The subject is “Embracing and Clinging to the Cross.” Notice these two words, embracing and clinging. The word embrace—what does it mean? To embrace means to clasp in the arms; it is an expression of affection, a show of great love.

To embrace means to accept with the whole heart. Totally accept the power of the Cross and all its greatness. I don’t mean just to hug a cross of wood; I mean to hug the Cross of Jesus and all it stands for—that Cross of truth, of the Word, of salvation, deliverance, peace, love, and all the wonderful things that He brought. With great desire, cherish the Cross. Hug it to your bosom, to your spirit, to your heart.

Deny Self

To embrace also means to take up. Jesus told the disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me (Matthew 16:24). Realize what is included in taking up the cross. By taking up your cross, you’re taking up truth, love, hope. The glorious Cross of Jesus will snuff the life of self out of you, and replace it with eternal life.

Will you be taking up a cross you can hardly lift? That isn’t what Jesus was talking about. Jesus didn’t carry the Cross until toward the end of His journey, and He’s not calling on us to be bent beneath the load day after day. He’s calling on us to deny self and lean on Him.

Some of you have made your own cross, saith the Lord, a cross of depression, oppression, despair, doubt, fear or frustration. Jesus doesn’t offer a burdensome cross of bondage. He conquered all, turning the cross of despair and torture into a glorious Cross. What looked like a weak and defeated cross became a Cross of total victory for every one of us. The Cross of Jesus thrills me through and through!

Surround Yourself with All the Cross Stands For

Another definition of embracing is to encircle. Encircle yourself with the greatness of God. In other words, surround yourself with all the Cross stands for, all it represents for you, all that its power has done for you. Without the power of the Old Rugged Cross, you would have no salvation, no born-again experience.

Think on the divine blood of Jesus; encircle yourself with its great delivering power. You’re the one to bring the power of the Cross to you; whosoever will can have this. But when you live outside the reach of the Cross, you are in trouble; for you are disconnected from its power, greatness, love, joy, peace, compassion, yearning, salvation, sanctification, and justification. Living in fields of despair, you dine on weeds. But close inside the circle of the Cross, you dine on the Lord’s best.

To embrace also means to enclose; you enclose the great things of God in your arms. You have no more love from God to carry around with you than what you enclose. Although the Lord has a boundless supply of love, some people use it, and others do not.

God’s love doesn’t come to you by wishing; it comes by your claiming it. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). God so loved the world that He gave love; it’s up to you to use what is so available in vast amounts. Because of God’s great love He allows people to go on living even when they blaspheme His name.

Recognize the Greatness of the Cross

Recognize the things of God. In this her final walk, the Bride will recognize all of the greatness of the Cross, saith the Lord; she will adorn herself in the greatness of Heaven.

The greatness of Heaven flows to us through the Cross, that all-conquering Cross of deliverance. Jesus conquered everything for us on the Cross. He said, I lay down my life, that I might take it again (John 10:17). Scoffers didn’t have sense enough to know the greatness of the salvation Jesus had brought. When He came out of the grave He had already conquered death, hell and the grave for us. His sacrifice overcame everything not of God. Jesus’ cry to the Father, It is finished (John 19:30), meant the whole plan of redemption was finished; the Resurrection would come and everything else that the Lord promised in His Book. When something is finished, it’s done; nothing more is to be added when an expert, the best, finishes it.

Embrace God’s Love with Your Whole Heart

To embrace means to include. Include all the things of God daily, night and day, in your life. You include family, activities you enjoy, certain kinds of food for your diet, but most importantly you must include all that Christ offers you through the Cross.

How much of the Cross do you embrace? You’re not hugging the Cross to your heart if you show resentment or hatred toward anyone. When you hug the priceless things of the Cross to your heart, you want to serve them to others.

