Faith Journal

“Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” (Mark 8 v 34) [BSB]

What is the significance of the cross to you?

I recently had the privilege to attend a short representation of the Jewish pass over meal and was amazed at how every little detail pointed to Jesus, whom the Jewish nation does not acknowledge as the Messiah, who has already come.

The presenter, a Messianic Jew, who came to faith a few years ago, would almost start crying when merely mentioning the Name of Jesus. This humbled me as a believer who was raised in a “Christian” environment, both at home and in the church, believing I was a Christian, without having to take up my cross and follow Jesus.

This I only realized after coming to faith myself in 2003, although it has taken a long time to understand what it truly means to deny myself (and my flesh), in order that Jesus, through His Spirit might live in me.

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal 2 v 20) [ESV]

We are bound to this flesh until the day we breathe our last breath. There will always be temptations and the enemy will continue to entice us. The questions is, will we allow him to succeed?

The moment you come to the knowledge of the truth and on your path of sanctification realize what it actually means to pick up your cross and die with Christ, by denying yourself, we get a glimpse of the sacrifice He made when He gave His life as a substitute for ours.

Even then we will not fully comprehend and every time we sin, we crucify Him over and over, again and again. Think about it. He died once, for all and the sacrifice we have to make, can never begin to match the price that He paid on that cross.

Our flesh should be a temple of the living God and we are to honour Him through living according to His principles. Think about it and let it sink in for a moment. God gave part of Himself and descended to earth, in the form of His Son, who in turn, saved us from eternal death, separated from our Creator, in order that our relationship with Him, as it was intended from the beginning, may be restored.

My prayer is that, starting today, we will live a Christ-filled life, by loving Him and seeking His will, through obedience. Let us take up our cross and follow our Saviour, for our reward awaits us. Amen

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, Life Application Study Bible, unless stated otherwise. Copyright by “The Lockman Foundation“

21/03/2021

Thought for the day
A higher standard

“Because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” (Rom 8 v 2) [NIV]

If you also feel that the world has set an unrealistically high standard for Christians to adhere to, then raise your hand! It’s as if they have set the bar for how Christians should behave and we dare not fail in any department and we shouldn’t, right?

Well, it seems that Christ has actually established a higher Spiritual law through fulfilling the law of Moses, so take note brothers, that now if you even look at a woman with lust, you have committed adultery and if you hate someone you have committed murder, while coveting another’s possessions is as good as stealing them.

Now why would Jesus raise the expectation, knowing we wouldn’t be able to adhere to these standards?