Good morning everyone! I hope today's message finds you with a smile on your face. Life is too short not to make lemonade out of lemons. So, stop and practice smiling. I know some of you probably haven't done this in awhile so be careful. Don't pull or break anything..........Ok! Now that we have that out of the way. I want to share a part of why we are being called to start a Crusade in our area. Let's dig into some of the good stuff.
Bible Verse: Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said unto His disciples, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."
What does this really say to you? Are we supposed to carry our cross to be crucified? Well, back in the day when Jesus walked on this world. Crucifixion was a common method of execution, and condemned criminals had to carry their crosses through the streets to the execution site. So, everyone they passed knew they were a criminal and where they were heading. So, by following Jesus you must have commitment and back then risk death. Even now in some parts of this world people risk death to follow Jesus. Would you follow Him if it meant your life might be taken because of it? That you might be a martyr. We should be willing to die to ourselves and pick up our crosses daily. Matthew 10:39 say's "He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." Does that necessarily say you must die. I think it can be that the old you dies and you find new life by following Jesus. The more you love all the stuff in your life the less you will love Jesus. But, the more you love Jesus the less you will love all the "things" in your life. You can have no greater gift than eternal life. Why is it so hard to follow Jesus. I don't know if it is. I think when do start to follow Him. It might just simplify our lives. I am not saying you have to go back to making your own clothes and riding a horse to work. I think it simplifies things by making all the "stuff" not matter as much. The plasma TV's, fancy cars, $100.00 pair of jeans, etc. It makes us a better person. We start to care more about others. We start to care more about who we really are. Not the outside, but the inside. Pretty much our values and decisions change.
I want to ask you a question today. Are you a follower of Jesus? Are you really? Do you carry your cross? Are you proud to carry it? No matter who you are around? Or, do you only carry it around a certain group of friends but, not others? Be real today. We must deny ourselves, our pride, our minds, and what some might think about us. If they are your real friends then they will be proud of you and happy for you. So, I ask you are you proud to be a Christian? It is time that you stand on solid ground and declare for once that you are not ashamed but proud to bear the name Christian. It is time we get to pickin' em' up, our crosses that is. Have a great day, I love you, and God bless
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