strength – Page 24 – Cross Culture Church

Meditation: May 3, 2013

Posted by Cross Culture Church Categories: Meditations

“God, my strength, my stronghold, my safe retreat when trouble descends:” Jer 16:19 (MSG)

Trouble descends as a storm from above. Rain can be gentle and refreshing or it can come down as a deluge leading to a flood. The former is refreshing producing growth and clears the pollen. While the latter overflows the banks and destroys everything in its path. It is evident that there will be times of trouble as there are times of refreshing. A troubled people will live in a troubled world. The environment is not determined by the righteous alone. We are in this world and not the environment that we will one day attain. Yet while we are here, we have a refuge. God is our strength and our safe retreat. We are guarded by our Master who is also our Savior. We are safe as we find shelter under the covering of His grace. He refreshes us and protects us from the apparent dangers as well as those unseen. As it descends, before it reaches us, we are protected even before the clouds gather and the forecast is given.

29 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: April 29, 2013

Posted by Cross Culture Church Categories: Meditations

“As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.” Matthew 24:32

One major sign of the return of Christ will be the renewed courage and strength among those who carry the testimony of the Lord. As it was in the days of the prophets and later the apostles, so shall it be among individuals who will stand for truth without compromise. They will be among a people who have relented to casual Christianity, but will not allow the pressures brought to bear against them to discourage them nor diminish their faith. There will be new life within the Church as both young and old will boldly face persecution if required, for righteousness sake. The sign will be an awakening spreading to the ends of the earth. The Kingdom of God will be their message, the cross will be their standard, and zeal of the Lord will totally consume them. Professor Martin Scharlemann of Concordia Seminary said, “As soon as the missionaries are no longer welcome to do their work and their host countries begin to expel them, look up.”

24 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: April 24, 2013

Posted by Cross Culture Church Categories: Meditations

“He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Matthew 28:6

He is absent from the place to which He had been carried. His lifeless body lay in a tomb without the strength to either participate or resist. There He was carried and placed by others. But on Resurrection Sunday, the grave was robbed of its victory. The empty tomb served as a witness that He was no longer there. His was not the result of being carried away, for many are absent because they have been carried away by something or someone. “He is risen, as He said.” His Word was confirmed by action. His promise was fulfilled thus giving even greater validity to all that He ever said. The evidence was presented, thus allowing every skeptic and naysayer to see with their own eyes His power to defy death, hell, and the grave. The angel invited them to come inside and see the very place that He once laid. Where a body once laid, and empty tomb reminds us of our own destinies . As we are in Christ Jesus, we too shall be made alive by the same Spirit and power that raised Him from the dead. He is not where men placed Him. For He is risen from the dead!

22 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: April 22, 2013

Posted by Cross Culture Church Categories: Meditations

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

The question is how can something be foolish to some but so necessary to others? There are some who believe more in their abilities and strength rather than the strength that is ours through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. We were once without strength, dead in trespasses and sins, but Christ died for us. Now as we believe on Him and in His Name, the power of God works within us to the saving of our souls. Both categories have to do with one’s future state of being. On one hand, there are those who are perishing, and on the other hand, there are those who are being saved. The seed of destruction is imbedded in the hearts of those who do not believe as it was in us all. Jesus died for sinners before they recognized their need for redemption. Those who reject His offer are perishing. But those who are being saved are in the process of living. The body of sin will perish, but just as He rose from the dead, we too shall be raised in newness of life. Jesus died on the cross that we might live. But there had to be a cross to bear leading to ultimate victory over death, hell, and the grave. Without the cross there can be no crown.

17 Apr 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: April 17, 2013

Posted by Cross Culture Church Categories: Meditations

“He shall die for lack of instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.” (NKJ)

“Death is the reward of an undisciplined life; your foolish decisions trap you in a dead end.” (MSG) Proverbs 5: 23

A warning to the wise is the anecdote to his falling away and divorcing himself from his wisdom. Disciples are to exercise disciplines in order to safeguard areas that would otherwise be vulnerable to the enemy. He is seeking to influence those who have taken pride in their stance as being invincible thus allowing their guards to be down. Death is the price paid for our redemption. Since we are alive to Christ and dead to the world, Satan’s ploy is to attempt in resurrecting things that once dominated and controlled our lives. Daily decisions have far-reaching and severe consequences. Nothing is done in isolation from a path leading to a destination. And nothing is done that does not follow a pattern of living modeled by a master. Our death in Jesus Christ produced life with a purpose. We are being led to triumph over all the works of darkness. Our thoughts must be directed towards the eternal unless we become entrapped by temporal pleasures requiring more than we have come to understand. We must allow wisdom to teach and guide us in a straight path.

31 Mar 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: March 31, 2013

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“Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” 2 Corinthians 2:14

The path to victory leads into the heat of the battle. There the soldier must defend his honor and stand against the onslaught of opposing forces. There would be no retreat from that position. It is either do or die. The fainthearted would rather avoid such definite lines of battle. It would be easier to be on both sides rather than to outwardly declare war against a foe that threatens one’s security and all others that would follow. Too much is at stake at defeat. The loss of life and limb, or even the shame to admit that there was not enough strength to carry on. Such are the challenges facing the follower of Christ. He has been positioned by God before us as our Captain. His priority is to lead us to victory after victory. Yet not by bloodshed, but rather by fumigating the environment with the sweet smell of His knowledge, thus eliminating the stench of ignorance that pervaded before the engagement of war began. The enemy is won over because the soldiers have retreated to the other side. Those who were once enemies of Christ now have become His friends because they have been influenced by the aroma of life and repulsed by the stench of death.

21 Mar 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: March 21, 2013

Posted by Cross Culture Church Categories: Meditations

“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” 1 Peter 5:10

The progression that takes place in the life of a Christ-follower begins with the call. He calls us to Himself. Then we can be conformed to the image of His Son. It is only when we answer the initial call will we qualify to experience what is produced in us as the result of being drawn close to Him. His eternal glory is the finished product of His grace. God looks at the end from the beginning. But the path requires suffering even though it is only for a little while in contrast to the glory that shall be revealed in us. We are matured to see things from His perspective, thus established in the faith not wavering because of various trials. Each challenge provides strength for future challenges as we develop a greater resistance to the evil one. Finally we are settled as not to be moved by whatever may come our way. A steadfast faith remains constant and undisturbed in a fixed position in relation to God. Pray that the God of all grace release an abundance of His grace towards us for the journey which lay ahead.

20 Mar 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: March 20, 2013

Posted by Cross Culture Church Categories: Meditations

“Let’s decide which of us is in the right. God may avenge me, but it is in his hands, not mine.”(MSG) 1 Samuel 24:12

We are in a battle for the souls of men. The opposition has the populous vote and has gained momentum over the years. It often appears as if we are on the losing side while vices seem to be virtuous. What the fathers of our faith established is now under attack led by those who ought to be defenders of the faith. Their creeds have been reinterpreted or altogether ignored. Their values have been viewed as obsolete and often amended. Who is listening while God is yet speaking through the faithful few? There are those who are willing to stand against the winds of adversity and defy the storms of error that are unleashed in order to overtake, if possible the very elect. Let God decide who is right and who is wrong. God will avenge His elect. Truth crushed to the earth will rise again. The argument of who is right and who is wrong will eventually be settled. It will not be a draw between two opposing views. God know those who are His and will avenge His own, but it is in His hands and not ours.

01 Mar 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: March 2, 2013

Posted by Cross Culture Church Categories: Meditations

“And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” Colossians 1:17

Consistency always appears to be the problem when there are so many things that have a beginning, but fall apart over time. Words often fade and their meanings are altered by those who feel differently when circumstances shift in a different direction. Who is able to keep his word when his word is based on conditions that are uncertain? The only way to be certain about life and things pertaining to it, one must know what comes before and what will come after a commitment is made, a value is embraced, or message is believed. He Jesus is before all that exists. All things have their origin in Him, and He will be after all things have come to an end. But between what precedes and what follows are our lives and our conditions. We can trust His knowledge and His strength to guide and protect us into the future. He gives meaning to life because all things are considered from eternity past to eternity future.

01 Mar 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: March 1, 2013

Posted by Cross Culture Church Categories: Meditations

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” John 13:34

A new commandment is given because a new power is made known. It is a power that existed in eternity but now is being revealed in time through Jesus Christ. He makes known to humanity a selfless love with the power to transform lives. It begins with the willingness to receive the love of Jesus Christ. He loved us first, but that love does us no good unless we first receive it. Allowing ourselves to be loved by the Lord is the first step. Then we are empowered to love one another as we are loved. It is a matter of allowing His love to flow through us along with His strength to do so. Those who are loved can be released from the bondage of self and Satan. They experience the presence of the Lord when we are instruments in His hands fulfilling the Lord’s command.