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My wife and I have entered into the fun and fascinating stage of grand parenting. Alora is 3 years old and her baby sister Roselyn is 4 months. Our daughter Hailey and son-in-law Dan are the proud parents. Hailey is an ER nurse so that means we have the task of being weekend warriors; reviving our parenting skills. Each visit is a walk down memory lane when our own three children were just so young. However, I should add that there is a vast difference in the rules for grandchildren than they were for our own; and WE LOVE IT; but the common denominator is unconditional love. This new phase in our life has caused me to think a lot about how we relate to our children and our relationship to our heavenly father. We have three adult children. Stephen is our oldest. After his stint in the Air Force, he began his undergraduate degree in fine arts and cinematography. Hailey is our middle daughter that is well into her career in medicine. Allison is our baby. She's approaching h...

John 14:21 "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." This is one of my all time favorite verses in the bible. In the greek language, the translation for "show myself" means; a personal disclosure. What follower of Christ wouldn't appreciate a daily visit from the Lord Jesus? A good example of this is in a scene from the movie "August Rush".  The movie centers on a little boy named August who is a young music prodigy. A Juilliard professor, intrugued with his raw talent, asked him how he got his music; what inspired him? August replies, " ...it's everywhere, can't you hear it?" This is what happens when we walk in the spirit. The spirit reveals God the Father and God the Son all around us. This is joy for the saint but it's not just for our enjoyment, it is for us to seek and follow His will and purpos...

Hebrews 13:13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore.  Keys …  Lunch …  Coffee money …  Phone …  Pants …  Cross... Where did I lay that cross down? Oh…still carrying it. Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. This has always been a haunting verse for me. No matter how you dissect the verse, you can't take the sting out of it. In the many check lists that we have in our work for Christ, there's one item that we need not worry about. The cross! It can't be misplaced. It will find you. 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Yes…the cross of Christ. Living for Him envelopes living like Him. Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his suffe...

The gospel that saves; the gospel we believe and profess is inconceivable without the cross. The cross of our redeemer, the crucifix of the apostles; the patriarchs; the early church; missionaries; translators; all rest beneath our feet as a sure foundation with our overseer as the chief cornerstone. The cross road marked before you is rich with the blood stains of holy men and women of God who through the ages counted the cost and chose to give up what they could not keep to gain what they could not lose. May the same God who gave them endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, As citizens of heaven; one day; at long last we will see the worthy lamb that was slain. Until then, for His sake  we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. When you bear you cross gladly; joyously; fai...

If it is the cross you bear and are crucified; any other earthly condition will be contentment. Your hope is not in any other; any thing; any praise; any gift; any comfort; other than the cross upon which He died and your cross which He found you worthy to bear. Once content with your cross, the temporal fades. A worthiness of the cross is an invitation to  know Him; the power of His resurrection; the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and attain to His resurrection. Their is no nobler way; none more excellent. Even our Lord said,  "he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." If by the cross we know Him; are worthy of Him; learn of Him; grow in Him, and at long last rest in Him, then hurry to your cross and gladly bear it. The burdens in this present world are grievous but have you heard of the suffering in ages past?  Hebrews 11  tells of those who endured the pains of epic trials. They we...

Do you know that you belong to Him? Do you know that you know? Then there will be a cross. To not have a cross means you are none of His. What does it say? "to be my disciple...take up your cross and follow me?" The cross is there for every follower of Him. Why must I suffer? Most avoid an answer or offer a pious pass to the question; but the cross will answer it ! Why not suffer? He suffered for you;  nailing our sin to the cross.  Compared to the cross He bore for us... our burden is light and momentary; achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. You have endured the pains of the cross already but in ignorance. Without the knowledge of your cross and the summons to carry it you laden your load all the more. Laboring in circles you blindly; angrily; pitifully suffer. What did He first say the disciple must do? Take up your cross? No...first you must deny yourself. Self is an enemy of the cross; deceiving; denying. It must be dealt with. Only...

Seek no relief from the cross. Are you bound to it? Seek not to be loosed, for the Cyrene has already been assigned to you. In the hour of need God will provide him. Desire only to set your heart like a flint toward His righteousness. Reprieve is in the shadow of His wings. Succumb not to the temptation of resentment for the cross. God is faithful. He will, with the temptation, also make a way of escape, that ye may be able to bear it. His right hand will uphold you. Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you. He will never let the righteous fall. Look not upon thyself; it has been sacrificed; look outward. Behold...He makes all things new. Can you see it, the world around you? Look how different they all appear? Like water from Siloam, the cross has restored your sight. Love for them cries out...in newness of your heart, compassionate, weeping. The scales of sin and self had blinded your eyes. You see them now, the masses, huddled, harassed, sheep without a shephe...

Have you taken up your cross?  Tell me about it. Describe it to me. Where did you find it? In physical pain, through loss of family or relationship, in occupation; by impediment, ruin of security, poverty, weakness of your flesh, or persecution? How big is God...to you? Multiply that by an infinite number and you describe Him closer than you originally thought. His love for you is equally infinite and matchless. My understanding of the manifold mysteries of God limit me from adequately describing how He works, but I can tell you why: His incomparable love for you! Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. His charity is unceasing toward you. The cross is His way to infinite love, to paradise, to glory, to joy. It hurts, but it hurts like heaven. The cross leads us in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Only the beloved of God, in harmony with their cross, realize and embrace this principle:  we carry in our body ...

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, 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.              - Thomas a Kempis        (The Imitation Of Christ) You may ask what has brought you here, but the most important fact, for now, is Who has brought you here. You have heard that God’s love for you is indescribable. The cross that you bear is an act of His love. It sounds strange and you may think opposite, but His love for you has led you here. You thought that you were trapped in sin, assured of misfortune, and convinced of...

Take Up Your Cross: Most Excellent Way (Part I) Revised : Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ...