Gospel Reflections #681: Not with our own strength

Luke 9:23 "Whoever wants to follow me must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me."

The moment we believe in Jesus and want to follow him, the battle begins.

This is because we struggle to choose between the values we have developed in this world, our hard work, good deeds and successes, and the values of Jesus.

The more we want to follow Jesus, the more we realise that we cannot abandon the things we have admired in this world, because we have been influenced by sin.

And so we fall into a struggle.

Jesus tells us to crucify them.

But when we realise that we cannot do it, we want to turn to Jesus rather than to ourselves.

Our Jesus does not tell us to take up our crosses and follow him in our own strength, but when we realise in ourselves the character, actions and words and deeds that we need to crucify, he takes up our crosses and carries them with us. Jesus is going to give it to us.

What Jesus is giving us is something we cannot have in this world, an extraordinary blessing that goes far beyond the wonderful things of this world.

These are peace, safety, rest, hope, thanksgiving and praise with Jesus.

And these are things that cannot be experienced without Jesus' presence with us.

Jesus works day and night for our best, but on the Sabbath we are to be with God, to talk with Him to the full, and to express our joy as a response to Him by sharing and resonating His will not only with Him but also with our brothers and sisters in faith!

AUTHOR'S BIO: This Gospel Reflections page is written by Masae San, who resides in Hiroshima, Japan. Masae is a dedicated student of the Bible with a deep passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She shares her daily reflections on Gospel perspectives to reach out to others and spread the message of God's true love through a Christ-centered approach. We are sharing her insights here so that you, too, can experience the joy that comes from knowing and understanding the true Gospel and the love of God through Jesus Christ.