Devotions

“Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.’” (Matthew 16:24, NKJV). However, Jesus could not carry his cross all alone, and neither can you!

It may sound almost sacrilegious to suggest Jesus did not carry his own cross, but that is the truth. As Jesus bore his cross to Golgotha, he was too weak and frail to carry it the whole way. When he had reached the end of his endurance, his cross was laid on another's shoulder. Simon the Cyrene was compelled to pick it up and carry it to the place of crucifixion (see Matthew 27:32).

What does this mean to us? Would our Lord order us do something he could not do? Did he not say, “Whoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:27)? Personally, it gives me great hope to know that Jesus could not bear his own cross entirely alone. It encourages me to know that I am not the only one burdened down at times, unable to go on in my own strength. Jesus knew exactly what he was saying when he called us to "take up our cross and follow him." He foreknew his own cross and that another would have to carry it for him.

Why then would he ask us to shoulder a cross that he knows will soon crush us to the ground? There is a truth hidden here that we must uncover, a truth so powerful that it could change the way we look at all our troubles and hurts.

God knows that not one of his children can carry the cross they take up when following Christ. We want to be good disciples by denying ourselves and taking up our cross, but we seem to forget that this same cross will one day bring us to the end of our human endurance. Would Jesus purposely ask us to take up a cross that he knows will sap all our human energies and leave us lying helpless? Absolutely yes! Jesus forewarns us, "Without me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). So he asks us to take up our cross until we learn that lesson. This is what the Bible means when it says his strength is made perfect in our weakness.

From a young age, I would travel with my dad when he preached around the country. This was the time of the Jesus movement right after the 60s. The sexual revolution and the Vietnam War had happened, and there was such crisis among young people. I saw all these people who were stoned out of their minds; some of them were in gangs, and some of them were on serious drugs; but when they heard the Word, hundreds and hundreds of young people would give their life to Christ.

Like I said, I was young, so I didn't understand exactly what was happening, but I sensed the power of the Holy Spirit to transform lives, and man, I was all in. As far as I can remember, I never wanted to be a football player, fireman or policeman. I knew, even when I was only six years old, that I was going to be a preacher. Sometimes it's been hard, and sometimes I've kind of wished I was doing something else, but deep down, I’ve always known this is the call of God on my life. I was also fortunate enough to have a father who encouraged me to follow God’s call and be myself.

If you're trying to be somebody other than who God made you to be or mimic someone else’s path, it’ll eat you up inside. I've seen this so many times in ministry, particularly with the father-son relationship. I've seen so many of the sons try to be a carbon copy of their fathers.

This ignores the truth of scripture when it says, “For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills” (1 Corinthians 12:8-11, ESV).

I truly believe that you will be satisfied in your work when you're doing what God's called you to. Rather than struggle to be something else, instead pray, “Thank you, Jesus, for giving me these gifts and letting me use them to bless others.”

Immediately after the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, the Bible tells us that Jesus sent his disciples across the sea to Bethsaida. That evening a storm hit, and the disciples began to struggle against the fierce wind and waves. They were no doubt weary. Ahead of them are multitudes of people in need. Behind them are twelve baskets of leftover bread.

I see it almost as a test. Behind the disciples was a place of comfort where there was provision for each of them. Up ahead was poverty, sickness and human need. To press forward meant that they would have to stay in their wet clothes and walk with Jesus toward those in need.

How easy it would have been at that point for the disciples to say, “What a rough trial we’ve been through! Thank God it’s over now, and we all made it through the storm. Let’s just row back across the sea.” How easily they could have drafted their excuses and gone back to eat their bread. After all, they now had the incredible story to tell of how Jesus had brought them through their trial. They could have chosen to reverse their boat and concern themselves with their own safety and nourishment.

That’s not what the disciples did. Although they may still have had seaweed in their hair, they chose to move toward what Christ was doing. They entered into where the people were living, into people’s pain, sickness, struggles and religious confusion. They moved toward the people to meet them in their need.

Shouldn’t our seeking of God lead you and me toward human need? Shouldn’t it cause us to get out of the boat of our own trials and tribulations in order to invest in other needy people, despite our own needs? We are all called to walk where Jesus walks. Scripture says, “If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday” (Isaiah 58:10, NKJV).

As we choose to reach out to human need, God promises that we will have light in our eyes even in the darkest hour.

^{Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020 he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.}

One of the most encouraging scriptures in the Bible is “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God, and not of us” (2 Corinthians 4:7, NKJV). Paul goes on to describe those earthen vessels that are dying men, troubled on every side, perplexed, persecuted, cast down. Even though never forsaken or in despair, those men being used by God are constantly under the burden of their bodies, waiting anxiously to be clothed with new ones.

God mocks man’s power. He laughs at our egotistical efforts at being good. Scripture says, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29).

Weak, foolish, despised, not very noble, not very smart — Does that ever describe me! Despite this, God calls us in our weakness. He puts his priceless treasure in these earthen vessels of ours because he delights in doing the impossible with nothing.

I saw Israel Narvaez, former Mau Mau gang leader, kneel and receive Christ as Lord. It was not just an emotional surface experience; he really meant it, but Israel went back to the gang and ended up in prison, an accessory to murder. Did God quit on him? Not for one moment. Today Israel is a minister of the gospel, having accepted the love and forgiveness of a longsuffering Savior.

Have you failed? Is there a sin that so easily besets you? Do you feel like a weakened coward? With that weakness in you, is there also a hunger for God? That hunger and thirst is the key to your victory. That makes you different from all the others who have been guilty of failing God. That sets you apart. You must keep that hunger alive. Keep thirsting after righteousness. Never justify your weakness. Never give in to it, and never accept it as a part of your life.

Jesus ordered his disciples into a boat that was headed for a collision. “Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he sent the multitudes away” (Matthew 14:22, NKJV). The Old King James says he “constrained [them] to get into a ship…” that was headed for troubled waters where it would be tossed about like a bobbing cork. The disciples would be thrust into a mini-Titanic experience, and Jesus knew it all the time.

Where was Jesus? He was up in the mountains overlooking that sea. He was there probably praying for them not to fail the test he knew they must go through. The boat trip, the storm, tossing waves and winds were all a part of a trial the Father had planned. They were about to learn the greatest lesson they would ever learn: how to recognize Jesus in the storm.

At this point, the disciples recognized him as the miracle worker who turned loaves and fishes into miracle food. They recognized him as the friend of sinners, the one who brought salvation to every kind of humanity. They knew him as the supplier of all their needs, even paying their taxes with money from a fish’s mouth.

They recognized Jesus as “the Christ, the very Son of God.” They knew he had the words of eternal life. They knew he had power over all the works of the devil. They knew him as a teacher, teaching them how to pray, forgive, bind and loose. However, they hadn’t yet learned to recognize Jesus in the storm.

This is the root of much of our trouble today. We trust Jesus for miracles and healing. We believe him for our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins. We trust him to bring us into glory one day. When a sudden storm falls upon us and it seems like everything is falling apart, though, we find it difficult to see Jesus anywhere near. We can’t believe he allows storms to teach us how to trust.

This is not some deep, mystical, earth-shattering lesson. Jesus simply wants to be trusted as our Lord in every storm of life. He wants his disciples to maintain cheer and confidence even in the blackest hours of trial.