Every single word that Lisa has written on these two pages of the book have touched my heart in one way or another.  There is so much “good stuff” in this section of the book.  I have enjoyed the whole book so far, and I have really loved this chapter.  This chapter has caused me to look at the Cross in a whole new way.  The Cross as a sword is something I never visualized before.  This idea was all new to me, and it brought something to mind.

We all have a journey to the Cross.  Everyone’s journey is different.  Maybe we can all relate with the scapegoat in different areas as we journey to the Cross.

• Guilt: How many times have you blamed yourself for an event in your life in which you carry around an immense amount of guilt from?
• Lonely nights: How many nights have you fallen asleep next to your husband, or at home with your family, yet the loneliness that you feel inside is strong enough to cause you to think you are alone in this world with no one to love you…care for you…or be there for you? 
• Oppression: How many times have you felt a heavy burden on your heart, one that crushes you to your core causing you to panic and shake the calm life you once lived? 
• Rejection: How many times did you just want to fit in with your friends, family, co-workers; just to find out that no one wanted to be around you, and when you tried to surprise them you overheard the cruel words they spoke of you that cut deeper than any knife ever made?  The list goes on and on.  There are so many words that are used to describe the scapegoat we once believed we were.

Let’s consider Jesus’ journey not to the Cross, but with the Cross.  Jesus knows the pain and the hurt behind each and every word used to describe what a scapegoat represented.  Jesus went through more suffering than our human bodies can ever imagine.  Yet your depression, your loneliness, your hurt, your pain, your guilt, your betrayal, your shame, your (insert others here) were all taken with Jesus on the Cross.  Could you imagine the weight on His shoulders as He fell up Calvary’s hill?  The astonishing part is that Jesus’ innocent shoulders were not the ones meant to carry all of these things.  We deserve all of it, yet Jesus loved us so much that He took what was meant for our cross and sacrificed Himself so that we can be saved and free in Him!

As Jesus approached the spot where He was to be sacrificed, I can only picture Him taking the Cross with the weight of it all and sticking it into the ground.  Then I imagine the Cross as a sword and I know that when that sharp point hit the ground, our world was shaken.  Not for the worse, but for the better.  Jesus IS the ultimate sacrifice.  As I write those words, “Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice,” I begin to tear up because I stand in awe of Jesus and His love for me that He died and rose again, defeating all that was on the Cross, FOR ME, that I may live eternally with Him.  Lisa is right: the Cross is a sword of love.

It is time, ladies, to follow Jesus’ footsteps to the Cross.  For when we arrive, we will meet Jesus waiting to hand us His sword.  As He gives us His power, we must be able to echo His words in our hearts, “Forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  We must forgive ourselves, too.  We must leave all the burdens we carried to the Cross in His hands where they belong.  We must pick up His sword and follow JESUS TO HEAVEN!

Make time to meditate on this Scripture today:

Let’s Pray: 

Heavenly Father, how can we find the words to thank You for what You alone have done for us?  Thank You for loving us so much that You sent Your only Son to die for us.  Lord, some of the ladies in this study may have already traveled to the Cross and found Your healing and have picked up Your sword.  I pray for these ladies, that You empower them to use Your sword and stand firm in You against Satan as You guide them to Heaven.  Lord, maybe there are some ladies who are in the middle of their journey or have not started yet.  Lord, I pray for these ladies that You show them Your paths to the cross, that You give them Your strength to reach the point where they find You and give You all of the burdens that lay so heavy on their hearts.  I thank You for the power of the Cross.  I thank You for guiding us every day to You.  We love You, Lord, so much!  Amen.