Does your cross hurt? Take up your cross Matthew 16:24-25 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it."

Does your cross hurt? He who does not take his cross Matthew 10:38 "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me."

Does your cross hurt? Jesus bearing His cross John 19:17-18 They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha. There they crucified Him, and with Him two other men, one on either side, and Jesus in between.

Does your cross hurt? First one to bear the cross of Jesus Mark 15:21 They pressed into service a passer-by coming from the country, Simon of Cyrene (the father of Alexander and Rufus), to bear His cross.

Does your cross hurt? Pain of crucifying the old self Romans 6:4-6 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

Does your cross hurt? To live with Him we must die Romans 6:8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

Does your cross hurt? Crucifixion: what could it cost? Matthew 5:29-30 "If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.”

Does your cross hurt? Example of Paul’s life Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Does your cross hurt? If we belong to Christ Galatians 5:24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Does your cross hurt? A survey of Discipleship Journal readers ranked the areas of greatest spiritual challenges to them: 1.Materialism 5. Sexual lust 2. Pride 7. Envy 3. Self-centeredness 8. Gluttony 4. Laziness 9. Lying 5. Anger/Bitterness

Does your cross hurt? World was crucified to Paul Galatians 6:14 But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Does your cross hurt? Challenge to the preaching of the gospel 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

The Padded Cross Well, here I am, Lord. you said, “Take up your cross,” and I’m here to do it. It’s not easy, You know, this self-denial thing. I mean to go through with it though, yes, Sir! I’ll bet You wish more people were willing disciples like me. I’ve counted the cost and surrendered my life even though, like the song says, “It’s not an easy road...”

Do you mind if I look over these crosses? I’d kind of like a new one. Not that I’m fussy, You understand, but a young disciple should be able to relate, You know. I was wondering -- are there any that are padded, and maybe covered with something like vinyl? I’m thinking of attracting others, You see, and if I could show them a comfortable cross I’m sure I could win a lot more. I ought to keep relevant with how people are feeling and all. And I need something durable so I can treasure it always.

Oh, is there one that’s sort of flat so it would fit under my coat? One shouldn’t be too obvious. Surely You don’t want me to stand out and be different. There doesn’t seem to be much choice here. Just coarse, rough wood. I mean that would hurt! Don’t you have something that looks a little nicer, Lord? I can tell you right now, none of my friends are going to be impressed by this poor workmanship! They might think I’ve gone nuts! And my family will be totally mortified!

What’s that? It’s either one of these or forget the whole thing? But Lord, I want to be Your disciple. I mean, just being with You, that’s all that counts; but life has to have a balance, too... But You don’t understand, nobody lives that way today. Who’s going to be attracted by this self-denial bit? I mean, I want to, but let’s not overdo it. If I get fanatical they’ll haul me off to a mental institution -- know what I mean?

I mean, being a disciple is challenging and exciting, and I want to do it, but I do have some individual rights, You know! Like, no blood, OK? I just can’t stand the thought of that, Lord.... Lord? Jesus... ? Now where do you suppose He went?

Does your cross hurt? The joy a crucifixion can bring Hebrews 12:2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do you need to be crucified with Christ?