Embracing God’s love with your whole heart, you have nothing less to serve than love. Embracing His faith takes care of doubt, so you don’t have to deal with it. By embracing God’s love, you aren’t tormented with fear; fear can’t stand before love. If anything fearful comes up, know what will destroy it—love. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear (I John 4:18). There is no need to pray for God to take away fear, for when you hug God’s love to you, the fear goes; just reach out for more love.

If something catches on fire, you don’t stand around wishing you could put it out; you try to put it out yourself or else call the fire department. Every available means you can use to put that fire out, you use. Following that same principle, every available bit of love you need to extinguish fear, use it; it’s the sensible thing to do.

Where hate abounds, use a lot of love. When discontent springs up, use God’s great spirit of contentment—and so it goes. If everything is in an uproar, that’s the time to use peace. Using the qualities of the Cross keeps you from being involved with anything that would detract from your place in God. Even if hatred smolders in your own family, don’t get involved with it. Realize as a child of God you are encircled, surrounded by God’s love. Hugging the peace of the Cross to your heart, don’t accept hateful words and actions against you and God. Embrace the Lord and the Spirit of His grace. His grace is sufficient; hug the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ close in your heart. My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness (II Corinthians 12:9).

Steps We Can Take

Jesus didn’t let people adversely affect Him. Have you ever traced and retraced the life of Jesus? Each step of Jesus recorded in the Bible is important. Every time you open the Word of God and make a journey with the Lord, you learn something. Over and over again, study His life.

Jesus made steps that mankind could follow. In that great love of His, Jesus walked to Calvary and gave His divine blood for your healing. With His [blood] stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). On His way to Calvary, each step was a love step, a blood-love step—how wonderful, how beautiful! Because of those steps, people were healed then and will be healed today.

You learn as you hug the Cross of Jesus to your heart that through His blood you have healing: spiritual healing, physical healing. You learn that divine blood destroys everything acting or looking like the devil. Whatever has any part, any influence of the devil the blood destroys.

When you use the blood power of God to defeat the devil, he has to flee. The Bible says to resist the devil, and he will flee from you (James 4:7). Do you ever make the devil run? If the devil started running, would you go after him to see what he was running from? Expect the devil to run; through the blood you have power over him.

Put Sin and Sickness under the Blood

Many of you were taught that when you came to Jesus, you confessed your sins—admitted you had sinned—and then all your sins were put under the blood. The blood destroyed your sins to the extent that even God Himself can’t find those sins. Sickness is destroyed in the same way, but some of you haven’t learned to put your sicknesses under the blood. I plead with people to put their sicknesses under the blood—I’ve tried it, and it works, it works, it works.

After you put sickness under the blood and then have symptoms, more pain, consider them to be false symptoms. What you truly put under the blood can’t live; it has to die. Don’t pluck that disease back from under the blood to look at it and see if it’s “still kicking”; leave it under the blood.

If you in all faith believing have put arthritis under the blood, it doesn’t matter if there’s stiffness; it can’t stay. When you put the arthritis under the blood, the blood will take care of it.

But my head still pains like it did before. Put that pain under the blood; it can’t stay because the blood kills whatever is causing the pain; the blood takes care of it.

Problems with the mind? Put your mind under the blood and let that mind start operating through divinity, operating right.

The minds of Adam and Eve were given by divinity, operated by divinity in the perfection of God’s love and grace. Divine blood was theirs in the beginning; divinity was theirs, and sickness couldn’t take them over. When Adam and Eve sinned, they lost the protection of divine blood, and that loss allowed disease and sickness to enter the human race. But always remember that when you are born again, you’re no longer a sinner and once again divine blood can flow. It’s God’s will for you to be healed. Why let anything hinder your faith? Why let anything hinder God’s faith working in you?

Consider the Benefits

Consider the benefits of the Cross. The Psalmist said, Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits (Psalm 103:2). The devil would love to make you forget your benefits. When he can do that, he has robbed you, washed God’s faith right out of your mind and you’re not seeing God’s benefits, God’s blessings. Consequently, you’re not receiving them. Instead, you’re seeing what you think God should have done for you but didn’t. The devil keeps busy blaming God, showing people what he claims are the faults of God; God, however, doesn’t have faults. God is perfect in all of His ways.

