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DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20260601T080000
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SUMMARY:Take up YOUR Cross and Follow
DESCRIPTION:Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people [unto him] with his disciples also\, he said unto them\, Whosoever will come after me\, let him deny himself\, and take up his cross\, and follow me. \nWhen one speaks of the Cross\, the first thing most think of is suffering\, persecution\, injustice\, etc… The Catholics add sickness to it. But we see Paul speaks of the Cross as power. \nWe are called to carry the Lord’s burden\, not His Cross. The scripture says we are called to carry our own Cross\, and our Cross is different from the Lord’s Cross or anyone else’s Cross. \nThe Greek word ‘stauros’ for ‘cross’ comes from the root word ‘histemi’\, which means ‘cause’. In the initial days\, the Assyrians used to crucify people on a pole. It was the Romans who erected Crosses (plus shape) of stone/wood (historians state them as stone\, theologians say wood) outside cities to ignite fear of the law. People were tied (not nailed) to them and left for birds to eat their flesh so as to die a slow\, torturous death. \nIncidentally\, Jesus was not tied to one of those. During His crucifixion\, they were all full\, so they had to cut a fresh (Teak) tree to crucify Him\, and thus this was carried by Him and later by another. The tree was cut and shaped like a plus\, which we assume\, but this is contested by His own Apostle. They had to exclusively nail Him alone since they could not tie Him due to the Y shape. He confirmed that He is YHWH (a Hebrew ideogram which means ‘Behold Hand Behold Nail’). \nI could understand the Cross which we are called to carry from the OT. It was the most powerful object that manifested the glory of God so much that any unauthorized person who dared to touch it would die. Yes\, it was the Ark of the Covenant. If we understand the Ark\, its design and its content\, we will understand our Cause\, our Cross\, and we will also understand the power and authority we can manifest when we carry it. It was the Ark that enabled the Israelites to enter the Promised Land\, just as it enables us to enter our Promised Land – Heaven. \nNo persecution can harm us\, no enemy can stand before us if we truly carry our Cross\, like no enemy or army harmed the Israelites when they carried the Ark. We need to be Levites (joined to\, separated unto Him) to carry the Ark/Cross. \nUnderstand the invitation to carry our Cross and follow Christ is not an invitation to suffering and anguish\, but that of power and authority. \n[Prayer Starter]\nLord\, You are Almighty God. You\, Lord\, are an Omnipotent God\, and nothing is impossible to You. You have not created us for suffering but for greatness and glory in You. It is because we do not know You or our purpose in You that we suffer. We pray we understand our Cross\, our Ark of the Covenant\, so that we manifest You\, Your Glory. We pray we learn to carry it daily and follow You… \nThis prayer we make in Jesus’ Name\, Amen. \n[Reference Scriptures]\nActs 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus\, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. \nActs 10:39 And we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews\, and in Jerusalem; whom they slew and hanged on a tree: \nActs 13:29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him\, they took [him] down from the tree\, and laid [him] in a sepulchre. \nGalatians 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law\, being made a curse for us: for it is written\, Cursed [is] every one that hangeth on a tree: \n1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. \nDeuteronomy 31:\n25 That Moses commanded the Levites\, which bare the ark of the covenant of the LORD\, saying\,\n26 Take this book of the law\, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God\, that it may be there for a witness against thee. \n 
URL:https://savedbyfaith.info/event/take-up-your-cross-and-follow/
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