The Royal Road of the Cross of Christ

 

TO MANY the saying, "Deny thyself, take up thy cross and follow Me," (  Matt. 16:24 )  seems hard, but it will be much harder to hear that final word: "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." ( Matt. 25:41 )Those who hear the word of the cross and follow it willingly now, need not fear that they will hear of eternal damnation on the day of judgment. This sign of the cross will be in the heavens when the Lord comes to judge. Then all the servants of the cross, who during life made themselves one with the Crucified, will draw near with great trust to Christ, the judge. Why, then, do you fear to take up the cross when through it you can win a kingdom? In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in the cross is protection from enemies, in the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the cross is strength of mind, in the cross is joy of spirit, in the cross is highest virtue, in the cross is perfect holiness. There is no salvation of soul nor hope of everlasting life but in the cross. Take up your cross, therefore, and follow Jesus, and you shall enter eternal life. He Himself opened the way before you in carrying His cross, and upon it He died for you, that you, too, might take up your cross and long to die upon it. If you die with Him, you shall also live with Him, and if you share His suffering, you shall also share His glory. Behold, in the cross is everything, and upon your dying on the cross everything depends. There is no other way to life and to true inward peace than the way of the holy cross and daily mortification.  Go where you will, seek what you will, you will not find a higher way, nor a less exalted but safer way, than the way of the holy cross. Arrange and order everything to suit your will and judgment, and still you will find that some suffering must always be borne, willingly or unwillingly, and thus you will always find the cross. Either you will experience bodily pain or you will undergo tribulation of spirit in your soul. At times you will be forsaken by God, at times troubled by those about you and, what is worse, you will often grow weary of yourself.  You cannot escape, you cannot be relieved by any remedy or comfort but must bear with it as long as God wills. For He wishes you to learn to bear trial without consolation, to submit yourself wholly to Him that you may become more humble through suffering. No one understands the passion of Christ so thoroughly or heartily as the man whose lot it is to suffer the like himself. The cross, therefore, is always ready; it awaits you everywhere. No matter where you may go, you cannot escape it, for wherever you go you take yourself with you and shall always find yourself. Turn where you will -- above, below, without, or within -- you will find a cross in everything, and everywhere you must have patience if you would have peace within and merit an eternal crown. If you carry the cross willingly, it will carry and lead you to the desired goal where indeed there shall be no more suffering, but here there shall be. If you carry it unwillingly, you create a burden for yourself and increase the load, though still you have to bear it. If you cast away one cross, you will find another and perhaps a heavier one.  Do you expect to escape what no mortal man can ever avoid? Which of the saints was without a cross or trial on this earth? Not even Jesus Christ, our Lord, Whose every hour on earth knew the pain of His passion. "It behooveth Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead, . . . and so enter into his glory."  ( Luke 24:46   ) How is it that you look for another way than this, the royal way of the holy cross? The whole life of Christ was a cross and a martyrdom, and do you seek rest and enjoyment for yourself? You deceive yourself, you are mistaken if you seek anything but to suffer, for this mortal life is full of miseries and marked with crosses on all sides. Indeed, the more spiritual progress a person makes, so much heavier will he frequently find the cross, because as his love increases, the pain of his exile also increases. Yet such a man, though afflicted in many ways, is not without hope of consolation, because he knows that great reward is coming to him for bearing his cross. And when he carries it willingly, every pang of tribulation is changed into hope of solace from God. Besides, the more the flesh is distressed by affliction, so much the more is the spirit strengthened by inward grace.  