How To pick up your cross daily

I want to know how do I deny myself and pick up my cross..Do you have to give up everything in your life like playing video games and spending time with family and working out? Or Is it staying prayerful and reading his word daily and applying Jesus teachings to your life..please help out here

Bezel286 said:

I want to know how do I deny myself and pick up my cross..Do you have to give up everything in your life like playing video games and spending time with family and working out? Or Is it staying prayerful and reading his word daily and applying Jesus teachings to your life..please help out here

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Read these prophesies (they are words that God gave some people). And if God will lead you to the ones that talk about how we are supposed to be, then you will get your answer. Focus on the themes (church and manchild/bride/witnesses that I listed (the others don't talk about that).

Under these themes, there are some dreams. But SOME of them are "thw word from the Lord" given to some people and talk about how we should be, and probably would answer your question. You would just have to find which ones.

Bezel286 said:

I want to know how do I deny myself and pick up my cross..Do you have to give up everything in your life like playing video games and spending time with family and working out? Or Is it staying prayerful and reading his word daily and applying Jesus teachings to your life..please help out here

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It's your second option that is nearest to a biblical position. To deny oneself is more to do with seeking to align our thinking and actions with God's principles and goals - seeking God's kingdom first. But that does not mean some ascetic withdrawal. Rather, it means being able participate even more fully in a life that honours the Creator, by rightfully utilising His creation instead of misusing it.

John
NZ

Peace,

That's a good question which I think we all ask ourselves, and you know that if you even care enough to ask the question you're on the road to finding the answer. I think picking up our cross can mean different things at different times in our lives. We can only give what we are capable of giving. Peter denied Jesus 3 times at one point in his life because he was not capable of giving more but then was able to accept death as a martyr at a later point in his life because he was able then to bear that burden. Give what you can give now, out of love for God and those close to you, and your strength for giving will grow as time goes on. I think of loving as an art; as something which requires experimentation and practice to be mastered. There is no minimum or maximum to give only the capacity for loving God and Man.

God bless

Bezel286 said:

I want to know how do I deny myself and pick up my cross..Do you have to give up everything in your life like playing video games and spending time with family and working out? Or Is it staying prayerful and reading his word daily and applying Jesus teachings to your life..please help out here

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Why would you ever think God does not want you to spend time with your family or have simple pleasures? Well, do not. Yes, we have to hate our lives in this world, but this is ultimately a matter of the heart. We are called to have an internal life through the Holy Spirit.

You should always keep the words of Jesus in your heart -- and apply them and meditate on them in whatever you are doing.

The Spirit prays for us, and that is internal, in every manner, and sometimes, in secret, verbally. It is having confidence in whatever you do you do before God, and whatever you think or say, you do before God.

If anything you do you can not do in such confidence, do not do it.

freeport said:

Well, do not. Yes, we have to hate our lives in this world, but this is ultimately a matter of the heart. We are called to have an internal life through the Holy Spirit.

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Please don't get drawn in to such an extreme and unbiblical view of this world. Our lives are precious to God - He does not hate us so why should we hate ourselves? And, this still is His world isn't it? He is still its Creator, Jesus is Lord and he holds it all together.

I love these words of N T Wright "Jesus saves wholes, not souls". That is we remain fully human. Salvation restores us to our true humanity, and never bypasses that.

John
NZ

Johnnz said:

freeport said:

Well, do not. Yes, we have to hate our lives in this world, but this is ultimately a matter of the heart. We are called to have an internal life through the Holy Spirit.

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Please don't get drawn in to such an extreme and unbiblical view of this world. Our lives are precious to God - He does not hate us so why should we hate ourselves? And, this still is His world isn't it? He is still its Creator, Jesus is Lord and he holds it all together.

I love these words of N T Wright "Jesus saves wholes, not souls". That is we remain fully human. Salvation restores us to our true humanity, and never bypasses that.

