O Christmas Tree...

Carry your cross…

Have you ever heard someone say, or a sermon say, “Carry your cross”?

Jesus is the PERFECT example of carrying ones cross.

Jesus showed us how to carry our cross. Beaten beyond recognition for US He carried his cross, stripped of dignity he wore our deficiencies upon his broken skin and he honorably bore bruised, battered, ripped opened skin representing grace and mercy for our sin. Jesus was marked, pierced and lashed for our healing and EVERYTHING we cannot bare on our own, Jesus struggling being punished for us an unrecognized, innocent man of love he dragged and fought to slide, push and strain to carry the cross for our salvation from which was bought at this huge price through him. He took all our sins, sickness, transgressions, iniquities, infirmities, and sorrows dragging, struggling, sliding, fighting to bring the cross up, knowing full well the whole entire time he would be hung on it, nailed to it, raised up on it for everyone to mock and slander him upon it to become rejected completely and die innocently for you and me, Jesus knew his purpose and task at hand set out for him to endure from our Holy Father, and he proved victoriously, perfectly, innocently, beyond anything we could ever imagine us doing he did for us and as he went down to the pit of hell he became rejected from God so he could retrieve for us the very opening of heaven and when he rose up becoming our Holy Savior he brought the keys to heaven for us all, the heavens opened as the veil tore in half defining the gate to heaven was now open. Jesus came to show us all how much God loves each and every one.

Carry your cross…when your required to carry your cross remember how Jesus had done it already for us all and that your cross is nothing compared to what Jesus had done for all of us, our cross may be tough sometimes to carry and it may feel like a lashing but nothing is too much for God to pull you through.

Remember your loved and remember what God has done for you, coming down from heaven becoming man a human form to bare our hurt, pain, suffering, sickness and sin on a cross to die for us to gain keys to open heaven, -die- and then leave a special gift of the Holy Spirit so that we are never alone, never without counsel, love, grace, mercy, peace, joy, healing, and salvation, a major symbol to the ultimate defeating of the evil prowler that now withholds a constant position under our feet for we are victorious from our victor Jesus and we don’t have to fight a battle that has already been won, Jesus won. Our Savior has defeated our enemy and we stand on victoriously not having to fight for victory but from victory, all we need to remember to do is equip our minds on scriptures to stay strong and true to the knowledge of God and he gives us wisdom through the book of truth scriptures are our power and strength Jesus is our bread of life and can only become nourishment for us when we put the word into action and hold true to the promises and believe our heavenly Father’s truth and trust we are carried through by him only nothing else will satisfy our souls. Jesus is the way the truth and the life, don’t keep thinking you are in battle that has never been won, the battle has already been won, we are free, we just need to stand on the word to keep our eyes focused on things above not on worldly restraints that have no real meaning, worldly pull downs that allow us to become defeated day in and day out, the enemy prows around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour the moment you fall into his lies your trapped but he doesn’t even know he’s got nothing on us – no teeth- to devour us with. Our Mighty King has the mighty roar that’s strong and our lion Jesus has defeated the enemy. “Have you seen our lion?” The word of God is mighty, so lionesses break off the shell that blinds and open the word of God for your power is in the word. Jesus spoke it and so can we.

Thank you Lord for all you have done for us as we come up to the birthday of you our Holy Savior God I am grateful for the magnification in showing us how much love you have for all of us it is still so under illustrated for this perfect picture of carrying your cross for our salvation, I have tried to paint this picture to magnify you and have not even scratched the surface of your love, but I am hoping that while your hands rest upon mine while typing you are glorified and uplifted where you should always be in our lives above us and in us for all of this is for your glory Lord, I love you, and thank you, In Jesus name I pray all of you know just how much God loves you and just how special you all are to our Heavenly King of Kings, Prince of peace, name above all other names, Holy Savior in Jesus, name Amen.

1 Peter 5:6-11 NLT So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever! Amen.

Isaiah 53:1-12 NIV Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

4 Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. 9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. 11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

John 14:6 NIV Jesus answered, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Revelation 5:5 NIV But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Matthew 16:18&19 NIV “And I tell you that you are Peter (which means Rock), and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hades (hell) will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Matthew 27:51 NIV At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.