And he that takes not his cross, and follows after me, is not worthy of me. He that finds his life shall lose it: and he that loses his life for my sake shall find it. (Matt 10:38-39, KJ2000)
Have you ever wondered what it means to take up our own cross if we are to follow Jesus? Wasn’t Him suffering and dying on the cross enough? What does it mean to “find” our lives? How about losing our carnal lives that we might find our spiritual lives as we follow Jesus? This is what our personal lives of the way of the cross is all about.
One Sunday in a church meeting after suffering much rejection at the hands of the world and its Christians, I heard the Lord say to me “Why do you keep seeking the Living among the dead?” How often I have hoped to find “the right church” where the people are living out what we read in the Book of Acts and where the voice of the Holy Spirit in them is more important to obey than the intellectual admonition of the man behind the pulpit. I read that we are all a kingdom of priests and the Spirit gives each of us as members of Christ’s body something that must be shared for the whole body to manifest the fullness of Christ. We are called to be a loving family with Jesus as our brother with us all manifesting His love for one another. This shows the world who Jesus really is.
My search has taught me the meaning of what Jesus meant when He said that to be one of His disciples, we must take up our own crosses and follow Him. So what happened to Jesus as He lived out His life obeying the voice of His Father in the leading of the Holy Spirit within Him? He told the disciples what would happen to Him for obeying His Father.
Then He charged his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. (Matt 16:20-21, KJ2000)
So as I pondered what it means to follow Jesus, I remembered what was said in the context of these words. Jesus asked them, “Who do men say that I am?” The disciples gave Him a variety of answers. Then He said,” Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” and Jesus commended him. But it was after He told them that He was about to go up to Jerusalem and suffer and die that Peter was correcting Him saying, “Be it far from you Lord!” To this Jesus said, “I rebuke you Satan, for you desire the things of men and not the things of God.” There is an old saying, “Everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die” and the disciples were of this mindset. They still had not received the Spirit of God which empowered them to be His witnesses of HIS kingdom.
Early in my walk with the Lord I came across the following verse where Paul prayed,
That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; (Phil 3:10, KJ2000)
In my enthusiasm for Christ I also prayed this as my own prayer. Little did I know what God was leading me into when He inspired that prayer. We all want to know the resurrection power of God, but what is “The fellowship of His sufferings?” Have you ever wondered why you never fit in this world and its people or even in your own earthly family? I had a totally dysfunctional family when I was growing up. My father was an alcoholic and my parents fought all the time. So, after I came to Christ and was filled with His Spirit in 1970, I found others who also who were one with Him. For the first time I knew the love of God among others who had come to Christ in that same wonderful revival that became known as “the Jesus Movement.” Many of them also came from broken families. We were not all perfect, but the love of God that was being poured out made us one. I couldn’t stay away from these precious saints. We were experiencing the family of God.
As time went on, the enemy came in and Paul’s warning to the elders of the church at Ephesus came to pass in our lives as well,
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears. (Acts 20:29-31, KJ2000)
The group that I was part of fell under the spell of one speaking smooth perverse things as he drew away disciples after himself. Of coarse what he taught was well seasoned with lots of scriptures. Why does God let this happen? Why do we end up experiencing so much rejection among our fellow Christians while we just want to fit in and be part of a spiritual family? Could we be experiencing “the fellowship of HIS sufferings?”
At the close of His earthly ministry we read about Christ’s “triumphant” entry into Jerusalem riding on a donkey where the people cried out, “Hosanna to the son of David,” acknowledging that He was the Messiah. Oh, the fanfare and adulation! The disciples were thinking, “At last He is being given recognition and credit where credit is due and coming to Jerusalem to be its new King.” Some were also thinking, “I wonder what will be my position in His new earthly government? Will I be setting on His throne at His right hand?”
But Jesus blew the whole thing because He went straight to the temple and started turning over the money changers’ tables, turning the sacrificial doves and animals loose and making a mess out of the market place that had the blessing of the religious establishment. He told them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but you have made it a den of thieves (Mark 11:17, KJ2000). Jesus was calling a spade a spade. The power brokers in the that temple system were not going to allow that!