John
NZ

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To ensure there is no confusion on what I was writing, because any Christian is familiar with the verse 'you have to hate your life in this world'...



I wrote:

Why would you ever think God does not want you to spend time with your family or have simple pleasures? Well, do not.

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The next statement I said could confuse people if they were reading it fast:

Yes, we have to hate our lives in this world, but this is ultimately a matter of the heart. We are called to have an internal life through the Holy Spirit.

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Yes. But.


As for the statement 'we have to hate our lives in this world', it is a hard statement. I did not put it in quotes, as I did not think it necessary:

Luke 14:25-27 (New International Version)

The Cost of Being a Disciple

25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. 27And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

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Or,

John 12:25
The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

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Now, there are a number of ways to put this... but here is a good one, which I am reminded of while looking up this verse and the one from Ecclesiastes comes up:

Ecclesiastes 2:17
[ Toil Is Meaningless ] So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

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Now this is important, because Solomon well explains to us all about what I keep seeing I am having to say to people asking about this sort of question.


Further down in chapter 2:

24 A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, 25 for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment? 26 To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness,

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Chapter 3 reiterates this sentiment beautiful, a sentiment of grace:

9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

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We do not live by Law.

Jesus was a carpenter for thirty years. Moses shepherded sheep for forty years.

We do not earn off our sins. We seek God. But, we do not live by a religion of 'do this' and 'do not do that'.


It is far harder to wait for God in humility, knowing God, then to run off and not wait for Him to send you.

Don't confuse imagery and the literal. God does not tell us to hate what is His gift. Jesus was telling people to realign their lives with God's purposes in preference to their own. To take up our cross is to embrace life in all its fullness, the very life of Jesus.

John
NZ

God gave us life and its a beautiful thing he didn't made us to be robots.

Interesting, I've never seen anyone suggest that you deny yourself by not working out before. I'm not saying this is without merit, I've just never heard it before. Interesting concept, I'll have to think about that. I've thought that working out actually was a form of denying yourself (not in a Biblical sense, but you do give up some ease and pleasure when you discipline yourself to exercise God's temple).

Dear Bezel286. You had some good replies, may I join too? We are all on this Earth to learn, to pick up our cross daily, to learn from it and overcome the wrong. Jesus gave us 2 Commandments, they contain all what God`s 10 Commandments tell us. 1) Love God with all our hearts, with all our souls, and with all our minds. That is straight forward, God made us in His image, He loves us, He wants us back again, we are His. 2) Love our neighbour, all others, friend or foe, As we love ourselves. LOVE is the most wanted and strived-for Goal. It may sound easy, yet to love as God wants our love, is all-conquering and the highest goal, All for God, and shared equally amongst each other. We are all different, we all have different crosses to bear, but the love we share is always the same. Jesus will give us His Love, Joy and Peace, He will help and guide us, and we will find that to love selflessly becomes easier day by day. Unless you seriously try, Bezel, you will not know that the cross which Jesus asked us to carry daily, will become easier and easier. Christianity is a loving relationship, and we all have our crosses to bear, but with helping others, friend or foe, we will find that God`s promise, " not to give us more than we can bear," is absolutely true. I say this humbly and with love. Greetings from Emmy, your sister in Christ.

iarwain said:

Interesting, I've never seen anyone suggest that you deny yourself by not working out before. I'm not saying this is without merit, I've just never heard it before. Interesting concept, I'll have to think about that. I've thought that working out actually was a form of denying yourself (not in a Biblical sense, but you do give up some ease and pleasure when you discipline yourself to exercise God's temple).

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You could deny yourself by working out or not by working out. Working out is by no means a sin, however. Great time to contemplate on God's word.

Only time denying yourself is useful is for seeking God.

Salvation is free, no efforts required.


Sometimes we have pressing issues we just do not get answers on and are pushed to seek God more.


So we turn to praying more, fasting, alms, and so on.