DEVOTIONAL INSIGHTS & REFLECTIONS

The Cross-an emblem of Love - December 20

The cross is a demonstration, manifestation, emblem of love.

The Apostle Paul told the Corinthian Church, "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I decided to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.…" ~1 Corinthians 2:1-3

and, "…Jews demand signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.…" ~1 Corinthians 1:23

And in his letter to the Galatians, Paul proclaimed, "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." ~Galatians 2:20

Jesus, Himself, said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things,” He said. “He must be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Then Jesus said to all of them, “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 My sake will save it.…" ~Luke 9:22-24

When we take up our cross and die daily---to the lusts of our flesh, the lusts of the eyes and the pride of life---we proclaim His message, we identify with Him in His suffering and little by little we are changed into His image. This is not just a good idea...

How do we accomplish this? Little by little, moment by moment...

For instance, we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ----submitting fully to His Lordship in every area of our lives. When a negative or condemning thought pops into our head, we cast it down in the name of Jesus. We plead His blood over our thoughts and our mind, we commit our thoughts to Him.

We stop watching programs that attack our minds, and we submit ourselves fully to God and the things and thoughts of God. We stop doing things that are counter-productive to our walk with Christ.

As an act of our will, we determine to live for Him.

Oh, how He loves us...