Good Biblical Wisdom

I am copying and pasting my brother's blog post. He is the worship pastor for a church plant in the area. They are growing by leaps and bounds and have a heart for reaching those far from God as all churches should and it has been neat to see and hear from him how people who have never stepped foot in a church have come to their church and accepted Christ and are now plugged in and serving in the church to carry this same vision and passion on to reach others who are far from Christ. Simple philosophy and mission that I believe a lot of churches and Christians often forget or overlook. Just thought I would share a little background on him.

Here is his post that I thought was some good wisdom to pass along...

Take Up Your Cross
One of the most frustrating feelings in the Christian walk is when you are always trying to get back to a certain level of passion that you previously had. Then when we finally reach that level of passion again, it dwindles, and the cycle repeats. We go to unbelievable conferences like Catalyst and Unleash and reach the pinnacle of our heart for God (church camp feeling) and then it seems to fade as we get back to our every day life. Why can’t we just capitalize on those amazing events and use it as fuel to make our passion rage out of control in the days ahead? Here’s a verse we’ve heard a million times that God hit me with:

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross DAILY and follow me.” Luke 9:23

The disciples understood what that meant because in their day when criminals were crucified they carried their own cross to the crucifixion location. If you took up your cross you knew you were going to die. When we reached that understanding of our desperate need for Jesus and called on Him as Savior nothing could hinder our passion for Him. We took up our cross. We understood that we had to sacrifice our lives to follow Him no matter what the cost. But God’s promise in the very next verse is “but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” Jesus was calling His disciples to make this commitment daily.

I need to take up my cross hourly, not daily. I don’t ever want to get used to the fact that Jesus was brutally crucified so that I could live and become righteousness. I need to constantly remember the sacrifice of Jesus so that I will constantly sacrifice. I’m not satisfied living my life working towards a level of passion I’ve already experienced. I want to live with a passion that increases with every passing day.