Picking up the Cross

The Cross means we are under Grace and that we are to obey God and follow His Word (the Bible). God wants a pure heart from us and He does not need to give us rules in order for our hearts to be pure. BECAUSE Jesus Christ cleaned our sins and all God wants us to do is be Christ-like. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8 "God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God." God wants our hearts more than He want us to follow rules. If we give our hearts to God, then we will know what is sinful and what is not sinful. The best definition of the Cross is this: "Salvation is free, ... but discipleship will cost you your life." (Dietrich Bonhoeffer)

It is finished. It is UP to us to GIVE up sinful nature and worldly pleasures. Contentment is enthusiasm with no worldly cause. Contentment is excitement in the midst of illness, compassion over the needs of someone who is worse off than you, joy in the midst of pain. Contentment says, "Thy will be done, Lord," even when His will means a cross. Contentment is never being possessed by your possessions; never being irritated by another's success.

1. You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength. (Mark 12:30 NLT)
2. Love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:31 NLT) (Also see Matthew 22:37-39)

The key is about my heart. In Matthew 6:21, Jesus said "Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be." (NLT).
1. We should have no other gods. (Exodus 20:3)
2. We should not be devoted to anything more than God (Deut. 4:23)
3. We should not forget God. We forget God when we "give in" to idolatry.
4. We should not share God's glory with anything else (Isaiah 42:8)
5. We cannot serve both God and worldly things. (Luke 16:13)

One of the greatest examples I have learn is from Lot's wife. Lot's wife died when she looked back. Looking back means you rely on flesh's desires more than God's commands and desires. A spirit-filled Christian are to focus all of their energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Jesus Christ, is calling us to heaven." (Phillippians 3:13-14 NLT). “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:27).

Repenting is picking up the cross by rejecting the world. Romans 6:6 "For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—" Galatians 5:24 "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires."

2 Corinthians 12:21 I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged.

Spiritual conviction of the Holy Spirit leads us to "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death". 2 Corinthians 7:10