Luke 9:23 NKJV
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
Luke 9:23 NKJV
Jesus came to earth to restore mankind to His image and likeness. Jesus reinstated what was lost in the garden by Adam and Eve.
One of the many things Jesus reinstated in us is that we are the carriers of our cross.
If we desire to follow Him, Jesus said let us deny ourselves. If we deny ourselves, then there is nothing that is of us that is left.
If nothing is left, then this cross is nothing to do with our sufferings.
Jesus showed us an example by carrying the cross. The cross that Jesus carried did not carry His mark of being persecuted, mocked and laughed at.
The cross Jesus carried is for the brokenness of the whole world, sins of the whole world and the payment for every soul to be free.
The cross that Jesus carried became a place where those who need forgiveness of sins, new life and a new image in Christ can come to receive it.
The cross that Jesus is speaking about is our availability to the world, daily.
It is the cross that through our lives people's burden are being lifted, sickness healed, weakness empowered and bondages being set free by the power of Jesus.
The cross we carry is for people to lean on so Christ, who is living in us, sets them free.
The cross we carry is to be the light to those who are blinded by the evil in this world.
Jesus prayed to the father in John 17:18 "as You have sent me into the world so I have send them into the world."
We follow Jesus daily by making our life a place where the broken, the hurt, the needy, the rich and the poor can come to encounter God Almighty.
It's not about what we can or cannot.
We have denied self therefore everything we are and we do is from His glory and power. Therefore, no man can take glory for every manifestation of God's love and power.
Let us daily be the cross of Jesus to the world so that all can come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Blessings
Ambrose Francis