Take up your cross pt 1

"And He died for all that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again." 2 Corinthians 5:15

today's post comes from part of the chapter titled "Forget about God's will for your life' but to me the title of the post fits better with the rest of the chapter!

"God wants to see His children stake everything on His power and presence in their lives."
"Nowhere in Scriptures do I see a 'balanced life with a little bit of God added in' as an ideal for us to emulate." "People who have, in a sense, asked Him to join them on their life journey, to follow them wherever they feel they should go, rather than following Him as we are commeanded. The God of the universe is not something we can just add to our lives and keep on as we did before. The Spirit who raised Christ from the dead is not someone we can just call on when we want a little extra power in our lives. Jesus Christ did not die in order to follow us. He died and rose again so that we could forget everyting else and follow Him to the cross, to true life"

"If all you wanted is a little Jesus to 'spiritualize' your life, a little extra God to keep you out of hell, you are missing out on the fulness of life you were created for."
"You only need the Holy Spirit's guidance and help if you truly want to follow the Way of Jesus Christ. You only need Him if you desire to 'obey everything' He commanded and to teach others to do the same (Matt 28:18-20). You only need the Holy Spirit if you have genuinely repented and believe. And you only need the Holy Spirit if you understand that you are called to share in Christ's suffering and death, as well as His resurrection (Rom 8:17, 2 Cor 4:16-18, Phil 3:10-11)

"If you truly belive and have turned from the way you were headed and joined a different Way of living, then you desperately need the Holy Spirit. You know you cannot live this Way without the Spirit in you."

"How does He desire that we live? The fact is we were called by Jesus to give up everything. His call is to come and take up the cross (luke 9:23) 'Taking up my cross' has become a euphemism for getting through life's tyical burdens with a semi-good attitude. Yet life's typical burdens-busy schedules, illness, bills, hard decisions, paying for college tuition, losing jobs, house not selling, and the family's dog dying- are felt by everone, whether or not they follow the Way of Jesus."
"When Jesus calls us to take up our cross, He is doing much more than calling us to endure the daily, circumstantial troubles of life. It is a call to radical faith. Jesus is calling us to be willing to suffer anything and forsake everything for the sake of the gospel. His call is to love those who have cheated us in business, those who have spread nasty rumors about is.... His call is to consider everything a loss for His sake. His call is for total surrender"

"His call means realizing that His power is made perfect in our weakness, that when we are weak we are also strong (2 Cor 12:9-10).

(too much goodness to share: to be continued)