Happy Saturday before Easter! We have had a wonderful three night revival at our church in preparation for Easter. We have had great messages, 1 from a young man that has become family in the last few years and 2 from people I have known literally my whole life. Growing up, there were three boys that lived next door. Thankfully, I was a huge tomboy and normally, wherever they were, there I was too. We had such a good childhood and we spent as much time at each other's houses as we did at home. One of those "boys" preached last night. It is funny, you know how you see those memes of people all grown up, but what you still see is that kid? That's me but it is in a good way. Our dad's are both gone, mine has been for over 45 years, and Jon's just a few years, but I couldn't help but think about our "cloud of witnesses" last night that was looking down watching me leading singing, and Jon preaching. I could see our dad's saying, "our kids are doing good for our Savior, and then probably talking about that reunion when we all join them someday. Jon's message really moved me and I am going to use part of it for my Bible Study. By the way, all of the messages are available on the Hidalgo Independent Christian Church Facebook page.
Our Scripture today is Luke 9:23
Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
Highlight= Take up their cross daily. Explain= When Jesus said this, He hadn't gone to the cross yet, but He knew He would. He was calling his followers to a life that mirrors His own, that of surrender, sacrifice and obedience. The cross wasn't comfortable, it wasn't easy. It was costly. And yet, Jesus still carried it. He showed us the ultimate sacrifice and how we are to die to ourselves to live for Him. He denied Himself in the garden. The scripture says, He asked that this might be taken away, this was the human part. He knew it wasn't going to be taken away. Thankfully, Jesus was God and loved us so much more than He loved Himself because He knew He had never done one single thing wrong in His life, yet He was dying for sin. Our sin. My sin. He carried that to Calvary and He did it willingly. The cross was not the end. It led to forgiveness, redemption and to resurrection. When Jesus calls us to take up our cross, He's not calling us to death without hope, He is calling us to a life through surrender. I believe one of the things we fail at miserably nowadays is truly giving our lives to God. We believe in Him, but we don't surrender to Him. Jon made the statement last night, I love Jesus but I still want this sin in my life. If you truly love Jesus, you should be doing two things, telling others and trying to find ways everyday to get that sin out of your life. That is dying to self, that is taking up your cross. Can you truly image the weight of the cross physically? Christ carried it up Golgotha's hill after being beaten horribly. It was heavy, extremely heavy and it held all the sins of humanity. Our cross only holds our sin. It is still heavy. Every time I fail, every time I don't get something done I say I can, every time I let someone go that I should have told about Christ. It's heavy. He carried it first. Apply= We need to really examine what we are still holding on to instead of surrendering to God. I will tell you three of my big ones: Robert and the alcohol addiction problems he has had. Me, and the food addiction problems I have had and money. There are more, these are the ones that I lay at Jesus feet, and as Jon showed last night, I lay it down, I get on my knees at the feet of Jesus and as I get up to walk away, I grab it back and take it with me. I will keep working on this. The rest of carrying our cross though is making sure others know about Him. I started this blog and my Faithful and Fit Foundations page to have a place to share about Jesus. I have never went down the monetizing route because I didn't want it to be about making money. That is not my plan, my plan is to tell others about Jesus. I have also found that since I have been doing this, He is in my conversation easier in person. The more time you spend with someone, the more likely you are to talk about your time with them when you are away from them. Ever notice that? Taking up your cross daily looks like putting God first instead of yourself, obeying even when it is uncomfortable. I struggle with this, I often hear myself saying to God, "you want me to do WHAT???" and then sharing your faith even when it's hard. On a side note, I have also found that since I have been doing the online ministry, I have had more opportunities to share a little glimpse of my faith in sometimes scary spaces where you don't really know the whole room that well, but it has worked out and I have been honored to share scripture with strangers. Something else Jon pointed out last night that has stuck with me. Jesus knew He was dying but He kept trying to get people to believe right up to the thief on the cross. Who in your life needs Jesus? You may be THE ONE that is supposed to lead them in that direction. Don't miss it. Respond= Lord, Thank You for carrying the cross for me and giving Your life so I could have eternal life. As we remember Your death and celebrate Your resurrection, help me to truly follow You. Teach me to deny myself and take up my cross daily. Give me courage to live boldly for You and to share Your love with others. Show me who needs You and give me the strength to reach them. Remind me that every sacrifice I make for You leads to life and hope. I surrender my life to You again today. Amen.
I hope everyone has a happy Easter, our church services tomorrow at Hidalgo Independent Christian Church are 8:00 Sunrise service, 9:00 breakfast and 10:00 Worship. We would love you to come and join us. It doesn't matter how long it has been since you have been to church, or if you have never been to church. If you heard for one moment, "I want to go" then please, please join us. Jon made the statement last night there are a lot of people who go on Christmas and Easter and it is true, but one week can lead to another and another and another, so why not let tomorrow be the start. If you want to try us out first, join us for our Facebook live at 8 and 10, and of course, you can watch our previous services as well as all three revival services on the Facebook page as well.
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