One of my favorite Christian authors is Andrew Murray. He was a preacher in South Africa who lived from 1828 – 1917.   Jesus did some amazing work through him.

Here is an excerpt from one of Andrew Murray’s books: “The Prayer Life”

“How foolish it is to pray for the fullness of the Spirit if we have not first placed ourselves under the full power of the Cross! Just think of the one hundred and twenty disciples. The crucifixion of Christ had touched, broken, and taken possession of their entire hearts. They could speak or think of nothing else, and when the Crucified One had shown them His hands and His feet, He said unto them: ‘Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22) And so also, with their hearts full of the Crucified Christ, now received up into heaven, they were prepared to be filled with the Spirit. They dared to proclaim to the people: ‘Repent and believe in the Crucified One’; and they also received the Holy Spirit.

Christ gave Himself up entirely to the Cross. The disciples also did the same. The Cross demands this also from us; it would have our entire life. To comply with this demand requires nothing less than a powerful act of the will, for which we are unfit, and a powerful act of God of which he may be assured who casts himself, in helplessness, but unreservedly on God.

Why are there not more men and women who can witness, in the joy of their hearts, that the Spirit of God has taken possession of them and given them new power to witness for Him? … Many will acknowledge that the hindrance undoubtedly lies in the fact that the Church is too much under the sway of the flesh and the world. They understand too little of the heart piercing power of the Cross of Christ. So it comes to pass that the Spirit has not the vessels into which he can pour His fullness.

Many complain that the subject is too high or too deep for them. This is a proof of how little we have appropriated and brought into practice the teaching of Paul and Christ about the Cross. I bring you a message of joy. The Spirit who is in you, in however limited a measure, is prepared to take you under His teaching, to lead you to the Cross, and by His heavenly instruction to make you now something of what the Crucified Christ wills to do for you and in you.

But then He wants you to take time, so that he may reveal the heavenly mysteries to you. He wants to make you see how the neglect of prayer has hindered fellowship with Christ, the knowledge of the Cross, and the powerful operations of the Spirit. He will teach you what is meant by the denial of self, the taking up of your Cross, the losing of your life and following Him.”  Andrew Murray, “The Prayer Life”

I want to explain how Jesus has made very real to me the relationship between the Cross and His Holy Spirit. It’s difficult to put this into a sound bite that will be easy to understand while not taking away its power and meaning but I am going to try.

Early on in my spiritual journey I felt Jesus calling me to meditate on His Passion. I will be honest with you, I was afraid to contemplate the Passion of Christ for many reasons, but I think the biggest reason was I didn’t want to think about Jesus suffering and I didn’t want to think about the price of my own sins on that Cross. To encourage me Jesus spoke to my heart two words. Those words were: “Honour Me”. It wasn’t an order, just a gentle, affectionate request full of promise and desire… “Honour Me”.

How do you say no to the Holy One who is speaking to your heart? I didn’t want to say ‘No’ to Him, yet I was still afraid.

Why would I be so privileged to hear His voice speaking to my heart? It’s surely not because I am worthy, because I am not.

But I think it’s because of YOU.   It was God’s plan that I share this experience with you, and with anyone who would humble themselves to be willing to listen to His words now echoing in their hearts…Can you hear Him speaking those words to your heart today?

“Honour me”…says Jesus.

Will you honour Jesus by meditating daily on His Passion?

Would you be willing to put a reminder in your daily calendar to honour Him at 3pm in your local time zone because 3pm is the time Our Saviour died on the Cross for us?

Here’s what happened to me. I began to meditate on the Passion of Christ and I fell in love with Jesus. I travelled back in time and I became part of the scenery at Calvary that was quietly watching the Holy One be tortured by His own creation. Slowly and surely I moved closer and closer to Jesus as He walked to the place of His crucifixion, until I desired to walk next to Him and I desired to carry His Cross too, just as Simon did.

I stand daily with the Holy Mother of God, the Virgin Mary and look into her eyes too as she suffers to see her Son, Our Lord, mocked, spat upon, scourged, disfigured by so much pain and then lie down on an instrument of torture, the Cross, to prove to us how much He loves us.

HE IS SO WORTHY OF OUR LOVE!!!

WILL YOU REMEMBER HIM DAILY AT THE TIME HE DIED FOR US, 3PM?

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13

Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:14

Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. He prayed for us, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Luke 23:34

The Passion of Christ will crucify our selfish desires if we choose to meditate upon it. The Cross of Christ will penetrate our hearts and place the Crucified Jesus in our hearts and on our minds so that everything we do, everything we commit to will be for Him, for His glory. We will become ONE, a part of Him, and the only thing that will matter is His Holy Will. We will be renewed by the Spirit as vessels purified for His divine purposes.

Each day the Passion of Christ prepares me to receive His Holy Spirit all over again. I renew my commitment to Jesus as His infinite love melts my heart and increases my resolve to endure whatever challenges I must to honour Him and give Him everything.

Please join The Mercy Movement, a global prayer movement that honours Jesus by remembering His Passion every day at the time He died for us, 3pm, in our local time zones. At this time let us unite as ONE Body of Christ to pray for the mercy of Our Lord Jesus upon all souls, believers and nonbelievers, that all may be saved by the infinite mercy of Our Saviour. Remember in particular so many of our Christian brothers and sisters who are being martyred for their faith in Jesus around the world and pray also for those that persecute them that the Holy Spirit may enter their hearts so that they can turn away from violence and hatred and embrace the peace and love of God.

God bless you!