Not infrequently a man is so strengthened by his love of trials and hardship in his desire to conform to the cross of Christ, that he does not wish to be without sorrow or pain, since he believes he will be the more acceptable to God if he is able to endure more and more grievous things for His sake.It is the grace of Christ, and not the virtue of man, which can and does bring it about that through fervor of spirit frail flesh learns to love and to gain what it naturally hates and shuns. To carry the cross, to love the cross, to chastise the body and bring it to subjection, to flee honors, to endure contempt gladly, to despise self and wish to be despised, to suffer any adversity and loss, to desire no prosperous days on earth -- this is not man's way. If you rely upon yourself, you can do none of these things, but if you trust in the Lord, strength will be given you from heaven and the world and the flesh will be made subject to your word. You will not even fear your enemy, the devil, if you are armed with faith and signed with the cross of Christ. Set yourself, then, like a good and faithful servant of Christ, to bear bravely the cross of your Lord, Who out of love was crucified for you. Be ready to suffer many adversities and many kinds of trouble in this miserable life, for troublesome and miserable life will always be, no matter where you are; and so you will find it wherever you may hide. Thus it must be; and there is no way to evade the trials and sorrows of life but to bear them. Drink the chalice of the Lord with affection it you wish to be His friend and to have part with Him. Leave consolation to God; let Him do as most pleases Him. On your part, be ready to bear sufferings and consider them the greatest consolation, for even though you alone were to undergo them all, the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come. When you shall have come to the point where suffering is sweet and acceptable for the sake of Christ, then consider yourself fortunate, for you have found paradise on earth. But as long as suffering irks you and you seek to escape, so long will you be unfortunate, and the tribulation you seek to evade will follow you everywhere. If you put your mind to the things you ought to consider, that is, to suffering and death, you would soon be in a better state and would find peace. Although you were taken to the third heaven with Paul, you were not thereby insured against suffering. Jesus said: "I will show him how great things he must suffer for My name's sake." ( Acts 9:16 ) To  suffer, then, remains your lot, if you mean to love Jesus and serve Him forever. If you were but worthy to suffer something for the name of Jesus, what great glory would be in store for you, what great joy to all the saints of God, what great edification to those about you! For all men praise patience though there are few who wish to practice it. With good reason, then, ought you to be willing to suffer a little for Christ since many suffer much more for the world. Realize that you must lead a dying life; the more a man dies to himself, the more he begins to live unto God. No man is fit to enjoy heaven unless he has resigned himself to suffer hardship for Christ. Nothing is more acceptable to God, nothing more helpful for you on this earth than to suffer willingly for Christ. If you had to make a choice, you ought to wish rather to suffer for Christ than to enjoy many consolations, for thus you would be more like Christ and more like all the saints. Our merit and progress consist not in many pleasures and comforts but rather in enduring great afflictions and sufferings.  If, indeed, there were anything better or more useful for man's salvation than suffering, Christ would have shown it by word and example. But He clearly exhorts the disciples who follow Him and all who wish to follow Him to carry the cross, saying: "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (  Luke 9:23 ) When, therefore, we have read and searched all that has been written, let this be the final conclusion -- that through much suffering we must enter into the kingdom of God. ----- ( Acts 14:22 )   Taken from the Imitation of  Christ by Thomas A Kempis LAYING DOWN YOUR LIFE ~ Click here

