Tag Archive | cross

Christ in You & Me

Oct28

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?
2 Corinthians 13:5 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/2co.13.5.NASB1995

Christ in you. Christ in me.
Do we take advantage of this treasure living in us? Jesus Christ moving in us to sanctify, strengthen our faith, molding us into His image for His glory and His purpose? Do we walk daily in His way? In His truth? Is our life surrendered, sacrificed for His purpose?

Salvation, believing faith in Jesus Christ, is so much more than saying a prayer. It is a call to sacrifice our life for His purpose.

🌹And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Mark 8:34 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/mrk.8.34.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

Jesus: Our Peace

Dec9

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1:2 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/php.1.2.NASB1995

For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.
Ephesians 2:14-16 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/eph.2.14-16.NASB1995

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.
John 14:27 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jhn.14.27.NASB1995

🌹The Lord will give strength to His people; The Lord will bless His people with peace.
Psalms 29:11 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.29.11.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

God’s Interests or Mine

Apr11

But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests (the things of God), but man’s.”
Matthew 16:23 NASB1995‬
https://bible.com/bible/100/mat.16.23.NASB1995

‭O, how many times I have been there. How about you? Getting caught up in life, seeking our own way, putting Jesus on the back burner as we strive for the good life when Jesus is the way to the good life.
Jesus made it very clear through three of the Gospels — Matthew, Mark and Luke — what is expected of us who call ourselves His “disciples”.


Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Matthew 16:24/Mark 8:34/Luke 9:23
For whoever wishes to save his life (soul) will lose it; but whoever loses his life (soul) for My sake will find it.
Matthew 16:24-25 NASB1995‬
https://bible.com/bible/100/mat.16.24-25.NASB1995

‭The choice is ours everyday. Are you, am I, willing to deny self, take up the cross and follow Jesus?
Is our soul willing?

🌹For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matthew 16:26 NASB1995‬
https://bible.com/bible/100/mat.16.26.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

For the Sake of Christ

Aug3

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
Mark 8:34‭-‬35 NASB

What does it mean to “to take up your cross”?
As I meditate on this verse, I come to the conclusion, I must be like Christ.

Jesus denied His will to be obedient to the Father’s will. I must deny self – my will, my desire, my way – seeking God’s will, His plan for my life.

Jesus carried His cross, despite the outcome, to fulfill the Father’s plan. If I am to carry my cross, I must obediently follow God’s plan for my life, no matter the outcome. The gospel needs to be shared, no matter the cost.

What are your thoughts?

🌹saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Luke 22:42 NASB
🌹For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?
Mark 8:36 NASB

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Following Jesus

Jul21

I am not following Jesus if I put myself before Him.

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Mark 8:34 NASB

He must increase, but I must decrease.
John 3:30 NASB

🌹“He who comes from above is above all, . . . He who comes from heaven is above all.
John 3:31 NASB

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Serving Jesus

Apr21

If anyone serves (is serving) Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves (is serving) Me, the Father will honor him.
John 12:26 NASB

We cannot serve Jesus without following Him. Where He is working is where we will be. Following Jesus, which means surrendering our will to His will. His will is our priority. It is ALL about Him and obeying His will.

And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
Matthew 10:38 NASB

Jesus relinquished His will to the Father by surrendering His life to fulfill the Father’s plan. All the way to the cross. He gave up His throne. He humbled Himself. He suffered. He died.

Are you ready to pick up your cross and follow Jesus? Relinquish your life no matter what is asked of you, no matter where it takes you?

This relinquishing of life comes with a promise, “If anyone is serving Me, the Father will honor him” and “Where I Am, there will My servant be also.”

🌹 The promise of eternity with God. Wow!!!

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Obedience from Suffering

Mar2

Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,
Hebrews 5:8‭-‬9 NASB

The Son of God suffered. The Son of God!!! And yet we expect a perfect, smooth ride through life when we are merely adopted children of God.

