Great Weekend!

Seth Barber spoke at our Saturday night service and, as always, brought the truth of God.
Life is a struggle.
Life is hard.
Accepting Christ (surrendering and giving your life to him) does not make life any easier. It just means that you have a guide now to follow wherever life takes you.

We have a hard time accepting this, especially as believers in Christ. Sometimes I think we need more followers and less believer's. I have found out that believing costs nothing, while following costs everything.

Luke 9:23
Then He said to them, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me."

Take up his cross.
We simply follow where Jesus has already gone.
We die to self.
We die to our desires.
A man on a cross has lost all rights. The only thing he is called to do is die.
If you saw a man walking out from the city carrying a cross, you knew that this man was not coming back.
We are no less called than that.
We want to spiritualize the entire idea of the cross, but you can't.
We want to explain away what Jesus was truly saying, but you can't.
We want the cross to fit into our lives like some piece of art or sculpture.
The cross doesn't fit into your life.
The cross takes your life so you can receive the life that Jesus offers.

There are no arguments when you stand before the cross.
Only the confession of "Oh God, I'm in need of you."

mb