Ashes To Victory Week 6 Theme: VICTORY
- Jesus' cross affected not just Him, but all those around Him, just as our burdens impact others.
- Through Christ's death and resurrection, we have the power to overcome what tried to break us.
- Reflect on your journey, praise God, and commit to daily habits to stay connected to Him.
Ashes To Victory Week 6 Theme: VICTORY
For the last five weeks, we’ve been carrying a lot. Just like Jesus carried His cross on the way to Calvary, we’ve been carrying ours.
You didn’t just hear the words, you lived them. We carried SURRENDER, laying down what we thought we could control. We carried TRUST by believing God through life’s challenges, finances, grief, family issues, heart ache, and through things we haven’t told anyone about.
We carried HEALING by facing the pain we tried to avoid, allowing God to heal the parts of our hearts that have held bitterness, and the parts of our bodies that were sick, we believed God to heal.
We carried DISCIPLINE by showing up even when it was hard, and by keeping our word to God even through challenges we faced. And we carried SACRIFICE, giving up what felt comfortable for what God called us to.
That wasn’t easy. That walk wasn’t quick. It wasn’t pretty. But neither was the walk to Calvary.
Jesus experienced the ultimate SURRENDER by giving His life. He had to TRUST the Father’s will in a way that meant being uncomfortable and not doing things His way but instead saying, “Not my will, but Yours be done,” even when He knew the cost. He endured the pain of being nailed to the cross, mocked, spat on, crowned with thorns, and betrayed.
Yet through all of that, He chose love and forgiveness over bitterness and hate, showing us what true HEALING looks like.
The DISCIPLINE it took for Him to stay on that cross, knowing He had the power to come down and prove a point, but He chose to remain. That discipline led Him to become the ultimate sacrifice for all of us.
And the truth is the cross you carry doesn’t just affect you. It affects how you show up for people. It affects how you love, how you speak, how you respond.
The weight you carry can either wound others, or it can transform the way you treat them. And I need you to really think about this, not just from Jesus’ perspective but from a mother’s.
Can you imagine how Mary felt? Take a minute to close your eyes and really think about Mary’s experience.
Can you imagine watching your only son whipped, bleeding, skin torn, body broken, tormented. The son SHE carried, the son SHE raised, handed over to the hands of enemies and murderers?
Can you imagine standing there watching your child be nailed to a cross and there’s nothing you can do but watch? The cross wasn’t just for Him.
That cross affected everyone around Him. And the same is true for you. What you carry, how you carry it, and how you respond in it, it impacts the people connected to your life.
The power of the cross is the reason we win. Everything you’ve carried these past five weeks, every tear, every prayer, every moment you wanted to give up Jesus already carried it to the cross and settled it.
Our theme scripture this week is 1 Corinthians 15:55-57
“O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
It’s a declaration of after all that you’ve been through, it wasn’t enough to take you out. What tried to break you and take you out didn’t win.
What tried to harm you and make you doubt, didn’t win. What tried to make you carry hurt and bitterness, didn’t win but YOU WIN.
Practical Application This Week:
Take time alone with God.
Reflect on what each week meant to you.
Find your place in Him in this moment.
Praise Him in your own way. Rededicate your life.
Journal Prompts:
What challenged you the most and why?
Write a letter to God about where you are right now in your journey, and what you want to let go to get to the next part of your journey. What are you going to commit to doing?
What daily habits can I build to stay connected to God after this 6 week journey?
The walk to Calvary wasn’t easy either. It was slow, painful, and heavy… but it was worth it. Because on the third day, Jesus rose with all power in His hands, keys to hell in hand, and the greatest declaration ever spoken: “Death, where is your sting?” And just like that… Victory was sealed. As we move into Easter, remember this Ashes to Victory doesn’t end here. This is a lifestyle. God turns our mourning into dancing and you have entered into the week of dancing. Welcome to Victory!
Songs of the Week: Todd Dulaney Victory Belongs to Jesus, Yolanda Adams I’ve Got The Victory and Richard Smallwood Calvary.
RELATED: Ashes to Victory: Prayer Wall
