Take Up Your Cross

‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.’ Luke 9:23-24 (NIV)

When I carried my cross through the streets of Jerusalem, it was an outward acknowledgment of the spiritual alignment with the Father’s will that I had already accepted at Gethsemane. Not my will, but His be done. It was the sign that no matter the cost, my life was in alignment with his purposes.

I have asked you to take up your cross daily, and follow me. 

This means that every day you must intentionally surrender each part of your life to come into alignment with my purposes. You must put aside any agenda, ambition, pride or offence and choose to re-align yourself to me every day.

At the start of your day set your heart towards mine, sacrificing your life to me and allowing my Spirit to work in you. But this is not where it ends. There will be multiple opportunities within your day to stop, examine your heart, and re-align with my will and purposes for you. Choices to rise above anger and choose kindness; to resist putting yourself first and instead to build up another; to rise above your emotional responses and to seek my counsel first before reacting. Re-align your spirit to mine at every opportunity that you have.

Activation: Sit with Jesus and ask him to show you the reality of what it means to take up your cross daily. Use the verses below from Psalm 5 and picture yourself laying out your life on the altar before Jesus and the Spirit coming as fire to burn off all of your wordly intentions, so that only a pure heart remains. Be intentional throughout your day to take every opportunity that you have to re-align yourself back to His will and purposes.

Psalm 5:2-3 (TPT)

My King and my God, consider my every word, for I am calling out to you. At each and every sunrise you will hear my voice as I prepare my sacrifice of prayer to you. Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on the altar and wait for your fire to fall upon my heart.