God's View:
Matt. 10:38-39 ;
Prov. 16:3-7 -To
carry the cross means to practice the Presence of Jesus and allow
His love to flow through us to others; it means that we are to
carry the life of Christ to other people and say to them: "The
Kingdom of God has come to you." The work of the Holy Spirit
in us and among us is to understand the positive character of
what it means to carry one's cross. He comes into us and does
it !
Hope:
2 Cor. 4:17 ;
1 Pet. 4:13 ;
Isa. 63:9 -Christian
suffering we undergo in carrrying of our cross is when we allow
Christ to live in and through us. It is His light in us which
collides with the darkness of the world: the ignorance, lies hate,
delusions of a darkened fallen world. Our suffering is redemptive
when we carry His love and forgiveness into the lives of others
affected by the world. We should rejoice when we take part in
Christ's suffering because Christ is suffering with us.
1 Pet. 3:9-15 ; 1 Pet. 4:12-15 -When we suffer due to the sins of others or to the corporate sins of others, we can ask God to transform these sufferings into healing power. We forgive those who have sinned against us, and we accept the circumstances of our lives. Then we go on to make prayers of confession and intercession for ourselves and others. As we pray, that which is redemptive is accomplished , right actions follow and even our own souls are healed.
Change:
Rom. 6:3-8 -Our
identity is with Christ and not on our past, the past is in the
grave. The abuses of life as a child or adulthood, the depression,
intense inner suffering of life as a child or adult, Iife in a
disfunctional family due to alcoholism, sexual addictions, mental
illness, overt or subtle evil on the part of parents or others:all
of this are afflictions but it is not the cross we are to bear.
We are to take this cross of pain and suffering to Christ's Cross,
and there acknowledge that Christ died to take into Himself this
very pain and suffering.
Rom. 8:2-11 -We are not to deny or suppress our past and associated pain and suffering, accept them, then offer the pain to Christ, let the pain flow into Him. We die with Him to these sins, we die to these diseased feelings by allowing Him to take them into Himself. By this means, we get in touch with heretofore repressed grief, fear, anger, and shame. To dwell on the past is death, give death to Christ Who kills it. Doing this you come to life to live in the present by practicing the Presence of Christ rather than practicing the presence of the self.
Col. 2:11-14 ;
Matt. 6:14-15 ;
1 John 1:1 -We
are to stand in Christ, identify with His suffering for us, and
grieve at the grieves, and yield up our angers, naming them and
forgiving others at the same time. Christ's suffering consists
in the fact that He became the way of life. He channeled (by dying)
His life to us. Our suffering consists in the fact that we become
a channel of His life, His life and Light in us overcomes the
evil and pain in the souls of men. This is where the ; battle
lies, and this is where we experience suffering for Christ's sake.
Jesus overcame sin, we appropriate His life.