He learned obedience from the things He suffered.
This really jumped off the page as I read it. Obedience brings suffering?! That isn’t what we expect, is it? Looking over my life as a child of God I have experienced much suffering. And it was at those times that I was close to God. I cried out to Him in fervent prayer. I grew in my walk. I learned. I was obedient. Thank You, Jesus for Your example. Through suffering You showed us what humble obedience to the will of God looks like.
We need affliction to teach us submission. (1)

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.
Colossians 1:24 NASB

The Christian life is not an easy road. It is not enough to make a profession of faith but not have a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. We must heed His Word and obey Him. If Jesus is our Savior, He must also be the Ruler, Prince, of your lives. We must be willing, submissive, to let Jesus reign over us. If Jesus isn’t our Ruler, He isn’t our Savior.

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.
Luke 9:23 NASB

🌹Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon


(1) Matthew Henry’s Commentary; BibleGateway.com, passage Hebrews 5:8-9

Jesus Prayed

Jan19

Jesus prayed in the evening:
After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.
Matthew 14:23/Mark 6:46 NASB

Jesus prayed in the early morning:
In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.
Mark 1:35 NASB

Jesus prayed before choosing the 12 Disciples:
It was at this time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God.
Luke 6:12 NASB

Jesus prayed at His baptism:
Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,
Luke 3:21 NASB

Jesus prayed at the Transfiguration:
Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.
Luke 9:28 NASB

Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsamane:
They *came to a place named Gethsemane; and He *said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.”
Mark 14:32 NASB

Jesus prayed on the cross:
 “Father forgive them; for they know not what they do”
Luke 23:34
“My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Matt 27:46, Mark 15:34
“Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit”
Luke 23:46

Jesus taught prayer:
It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.”
Luke 11:1 NASB

And Jesus has instructed us to pray:
Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Mark 14:38 NASB

pray without ceasing;
1 Thessalonians 5:17 NASB

🌹But Jesus Himself would often slip away to the wilderness and pray.
Luke 5:16 NASB

Jesus, the Son of God, often slipped away to pray. How much more do we need to slip away to pray?

Continually Seeking Him, 

Sharon 

Philippians 3:7

Jun28

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Philippians 3:7 NASB

God of overwhelming magnitude. With You eminate joy, peace, contentment, eternity, relevance, life, meaning, love, worth, my very soul. I choose You to follow, love and put You, Lord Jesus, above all others and myself. I deny myself before You and take up my cross and follow as Your disciple. My life has been crucified in You. All that I am is Yours. All that I have is Yours. I have calculated the cost Lord and I choose You!!! For Your sake, Lord Jesus, I give You my life. My life is in You. I surrender all in Jesus name, amen.
Luke 14:26‭-‬28‭, ‬33/Matthew 10:37‭-‬39/Matthew 16:24-25/Mark 8:34-35/Luke 9:23-24

🌹For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matthew 16:26 NASB
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?
For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
Mark 8:36-‬37 NASB
For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?
Luke 9:25 NASB

Continually Seeking Him, 

Sharon 

Philippians 2:8-11

Jun10

Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:8‭-‬11 NASB

Yesterday’s devotion spoke of the humbleness of Jesus. His grace bestowed upon us. He became poor so we could become rich.

Jesus, my Savior, You are worthy to be praised, for by Your humbleness You brought salvation. What we do see is You, Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels, and because, You suffered death for me and others, You are now “crowned with glory and honor”. Yes, by the grace of God You tasted death for everyone. By this I am humbled, Lord. Out of obedience to the Father You were delivered over to the hands of godless men and put to death, nailed to a cross. For through one man’s disobedience all were made sinners, even so through Your obedience, Jesus, many can be made righteous. For this I am truly grateful. And by Your seeking the will of the Father and not Your own You have shown me what I must do, seek Your kingdom first.
I will fix my eyes on You, Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before You endured the cross, despising the shame, and now sit down at the right hand of the throne of God far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. You are far above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come! In Your glorious, everlasting name I pray, amen.
Hebrews 2:9/Acts 2:23/Romans 5:19/Matthew 26:39/Hebrews 12:2/Ephesians 1:21 NASB

🌹For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
Romans 14:9 NASB

Is Jesus your Lord? Your Savior? If not, He can be. The Bible says,
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
Romans 10:9 NASB

Continually Seeking Him, 

Sharon