{"id":1244,"date":"2017-07-26T13:14:59","date_gmt":"2017-07-26T18:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/?p=1244"},"modified":"2017-07-26T13:14:59","modified_gmt":"2017-07-26T18:14:59","slug":"take-up-your-cross-and-follow-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/2017\/07\/26\/take-up-your-cross-and-follow-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/h6>\n
Do you know Jesus?<\/h6>\n
Do you walk with Him and talk with Him\u2026moment by moment?<\/h6>\n
Do you know His story?<\/h6>\n
Did you know He died on a Cross for you?<\/h6>\n
Did you know that the cross is a symbol of love that Christians have carried throughout history?<\/h6>\n
Did you know that the cross represents death and pain and sacrifice it was used to crucify people in Roman times\u2026<\/h6>\n
The cross was a tree, a pole that Jesus hung upon. He shed his blood, and sweat, and tears. There was such anguish and betrayal and persecution. He hung there naked and beaten. Nails held his body there\u2026<\/h6>\n
Oh he could have called angels from heaven and they would have taken Him from that cross if had asked\u2026he could have said, \u201cFather this is too much to bear.\u201d But he didn\u2019t say that\u2026He said, \u201cFather forgive them they don\u2019t know what they are doing.\u201d<\/h6>\n
The cross was not only a place of death. It was a place where life would be restored. The veil that separated men from a Holy God would be ripped in two all because the Son of God hung there and died for humanity because of His great love for all mankind.<\/h6>\n
The thief, the murderer, the liar, the cheater, the adulterer, all sinners\u2026God loved each of us even in our sin even before we asked Him to forgive us. He loved us so much that He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross; a tree; so that you and I could be free from death, hell and the grave!!!<\/h6>\n
The cross is more than a pole that stood on a hill described as the place of the scull. It is a landmark in history that will stand throughout all time\u2026<\/h6>\n
Men of evil intent may burn it\u2026destroy it\u2026hide it\u2026bury it\u2026smash it into dust\u2026that will not matter\u2026it is sealed in the minds and hearts of every living being\u2026WHY? Because the Only Begotten Son of God hung on that cross to give us reconciliation to the Father of Heaven\u2026The Living God and Creator of every living thing\u2026<\/h6>\n
You think you can destroy it\u2026There\u2019s No Way\u2026hold out your arms and look at yourself\u2026you are a cross\u2026<\/h6>\n
Jesus said, \u201cTake up your cross and follow me.\u201d<\/h6>\n
Oh it\u2019s not just a symbol to be worn as an accessory\u2026it not just a symbol to be set on a church steeple\u2026it\u2019s not just a symbol to be sung about or carried on someone\u2019s back at Easter-time\u2026It is so much more\u2026<\/h6>\n
The Cross is a place of Liberty and restoration\u2026It was used to show the whole world that the Son of God was sent to hang there so that we would know His sacrifice was greater than any, that could, or would, ever be able to stand in the midst of evil. To bear up under demonic torture and shame and guilt and betrayal\u2026but it did not end there\u2026 It was not a pretty sight…it was no Hollywood movie…it was not something to be proud of or glorified…it was heart breaking, a horror to watch as the stench of blood and urine and sweat poured out…His skin was ripped, bones stretched a torture beyond anything imaginable…\u00a0can you get that? Can you see the precious Son of God hanging on that cross for us?<\/h6>\n
Jesus\/Yeshua the son of the living God\u2026Gave His life freely\u2026He died there. His blood and water poured from there\u2026and Glory to God in the Highest\u2026He did that so that we would live and never die\u2026so that we wouldn’t have to be crucified…<\/h6>\n
Mockers and soldiers and family and friends\u2026outcasts and beggars\u2026tired lonely women and old men\u2026lepers and blind, lame and demon possessed watched the man, Jesus\/Yeshua die, upon the cross\u2026<\/h6>\n
You can\u2019t destroy the cross\u2026it is indestructible because, Jesus\/Yeshua lives\u2026in spite of evil\u2019s tactics\u2026they\u2019ve already lost\u2026<\/h6>\n
Give me Jesus\/Yeshua give me the cross\u2026<\/h6>\n
I\u2019ll carry it always; it will never be lost\u2026<\/h6>\n
Child of God, stand tall, stand strong\u2026<\/h6>\n
This will be your calling; this will be the cost\u2026<\/h6>\n
Come follow Yeshua\u2026and carry the cross\u2026<\/h6>\n
The thing is\u2026Jesus\/Yeshua is no longer on that cross\u2026He is ALIVE! But because of that cross, and His love for us\u2026we as His children\u2026know the price of what He accomplished on that cross, and one day, every knee is going to bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus\/Yeshua the Christ, is LORD!!!<\/h6>\n
~~Marla Shaw O\u2019Neill July 26, 2017<\/h6>\n
Take Up Your Cross and Follow Jesus<\/span><\/h6>\n
And he said to all, \u201cIf anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. <\/span><\/span>Luke 9:23 <\/span><\/strong>English Standard Version (ESV)<\/strong> <\/span><\/h6>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you know Jesus? Do you walk with Him and talk with Him\u2026moment by moment? Do you know His story? Did you know He died on a Cross for you? Did you know that the cross is a symbol of love that Christians have carried throughout history? Did you know that the cross represents death…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8aPxH-k4","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1244"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1246,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1244\/revisions\/1246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/becourageousbebold.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}