What About Our Cross?

A week from the date of this post, we will celebrate Jesus' resurrection from the dead. This is such a huge day for me because I treasure, above all things, Christ’s redemptive work on the cross. The message of Christ and the cross will never lose its power. It is through His death that even the most bound and vile sinner can be set free and live a victorious life.

One thing that stands out about the crucifixion is Christ’s attitude toward the whole ordeal. His death on the cross was the most barbaric and painful form of death that one could be subjected to. Moreover, the goal of crucifixion was not only to cause suffering but also to humiliate. Yet, Jesus humbly submitted to the cross. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,” the Bible commands us (Philippians 2:5). And what was His example? It was that “he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (verse 8b).

Though we don’t have a literal cross to bear as Jesus did, we do have those things that, like the cross, are painful and humiliating. I am not talking about the normal hurdles in life we have to jump. Rather, the long, difficult hand that life sometimes deals us. God is calling us to have the same mindset toward our cross as Jesus did toward His. He knew how He was going to die. He told His disciples beforehand how He would be crucified and after three days He would rise again. He knew He did not deserve the punishment He would get. Yet, He humbly submitted to it.

Perhaps as you read this message, you are bearing a very difficult cross in your life. The question is, what kind of mindset do you have about it? God is not only interested in what we do, but also our attitude toward what we do.

The last church I pastored, which was 11 years ago, was the most difficult period of my life. Painful and humiliating it was. When I first started the church in 1989, I just knew I was going to conquer the world. But in 1996, the ministry turned hellish. I endured the test, but I harbored lots of bitterness inside. Oftentimes, I found myself complaining, feeling I deserved a better hand than what I had been dealt. As far as people could see, I was faithful. But God looks on the heart. As for my attitude, I did not have the mindset of Christ. I had to really work on that area of my life.

When Jesus died on the cross, He did so to die in our stead and to pay the cost for our redemption. During this time of the year, that is our main focus, and it should be. But as He approached Jerusalem to be crucified, was taken from judgment to judgment, was whipped before He would pay the ultimate price, and as He hung on the cross, He was also teaching us how to have the right attitude. The question is, have we learned the lesson?

Let us glory in His triumph over death and the grave, but also, let this be a time for us to look at ourselves and assess our attitude toward our own cross. As Jesus said, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24).

Copyright ©2010 by Frank King. All rights reserved.

Not By Bread Alone

Today, I preached at a church about 50 miles from home. I entitled the message “Not by Bread Alone.” It was well received. After the service, a number of the congregants shared with me how they were blessed by what I preached. In hopes of blessing some others, I decided to share a main point from the sermon via this blog post.

The particular verse I want to address is found in Matthew 4:4. In it, Jesus said to the devil, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” You see, it does not matter how much physical food you eat or how good it tastes, it will do nothing for you spiritually. For that dimension of our being, we need to feed on the Word of God. Just as God has designed us in such a way that if we don’t get certain nutrients in our body, it will not function properly; it is also true that if we don’t get an ample supply of the Word of God, spiritually, we will not function properly.

When I was young, I was taught about the importance eating foods from the major food groups such as milk and dairy; fruits and vegetables; bread and cereals; meat, fish, and poultry; etc. Each of these groups provides certain nutrients for our body so it can function properly. If we choose to eat from only one of the major food groups, though what it provides for us will be beneficial, we will not completely healthy. Similarly, there are some Christians who are interested in mostly one teaching of the Bible such as faith, healing, prosperity, or spiritual gifts, etc. Even though each of these is a valid teaching of the Bible, if one subject is all we want to read about in the Bible or hear about, we can’t possibly be completely healthy. We must have a regular diet of the entire Word of God, if we are to be healthy.

Also, there are some Christians today who feel that because they are currently living in the New Testament era, they should study only the New Testament. Again, Jesus said we live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The Old Testament has not become obsolete. It is the Word of God just as much as the New Testament is. What this all means is that we must get serious about the Word of God, if we are not already, and we should develop a strategy for studying the entire Bible, not just select portions thereof.

If we fail to put ourselves on a regular diet of the Word of God, we will be spiritually anemic. We need the Bible because it keeps us built up in our most holy faith. Even when times are difficult, we can be bold and strong, if will are eating the awesome spiritual food that has come down from heaven to us. I am only scratching the surface of what I shared in the message, but I hope that you were blessed by this blog post. Most importantly, I hope that you are or will become a serious student and practitioner of the Word of God.

Copyright © 2010 by Frank King. All rights reserved.

Our Quiet Time with God is Priceless

We should spend quiet time with God so we can hear Him speak to us. This is easier said than done because we live in such a noisy world. A few days ago, I was at my bathroom mirror doing some last minute things to get ready for work. Then I heard something strange: it was that the room was quiet. Strange, I say, because normally, I listen to the morning news as I get ready for work. Sometimes, at the same time, my wife has the radio on listening to gospel music. But as for that morning, a few minutes earlier, a circuit breaker had tripped, causing the TV and radio to go off. After I restored the power, I did not bother to cut the TV and radio back on.

What amazed me was the fact that the quietness seemed strange to me. But that’s the culture in which we live. We actually expect noise everywhere we go. Two days ago, I was at a lab, sitting in the waiting area, to have some blood drawn as part of my annual physical. It seemed as if everybody’s phone rang that morning, and some of the people had loud and very unusual ring tones.

Everywhere you go, noise, noise, noise.

Nevertheless, in the midst of this crazy world, we must hold on to our quiet time alone with God. Of course, we can pray while we are driving down the street or walking around the park. But Jesus taught that when we pray, we should enter our closet and when we have shut the door, we should pray to the Father, and “Then your Father , who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6, NIV). I remember one sermon I preached using this verse, and I entitled it, “The Secret Life of a Champion.”

I truly believe that if we want to be champions for the Lord, we must commit ourselves to solitary time with Him. The aforementioned verse says that when we do, the Lord rewards us. Show me a person whom God openly uses in awesome ways, consistently, and I will show you a person who values His quiet time with God. I am finding this discipline increasingly difficult for me as my ministry schedule continues to grow. Perhaps you are too. But with everything that is within us we must learn how to slow down the pace and lower the volume of this world, and get alone with God. It is in this quietness that we can hear His voice.

During Jesus’ public ministry, He had to withdraw from the crowd to get alone and pray to the Father (see Matthew 14:23). Sometimes, He prayed alone all night long. I submit to you that this is one of the reasons He was so awesome during His public ministry. He prayed in secret and God rewarded Him openly when He ministered publicly. Since He is our example, we should follow His lead.

Copyright © 2010 by Frank King. All rights reserved.