Why give the devil any attention at all? Embrace the Cross and everything pertaining to it; cling to it all.

The word cling means to stick together. You and God’s love stick together; you and God’s peace stick together; you and God’s grace stick together.

What kind of mind do you have today? Is your mind full of peace or full of what someone has said about you, what someone had done to you, what someone might do to you? Does your mind stick to the love of God, the peace of God, the strength of God and what it means to you? Do you cling to those things? Do you cling to the health of the Lord, soul, mind and body?

Cling to the Word; stick to God’s promises. If you cling to the promises, you’ll see the power of God and know you’re in the circle of His promises.

When you see a rainbow you forget everything else for the moment. “Come, come and look!” you exclaim to anyone standing near. But how long has it been since you said, “Come and look at this promise of God; I want to show you a rainbow full of promises!”

Glued to God’s Promises

Treasure this promise: My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19). Since God promised to supply all your needs, you don’t have anything to worry about. Do all you know to do and trust God to supply the need of your family; cling to His promise.

A product on the market called Crazy Glue holds just about anything, even a man’s weight. Man can make Crazy Glue, but God has “sensible glue” that will hold you fast to Him when you love and serve Him: It’s love-glue, blood-glue, Heaven’s-glue.

Don’t you believe that everything in Heaven is in place? Many things on Earth get out of place because they aren’t glued together; many things the Lord has said get away from us because we aren’t glued to the truth. Crazy Glue won’t do it, but God’s glue will. The blood of Jesus will glue you right to God’s promises; the blood has all power.

We sing “Power, power in the name of Jesus,” but then we either forget to use His name or else we combine it with something weak as water. The name of Jesus must be used in the power of the blood. You can say, “Jesus, Jesus,” all day long and still have demons around you. But when you say, “In the blood name of Jesus!” with the faith of God and not your wavering human faith, the demons flee.

The devil doesn’t care about human faith; he can shake it right out of you. He doesn’t even have to shake hard. But this wonderful faith of God is powerful; the devil has never learned how to handle it. It’s hard to tell how many millions of years the devil had lived in Heaven before he was cast out—and he never learned how to handle the things of the Cross.

Hold Fast

To cling means to hold fast. Did you ever hear of the Lord saying to hold fast? If not, you haven’t read the book of Revelation.

Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown (Revelation 3:11). Don’t let anyone take your crown; the Lord said to hold fast. Hold fast to the truth, to the miracles, to what God has promised. Hold fast and never turn loose.

Thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith (Revelation 2:13). Whenever you push God’s faith away to make room for doubt, you are denying the faith of God at that moment. Hold fast to the blood name. If you have the love of God in your heart, you have the proper glue to hold you to that name so tightly that there will be no separation.

When faith is not paramount in your spirit, you’ve denied the faith of God; it’s a crime against God to deny His faith. Consider the infidel, the agnostic who denies the faith of God. You think their denial is terrible, but do you realize how many times Christians deny the faith of God? Sometimes it’s for a few moments, a few minutes, a few days. I’ve seen some people go for weeks denying the faith of God. When you deny any of the promises of God, you’re denying the faith of God. Denying anything God has said is denying the faith of God; He tells you not to do it.

In Revelation, Jesus told the church at Pergamos that they had held fast to His name, stuck fast to His name. I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan’s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth (Revelation 2:13). You can only stick fast to the name of the Lord when you’re glued to it with His love. You can’t use the name of Jesus in divine blood without His love; it’s impossible. The only thing a sinner can do is cry for mercy. Although the sinner is not glued to the greatness of God, he could be if he would yield to the truth and receive salvation.

