I will share about Christian books I have read or listened to.
I will be sharing about my life before and after Christ. I will include stories about my pet and other pets I have encountered.
How to Save Your Life
Jesus willingly sacrificed everything for the sake of the world. He took the punishment of our sin and wrongdoing so that we could know God intimately, for all time. And when He rose from the dead, He made it possible for us to have a close relationship with Him.
Jesus made a way for us to know Him, but we have to choose whether or not we will follow Him.
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, 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 and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.”
Mark 8:34-35 NLT
What does it mean to take up our cross?
For Jesus, the cross was a literal object upon which He suffered and died. It was a physical weight that also symbolizes the spiritual heaviness He bore.
The cross also represents the suffering and surrender we all choose to endure for the sake of knowing and obeying Christ.
The apostles viewed suffering as an opportunity to get to know Jesus better, but our cultures tell us that suffering is an obstacle to immediate pleasure. Jesus said that surrendering our lives to Him was key because He is the way to eternal life, but our world tells us that self-care is the gateway to living abundantly.
Taking up our cross means giving up our right to live however we want. It means letting Jesus dictate the trajectory of our lives, and making Him the one thing we pursue above everything else.
The irony is, if we refuse to take up our cross and follow Jesus—we will still suffer. We will still experience hardships. But we will also end up surrendering the eternal gifts Jesus offers us in exchange for momentary pleasure and comfort.
Taking up our cross is an act that we do on this side of eternity. But one day, we will be resurrected and given new life—a life without sorrow, suffering, death, or pain. A life eternally spent in God’s presence. That is the promise Jesus makes us when He asks us to follow Him. That is the life we get to look forward to when we give up our lives for Jesus’ sake.
“Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days ...
