From the Cross to the Crown

My Devotion
My Heart
From the Cross to the Crown
By Teresa Preston Jenkins

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet forfeit his very self? Luke 9:23-25

Why do we have to suffer so much? Go through so many trials of every kind? Life seems to be one battle after another; why? If God sent His son to save the world and not condemn it shouldn’t all the struggle be over? As long as we live in an imperfect world still full of greed and sin, good will always battle bad. It won’t always be like this, Jesus came first to offer us salvation and a new life in Him, He is coming back to take us to the perfect life and place He is preparing for us where there will be no more pain, sickness, disappointments, sorry, grief, or any other hardship known to us now. We can rest in the truth that any condemnation we may endure now is not from God. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the Law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4

As long as we live here before Christ returns again to claim us, we will struggle, but because we live according to the Spirit we have a spiritual weapon that is more powerful than just being law-abiding citizens. When we live only by the law, we die by the law, because of our weak sinful nature it is impossible to follow the law perfectly, but when we allow the Spirit to have full, total, and complete access to our heart, mind, and soul we are powerful to even follow the law that we can’t even quote. There are so many rules and regulations and new laws being written every day in an attempt to keep everyone safe and fair there is no way we can know every single one of them, but if we have Christ in our heart and we rely on Him we can be perfect law abiding citizens.

Jesus tells us that we have to take up our cross daily and follow Him. He is the perfect example of a perfect life. He said that He did nothing without the Father telling Him what to do. Jesus was in perfect communication and listened to the Father intently about how to live, what to say and what to do in each and every situation all the time. Jesus said if we are to follow Him, we have to give up everything we know and love and take up our cross. Ok, does that mean we have to completely walk away from the life we know, the people we love, and all that we have worked for? Maybe, or maybe not. What it does mean is that we have to be willing to do whatever God tells us to do. That is why it is important to know Him as well as possible. Accepting Christ as your personal savior is only the beginning. Living as Christ is the goal; becoming so in tune with Him that our old self is no longer recognizable.

Have you ever noticed that everything worth achieving or doing is like an endurance race? The easy stuff comes and goes like the wind, but the stuff that means so much, that gives us a sense of accomplishment or is more precious than anything is hard or comes with a great struggle or endurance? Getting a higher education takes time, effort and test after test then one day you receive a degree that proves you’ve earned it, it wasn’t given to you, you worked hard through the struggles with administration, demanding professors, work that seemed pointless, you endured it all and accomplished what many do not. To become successful in business you have to climb a long ladder of endurance, work long hours, do jobs no one else is willing to do, every owner of any business knows the difficulty in making it successful, weariness is your closest companion. What about giving birth? Now that’s an endurance that is long, hard, uncomfortable and very painful to get through, but what you hold in your arms is a prize that is so worth every sleepless night and sick morning for nine long months.

We all have a cross to carry, a hardship to bear, a life to sacrifice. No God isn’t saying we are to be crucified in the same way Christ was crucified, but we are to crucify everything that isn’t pleasing to Him and commit our way and everything we do to Him. Jesus endured the cross because that is what God sent Him to do and now He sits on the throne next to His Father. Whatever it is that you are suffering through in Jesus name, there is a crown of life to gain. We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:3-6 The opposition and struggle we face is nothing to the love God has poured into our hearts and the life we live in Christ. It’s not even about the suffering, it’s the victory through the suffering that illuminates His glory in our life. Everything we go through is nothing compared to what Christ went through for our sake.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Hebrews 12:2-3 Jesus suffered so much more than you and I can even imagine and what we do go through is very small in comparison, so then when we consider all that Jesus did, we don’t lose heart and we don’t grow weary, because the life and crown we will receive because we have taken up our cross will be the ultimate prize that everything else we thought mattered will completely disappear in the light of His glory.

Life is the time of the cross we must bear to get to the crown we will gladly lay at His feet and live forever praising Him. Weeping will last for the night, but unspeakable joy will come in the morning. Hold on, and press through the crown is on its way.


In HIS Time
Teresa
My Devotion, My Heart by Teresa Preston ISBN # 978-1-61566-460-3
http://mydevotionmyheart.blogspot.com