But that which ye have already hold fast till I come (Revelation 2:25). What do you have already? Hold fast to what you already have; as long as you hold fast you’ll receive more. Why get a blessing today and lose it tomorrow? Treat carefully the blessings God gives you and hold on to them, cling to them, embrace them, clasp them to your heart. With your whole heart accept what God has for you; don’t let any of it get away. Protect His blessings with the faith, love and greatness of God.

The church at Thyatira had a lot, and the Lord enumerated some of the things they had—charity, service, faith, patience and works—but what do you have? If there is anything false inside, then you don’t have truth; truth and false won’t mix. You either have truth or you have false; there’s no in-between. If you deny any of the Word of God, your faith is false.

True and False

In school tests, the teacher may ask whether a statement is true or false. Some people loved those tests, but I hated them. If the teacher would just ask a question, I could answer in a roundabout way and get part of a grade whether I knew much about the question or not. If the answers were true or false, I sometimes just had to guess. But when you know the subject, know all the professor has talked about, a true or false test is easy.

Many people are going through life guessing what’s true and what’s false. Know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32). Jesus said to know the truth; He didn’t say to guess at it.

Some people seek power over others, power over the marriage partner, power over friends, power over this or that. You don’t need power over people; you need to love them.

Keep the Word of Patience

Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent (Revelation 3:3). All the good you’ve heard, all the good things you have received, hold fast to them. Repent of not holding fast to the things of God.

You’ve heard some truths of God that you haven’t held fast to; you received them, but didn’t keep them. The Word of God that you’ve heard—hold on to it now; and for what you have failed to hold on to, repent and the Lord will forgive you.

Thou…hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name (Revelation 3:8). The Lord told one of the churches that they had kept His Word and not denied His name. It’s wonderful to hear God tell you that you’ve kept His Word. Be a keeper of His Word, a keeper of His promises, a temple of the Holy Ghost. The Psalmist said, Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee (Psalm 119:11). If you hide the Word in your heart, you won’t displease God.

The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of truth, and we are to be the keepers of the Spirit of truth, to house the Spirit of truth. Make room for Him; give Him all the room He wants, the right of way for every room, every nook, every corner. Trust your life to the Holy Spirit. Trust all that He teaches, every direction He gives. Trust Him every time He speaks and tells you to speed ahead; trust Him every time He speaks and tells you to wait. When the Holy Spirit turns on the red light we stop, and when He changes the light to green we go. Obeying Him is the way to keep the Holy Spirit happy, to keep Him rejoicing day and night in your life. Be a keeper of God’s holy truth.

Revelation 3:10, Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Jesus has given us a way of escape from the Tribulation Period. Isn’t that marvelous! Hug this promise to your heart.

Jesus said, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown (Revelation 3:11). If there were ever a time to hold fast, it’s now. Endtime Bible prophecy is all coming together; the devil is lining up with the world church—his church—and it’s growing. Don’t worry about the multitudes that will make up the world church; just remember the total victory of Gideon’s three hundred. It’s the Bride who will be in step, obedient, and speaking the things of the Lord.

What Does It Mean to Embrace the Cross?

When you embrace and cling to the Cross:

You embrace the sufferings and shame of Jesus.

You embrace His death and Resurrection.

You embrace Him as your Sacrificial Lamb, your Lord and Master, Savior and healer.

You embrace all His truth, righteousness, and holiness.

You embrace the fact of His virgin birth.

You embrace Him as the manna from Heaven, as the fourth man in the fire, as the only begotten Son of God.

You embrace Him as the all-conquering Christ, the Christ of love.

You embrace His peace, joy, and contentment.

You embrace holy living.

You embrace His divine blood.

You embrace His all-powerful name. No other name you know will bring salvation, victory or conquer the powers of the devil—only the blood name of Jesus.

Without a shadow of a doubt, you embrace His Word as infallible.

You embrace all He taught including salvation and sanctification.

You embrace the great nine gifts of the Holy Ghost.

You embrace the wonderful nine fruits of the Spirit.

You embrace His signs and His wonders.

You embrace, you embrace, you embrace, and cling to all of it.

Many people say they will cling to the Old Rugged Cross, but all too often they don’t get beyond the man-made cross of suffering. God doesn’t want you clinging to a wooden cross to be crucified on; Jesus was crucified for us. Cling to the glorious Cross, the Cross of power, the Cross of grace.

Paul said he would glory in the Cross. God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ (Galatians 6:14). What did Paul mean by glorying in the Cross? He meant he would glory in the power, deliverance, love, peace, joy, contentment, grace, compassion, promises, righteousness and holiness of God.

A Message from the Holy Ghost

Glory in my power, glory in my works; glory in what I have done for you, and you will have faith to believe me to do more for you, to do more for others. Look to me; keep your eyes on my greatness. Look to me, not a defeated Cross, but look to a Cross of power.

Look to the Cross of power that defeats all the powers of the devil, and you will walk unafraid. You will walk in my grace, and my grace will be sufficient for you at all times. You will walk in the great supply of mine for you. You will know that I am your Lord and you will hold me close—and then I will be able to hold you close. When you don’t hold me close, I’m not able to hold you close.

I have given you the privilege of holding me close or pushing me away. My blood has made you nigh unto me [so] that everyone can reach out and hold me close and hold all of my greatness close—or you can push my greatness away. I will be yours, but you have to be mine. Trust in me with all of you; do not lean to your understanding, but lean to my truth and trust in my truth. Trust in my promises, trust in my love, trust in my faith and I will perform for you, saith the Lord.

A Transformed Cross

The Lord is ready: Embrace and cling to all His greatness, and healing will flow to you today for soul, mind or body. When you as a sinner found the Cross of power, it wasn’t a cross of wood that never could have saved you. You found a Cross that was transformed into the almighty power of Heaven, a Cross that lit your way and gave you victory over all the powers of darkness. With such light you will never walk in the night again, but in the light of His greatness.

As the power of God goes into you, decide with the prophet Isaiah that the Lord spoke the truth when he said, With his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). Don’t walk in fear planning your death; plan your life with the Lord. Plan to be a greater testimony, a greater worker, and a greater influence for Him. Plan to do more for the Lord.

How wonderful to feel the quickening power of the Lord as He lays a hand upon us, as the power of truth goes into operation on the inside! Truth destroys everything false around us. Every deceitful thought the truth will destroy. Always embrace the truth; to hug it momentarily won’t work. You must cling to the truth, hold fast to it. The Lord didn’t say He would do the holding; He said you were to hold fast.

How many times has the devil caused you to let go? How many times have you lost your hold on a blessing, a healing, or a miracle, something you wanted so very much for the Lord to do? The devil cheated you out of answered prayer. He caused you to loosen the grip you had on it. Decide: No more. Hold to the greatness of God; hold to the things of Heaven.

Jacob Held On

One day an angel came down and wrestled with Jacob all night. Do you know why Jacob got the blessing? He held on; he embraced and clung to an angel so tightly that the angel said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. But Jacob replied, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me (Genesis 32:26).

Injury didn’t stop Jacob. And when he [the angel] saw that he prevailed not against him [Jacob], he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him (Genesis 32:25). Some people would have thought they were wrestling with the devil instead of an angel if their hip went out of joint. I thought you were an angel, but you’re the devil! Get away from me! See how quickly we can be turned aside? It pays to know the truth. Jacob knew he was wrestling with an angel, and he wouldn’t let go until the blessing came.

Many people would consider Jacob’s determination to be fanaticism. But we know it was a true experience; we accept it because it’s the truth or else God wouldn’t have allowed it to be put in the Bible.

Hear the Shepherd

God allowed nothing to be put in the Bible He knew to be untrue. He wouldn’t have said, I am the LORD that healeth thee (Exodus 15:26), had He known that was not the truth. He wouldn’t have said, They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:18) if that were a lie. He didn’t even say you might get well when a believer’s hand was placed on you. He said they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:18).

