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Jesus Command -Take Up Your Cross And Follow Meis Much More Than A Symbol Of The Difficulties, Frustrations
Jesus’ command - “Take up your cross and follow Me” is much more than a symbol of the difficulties, frustrations and pain we as humans experience in this life. Taking up one’ s cross and following Jesus is something completely different.
Because the cross was an instrument of death, Jesus is referring to our commitment to Him, even unto death, meaning that our obedience to the extreme measure and willingness to die is a vital part of truly being His disciple.
Death on a cross was extremely painful and humiliating, so as followers of Christ He expects us to likewise be willing to endure pain or humiliation for Him — no matter what the cost.
This word picture of 'taking up your cross' paints for us the concept of “death to self” which originates in another saying of Christ in Luke 9:24-25, “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” The truth is that NOTHING in this life is worth keeping if it means losing eternal life! Not a job, family, friends, or even your own identity. Discipleship at the core means DISCIPLINE — No Matter What The Cost — but the eternal reward is well worth the temporary pain.
Friend, taking up your cross to follow Christ simply means commitment and obedience to living a disciplined life of obedience to God even if it means giving up your worldly hopes, dreams, possessions - or even your very life if need be.
Christian, are you willing to Take Up That Cross?
God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You NotesOnLife.org
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<CENTER> <H1><FONT COLOR=#613300>I Didn’t See<BR><I>THAT</I><BR>Coming!<BR><FONT SIZE=3><I>(But God Did)</I></FONT></FONT> </H1><B> “I look to you for protection and<BR> Hide beneath the shadow of your wings<BR> Until the danger passes by.” </B><BR><B><FONT COLOR=#647A28>Psalm 57:1</FONT> </B><BR></CENTER> <FONT FACE=arial SIZE=-1><P><IMG SRC=https://www.NotesOnLife.org/images/YDN-Images/RioCrosswalk.jpg WIDTH=275 ALT=RioCrosswalk HSPACE=8 VSPACE=8 ALIGN=right>Walking down and around Rio de Janeiro as a young man in the Navy was exciting!The beaches, city and weather were absolutely beautiful and it was easy to get distractedat so much to see. Glancing across a wide boulevard I saw the famous “Sugarloaf”mountain jutting up from the yacht harbor ahead and excitedly when the light turned green,I hurriedly stepped off the curb to cross the street to get a closer look. <P>No sooner than I did, the strong hand of my weightlifting Navy buddy snatched me by the collarand violently yanked me back off my feet as a little Fiat going about 60 miles an hour ran thelight and clipped the curb - my flailing shoe lightly brushing aside view mirror as the car raced by. <P>My friend 'Rack' scolded me saying, “They don’t obey traffic lights down here son!When no one’s coming they GO!” I certainly would have been killed if my shipmate had notliterally had my back. <P>I didn’t see the danger coming, and likewise in our lives God often delivers us fromdangers we never saw coming. As today’s verse tells us, he nestles us under the shadowof His wings until the danger passes by. <P>The key here friend is to have <I>HIM</I> 'Have Your Back' and the only way is if you stay close to God,because when you are close to Him in THIS life, then He will be close to you in the next life. <B><I><FONT COLOR=#613300><P>God Bless Your Day<BR>Jesus Loves You<BR></FONT></I></B> <P ALIGN=center><B>Read ALL 700+ previous “Your Daily Notes” <A HREF=https://www.notesonlife.org/archive>HERE</A></B> </P><IMG SRC=https://www.NotesOnLife.org/images/WE-CirclePic+Signature.png ALT=Pastor_Wayne_Picture>
By Dr. Jeanne Sheffield Estrada
Have you noticed that people these days don’t seem to use the word 'SIN' or even recognize that it even exists? The truth of the matter is that Sin Does Exist and the Bible says that sin is any action, feeling, or thought that goes against God’s standards of unrighteous. [ 1 John 3:4; 5:17 ] Sin, quite simply, is simply failing to do what is right.
All of our sins – be they acted out or nurtured secretly in our heart are born out of a belief that by doing the sin will make us happier or make our life easier than obeying God. Nobody sins out of duty, but instead out of SELF.
A good example of this was Adam and Eve. While God told them not to eat from the tree of good and evil, the snake tricked them into believing that “Their eyes would be opened and be as gods, knowing good and evil.” [ Genesis 3:5 ] Satan’s deceitful spin on this tricked Eve into believing that she would be better off if she ate the fruit, and that is exactly what sin is — a deceitful idea that is acted out, but in the end it is never how we’d like it to turn out.
The continuing problem with sin is that one sin usually leads to another. When we are caught in an addicting, habitual sin, we are held captive like a ball and chain in a deceptive belief that it will make us happy, yet it is not only difficult - but destructive - to ourselves, and often times to others. We may even loathe our sin in certain ways, even feel shame over it with a sincere desire to be free, but as long as we allow it we are chained to it.
