Good Morning Everyone,
This morning I was reading in Matthew 10 about the disciples. The Lord told them to go from city to city. How the Lord said, shake the dust off if rejected. He underscored how they would be scourged, delivered up, and families will turn on one another but the one who endures till the end will be saved.
In this same vein, I listened to a message last night about letting the cross go deeper. So, as I read the verse on endurance, I realized the how. You see, I can embrace the cross (sort of like a one-time event), however, there is a depth on that cross where it must penetrate to the deepest parts. What that means to me is that the cross goes so deep to fill up every tiny hole; every place with cracks that the enemy sees and capitalizes upon to rob me of full identity in Christ; rob me of dignity in Him with a satanic goal to steal and erode God's work and undermine it in my life! To truly identify with the cross, it has to become one with the depths of my soul. There has to be a willingness to even acknowledge or admit those places and not STOP even when the penetration of the cross really hurts!
When I pray to Jesus for a deeper walk, I realize that it must encompass the formidable force of the cross. He is a kind Jesus, but fallow ground must be broken - only by the fresh water of His word. And in my own life, it is tears birthed from communion with Him where I actually feel the cross go deeper and when I can surrender and stop fighting. The beautiful Christ fills a space in me that, in my own minds-eye, felt unreachable.
This, for me, is where I can look back and see transformation. An inner-depth and conscious will of allowing God to push His precious cross deep in my soul. And as it penetrates, trust grows that it is for my GOOD! When the cross is the strong vertical center beam of our lives, it steadies us to not sway to the right or the left. If we are truly going to be image-bearers and in His image one day, I personally feel it will be the cross that shines through from the center of our being in the glorious light of which I needed it to go deeper today. And in tears I did not resist! I want this to be my continual habit.
Love,
Cari