Gratitude for the Grace of God

 WHY do you look for rest when you were born to work? Resign yourself to patience rather than to comfort, to carrying your cross rather than to enjoyment. What man in the world, if he could always have them, would not readily accept consolation and spiritual joy, benefits which excel all earthly delights and pleasures of the body? 

The latter, indeed, are either vain or base, while spiritual joys, born of virtue and infused by God into pure minds, are alone truly pleasant and noble.

Now, since the moment of temptation is always nigh, since false freedom of mind and overconfidence in self are serious obstacles to these visitations from heaven, a man can never enjoy them just as he wishes. God does well in giving the grace of consolation, but man does evil in not returning everything gratefully to God. Thus, the gifts of grace cannot flow in us when we are ungrateful to the Giver, when we do not return them to the Fountainhead. Grace is always given to him who is duly grateful, and what is wont to be given the humble will be taken away from the proud. I do not desire consolation that robs me of contrition, nor do I care for contemplation that leads to pride, for not all that is high is holy, nor is all that is sweet good, nor every desire pure, nor all that is dear to us pleasing to God. I accept willingly the grace whereby I become more humble and contrite, more willing to renounce self. The man who has been taught by the gift of grace, and who learns by the lash of its withdrawal, will never dare to attribute any good to himself, but will rather admit his poverty and emptiness. Give to God what is God's and ascribe to yourself what is yours. Give Him thanks, then, for His grace, but place upon yourself alone the blame and the punishment your fault deserves. Always take the lowest place and the highest will be given you, for the highest cannot exist apart from the lowest. The saints who are greatest before God are those who consider themselves the least, and the more humble they are within themselves, so much the more glorious they are. Since they do not desire vainglory, they are full of truth and heavenly glory. Being established and strengthened in God, they can by no means be proud. They attribute to God whatever good they have received; they seek no glory from one another but only that which comes from God alone. They desire above all things that He be praised in themselves and in all His saints -- this is their constant purpose.   Be grateful, therefore, for the least gift and you will be worthy to receive a greater.  Consider the least gift as the greatest, the most contemptible as something special. And, if you but look to the dignity of the Giver, no gift will appear too small or worthless. Even though He give punishments and scourges, accept them, because He acts for our welfare in whatever He allows to befall us. He who desires to keep the grace of God ought to be grateful when it is given and patient when it is withdrawn. Let him pray that it return; let him be cautious and humble lest he lose it.

  
*Taken from The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis 

Be not troubled

 

C. H. Spurgeon

"He shall not be afraid of evil tidings."—Psalm 112:7.

CHRISTIAN, you ought not to dread the arrival of evil tidings; because if you are distressed by them, what do you more than other men? Other men have not your God to fly to; they have never proved His faithfulness as you have done, and it is no wonder if they are bowed down with alarm and cowed with fear: but you profess to be of another spirit; you have been begotten again unto a lively hope, and your heart lives in heaven and not on earthly things; now, if you are seen to be distracted as other men, what is the value of that grace which you profess to have received? Where is the dignity of that new nature which you claim to possess?
 

Again, if you should be filled with alarm, as others are, you would, doubtless, be led into the sins so common to others under trying circumstances. The ungodly, when they are overtaken by evil tidings, rebel against God; they murmur, and think that God deals hardly with them. 

Will you fall into that same sin? Will you provoke the Lord as they do?
 

 Moreover, unconverted men often run to wrong means in order to escape from difficulties, and you will be sure to do the same if your mind yields to the present pressure. Trust in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him. Your wisest course is to do as Moses did at the Red Sea, "Stand still and see the salvation of God." For if you give way to fear when you hear of evil tidings, you will be unable to meet the trouble with that calm composure which nerves for duty, and sustains under adversity. How can you glorify God if you play the coward? Saints have often sung God's high praises in the fires, but will your doubting and desponding, as if you had none to help you, magnify the Most High? Then take courage, and relying in sure confidence upon the faithfulness of your covenant God, "let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." 

The Keith Green Story (and how he was used to impact my own life)

Before you view this video which i HIGHLY recommend, much Abba used Keith Green to impact my life and set me on my spiritual journey of picking up my cross, denying self and following Yeshua Jesus. The intense emotions welling up inside while watching this movie brought me back to those incredible memories of a commitment and fire for God that the Holy Spirit stirred in me through Keith's music and DEEP love and passion for Christ. In fact two years before Keith Green passed away (that was such devastating news when he and two of his children were taken by plane crash), My ex husband and i were seeking direction on what God wanted us to do.


At that time we both had a love and call to work with youth coming from broken homes and i also had a desire for deeper discipleship and missions. i was on the mailing list to receive the Last Days Newsletter and read in one of the magazines (at the time we were praying and seeking Gods direction on what He wanted us to do) of an add for those called to be a part of Last Days ministries in Texas. Now take into consideration that this was a ministry that housed only singles. They rarely took on a married couple. i didn't let that stop me, so i inquired and got back an extensive and exhaustive 10 page application. i filled it out and sent it in. About a month later i received a reply saying they accepted us into the ministry. i was so blown away by it. i thought, THIS IS IT! This has to be the Lords will!


