Embracing the Cross: The Path to True Blessings
1 Peter 3:9
Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
It’s easy to bless those who bless you. However, to bless those who render evil is another story. Isn’t it amazing that this Peter who is writing to us about blessing people in return for their evil treatment of us, is the same Peter that cut off a soldier’s ear trying to protect Jesus from being taken away to be crucified? But then, that’s what the cross does; it nails the old sinful man to the cross.
Even so, through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, Peter himself experienced his own personal and spiritual death, burial, and resurrection. The Peter we see now is the Peter AFTER the cross! Now we see a man with a Christ-like spirit; a man that will later in life prefer to be crucified upside down so as not to be crucified in the same fashion as his Lord, because he stated he was not worthy to be crucified that way.
He went from that of taking matters into his own hands, to that of laying his own life down for the cause of Christ. He went from being a fighter to being a lover. He went from looking for ways to get even, to looking for ways to bless those who mistreated him. He went from resisting the way of the cross, to embracing the way of the cross. He finally understood that you cannot enjoy the power of the resurrection until you have suffered the way of the cross.
So it is for us; until we decide that we are going to travel the path less trodden, and become Christ-like in our response to the way others treat us, we will never know the resurrection power of Christ in our personal lives or ministry. It is only AFTER the cross (taking up your cross and following Jesus) that you will inherit the blessing.
When we quit whining because of our sufferings, and accept the fact that we are called thereunto, only then can God truly release the fullest of His blessings and anointing upon our lives. And now, I wish to speak to those of you who have been doing just that; you’ve been loving your enemies, blessing them that curse you, doing good to them that hate you, and praying for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. You need to know that you have inherited your blessing, and that it is on its way! Christ will not allow you to suffer with Him, without also reigning with Him (2 Tim. 2:12a)!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
It’s easy to bless those who bless you. However, to bless those who render evil is another story. Isn’t it amazing that this Peter who is writing to us about blessing people in return for their evil treatment of us, is the same Peter that cut off a soldier’s ear trying to protect Jesus from being taken away to be crucified? But then, that’s what the cross does; it nails the old sinful man to the cross.
Even so, through the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, Peter himself experienced his own personal and spiritual death, burial, and resurrection. The Peter we see now is the Peter AFTER the cross! Now we see a man with a Christ-like spirit; a man that will later in life prefer to be crucified upside down so as not to be crucified in the same fashion as his Lord, because he stated he was not worthy to be crucified that way.
He went from that of taking matters into his own hands, to that of laying his own life down for the cause of Christ. He went from being a fighter to being a lover. He went from looking for ways to get even, to looking for ways to bless those who mistreated him. He went from resisting the way of the cross, to embracing the way of the cross. He finally understood that you cannot enjoy the power of the resurrection until you have suffered the way of the cross.
So it is for us; until we decide that we are going to travel the path less trodden, and become Christ-like in our response to the way others treat us, we will never know the resurrection power of Christ in our personal lives or ministry. It is only AFTER the cross (taking up your cross and following Jesus) that you will inherit the blessing.
When we quit whining because of our sufferings, and accept the fact that we are called thereunto, only then can God truly release the fullest of His blessings and anointing upon our lives. And now, I wish to speak to those of you who have been doing just that; you’ve been loving your enemies, blessing them that curse you, doing good to them that hate you, and praying for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. You need to know that you have inherited your blessing, and that it is on its way! Christ will not allow you to suffer with Him, without also reigning with Him (2 Tim. 2:12a)!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill