Take Up the Cross - By Mildred Dickson

"If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him....take up his cross and follow me." Matthew 16:24

Jesus doesn't say "Make a cross" or "Look for a cross."  Each of us has a cross to carry. There is no need to look for another one. The cross we have is hard enough for us!  But are we willing to take it up and accept it as our cross?                                               

Maybe we can't study, maybe we are ill, maybe we suffer from depression or a terrible personal loss, maybe we experience conflict in our families, maybe we are victims of violence or abuse. We didn't choose any of it, but these things are our crosses. We can ignore them, reject them, or hate them.  Or we can take up these crosses and follow Jesus with them.

Father, give us the strength, insight and grace to grasp your love for us as we shoulder our crosses for your glory. Amen

Stingy - by Robin Boswell

           

 THUD. My mom’s vacuum hit a long-forgotten object under my bed - the brownies I baked months earlier and then hid to keep my brothers from eating them. STINGY. She labeled me quite accurately. Those moldy brownies spoke the ugly truth of my greed.

We are all stingy at times. If I don’t want to find the Peanut M&M’s bag empty, I better hide it, right? Look around you and you’ll find that being stingy has become our way of life. The average size of an American home has nearly tripled in the last 50 years in an effort to house all of our stuff. Inside of an average American home, there are about 300,000 items. If we can’t fit all of it inside our homes, we’ll solve that by renting an extra storage unit!

Let’s shift focus a bit and ask ourselves a serious question. Is our stingy nature spilling over onto our spiritual lives? Soak up these statistics:

·      82% of people are at least “somewhat likely” to go to church if invited.

·     Only 2% of Christians actually invite anyone to church in any given year.

·     7 out of 10 unchurched people have never been invited to church in their whole lives.

Yes, it is sad and clear that we are as STINGY with our spiritual lives as I was with the hidden brownies. These statistics make me feel more ashamed of myself now than I felt back when my mom found those forgotten and ruined brownies. Shame is an uncomfortable emotion, but it is sometimes just what we need to prompt us to change our ways.

Jesus spelled out directions for His followers explaining how to spread the news of salvation and His love. This is Jesus saying to us, “I want you to do something for me.” If Jesus is asking, then our answer is always YES. So, what are these directions that Jesus is giving to us? They are found in the book of Matthew:

            Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 The Message (MSG)

The time is always right to share your faith and to invite someone to worship with your church family. The church exists to make disciples of Jesus - to carry out the directions Jesus gave us. Make your mind up to invite someone to worship. Challenge your church friends to invite someone to worship. Ask in person, make a call, send a text, post on social media- do them all. JUST DON’T BE STINGY WHEN IT COMES TO JESUS.

Staying Between the Lines - by Donna Wilkerson

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.                   Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)    

                                    

New cars today are equipped with sensors that beep when your car veers close or over the lines on the highway.  Wouldn’t it be nice if we had something that would beep when we get too close or over the “line”?  Wait maybe we do!  Spiritual warning beeps have been installed in every believer’s heart. 

In John 16:13, Christ promised that the Holy Spirit would guide us: "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. “(NIV)   The Holy Spirit comforts, teaches, and bears witness to the truth. The Spirit gives us discernment and wisdom to recognize when we are straying and leads us to instead walk with God.

When I ask the Holy Spirit to control my life, the Spirit encourages me to respond lovingly to difficult people and to pray with thankfulness about stressful situations. Throughout the day, the Holy Spirit reminds me of all the ways I want to obey Christ.  God wants to direct our course in life as we strive to follow the true path of righteousness.

May we daily seek the Holy Spirit to guide and sustain us.

Thought for the Day

We can trust God to lead us on the path to righteousness.

Prayer

Dear Lord, sometimes we stray from the truth. Thank you for guiding our lives toward the path of righteousness each day so that we can live abundantly.  May we always seek your will and direction for our lives, and may we have the faith to follow. Amen.

Safety Net - by Jennifer Faircloth

                                                                   

         

In His typical, wonderful fashion, God began preparing me to write this devotion even before I was asked.  Recently he brought someone else’s’ devotion into my hands based on Matthew 11:25-30.  The key verse for me was “Come to me, all you whom are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  You may joke, “Well, y’all are building a house, no wonder you feel weary and burdened at times.”  That’s true!  But this verse spoke to me on a deeper level.  I realized quickly that I often to go Jesus, and definitely when weary, yet I do not always release my burdens, especially old ones. 

The Lord’s had me meditating on this for a while and I’ve wondered how Lent fits in.  Quite well!  Lent is a season of confessing, cleansing and preparing for living into Christ’s resurrection.  Adding a spiritual discipline, like fasting, can be useful.  What if this year for Lent, I commit to a “fasting practice”, i.e. the giving over/letting go of my burdens to Jesus?  Only through the Holy Spirit’s power can I first give thanks for any burden (1 Thess. 5:18) and second, give it to Jesus.

Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?  Yet when I envision 40 days of acting on this commitment, my heart skips a beat.  Why? Because some burdens are familiar.  Yes, when their weight makes me weary, worried, sometimes depleted in body, mind and spirit, but it’s a known load to me.  And, “familiar” is a safety net.  After all, what would replace my safety net?  Exactly: THE UNKNOWN!  Yet, there are no unknowns, for nothing is hidden from my Father, past present and future.  In unconditional love, He declares to me, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans for welfare (peace) and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

I accepted His Calvary love 56 years ago, so I would hope by now that I could constantly and easily give over old burdens and rest in Jesus’ knowing and His plans for me.  But I don’t, though through recent reflection, I acknowledge I want to want to!

So, here comes Lent, no better time to daily ask for faith to believe Jesus is my only safety net and to practice “fasting my burdens.”  I look forward to the rest that Jesus will provide. 

Dogpaddling - by Cassie Clark

                                           

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ."  Galatians 6:2

Further reading—Hebrews 6:19-20.

When one endures the deep burden of grief, God often seems distant.  A sense of abandonment may ensue, and parts (if not all) of the grieving process can literally feel like a complete emotional wave of undertaking.   

As I have been in the midst of experiencing grief recently, I recall a recent event that mirrored how we may deal with grief in many forms—from death, marital issues, job loss, addiction, or another disastrous occurrence.  Last summer, my then four-year old daughter briefly took swim lessons but claimed that she already knew how to swim.  As the instructors (and other apprehensive students) repeatedly insisted on keeping one hand on the wall, she slowly bobbed away, her arms paddling close to her body.  I watched as it began, while wrestling a frustrating clutch on our squirmy two-year old.  I eased over slowly, losing count of the times I shouted for her to return to the wall.  As my daughter approached the depth change marker, I was in full dash (along with squirming two-year old) toward her.  And then it happened.  For a full second, she went under.  The instructors and lifeguard were already there to pull her up.  Is my daughter okay?  Yes, praise Jesus.  Were we both terrified?  Absolutely.

Grief in any stage is often like an ill-prepared attempt to dive right in or “get on with it” (life, that is).  As in swim class, Christ’s kingdom also demonstrates safety in numbers.  We still insist on doing it alone, although we are surrounded by one or more nearby to console, not to mention a savior who loves us dearly. 

God commands us to rejoice together, and yes, mourn together.  The acceptance of help or counsel can prove difficult, but dogpaddling alone will likely lead to sinking.  Grief can evolve from stubborn solidarity to desperately seeking the Lord with prayer and meeting the embrace of others.  They are there reaching for you, waiting for to grab hold.  These are the precious ones whom He has sent—whether it be a dear loved one, new acquaintance, or stranger with heartfelt words.  The hand of God is at work in that one person or persons that persistently offers to help or just be there.  They are a dear and precious sent community.  Jesus himself mourned with others, and there is no burden too great that our Comforter cannot bear.  We need only lay it on Him and share with others.  In doing so, our grief is lessened.  Such a testimony can only come from the relentless grace of our God.  Seek comfort in His kingdom-seekers, no matter how messy the grief.  We are all His, and worthy of it. 

PRAYER:  Heavenly Father, give us release in our grief to lift our prayers and open our hearts to You and to the embrace of your kingdom here on Earth.  Help us also comfort others.  Amen.  

Rich/Poor- by Tommy Saunders

Of course, there is great gain in Godliness, combined with contentment;

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, ¹⁹ thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.  1Timothy 6:6, 17-19

There was a very rich man who decided that it was time for his young son to see and understand just how poor people really lived. So he invited his son to go into the country and spend a weekend with him, with a family.

After they returned from the weekend trip, the man sat down with his son and questioned him as to what he found out about how poor people really lived.

The son began by saying:  We have a big, beautiful house with lots of rooms…but they have a log cabin.  We have a huge pool that goes to the edge of our property on all sides…but they have a crystal clear creek that has no end.  We have a nice brick patio that encircles our house…but they have a porch with a swing. We have beautiful outside lights that come on automatically at dusk to light up the whole outside of the house…but they have a canopy of stars that come out at dusk to light their whole world.  We attend church in a huge brick building with many rooms and sit in cushioned pews, listening to a magnificent pipe organ…but when we attended church with this family, it was in a one-room wooden building with wooden benches and one old piano.  Yes, I get your drift now…I can see how a poor family really lives and we are really poor. They have everything and we have nothing.

Sometimes we need the humbling insight of a small child to see how really rich we are.  We fall into the age-old trap believing that money and riches solve all our problems when all we ever need is Jesus Christ.

Restlessness and Contentment in Our Daily Lives - by Laura Bowie

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you were tempted to manipulate the circumstances so that it comes true?  What’s wrong with “lining up a few things” or “talking to all the right people about it”?  Is that the right thing to do?  It’s not easy – especially when you are convinced that it is either something you deserve or something that would make everything in your life better. 

Wanting something isn’t necessarily bad, but when that “something” becomes the end goal and consumes our thoughts, we end up discontent because that thing was never meant to fulfill us.  Only Christ can fulfill us. 

Romans 12:2 teaches us to learn to rely on God in these situations: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

Personally, I have learned that in these circumstances, we have to do a few things:

(     (1)   Recognize that when we want something really badly, that desire can cloud our judgement regarding taking action to achieve it.  For example, it’s wise to have your acceptance speech prepared for that special award, but don’t contact the judges to influence them in your direction!

          (2)   Stop thinking about it all the time because it influences you to dwell on the things you can’t control.  For example, if you’re not thinking about it all the time, you won’t be tempted to pester your boss about the promotion.  In that instance, it’s best to mention it once and be done with it so you can move on to more productive things.

(       (3)   Pray that God will take away that desire to influence the situation and to accept the outcome.  God can make a real difference if you ask him to.  More than once, I’ve asked God to please soften my desire for something so that I can focus on other things that are pleasing to Him.  Before I knew it, I had lost the tendency to think about the issue all the time and I became a much better person for it!