And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people were astonished at his doctrine. (Mark 11:18, KJ2000)
Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man does many miracles. If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation. (John 11:47-48, KJ2000)
Therefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: and he that believes on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore who believe he is precious: but unto them who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner, And, A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to them who stumble at the word, being disobedient: to which also they were appointed. (1Pet 2:6-8, KJ2000)
So, what does it mean to fellowship with Jesus in His sufferings? The more we are conformed into the image of Christ and value the things of the Spirit and seek out the people that He does, the more the enemy will attack us and the majority of these attacks will come from the religious establishment just as it was with Him! Remember, one of the accusations against Jesus was that He mingled among sinners and publicans.
After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.”And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:27-32, ESV2011)
This is where we will enter into the fellowship of His sufferings. The more we value the things He does and seek out those who are lost, the more we will be despised by the so-called righteous ones.
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. (John 15:20-21, KJ2000)
The more I pondered the rejection we have suffered at that hands of religious people, the more the prophesies about Jesus became clear to me in a personal way. David prophesied,
Because for your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children. For the zeal of your house has eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached you are fallen upon me. (Ps 69:7-9, KJ2000)
Taking up my cross and following Jesus has taken on a much deeper meaning as my wife and I have had to bear the burden of the lies about us and the rejection we have found among the religious establishment. Remember, Satan was a liar and murder from the very beginning and like Jesus told Peter, “You do not know what spirit you are of” this can sometimes apply to those who persecute us without cause.
And they that had laid hold on Jesus led him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled… Now the chief priests, and elders, and all the council, sought false witness against Jesus, to put him to death; But found none: yea, though many false witnesses came, yet found they none. At the last came two false witnesses, and said, This fellow said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days. (Matt 26:57-61, KJ2000)
The temple was their power base and to speak against the temple or the High Priest was considered a death sentence. Yet, Jesus knew that that whole religious system was under the judgment of God and was about to end. As the disciples marveled at the temple buildings in Jerusalem, Jesus said, “See these buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another until it is all torn down.” By 70 AD the Roman armies came in and destroyed their temple and killed all the priests. Most of my experiences in today’s church system have taught me the meaning of taking up my cross and following Jesus.
I now see the wisdom of Jesus where I read,
But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. (John 2:24-25, ESV2011)
I am reminded of Jesus’ words of warning to the disciples and us.
If the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they would not have sin: but now they have no cover for their sin. He that hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them the works which no other man did, they would not have sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this comes to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law,
They hated me without a cause. (John 15:18-25, KJ2000)
So, my dear fellow saints when you are rejected and falsely accused it is all part of taking up the cross He has for us that humbles us, dealing with the natural man within us and offending the proud. Have faith and remember Christ’s words.But when they persecute you in this city, flee into another: for verily I say unto you, You shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man comes. The disciple is not above his teacher, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak in light: and what you hear in the ear, that preach upon the housetops. (Matt 10:23-27, KJ2000)
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, (Matt 10:16-17, ESV2011)
And finally what Peter wrote:
But if you suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are you: and, Be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear: Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good behavior in Christ. (1Pet 3:14-16, KJ2000)
A Wilderness Voice 
Thanks Michael…have been going through a long season of disapointment – not finding a resting place – wondering if it was the fault of my wife and I. Truth will/must bring rejection in this fallen world. I had never viewed it (rejection at the hands of the religious) as Cross bearing
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Dear brother,
Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation [pressure], but be of good cheer for I have overcome the world.” I pondered this verse for 14 years of being sidelined in His wilderness. I said, “Sure, Jesus, that is easy for you to be an overcomer as you sit up there at the right hand of God, but how do WE overcome? The secret here was to be found IN Christ Jesus and not in my self and all my anger and self-pity. My victory is found IN Christ alone. John wrote,
“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1John 5:4-5, ESV2011)
Thank you Jesus for Gilbert and his wife. Please let them feel your presence and know for sure how much you love them. Amen.
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Love your Bible Believing writing Brother!!! I hope you and Dorothy are well and happy!
Sadly Roberts Dementia is progressing he has minimal communication abilities. He is at home with me and we are doing okay got now with me as 24/7 caregiver although In The future this will change.
Miss you guys and we Love you dearly!!!
Robert and Laurie!💝💝💝💝💝
Sent from my iPhone
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Laurie, my dear sister, You have been a blessing to us from the very beginning when God put us together in that move of the Spirit in 1970. I am sorry to hear about Robert’s failing condition. What a cross to bear. I know that God is using it to work more of Jesus’ love and light in you. The one thing I miss the most about leaving northern Idaho was those visits we had together when you came down to visit with your family and friends. I am glad you have outside help with Robert during this trial. You will continue to be in my prayers.
Michael
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Yes Michael,
I also was saved because a long-haired, guitar playing oddity from the tail-end of the Jesus movement, took the time to tell me about the Jesus I never knew. His words were life altering and as the Spirit of God convicted me I couldn’t get baptized quickly enough. Within a week I was baptized in the Spirit and life was radically different from that point forward. But your account with the group that you were a part of is identical to my experience with the group that I became a part of.
And your conclusions as to the path that the Lord led you on are identical to the way that he led me. I therefore strongly suspect that we have agonized of the same issues, felt the same stress, pain, grief, pressure and brokenness. Finally having to walk away from these men to try and preserve what was left of our integrity.
They tried to slander us and poison our friend and family against us.
We took up what was left of our lives, “Outside of the Camp” and communed with the Lord wounded and broken. But the Lord came to us and raised us up. led us and guided us and from time to time provided us with genuine souls with whom we could fellowship. My sister and her family repented and came to the Lord. My Aunt who was dying of a cancer like disease, came to the Lord, then my mother, from whom I was estranged came to the Lord. I now have 11 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren and one by one the are coming to the Lord, together with their husbands.
Some time back, I had a heart attack that nearly killed me. I had gone into cardiac arrest and it was all over. But the moment before my heart stopped I cried out to the Lord. They were able to bring me back and the surgeons repaired my heart.
During my time in recovery, the Lord came to me saying”I will NEVER leave or forsake you. He then showed me certain things which demonstrated His commitment. Needless to say, I was somewhat overwhelmed for several weeks.
The short of it all is that evil has tried to overtake us, but it can’t, because the Lord will not allow it. Our journey is not quite yet over, my brother but the Lord has established us and he will complete that which he has started. Breathe easy. We are not alone. We are the objects of His mercy.
Rick
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Dear Rick,
Yes, the paths that we have both been placed on by the Lord DO sound quite similar. During my wilderness time the Lord showed me many wonderful scriptures that helped keep me from falling away and knowing that He was in it all though I could not since His presence and most of what I saw from Christians was rejection. He showed me how Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David, Elijah, Paul and of coarse, Jesus, all had their times in isolation, the wilderness and even in prison for years and God sustained them through it all. It seems that they all had to learn obedience to the voice of the Spirit through the things that they suffered. He gave me a godly wife before I came to Christ and her prayers have been used of God over and over. My brother, “a servant is not greater than his Master, but it is sufficient that he becomes AS his Master.” Jesus is the First Born of many brethren and He led the way…
He is working His wisdom and love in us through it all and “wisdom is know of her children.” I am sure that this verse has more that one meaning. 🙂 Our four children all know the Lord and He is working in our ten grand-kids and I suspect that our 7 great-grands will be drawn into Christ as they grow as well.
I also have had some heart ailments. I have to go in for a stress test on a tread mill in a couple of weeks, my EKG showed some irregularities and I get chest pains on a regular basis, but I have no fear… Yes, our journey is not over yet.
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Michael,
Your message is laser sharp, as it always is. Sarah and I were gripped by this call to take up our cross very early on in our journey of radical obedience to the Lord. We had no idea the cost, though we knew it would be costly. (I think the Lord withholds the details because He knows that we would be deterred if we knew the details of what lies ahead for us :-). It is this message of taking up OUR cross which led to the creation of our website (www.wordforthebride.net) . The following is a link to a song on that website that Sarah wrote and recorded entitled “The Way of the Cross.”
[audio src="https://wordforthebride.net/Music/12_-_The_Way_of_the_Cross.mp3" /]
Thank you for your faithfulness,
Chuck Faupel
P.S.: I tried to post (essentially) this message to your comments section but for some reason WordPress wouldn’t recognize my password. Didn’t think I changed it. Hmm
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Chuck, it is good to hear from you again, my brother. I have wondered what it meant to take up my cross and follow Jesus. I had a vague idea, but it wasn’t until my latest round of rejection and false accusations from some local Christians and meditating on Jesus’ final week on this earth that FOLLOWING HIM took on a greater meaning. It was then that all those verses (about His followers having to suffer as He did) took on a greater meaning.
Thanks for sharing Sarah’s song. It was meaningful and beautiful.
