Merciful and loving

Praise the Lord, He is merciful and loving

Amen. We are sinners, but we take the cross daily and let Him do the work.

I am so touched by this hymn in parallel to His word in Luke 9:23 "And He said to them all, If anyone wants to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me." O Lord Jesus! The cross is not merely a suffering; it is also a killing. It kills and terminates the criminal. Christ first bore the cross and then was crucified. We, His believers, first were crucified with Him and now bear the cross. To us, to bear the cross is to remain under the killing of the death of Christ for the terminating of our self, our natural life, and our old man. (See Matt. 16:24 note 3, RcV)