(adapted from Winslow's, "The Sensitiveness of Christ to Suffering")

"Then He said to them all: "If anyone would
 come after Me, he must deny himself and take
 up his cross daily and follow Me." Luke 9:23

True Christian discipleship demands an
uncompromising avowal of attachment to
Christ, and of adherence to His truth.

The offence of the cross HAs not ceased!

A real decision for the Redeemer cannot exist
without some sacrifice, demanded and made,
as a term of discipleship.

May the Lord to give you grace henceforth,
'Caleb like', wholly and unreservedly to follow
Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach.

We read of the first disciples of the Lord,
"And they forsook all and followed Him."

The solemn confession of Christ you have made
before the world pledges you to the offence, the
shame, the crucifixion, and the self-denial of the
cross of Jesus.

You have bound that cross around your heart!

You have identified yourself with....
  its reproach and its boast,
  its defeats and its victories,
  its humiliation and its glory.

Onward you must bear it....
  through flood and flame,
  through good and through evil report,
  glorying in its doctrine,
  enduring its crucifixion,
until the Master bids you exchange your sword
for a scepter, your cross for a crown, which His
own hands will place upon your head!

Blessed, thrice blessed, you who, when that blessed
moment arrives, will be enabled calmly, exultingly to
exclaim, "As for me, my life has already been poured
out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near.
I have fought a good fight, I have finished the race,
and I have remained faithful. And now the prize awaits
me; the crown of righteousness that the Lord, the
righteous Judge, will give me on that great day of His
return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who
eagerly look forward to His glorious return." 2 Tim. 4:6-8.