Take Up Your Cross

Greetings in the name of Jesus! This is Rob Haymes. This is 15 Minutes With Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered together in My name, Jesus said, there am I in the midst of them. To those of you who love Him in truth: mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. 

Thank you Father for this day! Thank you Father for this program. Thank you for every person reading this message. I ask you to bless them. I ask you to give us ears to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying. Today’s program is called, Take Up Your Cross. 

Let’s read about Jesus taking up His Cross. Turn with me to Luke 22:39,  Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. When He came to the place, He said to them, Pray that you may not enter into temptation. And He was withdrawn from them about a stone's throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. Then an angel appeared to Him from Heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. 

Then He said to them, Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation. 

And while He was still speaking, behold, a multitude; and he who was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them and drew near to Jesus to kiss Him. But Jesus said to him, Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss? When those around Him saw what was going to happen, they said to Him, Lord, shall we strike with the sword? And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear. But Jesus answered and said, suffer you thus far. And He touched his ear and healed him. 

Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness.

Let’s turn to chapter 23, verse 18, This is when Jesus was before Pilate,  And they all cried out at once, saying, Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas—who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder. Pilate, therefore, willing to release Jesus, again called out to them. But they shouted, saying, Crucify Him, crucify Him! Then he said to them the third time, Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go. But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed. So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested. And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will. 

Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus. And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed! Then they will begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills, Cover us. For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry? There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. 

And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God. 

The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself. And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: This Is The King Of The Jews. Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us. But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong. Then he said to Jesus, Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom. And Jesus said to him, Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise. Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, Father, into your hands I commit My Spirit.  Having said this, He breathed His last. So when the centurion saw what had happened, he glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous Man! 

Let’s turn to Mat 10:37, Jesus said, He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 

And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 

He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it. 

Mat 16:21, From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You! But He turned and said to Peter, Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men. Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each according to his works. Mark 10:21, Jesus was speaking with the rich young ruler: Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in Heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me. In Luke 9:23, Jesus said, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.  Deny yourself; take up your cross; follow Me, every day. Are you doing all three of these things? Every day?  

This is not a matter of religious thought, or poetry. Are you doing this? Deny yourself: your will; your desire; your pleasure; your self. Take up your cross: the will of the Father for you today. What is the will of the Father for you in this hour? Do you know? Are you willing to suffer in order to do the will of your Father in Heaven? Do you love the Father: the One who loved you and gave His Son for you to save you from your sins? Will you take the time to pray and seek His will for you? Will you pray the Lord’s Prayer and mean it: Your will be done, Father; not my will, but your will be done? And then will you rise up from prayer and go where He wants you to go, and do what He wants you to do?  

If your lust and desire to do your own pleasure; your own will; to follow your own understanding, is too strong,  you won’t be able to do the Father’s will. You must pray and fast and continue in the Word of God and in the Holy Spirit until you overcome your own flesh. You must put it to death through the Spirit. 

When you are baptized in water, you are baptized into the death of Jesus; your old self will is crucified with Him and buried with Him, and you are raised with Him to serve Him and the Father in newness of life: a new creation in Christ. You are no longer your own. You are bought with a price: the precious Blood of Jesus Christ has redeemed you from the power of sin and the power of the devil. You are Christ’s servant: you must do what He wants you to do, and do you know what He wants you to do? He wants you to follow Him. He is doing the will of the Father. In order to continue in His Word; in order to follow Jesus and really be His disciple and do the Father’s will every day, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit! Jesus told His disciples that He was going away to be with the Father, but He said, I will not leave you alone, but when I go, I will send another Comforter, that He may be with you always. And when He comes, He will guide you into all truth. Jesus said, in John 14:15, If you love Me, keep My commandments. 

And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 

I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. Verse 26, But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. The Holy Spirit will bring you through suffering in order for you to be changed. We are being changed. God is making a holy people. We have to be broken to be changed; to be made like Jesus. We are stubborn, self-willed, rebellious people by nature, and we must follow Jesus and be broken, and be taught by Him, and be cleansed and washed and made white. We purify our souls by obeying the truth: the Word of God, through the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is going to be leading us to do the Word of God in every situation, and as we learn to yield to Him, to do His will, He will help us, and more and more we will overcome.  You have to want this! You have to desire God! You have to love Him with your whole heart. If you love this world and the things that are in it, the Bible says, the love of the Father is not in you. But hold on! If you have a willing heart, you can be changed! Do you want to be?

Jesus said, Ask, and it shall be given; seek, and you will find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; He said that everyone who asks receives! He said that he that seeks after righteousness shall be filled! God has given us everything through the sacrifice and resurrection of His beloved Son. It is up to us to lay hold on eternal life. He said, If you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me.

Thank you for reading this message from 15 Minutes With Jesus at roberthaymes.com . May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you who love Him in truth, Amen.