Take My Hand Inspirations
Back to the Cross . . . to Go Forward
Let the cross come crashing down upon
you, for that crashing will shatter strongholds intentionally erected around
your ignorant soul—can you know the plan of the enemy? But pray for opened eyes to see the signs:
1) Not
attending church regularly?
2) “Forgetting”
to pay your tithes; decreasing your offering?
3) Just
can’t open that Bible every day, can you?
4) Caught
up in telenovelas, apps and social media that there’s no time for prayer?
5) “Hip
life, hip hop, hip what!?” Gospel groups
no more attractive to you?
. . . the list may go on and on. But here is where we’ll STOP. And go back to the CROSS, that Old Time
Religion when:
EYES
were
kind and attached to welcoming smiles from the heart accompanied by
sincere hugs full of genuine concern and love for one another. When we exercised them by reading the Bible
basking in the cool, healing waters of God’s Holy Spirit, with minds wide open
to meditation and filled with unspeakable joy when we got a revelation!
That Old Time Religion when:
TONGUES were softer,
therefore, stronger in preaching God’s Word straight into a lost soul bringing
out salvation.
That Old Time Religion when:
EARS were sharper and tuned in
enough to listen to and hold on to the gospel message ringing in our ears long
after church service was over, resonating throughout the whole week, and still
resounding the next Sunday as we sat on polished mahogany pews eager to hear
another great sermon delivered through a discerning (Bible-trained) preacher
man or woman.
That Old Time Religion when:
HANDS were readily giving,
opened and sharing whatever we had with those who didn’t, the right not knowing
what the left was doing. To a time when
tithes and offering were a joy (a truly happy experience) to put into God’s
bowl without questioning, “Where is my hard-earned money going? To Pastor and
his wife and children? Why should I put
more in when I have my own family to take care of?!?”
To the times when “Yes” meant yes and “No” meant no, stop, I do not like that.
When men were gentle and respected the sanctity of ladies; and when
ladies respected themselves kindly keeping their gentlemen suitors at arm’s
length and their dresses below the knee length in God-fearing sweet submission (Is
church attire today any different from that of prostitution?).
Can we ever get that “Christ-is-in-the-center
of my life” mentality back again? How do
we snatch back what the devil has stolen from us? What has he stolen? Our DIGNITY as custodians of Christ’s
church and stewards of His Word.
What does it mean to
say, “I am a Christian.”? Can those who are not Christian see that
Christ exists in your life by the way you talk, act, think, walk? Does the remnant of true worshippers testify
that you are one of them, or can they see right through your hypocrisy, your
pretense as a mere church-goer? If Jesus
showed you the video of your life today, could you stand boldly before Him as
His shiny vessel of gold diligently used for His service, or are you that wooden
pot sitting in the corner dusty and overlooked by the Master, just full hot
air? Carefully read 2 Timothy 2:20-26.
It’s time to go BACK
TO THE CROSS. It is when we close our physical eyes (that on a
continual basis subconsciously take in so much lust of the world—lust for
electronic toys, lust for power, lust for body parts. Whatever we see, we want it. Oh Lord, help us
all!) that our spiritual eyes can see His deep
red sustaining blood oozing down that old rugged cross hanging our punctured
savior in mid-air for quarter of a darkened day. Now listen to the cries He made, in treachery
and in thirst, He paid the ransom for your life, a living sacrifice . . . all
for you. Do you smell the power
in the blood—His life in exchange for yours?
In your mind’s eye, let your
right hand reach out and touch that old rugged cross and feel His cold feet in
your left. Look up into His burning eyes
and bathe in His forgiving love flowing all over you.
He is alive now and forevermore, seated at the right hand of the
throne of God
(Hebrews 12:2).
Today, it is your turn to pick
up that old cross and carry it as a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17)
demonstrating to the whole wide world that you remember—not the pain or
the shame of it—but the victory and the power of the cross to crush that damned
old enemy shattering to “stompable” pieces those evil strongholds erected
around your revived and freshly enlightened soul. With the sole of your foot, stomp that
treacherous serpent to death—Luke 10:19:
Behold, I give you the
authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Go forward, dear Christian – The
Cross, your cross, is your crashing power.
With your opened eyes, take a
look at your life from the time you first walked with the Lord Jesus Christ
until today, right now. Have you dropped
your cross? Have you left it at a
familiar place, but have gone to a strange place? Have you rejected your cross for a different
kind of lifestyle? Stop everything
right now and go back and get it. Be fast about
it. Jesus is coming soon!
“And he who does not
take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life [in the world
without Christ] will lose it, and he who loses his
life for My sake will find it.”
(Matthew
10:38-39, NKJV).
© 2017 by Take My Hand Inspirations, a
division of PepParadise Society Ltd. All
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Take My Hand Inspirations
