Lightened cross
Many people find it difficult to carry their crosses, others with ease, but there are also those who facilitate their crosses given from God.
Matthew 11,28-30
„Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
This yoke is indeed easy for those who love God with reality, but also this yoke is unbearably heavy for those, who do not put God first in their lives. John also spoke about this:
1John 5,3
„For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.”
Today's heroes of faith, proclaim that the commandments of God cannot be kept. Who is right then? To these “faith heroes” or John? I am voting for the Apostle John, who not only understood but lived the true gospel.
Do you love Jesus? All believers would immediately reflexively say: yes! But as we know, we must not only be close to God with our mouths, but much more with our hearts.
Isaiah 29,13
„And the Lord said: "Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,”
Just as today… God must be loved above all things, and if we truly love Him above all things, it is tell by our actions! When we are tempted and fall into it, there is nothing to beautify about it, it is not God sitting on the throne of our hearts, but we have taken control. First, let's look at where the temptation comes from:
James 1,13-16
„Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am being tempted by God," for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers.”
We are the sources of temptation, we do not have to blame Satan for everything! Amen used to say that: „Satan has no power over us”, yet we see ungodly deeds behind the confession. If we truly belong to God, then Satan has no power over us, but then how can they still say, "I could not resist the temptation?" If Jesus dwells with someone in reality, He is large enough to withstand all the temptations that exist, just as He did in His earthly life:
Hebrews 4,15
„For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Do you fall and it's not your fault? Then whose? Jesus because he wasn't strong enough in you? Satan, who has no power over you? Time to wake up from the dream brothers!
The public opinion about the temptation is that suddenly jump out of nowhere and strike us at poor and innocent victims. But they can even intensify this (as they fall into temptation) and instead of looking at themselves, point to something else, as it was in the beginning:
Genesis 3,9-13
„But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."”
It is easier to point to something else and blame others for our own sins. We could save a lot of temptation if we took good care of ourselves. We need to take care of ourselves and others so as not to tempt each other:
Romans 13,12-14
„The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
Let us not nourish our bodies with desires! What it means? For example, Christian girls should not wear miniskirts so as not to tempt others with their sight. Let us not boast of our wealth, lest the needy be dissatisfied with what God has given him.
1John 2,16
„For all that is in the world--the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions--is not from the Father but is from the world.”
As I said before, I say again because it must be emphasized that whoever falls into a temptation, then Jesus is not the first in his/her life. It is sound tough and it find a lot of closed hearts, but this is the truth. If we are aware that what we are doing is not pleasing to God, then the act has become more important than God; ergo, God has ascended from the throne of our hearts and we have sat on it.
Most people say that it is God’s grace for us to be forgiven of such sins as well. But a vain man with such thinking has not yet understood anything, he says by this that forgiveness is greater than God.
Lots of people today carry a cross that they made themselves. Whose hemorrhoids is the cross, someone is the bacon dough without bacon, the third is his wife, and the others are his “service” to God. Yet the real cross is what Jesus took. Obedience, self-sacrifice, perfect walking in the commandments of God! Did Jesus live? Of course! But not like today's believers. Today’s people live for themselves, even if they make a sacrifice, it’s not their whole life, it’s just a small part. But they don’t think and take seriously what Jesus said. The standard for Jesus is that either all or nothing:
Mark 8,35
„For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.”
Here's another standard:
Matthew 10,37-39
„Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Jesus showed us how to follow Him. He showed us how to live and act. There is a verse they don’t even want to take notice of, a verse they might think about, but in the end they find that it is more than likely to be interpreted differently:
1John 2,6
„whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
Some people think they are alive, though they are dead. They dream, and they think that is reality, they deceive themselves, but if they do not wake up from this dream, they will have eternal damnation.
Isaiah 58,1-2
„"Cry aloud; do not hold back; lift up your voice like a trumpet; declare to my people their transgression, to the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily and delight to know my ways, as if they were a nation that did righteousness and did not forsake the judgment of their God; they ask of me righteous judgments; they delight to draw near to God.”
Like those who do righteous acts, like those who keep the law and ask for God’s righteousness. They consider themselves worthy of God, and in fact they approach Him unworthily. They desire something that would cause their destruction, instead of seeking truth, they are waiting for truth. Though God’s judgment begins in His church, it first shows us how holy He is!
Amos 5,18-24
„Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! Why would you have the day of the LORD? It is darkness, and not light, as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it? "I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Whom we worship? The Word, that is Jesus, or our desires?
Lamentations 3,22-23
„The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Antal Farkas
(May 29, 2020)
