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Monday, May 11, 2009
Take Up the Cross
"If a person will not accept the cross (suffering) that will
be given to him when he follows me, then that person is not
good enough for me. Any person that loves his life {more than
he loves me} will lose true life. Any person that gives up
his life for me will find true life."
-- Matthew 10:38-39 (ERV)
KEY THOUGHT:
Far from being a decorative piece of jewelry, the cross in Jesus' day
was something hideous and shameful. Roman citizens weren't crucified.
Decent citizens weren't executed on a cross. Only the scum, riffraff,
and hideous were humiliated and tortured by crucifixion. In fact, the
words crucify and cross were considered to be very crude words not
allowed in polite Greek society. The Jews even had Scripture that
suggested that anyone who was placed on a cross was cursed by God. So
for Jesus to say "Take up your cross" were shocking words to hear. Why
a cross? Can't you think of something better? Nope! Nothing can
symbolize God's love, man's inhumanity, sin's ugly putrefying power in
the world, Satan's hatred, and God's forgiveness quite like a cross, if
that cross is where Jesus paid for our sins and absorbed Satan's worst
deadly blow. Yet in that cross, God's righteous demands were satisfied
and our sins forgiven.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
Oh gracious and sacrificial Father, may I never boast in my deeds, but
always look to the cross as my source of righteousness. Through your
cleansing and empowering Spirit, please help me to surrender my life,
my heart, my sin, and my dreams to you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
>> NEW: Phil's What Jesus Did devotional is now
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>> The WJD! web page has related scriptures and the
>> full text of today's key passage. Read it at:
http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/matthew/0511-wjd.html
>> For further study of today's passage, use our
>> online Bible study site: SearchGodsWord.org!
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=Matthew+10:38-39&sr=1&t=erv
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REIMAGINING CHURCH, by Frank Viola
Should a house of worship be a home? Viola suggests a return to the
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