Tag Archive | cross

Mindset

Apr14

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

Jesus came to fulfill the purpose the Father had sent Him to do. We have been created to fulfill the purpose God brought us here for. Are we seeking the will of God in our life? Are we following Him, submitting to His purpose for our life?

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 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/mat.16.24.NASB1995

Full Surrender. . .

Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
James 4:7 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/jas.4.7.NASB1995

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
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 16:25-26 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/mat.16.25-26.NASB1995

🌹For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.
Matthew 16:27 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/mat.16.27.NASB1995

Are we ready?

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

Portrait 3, Take Up Your Cross

Jan12

And He (Jesus) 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. For whoever wishes to save his life (soul) will lose it, but whoever loses his life (soul) for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
Luke 9:23‭-‬24¹/Matthew 16:24-25²/Mark 8:34-35³ NASB

To deny “self” is to allow Christ living in us to have full reign of our lives. Surrendering our life to Christ who took on our sin so we could walk in Him free from the burden of sin and eternal Hell.

And taking up our cross is not a burden to carry alone.

Simon of Cyrene carried the cross of Jesus. As we carry our cross we have Jesus to help us to deny self for His purpose. For His glory.

🌹Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Luke 14:27 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/luk.14.27.NASB1995

And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
Matthew 10:38 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/mat.10.38.NASB1995

Are you carrying the cross of self denial?

Portrait #1 Christ in You
Portrait #2 Walk in Him
Portrait #3 Take Up Your Cross-Self Denial

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

¹ https://bible.com/bible/100/luk.9.23-24.NASB1995

² https://bible.com/bible/100/mat.16.24-25.NASB1995

³ https://bible.com/bible/100/mrk.8.34-35.NASB1995

Jesus Humbled Himself

Dec23

Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
Psalms 95:6 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.95.6.NASB1995

who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 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,
Philippians 2:6-10 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/php.2.6-10.NASB1995

Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Psalms 100:3 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.100.3.NASB1995

🌹Bless the Lord, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.
Psalms 103:1-5 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/psa.103.1-5.NASB1995

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon
https://indasharonjesus.org

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