Dealing with Hurt Jan.29

Psychologists may comfort us.
Philosophers may give us logic.
Preachers may interpret character.
Prophets may inspire us.
    But we hurt deeper than these.
Only the Good news of:
Incarnation,
Crucifiction,
Ressurection,
Pentecost.....brings a Savior to bear the deepest hurt.

Take Up Your Cross Jan.22

In Mark 10:21: ". . .go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast . . . give to the poor. . . take up thy cross and follow me." [KJV]

What does it mean to take up our cross?

In context, the literal says do sacrifice our money to the poor and somehow this takes up a cross. And that action is certainly one method.

But I think there is a larger meaning.
If we look closely at the Crucifiction, the whole cross experience, Jesus is demonstrating who God really is. He is a God who meets Sin with love. So when love meets sin, a cross gets erected.

When we act out of God's love, we bare a cross because we open ourselves to a compassion that can be hurt. It's called bearing someone's burden. When this happens, we suffer with Jesus through His love abused. The journey is part of the path of something or someone being redeemed.

Does God manipulate? Jan. 3

A normal, free thinking person does not like to be manipulated to justify another's end result. And yet, as Chritians we are being changed by a means to an end. Christ is the means. Salvation is the end. This is not a manipulation. Change occurs because the Holy Spirit was invited in and accepted as the means. Manipulation uses a forced motivator. God uses love, an inborn pull.

If you lose a sense of purpose in a system you belong to or are paid by, you feel more a slave than a partner. God's true purpose is to say YES to His enterprise and kingdom growth.   SEE: 2 Cor. 1:20.