June 20, 2014
MY FRIENDS CAN YOU SAY “LORD, LORD,” AND CARRY YOUR CROSS AT THE SAME TIME?
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; Matthew 7:21-23 (NASV)
“The tendency of the popular religious teaching of the day is to make the Christian’s pathway as easy and attractive as possible. There is a great deal said concerning faith, but the necessity of performing the sacred obligations set forth in the word of God, the necessity of living consistent, godly lives, of being workers together with God, of denying self, of coming out from the world and separating from its fashions and follies” (E. G. White Signs of the times March 30, 1888) is just not essential to being a Christian in the 21st century high tech society we live in today. We tell ourselves I’m a good person, I go to church every week, I’m on the Deacon or deaconess board I even pay a 20 % tithe, I visit the sick and feed the homeless what more does God want.
My friends it is so easy to look at what James tells us in James 1:26 (ASV) and say to ourselves I am a “doer of the word, and not [just a] hearer.” “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matt 7:14 (NIV) The part of God’s word that gets blurred in our translation is the very foundation that our salvation is based upon which is centered on Calvary and the events that leads to Christ death on the Cross and His resurrection.
Christ tells us in Matt. 10:38 (ASV) “And he that doth not take his cross and follow after me, is not worthy of 
me.” My friends it is very easy to stay in a comfort zone and pay a double tithe and visit the sick because that was the simple part of Christ ministry but oh the faith, endurance and love it will take to make it personal with Christ our example who laid the path and now “sits at the right hand of God” Advocating for each of us who have the faith to follow him to Calvary as we carry our own cross.
“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: for peradventure for the good man someone would even dare to die. But God commendeth his own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:7-8 (ASV) Now friends ask yourself, what part of that cross have I carried up to this point of my life, maybe the part of being spit upon or slapped or beat unmercifully and then scourge and this all happens before the weight of the cross you bear to Golgotha where our Savior died a cruel death for our sins.
Where I need you to focus today is the preparation of what lies ahead for God’s chosen and the extinct Satan will go through to make a child of God recant on our commitment to Christ to serve Him and do His will. In addition, it all 
comes down to allowing Christ to stretch our faith a little more each day while allowing self to die as we gain the power and strength needed to endure the journey ahead as we take up our cross and follow Christ as we focus on His Word while allowing the Spirit to transform.
“When the emperor Valens threatened Eusebuis with confiscation of all his goods, torture, banishment, or even death, the courageous Christian replied, “He needs not fear confiscation, who has nothing to lose; nor banishment, to whom heaven is his country; nor torments, when his body can be destroyed at one blow; nor death, which is the only way to set him at liberty from sin and sorrow.” My friends we all must make a conscientious decision to tell God today, You have placed me on this Journey and I am committed to say LORD, LORD AND TO CARRY MY CROSS AT THE SAME TIME.
So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY
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