If that sounds familiar, the secret to cutting that chain is instead realizing that the better promises God has made by following His path and this ALWAYS leads to a better end than “enjoying the pleasures of sin for a season” [ Hebrews 11:25 ]
Is this easy? Honestly, it’s hard because you have shaped your perceptions and behaviors for a long time, and you need to RE-SHAPE your mind into God’s thinking…and this is at the heart of the deep meaning of the word REPENT. To truly repent means to Change One’s Mind. To break free from the chains of sin you have and cut the chain that ties you to old thinking. It cannot be halfway! Either you remain tied or you Cut The Tie.
Friend, unless you become convinced that this is true, your old way of thinking will keep you tied to your sin. Starting today, CHANGE YOUR MIND and “Cut The Chain That Binds You To Sinful Thinking” by “Having the Mind Of Christ.”
God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You
Highway 50 across Nevada has been called “The Loneliest Road in America.” It crosses five valleys and mountain ranges between Utah and California and gives the illusion of roads that go off into the distance that will never end.
Life is like that too. When most people look into the future, they see a road of life that seems like it will never end, but when I drove across Highway 50 I discovered that the longest “infinite” road was only about 20 miles. Many people’s daily commutes are longer than that – hardly an unfathomable distance.
The point is that like the warning “Objects In Mirror Are Closer Than They Appear” in that what we PERCEIVE as being a long way away is quickly zooming up to us. While you may think that you have plenty of time in life - like traversing Highway 50 - your road is going to end much sooner than you see or think and when the road ends…then what?
Well it won’t be at a truck stop restaurant, resort hotel, or another mountain pass followed by another valley across another stretch of Route 50. The fact is that the great road trip of life will come to a dead end and there will be no turning back. The question you need to come to grips with is what will you do then and where will you be when your life road-trip is over?
The Bible says that “… people are destined to die…and after that to face judgment,” In life, we are all destined to come to the end of the road of life. Google maps doesn’t have the answer, but the Bible’s God Provisioning System does. It says that your path to heaven was paved 2,000 years ago on a Cross via a Crossroad located on Calvary. Jesus told us the answer when he said,
“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” John 5:24
When the road you are on ends, where will it take you?
God Bless Your Day Jesus Loves You
Some people are on a quest to 'find God' (as if He was hard to find) but actually the opposite is true! cannot-find-godNot only is God 'available' and waiting for people to come to Him, but He has given us a book that tells us exactly WHERE He is and how He CAN BE FOUND and it is called the Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth - The B.I.B.L.E.
The funny and sad thing about this book is that it is SO available as to be ridiculous. The Bible is the most published, most written about, most studied, most translated and most widely available book on the planet. In fact if you want one, just walk into most thrift stores and they often just give them away for free!
But here is the thing - there WILL be a time coming shortly where GOD WILL BE A LOT HARDER TO FIND. This self-same Bible speaks about a time, coming soon of when His Hand will be removed from the earth (2 Thessalonians 2:6) as well as His People, His church (1 Thessalonians 4:17). This is something called the “Great Tribulation” and it will be a time of lawlessness, persecution and death, and at that time it will be very difficult for anyone trying to find or reach out to God.
The Bible says that “TODAY is the Day of Salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2) and as today’s scripture says, “Seek the Lord while He may be found.” The good news of the gospel is that He’s Here, He’s Waiting, and He’s READILY FOUND.
If you earnestly call out to Him from your heart, He will HEAR YOU, and He will FIND YOU.
Please Share Freely For The Propagation of the Gospel NotesOnLife.org
This title and the accompanying scripture describe two different kinds of people.
For those that live by their own perceptions of existence, there is no second thought of life and living. Without the oversight of an angry, vengeful, eternal or perhaps ethereal being judging or condemning your life, there certainly is a freedom to live life with abandon. With no fear of an end-time accounting, consequences of the triumphs or tragedies of life are irrelevant.
For Christians that do believe in a God, the perspective of life, living, and eternity is quite different -- not because they live under the auspices of an evil task-master god, but because they believe in God’s loving promise of a hopeful and glorious future. However as today’s scripture so pointedly states, if in fact there is no god and the hope that the bible promises is simply a fantasy, then all these high principles of living, service and love for others above themselves is not only pointless, but winds up being a miserable waste of the short time that could have been enjoyed in a life.
Depending on your view of life and death in either case, YOU’D BETTER BE RIGHT because the end result will be exactly as you imagined. The difference for the Christian though is H.O.P.E. of a Heaven Of Peaceful Eternity.
Depending on what you believe, you better be right.
So what exactly do YOU believe?
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