We also had some others things we were pursuing were we sent a job application to a troubled teens group home in North Carolina. It was so long ago and i don't remember the details, but we were accepted to be teaching parents in that group home in NC. This was such a difficult situation for me especially. i really wanted to go to last days ministries and my ex wanted so much to work with troubled teens. i knew i needed to submit to my husband. I did have a heart and desire to help teens coming from broken and abused homes, but i  had an even DEEPER desire for the kind of discipleship and ministry that went on at last days ministries and for the missions opportunity as well to bring the many lost souls to Christ. 


What made this decision more difficult to walk away from was the fact that we were accepted as a couple when their facility was only set up for singles in ministry. That was a real miracle and sign for me that this was God's perfect will for our lives.  Not only that, but Keith had a profound impact on my own desire to play, sing and worship Abba in song that wasn't like that of mainstream Christian music. 


i felt the same way as Keith when it came to preaching and singing about our Lord. It should be done freely and not for profit. Keith showed this by example as he personally struggled with selling his albums and charging for his concerts. His conviction was so strong that with his third album he didn't charge for it (So You Wanna Go Back to Eqypt) He even got out of his contract with Sparrow records and started his own label to make his music and concerts available for free and by love offering. 


In fact to this day with the music the Holy Spirit has graciously given me through times of great suffering, they will never be sold for any amount of money.


What i also found rather amazing and strikingly similar in this movie i watched this evening  is the way Keith recorded his music that was outside the bounds of traditional recording. It was Keith's ability and passion to sing and play his piano together as though he were singing and playing before a live audience and not separately when he recorded all his songs. Keith's singing and piano were inseparable as though they were one. 


That is the way i have always recorded every  Spiritsong. My vocals and guitar are done together and never apart. They compliment one another. Yes, for me it does make it difficult and mostly impossible to sync any other instruments when i record my singing and guitar together, but that is the only organic way Abba has wanted His songs to be done. Doing it separately is like being a fish out of water. The thought of recording them separately for me is also like walking outside on a hot road or jagged rocks without shoes on.  i never knew that about Keith until watching this movie.
i should have known. : ) 


Forgive my rambling on, but i feel my spiritual life has come full circle and to watch this movie about Keith Greens life has made the way for those precious and dear saints like Tozer, Ravenhill, Spurgeon, Finney (and even Keith with his articles) along with others that were a big part of my life as a young follower of Christ. 


i have been through so many spiritual changes. A lot of what i have gone through could have really derailed my life spiritually, but the strong  foundation i received from Keith's music, calling and the ministry of their Last Days Newsletter was the solid Rock of Yeshua Jesus upon the uncompromising Word that kept my spiritual walk from being totally ship wrecked. 


THANK YOU ABBA for how you have used your son Keith in my life! When i see you in heaven my dear brother Keith, i want to personally thank and hug you for being obedient to Abba in letting Him use you to impact my life (and the lives of SO MANY)  that have been instrumental in where i am today in my daily walk with Christ.


Thank you, Netty for sending me the link to this video~

A Craving for the Presence by David Wilkerson

Joel 2: 1-16


 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them; and behind them a flame burneth: the land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea, and nothing shall escape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horses; and as horsemen, so shall they run. Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they leap, like the noise of a flame of fire that devoureth the stubble, as a strong people set in battle array. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness. They shall run like mighty men; they shall climb the wall like men of war; and they shall march every one on his ways, and they shall not break their ranks: Neither shall one thrust another; they shall walk every one in his path: and when they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to and fro in the city; they shall run upon the wall, they shall climb up upon the houses; they shall enter in at the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining: And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?  Therefore also now, saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a blessing behind him; even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the LORD your God?  Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly:  Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet.