around it and held it tightly. They were covered by His blood and a look of joy came over their faces.
I asked the Lord to tell me what this image meant. He told me "You cannot take up your cross unless you first embrace mine". The impact of this image is changing my life. I have realized that Jesus has indeed chosen me and that I was not to be an idle watcher but an active participant in God's work. I realized that even though Jesus has chosen us out of this world, we must choose to take up the cross that He has for us. I could no longer stand comfortably by and allow others to do the work that He has called me to do.
It is His cross that we must bear; not the one that He was crucified on but the one that He gives us. Jesus implies that we are unable to follow Him unless we take up our cross. He ties denial of self with the taking up of our cross. We cannot do the latter unless we have done the former. We must also realize that it is not a cross of our choosing but one that He chooses for us. Whatever the task or burden He desires for us to carry, we must carry it willingly. This is the evidence of having denied self in order to carry His cross. Can you imagine what chaos there would be in the Kingdom of God if we were allowed to choose our own cross. I was guilty of this desire, If I could not choose "my ministry" or do it "my" way then I would sit back and let someone else do it. I was a pathetic example of the malaise that has infected the body of Christ in so many
ways. I see rampant evidence of this belief in the church today largely because we as church leaders do not teach or preach that the average believer is truly a "soldier for Christ" [Ref, 2 Timothy 2:3-4] I am not saying that we don't mention it in our sermons and our Bible studies because I have heard it both preached and taught. What I am saying is that it is not continuously reinforced as a basic belief of church doctrine.
Improper Training leads to defeat
The most difficult thing that I have had to deal with as a Christian is my involvement in spiritual warfare. As a believer in the victory that Jesus won on the cross, I felt assured that His shed blood made Satan a defeated and therefore powerless enemy. I was half right. Satan is indeed a defeated foe but he still has power to deceive us and to tempt us to believe in half-truths. I believe Satan has a three-phased plan that he uses against all people. The first phase is to stop people from hearing / learning about Jesus. If he fails at that then he employs the second phase which is to stop people from receiving Jesus as their personal savior. If he fails at that then he pulls out all stops in phase three, which is to stop believers from maturing in Christ and allowing Him to be Lord of their lives. I firmly believe that every believer is locked into this third phase of spiritual warfare until they are called home to be with Christ.
Note: Satan never bothers the lost for they are already his. He comes against the believer that sets out to lead the lost to Christ. When we strive to draw closer to God and become obedient servants, Satan does everything he can to stop us. If we are not fully prepared and equipped with the full armor of god, we can be easily defeated. If we depend on the Holy Spirit to be victorious on our behalf, then we need to have done our "homework" before we "go and tell".
What most believers fail to realize is that we empower Satan and give him easy avenues to wound us or even defeat us. This comes when we misuse or misquote scripture. One of the most common errors that I constantly hear is James 4:7. The common usage is "Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." I hear this and it makes me cringe, especially since I so often quoted it this way. I thought all I had to do was say no to Satan and he would leave me alone. What I was not aware of was that I was powerless in my own stead to resist the devil. It was not until I realized that the correct usage of James 4:7 is "Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." It is only when we submit the issue to God and get it covered by the blood of Christ, that we can successfully resist the devil and then only in the name of Jesus.
We Are Draftees not Enlistees
When we receive Jesus Christ as savior, we are drafted into the Army of God. We do not voluntarily enlist because it was not our choice but Jesus Christ choosing us. I have heard many people say "I was dragged kicking and screaming into God's service". It is not an easy task to be a Christian, and many of us might not have volunteered for service if we knew what that service would entail. We are told in Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." He chooses our path and the work that we are to do, we have no say in the process
We Are Not Alone
Each day we must voluntarily say "Lord Jesus, I will faithfully carry this cross that You have given me as You lead me". We must remember what Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:30 "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." Jesus does not give us a cross that we can carry alone. Instead He promises us a light burden (cross). It is only in denial of self that the burden becomes light. Remember that the yoke was put upon oxen so that they could pull together as a team rather than struggling against each other. We are not alone because Jesus told us in Matthew 28:19b "And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." This team effort lightens the burden for both. We are yoked together with Christ. He (through the Holy Spirit) helps us carry our cross.
Be Bold
He gives us His strength to stand up for Him. This is something that we as pastor's and church leaders must constantly keep before our flocks so that they will become strong soldiers for Christ. Matthew 10:32 states "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven". I believe the church has erred in the use of this passage. We use it to encourage people to come forward and publically confess their decision to receive Christ in front of the congregation. This verse is meant to lead us to proclaim Christ as we go about our daily lives. It is relatively easy to speak of Christ in church amongst fellow believers but far more difficult to proclaim him in the public square amongst non-believers. To not do so puts us in peril of Matthew 10:33 "But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven".
Every believer is under a mandate from Christ to "go and make disciples". A disciple is much more than a mere follower of Christ. A disciple is one who has been trained to serve and has a heart to serve. We all need to move from being “mere followers” in Christ to being dynamic "committed followers". I urge all church leaders to teach and preach this as a basic doctrine of the church, encouraging them to accept the cross that Jesus has given them and to acknowledge that we are all indeed true soldiers for Christ. Let us all, leaders and lay-people alike take up the Sword of the Spirit and the Shield of Faith and use them to stand strong and fast against the enemy. Let us all boldly proclaim it as a praise offering to God and to all we encounter, proudly and unashamed that "JESUS IS LORD, HE IS LORD INDEED"!
All scriptures taken from: New International Version (NIV) Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
