Take Up Your Cross Daily

“If you want to be my follower, you must give up your own way.” That line from Luke 9 is simple to quote and hard to live, so I slow down and ask what it looks like in real life, not just in church talk. When Jesus says to take up your cross daily, he is not offering a vibe. He is calling for a visible, costly kind of Christian discipleship that reshapes our priorities, our courage, and the way we measure success.

From there I move into 1 Peter 3:1–7 and talk about Christian marriage, character, and honor in the home. I keep coming back to one idea: people believe what they can see. A gentle and peaceful spirit is not weakness, and leadership is not performance. Whether you’re a husband, a wife, a parent, or just someone trying to live with integrity, the question is the same: does your life back up your words?

We also read larger portions of Luke 9 and Psalm 72, tying faith to public life, justice, and the responsibility leaders have to defend the vulnerable. I bring up recent and historic stories that I believe should challenge how we think about protection, accountability, and what we tolerate from those in power. We end by honoring sacrifice through a Medal of Honor profile and reflecting on early American faith through a passage from Henry Knox’s will.

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Transcript

Luke 9 On Daily Surrender

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LUK 9 23 through 26. Then he said to the crowd, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it, but if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the Holy Angels. November 2024, Hyde Park, London, UK. A woman was raped by an Egyptian asylum seeker who was in the UK illegally. He approached her while she was walking home alone at night, lured her to a secluded spot, and assaulted her. Islam, folks. And when you hear people defending illegal immigration, remember these stories. This is what they're defending. Hey, folks, this is Jesse Cote back with another episode of the American Soul Podcast. Hope y'all are doing well, wherever y'all are, whatever part of the day you're in. Appreciate you joining me here, giving me a little of your time. I know you have a hundred other things vying for your attention. So I appreciate it. For those of y'all who continue to share the podcast with others, tell others about it. Thank you. For those of y'all who continue to uh pray for me and for the podcast, thank you very much. Very grateful for your prayers. Father, thank you for today. Thank you for you, Father, and your son Jesus Christ and your Holy Spirit. Thank you for your love and your mercy, your grace, and your forgiveness of sins. Thank you for those men who go out into the night, into the cold and the darkness, the rain, the sleet, who are willing to defend us. Who risk their lives, their bodies. Thank you for their families, their wives, their parents, their children, who support them and willingly offer them up also for our country. Help us to never take them for granted. Help us to never forget to care for them, for their widows, their orphans. Bless them indeed, Father. Welcome those that we lose home to you with open arms for the sake of your son Jesus Christ. And be with our leaders, Father. In the pulpit and in the state, our pastors and priests and their families who spread the gospel of your son Jesus Christ. President and Vice President all the way down, senators and representatives, governors, judges, admirals, generals. Help them to make use of these sacrifices. To not have these men be injured or die in vain and their families suffer in vain. Be with those listening to the podcast, Father, please give them wisdom and courage and a strong faith. Heal their broken hearts, heal injuries, heal illness. And if not, though, Father, help us to trust you, to remember that we belong to you live or die. And that one day we will spend all of eternity in heaven with you and your son, where there are no more tears and no more sorrow, no more sadness, no more brokenheartedness. In God, my word too, please. In your son's name you pray. Amen. Bible verse or marriage verse for today. 1 Peter 3, 1 through 7. Wives likewise, submit to your own husbands. Do this so that even if some of them refuse to believe the word, they may be one without a word by their wives' way of life. After all, they will have observed the reverent and holy manner of your lives. Don't try and make yourselves beautiful on the outside with stylish hair by wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes. Instead, make yourselves beautiful on the inside in your hearts with the enduring quality of a gentle, peaceful spirit. This type of beauty is very precious in God's eyes. For it was in this way that holy women who trusted in God used to make themselves beautiful, accepting the authority of their own husbands. For example, Sarah accepted Abraham's authority when she called him master. You have become her children when you do good and don't respond to threats with fear. Husbands likewise submit by living with your wife in ways that honor her, knowing that she is the weaker partner. Honor her all the more, as she is also a co-heir of the gracious care of life. Do this so that your prayers won't be hindered. Example, folks, you lead by example, you show by example. The Marine Corps hammered that in, my own parents hammered that in. One of the things that I think a lot of women don't understand is beauty for most men is based on actions. Most good men, maybe I'll say it that way, not looks. It matters what you do, not what you say or how you dress near as much as what you do. And men, I would just offer the same thing, just in general, in every area of your life, whether you're talking about leading your wife or your children or business or whatever it is that you're doing, lead by example. Show people that you follow Christ. Make sure that your life has enough evidence to show people. Luke 9, 7 through 27. When Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee, heard about everything Jesus was doing, he was puzzled. Some were saying that John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. Others thought Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the dead. John, I beheaded, Herod said, Who, so who is this man about whom I hear such stories? And he kept trying to see him. When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then he slipped quietly away with them toward the town of Beth Betheda. But the crowds found out where he was going, and they followed him. He welcomed them and taught them about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who were sick. Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place. But Jesus said, You feed them. But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish, they answered. Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd? For there were about five thousand men there. Jesus replied, Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each. So the people all sat down. Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. One day Jesus left the crowds to pray alone. Only his disciples were with him, and he asked them, Who do people say I am? Well, they replied, Some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other ancient prophets risen from the dead. Then he asked them, But who do you say I am? Peter replied, You are the Messiah sent from God. Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things, he said. He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead. Then he said to the crowd, If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily and follow me. If you were if you try to hang on to your life you will lose it, but if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but you are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory, and in the glory of the Father and the Holy Angels. I tell you the truth, some standing here right now will not die before they see the kingdom of God. Give your love of justice to the King, O God, and righteousness to the King's Son. Help him judge your people in the right way. Let the poor always be treated fairly. May the mountains yield prosperity for all, and may the hills be feitful. Help him to defend the poor, to rescue the children of the needy and to crush their oppressors. May they fear you as long as the sun shines, so long as the moon remains in the sky, yes, forever. May the king's rule be refreshing like spring rain on freshly cut grass, like the showers that water the earth. May all the godly flourish during his reign. May there be abundant prosperity until the moon is no more. May he reign from sea to sea and from the Euphrates river to the ends of the earth. Desert nomads will bow before him, his enemies will fall before him in the dust. The western kings of Tarshish and other distant lands will bring him tribute. The eastern kings of Sheba and Seba will bring him gifts, all kings will bow before him, and all nations will serve him. He will rescue the poor when they cry to him, he will help the oppressed who have no one to defend them. He feels pity for the weak and the needy, and he will rescue them. He will redeem them from oppression and violence, for their lives are precious to him. Long live the king, may the gold of Sheba be given to him, may the people always pray for him and bless him all day long. May there be abundant grain throughout the land, flourishing even on the hilltops, may the fruit trees flourish like the trees of Lebanon, and may the people thrive like grass in a field. May the king's name endure forever, may it continue as long as the sun shines. May all nations be blessed through him and bring him praise. Praise the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does such wonderful things. Praise his glorious name forever. Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen. This ends the prayers of David, son of Jesse. Proverbs 12, 8 through 9. A sensible person wins admiration, but a warped mind is despised. Better to be an ordinary person with a servant than to be self-important but have no fruit. Countryside, Book of the Wise, if you get a chance and you can check it out. Where is my review that I had? Love the world JT created. The characters were interesting. As an adult, I enjoyed this book very much. Can't wait to read the next one. That's from Kim Messer on Amazon. Five-star review. Here's the first book in the series. If you get a chance, check it out. If you enjoyed, if you'd leave a review, I would appreciate it. Same thing with the podcast. If you feel like you're getting something out of it, if you can leave a review online somewhere, that helps. And if you have five or ten dollars a month you can spare, there's a link where you can donate to the podcast in the show notes. So thank you very much. Any or all of those. Oof, I'm gonna murder this name. January 15th, 2012, Galara Baggerza. Yeah. Houston, Texas. 30-year-old Iranian American woman was shot to death in her car by Ali Mahmoud Awad Irzin, a Jordanian Muslim immigrant. She happened to be a woman's rights activist, by the way, as part of an honor-killing plot tied to Isran's rage over his daughter renouncing Islam, converting to Christianity, and marrying a non-Muslim. This woman was a close friend who had supported the daughter's defection from the faith. A couple really important things here. You see the Jordanian tie, right, folks. It doesn't matter where Islam spreads. The violence and the chaos, it's all mainstream. It's people that either openly support it or are complicit with their silence. And the other thing you see that's just always amazing is the number of women who vote for the left, which always supports Islam, it just doesn't go together. It just never has made sense. It never will, folks. If you really want to protect women and children, you cannot support leftism or Islam. You have to support Christianity. Christopher C. Brutton, also known as Christopher Bratton, this is our medal of honor for today. Captain, highest rank, Brevet Major, U.S. Civil War, Charlie Company, 22nd New York Cavalry, U.S. Army, March 2nd, 1865, Waynesboro, Virginia, USA. Capture of General Early's headquarters flag, Confederate National Standard. Credited to Riga, Monroe County, New York, not awarded posthumously, presented March 26, 1865. Born 1840, Ireland, died June 14, 1867, Caldonia, Michigan, buried St. Patrick's Cemetery, Caldonia, Michigan, United States. Again, compare the immigrants we read in these Medal of Honor stories with how many stories day after day we read about the modern illegal and mass Muslim immigrants. Christopher C. Brutton. Also, folks, when people tell you that our founders didn't have a strong faith, right? Or that so many of our founders were deists. This is just another example. This is the last will and uh testament of Henry Knox. And I think maybe you can get a copy of this in the main historical magazine, volume five, out of 1890. The will is dated November the 26th, 1802. But Knox died October the 25th, 1806. So obviously there's a difference between that date and when he died, which is not all that uncommon. At any rate, I just wanted to read one paragraph to you. First, I think it proper to express my unshaken opinion in the immortality of my soul or mind, and to dedicate and devote the same to the supreme head of the universe, to that great and tremendous Jehovah, who created the universal frame of nature, worlds, and systems of worlds in numbers infinite, and who has given intellectual existence to the rational beings of each globe, who are perpetually migrating and ascending in the scale of mind according to certain principles always founded on the great basis of morality and virtue. To this awfully sublime being do I resign my spirit with unlimited confidence of his mercy and protection. One of the things you'll see some people talk about Knox perhaps is a deist, but deist doesn't seem to mean the same thing today or back then that it does today, because you see him reference directly Jehovah, right? Who's Jehovah? Jehovah's the God of the Bible, Christianity. Kind of hard to explain deism if he's directly referencing the only true God, the Father of Jesus Christ, the Son. Our founders had an extremely strong faith overall. And so to think that they would suddenly try and create a country where they wanted to get rid of this pillar of their lives, this central pillar of their lives, it just doesn't make sense. It's not logical. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not to temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom of the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. God bless y'all. God bless your families, your marriages if you're married. God bless your nation, wherever you are around the world listening. God bless America. We'll talk to you all again real soon, folks. Looking forward to it.