1 Peter 4:1-2
    Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin; [2] That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

Did Jesus die so that everything could now go your way?  Was the cross instituted so that you would not have to obey God and now all your prayers and financial needs could be answered? The blessing and good news you receive from the cross is to repent.  Those that understand the cross know that its design is to go against every selfish thought and action we can have. God desires to oppose the sinful part of your flesh, attacking it so that you become more like Christ every day. Sometimes we forget that Jesus was nail to the cross , after being beaten and humiliated. He did not just mentally believe he went to the cross or pray the cross into his heart, he went to it and hung there, in fact he refused anything to deaden the pain. The Bible says that since Jesus suffered in his body that we must arm ourselves with the same attitude. The Bible says that we are new creations and that we are born again.  The only way for this to happen is that our old life must be dead. Crucifixion is a slow, painful death, and as this death takes place we are reborn.  

[joy]

I would agree with this for the most part, but to say there is no joy in our regeneration would be missing the mark somewhat.

Yes we carry our cross, yes we die to sin, yes we face trials a problems.   But as believers we count it all as joy do we not?

I'm pretty sure this is why most of the world sees us as sorta looney  


Gal 5:22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Joy is even part of the evidence we are indeed bearing the fruit of the spirit.   Count me as feeling pretty good, even in the midst of my trials!

Grace and Peace!

Yes there is joy in the Christian life. I did not mean to say that the Christian life was without the full measure of joy. Keep in mind that Jesus had his mind on a joy set before him as he was going to the cross.

1 Cor. 15:36
    How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

For those into a “feel-good” religion, we need to be upfront, the true message of the cross (and the Bible for that matter) will not “feel-good.”  Most people will be offended by this or find some way to avoid it or flat out reject this message.  Those humble enough to hear and receive this will be given the secret of the Kingdom of Heaven and if they accept and apply the cross to their life will be greatly rewarded.  It is uncommon to hear this coming from the voices of church ministers, but it is the message that saves. God tells us that we must carry our cross and die to ourselves. There are those that think they are exempt from this, they quote scripture and tell us that Jesus did everything and we must do nothing. Others say that unless we are “moved by the spirit” we need not change, while they live lives unlike Jesus, striving for an excuse to not obey God.  These are teachings based on half-truths at best. Everyone must go to the cross. There can be no resurrection without crucifixion. You cannot be reluctant to give up your own life. Those who desire to be set free from those sins they are still committing must permit the tender exertion of the cross to change them at your core.

Col. 2:20-23 (NIV)  
    Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: [21] "Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!"? [22] These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. [23] Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Like an adolescent who needs guidelines, such as "say thank you", "please" and "hold hands while crossing the street," the new Christian will take things he has heard and make them law that must be obeyed. As a young Christian we look for rules to guide or Christianity. Even older Christians make these same mistakes, how many times have I head people say "Well, as long as I have my quiet times" or "I just got to love my life and love my wife." These people have fallen into a rules based Christianity that tells them that if they do these things they will be OK. Not just Ok with their life today but OK in the next life. This is a scary thought, that Jesus came down to earth so that you could boil your spiritual life down to two or three Christian principles and think that is following His will. But nevertheless, we have probably all fallen into the trap of wanting a blueprint for our Christian lives, it is easier that way. It is much harder to follow God then to obey man made principles, even if those principles are taken from the Bible. Those of us who are parents know that we would never want our child to stay a child forever; God feels the same about us. We must go on to walking with God and having him direct us each and every day. The message of the cross is not for the faint at heart.  We must see God in everything as he plans out our life, leading us to be crucified.  If Jesus' message was so easy we would lose our need for him.  Be careful to always work out your salvation with fear and trembling.

1 John 1:6
6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
Why is living as a Christian and following God’s spirit hard?  This is what divides the religious from those who are really committed to Jesus. John said that if you are really a Christian you will walk as Jesus walked. We need to ask and beg for God to help us walk like Jesus, which concerns the Spirit of Christ. To walk like  Jesus is to walk daily by following God’s spirit. A follower of God’s spirit lives a life of ever increasing glory. The problem with most so-called Christians is that their life is not ever increasing, they are not daily becoming more like Christ, they may make changes when they initially come to Christ but they are not living a life of repentance. Where is the life of ever changing and increasing in being like Christ?  It is not visible. Now those that are full of pride will quote a change they made as a young Christian or a recent change that they have made over and over again, but the true life of a true Christian, dying to self and becoming more dead every day is nowhere to be found. Now I’m not saying that we need to be perfect or that we will ever attain perfection in this lifetime but we should aim for perfection and daily be more like Jesus.

Berm,

I agree, too many pray set prayers and are not focused on God.

Bern,

Exactly. Our prayers should be to find out God's will for us, not just some sort of self-help psychology.

Amen Acron.  A man who sees this world for what it is.

Felix,

I'm glad you feel that way. I used to wonder about that passage about when I am weak I am strong. You said it right. I am grateful for every weakness because it makes me rely on God.

1 Cor. 4:13
when we are slandered, we answer kindly. Up to this moment we have become the scum of the earth, the refuse of the world.

Those who want to follow Jesus Christ are the scum of the earth; they are insane; they are detested. Jesus said that we must lose everything to become a disciple. You will lose your wealth and your health, your family and your friends, you will lose everything. Most Christian meeting halls are filled with the message of “Victory in Jesus” but unaware that defeat is what awaits us in this present world. Those who persevere will get the triumph in the end but for now we will be met with a cross and nailed to it by those God has appointed to crucify us. It is really God who arranges all the actors and allows us to be flogged in this life to become like Christ. When Paul became a Christian he lost all but gained everything that counts. He was called insane, and if we live like Jesus we too will be called crazy. I’m tired of all the “Christians” wanting to be accepted by the world, with their fancy buildings and three point lessons. With their funny stories and watered down messages to attract people to Jesus. Jesus didn’t do that, He spoke the truth in love and never begged people into the Kingdom. Do people consider you insane the way they considered Paul insane? Paul tells us to follow him as he follows Christ. What would it mean to follow Paul? To be a Paul is to be rubbish. If you want to be a Christian than you want to be trash. Paul was considered insane, he was in prison, flogged, exposed to death again and again, he received the forty lashes minus one, he was beaten with rods, stoned, shipwrecked, in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from his own countrymen, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers, he labored and toiled and went without sleep, he was hungry and thirsty and went without food, he was cold and naked, and faced death daily. He was the scum of the earth. Most churches in American do not teach these things, instead they teach a message of victory, of blessing here and now for all who come to Jesus. Traveling over land and sea to win a single covert so they can make him twice the son of hell they are. They talk about how “our Father owns this world” and every blessing should be ours. In the meantime the devil is licking his chops because he has duped everyone into thinking that the only cross in the Christian life is the one Jesus was on and let’s be grateful that we don’t have to do such a thing.

Matthew 6:5-7 (NIV)  
    "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. [6] But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. [7] And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.

Supplication should always have the cross in mind; otherwise it is just a bunch of babbling. While Jesus was on earth he was involved in constant prayer. Many times the apostles went to locate Jesus and he was in prayer.  When Jesus prayed the sky was cut open and doves descended. We need to go to Jesus on our knees and find out how to pray. People everywhere say words to God but are they really praying? Many are just self-seeking, trying to get something from God instead of serving his will.  Jesus would be appalled at our current day “quiet time” because such a notion was not his view of the Christian life. His walk with God was 24/7, constant fellowship with God. Do you really think that Jesus got up had a shower, got his coffee, sat down to read the Bible, prayed and then went on his way to heal and preach. No, he was in constant fellowship, he may have prayed in the morning but it never stopped there.  Jesus’ most painful time of his life came at the cross when he was separated from God, which had never been the case up until then.  Our “quiet time” should just be the start of a full day of connection with God.  For most, their morning quiet time (if they have one at all) is the only time that they try to fellowship with God. Any Christian who gets their quiet time in every morning should not be overconfident, God is not after some legalistic quiet time.

Isaiah 45:22-24 (NIV)
[22] "Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
[23] By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.
[24] They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone
are righteousness and strength.' "
All who have raged against him
will come to him and be put to shame.

Our God is a God who gives us cancer. He allows children to die. He causes depression and anxiety. We worship a God who will put us to shame trying to get us to repent. He does extremely painful things. He is supreme. In Him is righteousness and strength. He can do whatever he wants to do. This is the only true God and there is no other. But we don’t want a Jesus like this. We don’t want Jesus to be Lord. We want Him to answer all of our prayers, “get me a new job and a better house and the plasma TV and raise my kids and make my marriage better.” That is the God we want and the God we see preached on Sunday. But what happens when you preach this false message to a church and all the blessings don’t come? People are left sitting in church waiting for a God to bless them. And if you are blessed, is it really God who is blessing you or is God sending a delusion to test you and you are miserably failing. But the true God reacts contrary to your design. We are left to hang on a cross and put in a tomb. If you worship God you will be brought to your knees.

Isaiah 45:22-24 (NIV)

[22] "Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
[23] By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.
[24] They will say of me, 'In the Lord alone
are righteousness and strength.' "
All who have raged against him
will come to him and be put to shame.