Stay in touch,
Michael
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Very true Michael, what you shared is what my experience has been since I was saved in 1971, the revival that the Lord Jesus was doing in the late 60’s into the 1970’s and how eventually the grievous wolves came in with their selfish ambition and agendas to spoil things , but the Lord Jesus is always there for us if we are faithful to turn to Him, even in the times of rejection and suffering. It is more painful when rejection is from Christians than rejection from the worldly people, it took me a long time to realize that some of those experiences were me partaking of Christ’s sufferings, the Lord always is more precious when we are suffering, because we see the beauty of Christ more then, than when everything seems to be going smoothly, Thanks for sharing this word Michael.
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Thanks for sharing your insight about suffering, Jim. I have given much thought as to why I got sucked in to that cult that formed out of something that was so precious in its beginnings. It turned out that the leader was an alcoholic as was my own father. This man kept it hidden for quite some time, but his alcoholic personality would show through quite often. But I was blind to it because my own father was also an alcoholic and as a result I felt quite at home with this new “father image” in my life.
My dear brother in Christ, George Davis, said “God had to rub his nose into everything He didn’t want him to become,” after attending a Bible school in Texas many years ago. I think that “ALL things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to HIS purpose.” All things, even the painful ones are used by Him to remake us into the image of Christ so that the Father might have many sons unto His own glory.
Yes, it is much more painful when we are betrayed by Christians that by the world. We expect it from the world, but not from those so close to us. This last go-around has taught me a lot and through it all I was able to forgive each of them and say from my heart, “Father, forgive them for they no not what they are doing.”
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Another good article Michael.
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Upon following the news of Tina Peter’s jailing, my heart was filled with pity for her. But this event has caused me to pray and wonder if I have God’s heart regarding this matter. We are told to rejoice when we are persecuted for righteousness sake. I am in the process of allowing the Lord to develop in me His heart for such suffering. Maybe Tina should not be only pitied but also most envied, for great is her reward.
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Thanks Alan,
I had to do a search on the net to find out who Tina was and what were the charges that she was jailed for. I was reminded of the following verse…
As Jesus was tried before Pilate He to told him, “My kingdom is not of this world, if it was my armies would come and fight.” Before I came to Christ and received the Holy Spirit I was grossly entangled with right-wing politics. The enemy had me and I was filled with hate. After I repented and He delivered me and gave me His Spirit I was a new creation that was filled His love for all men. Over night old things had passed away and all things became new. Since then I have been tempted many times to get involved with politics as I see our country becoming more and more corrupt. But Jesus reminds me over and over that HIS kingdom is not of this world. Consider Christ’s temptation,
It is a dangerous thing for a saint who has been delivered by God to get entangled once again with political powers [pollutions of the world in an form] that are part of Satan’s domain.
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Thanks for this reminder, Michael, and for the verse…
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You are welcome, Louise. We appreciate all that God has been doing in you and His sharing you with us all these years.
Michael
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Thanks so much for the newsletters you send. They are so deep spiritually and we enjoy them. I teach a Bible Study on Wednesdays and it is posted on my YouTube Channel under my name Dennis Pewitt. Also, I teach sometimes at Queen Valley Church at Queen Valley Arizona.I live these days in Mesa, Arizona. We lived in Kalispell MT for 29 years but came back here to retire with family. For 42 years the Spirit of God has been teaching me through revelation of His Word. Slowly we find more and more that have that happing to them. Also, I recommend checking out openheavensministries.org. Henry DuBose passed away but his widow sends out a weekly teaching. It is wonderful what God showed him. Thanks, Dennis.
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Dennis,
Thank you for your comment. Your walk sounds familiar. Instead of moving from Montana to be with family in Arizona, about two years ago my wife and I moved from north Idaho to east Texas for the same reason. I checked out your Youtube “Deeper Dive” teaching and it was good to see that the Spirit has also taught others through you about the deeper meaning of the Greek word “ies”… into such as “…that whosoever would believe INTO Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” A brother in Glasgow, MT pointed this out to me and it was a real “show stopper.” We might say that we believe in a certain politician, but we never say that we “believe INTO” him. Yet, this is exactly what happens when the Spirit moves on us when we are born of the Spirit. He places us IN Christ. It is there that we begin to have an intimate LIFE IN Him! The Greek word “ginosko” “to know” or “knew” has the same depth.
God desires us to have the same intimate relationship with us as Jesus has with His Father.
Love IN Christ,
Michael
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