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Morning Devotional...

Take Up Your Cross

Matthew 16:24 KJV  Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

If any will follow Christ, their very first step is to deny themselves--in place of their own will to substitute the will of God as their one overriding principle of action.

Note that Jesus said "If any man will" or wishes or desires. No one is forced, but if any will be a Christian, it must be done on these terms: Lrt him deny himself, and take up his cross. This rule can never be too much observed: Let each one in all things deny his or her own will, however pleasing, and do the will of God, however painful.

Should we not consider all crosses, all things painful to our human nature, as what they really are: opportunities of embracing God's will at the expense of our own? Consequently as so many steps by which we may advance toward perfection?

We make swift progress in the spiritual life if we are faithful in this practise. Crosses are so frequent that whoever takes advantage of them will soon be a great gainer.

Great crosses are occasions of great improvement. And the little ones which come daily, even hourly, make up in number what they lack in weight.  We may, in these daily and hourly crosses, make effectual sacrifice of our will to God.  These, so frequently repeated, will soon amount to a great sum.

From Renew My Heart, Daily Devotional Insights by John Wesley

Galatians 2:20 (KJV)  I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=NyPBVwOCYmM

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Thank you, Judy, for today's devotional.  When we compare our hurts - physical, mental, emotional - they fade away in the light of what our Savior endured on our behalf.

I was asked to post this poem in from a very nice lady in Canada. Her name is Judy Boneshaker or something like that. Sounds like an old bicycle I had once, not that I am sure Judy is like a bicycle! I hope you are all having a great Easter.

God bless

WOUNDS

They whipped His back until it ran red
A crown of thorns crushed on His head
They spat at Him and struck His face
And on wooden cross they did Him place

With nails in hand they stooped low
And fixed Him there with hammer blow
When finished nailing they lifted high
The Son of God to watch Him die

A swords' sharp blade pierced His side
And on Calvary hill Jesus died
They carried His body to lonely grave
The Lamb of God who came to save

Cruel death itself could Him not hold
But Thomas doubted what he was told
His master risen for whom he grieved
Felt wounded body and then believed

More than any man my Saviour suffered
A Lamb to the slaughter; a sacrifice offered
Wounded for my transgressions; bearing my sin
As with His great love my soul He did win

I cling to His promise when trials they test
"Come unto me and I will give you rest"
Though now I am wounded and suffering is sore
All sorrow will be ended when I enter Heavens' door

Colin Moffett

Hi everyone on a glorious Easter Day here in Georgia.  I attended church and it was nice to see so many people there with their families.  Pat fixed lunch here rather than try to go out as know restaurants will be extra busy today.  Our DIL didn't have to stay in the hospital but our son was told not to leave her alone for 24 hours.  We haven't heard from them today but know he had to work today. I did finish up the work on the special project for our Calvin Cove Respite Care at the church as put together twenty songs with a CD of converted midi music for accompaniment. Look forward to rest this afternoon and a generally quiet day.

Janet, I would certainly hate to have to face some of the family trials without knowing that God's plan is being played out and we have Christ to hold us up when we feel down.  I know you are well aware of this. It sounds like the gal who thought John was being a pest needs to be reminded she is there for the benefit of the patients and these calls are very important to both Beth and John.  He is part of her family and such calls should be encouraged, not discouraged.  Nice of you to share your Easter family dinner with Maxine as it undoubtedly will brighten her day and well as yours.   

Marilyn, good to see you posting.  In the past Pat would try new recipes when we were having guests.  Her cooking was and is always good.

Judy, thanks for the devotional thoughts for this week.   

Colin, good to see you postings and thanks for sharing your poem.  We miss you here on CP. 

Jeanne, thanks for that nice Easter graphic and Judy thanks for the link and the music posted.

Colin is too funny!  I read his poem and did ask him to post it here....I love so much of his postings on FB.  Video's pictures and written work.

Judy, that was a really nice thought from Wesley to get this Easter week started.  I filled the pulpit in our church a few weeks back and prepared a sermon along similar lines, using the following illustration that ties in with your devotional thought, too.

"Lord, You said if I want to follow you, I will need to carry my cross every day. I want to follow, Lord.

But there are days when I'm dragging my cross, making a trail for everyone to see. There are days when I'm pushing my cross, making my own path miserable and dusty. There are days when I'm sitting on my cross, trying to get comfortable and going nowhere. There are days when I'm giving my cross to somebody else, who already has one of his own.

Help me, Lord, to carry my cross on my shoulder. When it's up there, it leaves no room for a chip!" – A Treasury of Bible Illustrations

For some unknown reason I awoke at 2:48 am this morning, not feeling too well.  So I got up and did a few things and then spent some time in the Bible to find an Easter theme to get me off to a better start.  2 Corinthians 5:21 did just that for me, and it made my day complete.  "For He made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."  What an amazing thing Christ did for me, and how unworthy I am of His act.  His grace is indeed awesome!

In Christ, every day is a good day!

Thank you Ken.

Thank you all for the inspiring posts!  I remember a name of Judy Boneshaker or similar - must have been on SN.  Colin:  Please drop by more often. 