Our God is a God who gives us cancer. He allows children to die. He causes depression and anxiety. We worship a God who will put us to shame trying to get us to repent. He does extremely painful things. He is supreme. In Him is righteousness and strength. He can do whatever he wants to do. This is the only true God and there is no other. But we don’t want a Jesus like this. We don’t want Jesus to be Lord. We want Him to answer all of our prayers, “get me a new job and a better house and the plasma TV and raise my kids and make my marriage better.” That is the God we want and the God we see preached on Sunday. But what happens when you preach this false message to a church and all the blessings don’t come? People are left sitting in church waiting for a God to bless them. And if you are blessed, is it really God who is blessing you or is God sending a delusion to test you and you are miserably failing. But the true God reacts contrary to your design. We are left to hang on a cross and put in a tomb. If you worship God you will be brought to your knees.  

Rev. 19:16 (NIV)  
    On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
king of kings and lord of lords.

Peter T. Forsythe was right when he said, "The first duty of every soul is to find not its freedom but its Master".
(Warren W. Wiersbe, The Integrity Crisis, Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1991, p. 22.)

We fail to realize who we worship, the king of kings and lord of lords. Most of the time we want to be king and lord, we need to be reminded that Jesus is our master.  We would not want God to act as though He really was God. Our desire for God is that He act the way we want Him to. He is supposed to meet our needs, answer our prayers and bless our life. Just turn on the TV and you will see preacher after preacher telling their congregation what God is going to give them. The trouble with Christians is that they have the wrong view of God. He is not an order taker. The problem is that we really don’t see God for who He is.  So long as He stays in our little controlled environment we will acknowledge Him. If He will conform to our stipulations and answer our requests, we will give Him our attendance at church and some service for His church. We have a lot to learn.

People want a God that makes them happy, they don’t care how God feels. God is here to help us and bless us and help to enrich our lives, has anyone been reading the Bible lately? The problem with our thinking is that we have the wrong outlook on the God we claim to love, do we not know that we worship a God who will bring us to our knees and make us struggle. You may be worshipping a god but not the true God. You worship a golden calf created according to what is comfortable. He is a very tough God. If you have not discovered God to be tough, you may want to question who you are really serving. We want a God that will give us tranquility and harmony. No, the god that we serve is king of kings and lord of lords.

Romans 6:15-18 (NIV)  
    What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! [16] Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey--whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? [17] But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. [18] You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

Everyone likes to talk about their freedom in Christ. But just as important as our freedom is our call to be righteous. We must obey God and be disciples. A disciple obeys God from faith and love, whereas a legalist obeys by human effort. It is wrong to try to earn salvation, but that is no excuse to not obey as many churches do. They say, “well, you can’t earn you salvation, so I am not going to try to do all of these good works.” They end up being led by their feelings and not God.

Romans 9:30 (NIV)  
    What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;

The Bible says that the righteous will live by faith. So-called Christians show who they really are by their actions. Righteousness comes from faith; those that have no faith will have no righteousness. The human effort they live by is short lived, they never really repent.

James 2:26 (NIV)  
    As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

Being a disciple is about obedience, but it is about obedience and faith working together. If someone sees a passage in the Bible and thinks that they do not need to follow it, they are deceived and they use their freedom as a license to sin and will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Also, those that read the Bible and see something to obey and set out to obey it are also wrong, because they set up rules and guidelines and try to make everyone fit into the same box. Our obedience needs to come from faith. This is difference but the difference is life. Legalistic Christianity leads to burnout and away from God and sad to say ultimately to hell.

James 2:21-24 (NIV)  
    Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? [22] You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. [23] And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called God's friend. [24] You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

Look at Abraham, he was obedient to God. Abraham had a part in this and he did obey. Some might accuse him of being legalistic, but he was just following God. If we look at the Bible and set out to obey it we are destined for destruction. Because God will ultimately have to tell us that we did not follow the law completely. But is we go to God through faith and with the Holy Spirit then we can obey God how he intended, and he has grace for us.  If I approach God with faith and humble ourselves before Him, God will give us the power we need to live as true disciples. We don’t obey God because he said to do this and we did it. We come to God because he has forgiven us and given us His Holy Spirit and when He says to do something and we do it because of our relationship and we live our life like this. From one step to another we are obeying God as He directs us, not picking out a scripture and obeying on our own effort. It is a subtle difference but an eternity of difference. We need to obey by faith. People either go to church and are taught to not obey (if you can believe that), or they are taught to obey via rules and guidelines, in the form of direction from church leaders. I’m not saying God does not use leaders but people rely to much on people and plans and not enough on God. We need to have an obedience that comes from faith.

Genesis 15:6 (NIV)  
    Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.