What are you going to do with His promises? Are you going to hold to them, or are you going to let them go? The devil will tell you that the Lord didn’t mean what the Bible says, and if you believe the devil, you’ll let go. Never listen to the devil.

Know the Voice of the Lord

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (John 10:27). Jesus said His sheep would know His voice; so if you don’t know His voice you are in trouble. If you don’t know His voice, then you don’t know He’s saying to hold tight, to hold fast, to cling to Him and never let go. But when you know His voice, you know you’re all right. If the Lord tells you to hold on, He knows you have enough love to hold. If He tells you to cling, He knows you have enough grace to cling. When you’re clinging to Him, embracing and holding on, you are following Him all the way.

Embrace Salvation and Healing

Oh, Sinner, how can you dare travel without Him? How can you have the courage to close your eyes one more time in sin? You may never wake up again in this life. Remember when you reach over to turn off the light: It may be the last light you will ever see. Will you have light for all eternity or the darkness of hell? If you have Jesus, you will have the light. If you don’t have Jesus, pray this prayer with me now: Oh, God, save my soul! Forgive me for all of my sins. I’m so sorry, Lord, that I sinned against you, but I have come home. I will serve you, Lord, the rest of my life. I believe that Jesus died for me, and I believe the blood of Jesus washes away all of my sins, all of them! Come into my heart, Jesus! Come on in, Jesus!

If you meant that prayer, He has come. If you meant it, He will be your light for time and eternity. Hold to that light. You can’t afford to ever let that light go out in your soul. The cost is too great to pay.

You who are sick and afflicted: I am not a healer. I have no secret power of my own. The angel of God stands by my side, and I can hear what is being said. He will tell me the diseases of the people. I marvel when the angel touches my eyes and I can look inside people, see their diseases and see the miracles taking place. It amazes me to look into a soul and see the devils that bind that person. The angel of the Lord tells me how many devils are in a person. I never get used to how God works through me. I never get used to seeing angels, to seeing Jesus. I say again, I have no secret power of my own, but I believe in the power of prayer. Do you? If you do, you can have a miracle; you can have a healing.

Have you set your time for deliverance? If you are ill, have you decided that when you receive prayer that this cancer or this heart affliction will have no more power, that this eye trouble can’t linger any longer, and everything is going to be conquered? If after you receive a miracle there is any pain in your body, remember that’s the voice of the devil trying to make you think you’re not healed, trying to get you to turn loose of God’s promise. Decide that you’re not going to turn loose; you’re going to hold on, steadfast and immovable. Embrace and claim your miracle, and you’ll be fine. All the depression, all the oppression, all the sickness have to go, for the Lord has promised to renew your youth. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Psalm 103:5).

The Word of God says, The prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up (James 5:15). I am one of the Lord’s believers in the prayer of faith. You with heart trouble, cancer, AIDS, any kind of disease, affliction or deformity: Believe your God for healing today. God has healed so many thousands, and He wants to heal you. Lord, I’m your servant; there is nothing great about me except your greatness that is within. Lord, pour yourself through this your humble servant now to work your will for the people. I know it is your will for them to be healed. From your gifts of healing, from your gift of miracles it comes in the name of your Son Jesus: Heal! Heal! Heal! in the name of the Lord, the holy name of Jesus.

With His blood stripes you can have healing—don’t you feel it? That healing will linger in your body or in the body of your child to get you or yours well. Praise God and look for all signs of improvement. Write and tell me about it, and I will rejoice with you. God keep you and bless you; you are so very, very special to Him.

All I have given you in this message is what thus saith the Lord. You can see Jesus like you have never seen Him before, saith the Lord, in this revelation from the Word of God. Heaven and Earth will pass away, but the Word of God will abide forever. Embrace it, cling to it and praise the Lord for this great gift of grace that He has so freely given.