Larry:  How difficult this ordeal with your son's wife must be for them as well as you and Pat.  Courage and prayers for all.

Janet:  That irritated worker in Beth's home should be told that she is called a "care" person and the few phone calls Beth receives gives Beth a sense of peace and happiness. 

Happy Easter to all.  We are home.  The drive went well but a mexican meal in Santa Fe caused us to not feel so good.  All in all, we did not get to the 6 am service this morning and did not plan on the great outdoor gathering either so this was a different Easter morning for us.  Finding out that there is only so much we can do anymore.  My bible study is still on Wed morning each week almost all of this month.  I have made a decision to drop one book club - the one that has a couple of women choosing themes I don't care to read. 

Wonderful devotional, Judy, for this week.  I just pray that we can all "Take up our cross" and follow Him.  This is a good thought.... "If any will follow Christ, their very first step is to deny themselves--in place of their own will to substitute the will of God as their one overriding principle of action."

Thanks so much.  I look forward to the devotionals from others each week.  They really bless my heart.

Quote from: BigSkyKen on April 20, 2014, 05:03:46 PM
Judy, that was a really nice thought from Wesley to get this Easter week started.  I filled the pulpit in our church a few weeks back and prepared a sermon along similar lines, using the following illustration that ties in with your devotional thought, too.

"Lord, You said if I want to follow you, I will need to carry my cross every day. I want to follow, Lord.

But there are days when I'm dragging my cross, making a trail for everyone to see. There are days when I'm pushing my cross, making my own path miserable and dusty. There are days when I'm sitting on my cross, trying to get comfortable and going nowhere. There are days when I'm giving my cross to somebody else, who already has one of his own.

Help me, Lord, to carry my cross on my shoulder. When it's up there, it leaves no room for a chip!" – A Treasury of Bible Illustrations

For some unknown reason I awoke at 2:48 am this morning, not feeling too well.  So I got up and did a few things and then spent some time in the Bible to find an Easter theme to get me off to a better start.  2 Corinthians 5:21 did just that for me, and it made my day complete.  "For He made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."  What an amazing thing Christ did for me, and how unworthy I am of His act.  His grace is indeed awesome!

In Christ, every day is a good day!

Thank you Ken for these thoughts as well.    I hope you are feeling much better now than how you felt in the night. 

Hi everyone.  It is really a pretty, sunny day here and it is to get to 75 degrees.  I had thought yesterday the forecast was for the possibility of rain today but that is no longer in the forecast.  We had a new man join us for coffee this morning.  He is the husband of Ellen, who takes such good care of us at McDonald's.  We hope he will want to become a part of our men's group.  Today will be the normal Monday with the men's luncheon and a meeting this evening.  The housekeepers are here this morning. 

Ken and Pat, I liked the devotional thought you shared about how we sometimes carry the cross. 

Carol, there is not much we can do to help our son and DIL as they live too far away.  Glad you are home safely but not pleasant to get a meal that makes you feel poorly. 

Hello:  Just a few words of greeting as I have some neglected items that must be taken care of before Thursday.  Mel is out at the present time and when he arrives home we will be headed to Barrie an hour's drive north. Then most of the afternoon will be used up.

Pat:  Make that phone call to see the family doctor. If I phone today I would be able to see the Dr. before the week is out and if a spec. is needed that has also been very swift.  Any delay has most always been my fault.

/That was me one day not long ago. 
This is me now 

Hi, friends,

I'm still enjoying a visit with my son - the other one left Saturday morning for a trip to the southwest part of the US.

Here's a link to information about black rice:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_rice

Much love to all who come here.

Ruth Ann

Well, I'm finally here.  This has been a busy day, winding up with a nice long visit from a friend from church when she brought me one of the lily plants from the Easter decoration. 

It has been beautiful and sunny and about 70 degrees.  The buds are finally swelling on the trees and on my lilac bush, so maybe we'll have a real spring after all.     Of course, it will only be about 50 on Wednesday and Thursday, but that sure beats a high that doesn't even get up to freezing. 

This has been an end to a difficult week.  I have had a cold/flu for over a week now.  Today I picked up some allergy meds and I am feeling somewhat better.  I am breathing freely at last.

It has been wonderful having John home this weekend.  He had to work on Saturday after being home Friday so I went with him.  We were both dragged out by the time we got home.  I did get some decent pictures while we were out......a little difficult in a moving vehicle!

Today has been a beautiful say overcast, but warm over 61F.  Our lilacs are beginning to swell. It will be nice to be outside when things are consistently warm, even if it means wearing a bug jacket!

Have a great day everyone

John has left, 8 days and he is done!  So looking forward to him being home more.  Next Wednesday is his last day.  I will be getting an oil change done, loading up the Dogs and heading south.  It will be a turn and burn for us, and that too is ok.  Can you tell I am excited for our new chapter n life!

Hi everyone.  The morning started out sunny but it is now overcast and we have a 60 percent chance of rain for a few hours this afternoon.  I attended a meeting this morning and have nothing else on my schedule for today.  So I may finally get to some cleaning out of old papers--something easy to put off.  Pat did hear from the doctor yesterday that the source of her pain is a tear in the hamstring and a lot of inflammation.  She will probably take physical therapy to try to relieve the pain.  The doctor said where they would have to place the deep injection, if they went that route, was really close to the sciatic nerve, which could be bad if they hit it with the needle.  Pat didn't care for that idea. 

Judy, retirement is an exciting time and know you are both looking forward to John not having to be on the road, although it will certainly be a change of pace for him (and you).

Jeanne, how nice of your church sharing one of the Easter lilies with you.  We don't see lilac bushes here in the south but always loved them when I was growing up or living where they thrived. However, wisteria grows with abundance down here and we always had that on our arbor on the farm and in the spring the bees were very bad.

Ruth Ann, thanks for the info on black rice.  Pat had never heard of it either. 

Ruth, as always nice to see your posting.  Is Barrie a large town?

I wanted to share this clip of the Hoppers singing "Yaweh" Our choir did this song Easter sunday. I like how the audience spontaniously stands at the end.

http://youtu.be/DWk9gvzcE94

That is one of my favourites!  Thank you!

Thanks Smokey!  Love it!

Hi everyone.  We ended up really not getting anything but a brief light rain in our area yesterday and today is to be beautiful.  After coffee this morning I will go to Bible study and then have some errands to run.  I may eat lunch with the Bible study group as Pat has something planned with her friend today, going to a fabric store.  That will be plenty for today.  My good next door neighbor is in the hospital as he had a problem with his insulin and his wife couldn't wake him up and called 911 about 2 am Monday night.  He was kept in the ER at the hospital from then until yesterday evening.  I took him his glasses and a few other things.  His wife isn't able to drive as she is recovering from the heart bypass surgery and not doing real well.  He said they told him he may also have pneumonia but didn't know for sure.     

Smokey, thanks for sharing that video.  The Gaithers have great gospel music. 

Smokey:  Thank you, so enjoyable to listen to that song.

Larry:  It sure sounds like your neighbors need some help from relatives and friends. 

We are home - cannot remember if I wrote that a few days ago but we have not been feeling tip-top since eating that Mexican food on the drive.  Yesterday and today - all better.  Bible Study this morning and they are already planning the final brunch day the first Wed. of May.  This afternoon is neighborhood book club.  The book is "1984" by George Orwell and all about government intervention - this may be an interesting discussion, or not.  At church, I found out a friend's daughter just had a basel cell removed from her nose - last week, our son had a 3 in incision in his back for pre-melanoma and will have a smaller one removed on his chest this week - then every 3 months they will be checking. 

Bible study was on a chapter of Revelations and our table had to be contained because everyone wanted to talk about the terrible effects of the pot vote and what it has caused - accidental suicide, accidental killing, and accidental overdoses.  Not to mention the people coming in droves from other places, going to hotels and motels and having to dial 911 in the city.  What a disaster.  Never let it pass in your area is all I can say.

As I mentioned before, our church is huge.  there were 5 services overflowing on Sunday and over 13,000 people attended.  Don and I could not go due to our slight food poisoning.  He would never have been able to hear anything.  It was also the anniversary of Columbine.  At the same time, downtown was celebrating their pot.  Unbelievable.     

I will be going to see the ENT this afternoon the see if he can tell me why I a still have the Vertigo I've had for 2 years and if the Tinnitus is related to the vertigo. I am praying for a final solution to the  Vertigo and ringing in my ears once and for all. I've had the Eply maneuver 4 times and it didn't help at all. Please join me in prayng for a solution to the problem.

LARRY: I believe that Barry is a city, we know the main streets as for the rest we would get lost.

Marilyn: Praying for your problem.
Carol: That is a large church, is there problems with parking?
Pat: How are your aches and pains. Are you able to have enough rest?

It has been a sunny day but cool now it is to see what tomorrow will bring.

Hi folks. Just thought I would come on and do a post. Its been a while. I'm sitting in a small truckstop in Cedar Raids IA. and deliver in the morning. Then back to davenport IA for my load home. Its a bit rainy here but that's ok as we don't have to shovel that. Guess this is my last trip here with a truck as wed next week I'm retireing off the truck. I notice that CP is a bit slow this week. Guess everyone is out and about enjoying the end of winter and getting into the spring things. It sure is good the have this winter behind us. There is still some ice floating in the great lakes. Last week they still had the coast guard ice breakers clearing a path for the great lake freighters. That is almost unheard of this time of year. Noticed last week that there was still a lot of ice on Lake Erie as well. Well starting next week i will be able to get at my chores at home. Have lots to do this year. Years of build up from not being home with the truck. OH well it will keep me occupied and out of Judy's hair. going to run for now. Blessings everyone.

Good to see a post from you, John.  I know you must really be looking forward to your retirement next week - and Judy is, too.  I'll bet she has quite a honey-do list waiting!   

I went to the ENT today I have to have a hearing test on the 30th and PT for the vertigo when they call me with an appointment back tothe ENT on the 15th to have my ears cleaned,in the mean time I have to put 2 drops of oil in each ear at night to soften the wax. This is all about the vertigo and Tinnitus.