Luke 8:25
"Were Is Your Faith"
The sea went from calm to rough and the disciples were being tossed to and fro upon the ship, even though Jesus was aboard the ship with them , their fear over took their faith. Even though they had seen Jesus healing and performing miracles prior to boarding the ship; Jesus only saw their fear and not there faith, for His first response to them was; "where is you faith." It is well know that sudden storms are common on the sea of Galilee. Christ displayed peace, and was able to sleep in a dangerous storm.
Our lives are likening unto the ship being tossed on the waves and like the the disciples, when an abrupt change comes alone that we don't understand our fear starts to increase and our faith begins to twiddle. No matter how big the storm in our lives, there is a peace we can have when we know we are in the center of God's will. By His word He controls the winds and the roughest seas in our lives. How thankful we should be that Christ calms the ragging storms in life. see (Psalm 107:31)
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Friday, May 31, 2013
Thursday, May 30, 2013
The Lord Reigneth
Psalms 97:1
"The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice"
Across the regions a voice cries for the rejoicing at the reign of Jesus. The sacred fire descend, like lighting the gospel flames forth and all the nations see the glory of God. "The Lord reigneth" this is the essence of the gospel proclamation, and the foundation of the gospel Kingdom. What reason do we have to rejoice? Because others have reigneth since time began and have produced injustice, oppression, bloodshed and terror.
The reign of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; is the hope of mankind, and when we are all gather together with Jesus Christ, at the appointed time when God will say "Bring My Children Home" Than will paradise be restored. Be ready for when Jesus comes he will bring untold blessings to all God's children.
"THE LORD REIGNETH"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice"
Across the regions a voice cries for the rejoicing at the reign of Jesus. The sacred fire descend, like lighting the gospel flames forth and all the nations see the glory of God. "The Lord reigneth" this is the essence of the gospel proclamation, and the foundation of the gospel Kingdom. What reason do we have to rejoice? Because others have reigneth since time began and have produced injustice, oppression, bloodshed and terror.
The reign of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; is the hope of mankind, and when we are all gather together with Jesus Christ, at the appointed time when God will say "Bring My Children Home" Than will paradise be restored. Be ready for when Jesus comes he will bring untold blessings to all God's children.
"THE LORD REIGNETH"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
A Living Sacrifice
Genesis 22:9
"And Abraham built an altar"
"And bound Isaac his son"
We must not think that the final thing God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, IE, sacrifice our lives. Not-- I am willing to go to death with Thee, but--I am willing to be identified with Thy death so that I may sacrifice my life to God. God does not want us to give up things! Just as God purified Abraham, the same discipline goes on in our lives. God never tells us to give up things for the sake of giving them up. He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having; life with Him. It is the question of loosening the things that hinder life, and immediately those bands that hinder you will be loosened by identification with the death of Jesus, we enter into a relationship with God whereby we can sacrifice our lives to Him.
It is no value to god to give Him your life for death. He wants you to be a "living sacrifice" to let Him have all your powers that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus Christ. This is; "What Is Acceptable To God."
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"And Abraham built an altar"
"And bound Isaac his son"
We must not think that the final thing God wants of us is the sacrifice of death. What God wants is the sacrifice through death which enables us to do what Jesus did, IE, sacrifice our lives. Not-- I am willing to go to death with Thee, but--I am willing to be identified with Thy death so that I may sacrifice my life to God. God does not want us to give up things! Just as God purified Abraham, the same discipline goes on in our lives. God never tells us to give up things for the sake of giving them up. He tells us to give them up for the sake of the only thing worth having; life with Him. It is the question of loosening the things that hinder life, and immediately those bands that hinder you will be loosened by identification with the death of Jesus, we enter into a relationship with God whereby we can sacrifice our lives to Him.
It is no value to god to give Him your life for death. He wants you to be a "living sacrifice" to let Him have all your powers that have been saved and sanctified through Jesus Christ. This is; "What Is Acceptable To God."
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Will To Be Loyal
Joshua 14:15
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve"
Will is the whole of man active. I cannot give up my will, I must exercise it. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God's Spirit. When God gives a vision of truth it is never a question of what He will do, but of what we will do. The Lord has been putting before us all some big propositions, and the best thing to do is to remember what you did when you were touched by God before---the time when you were saved, or first saw Jesus, or realized some truth. It was easy then to yield allegiance to God; recall those moments now as the spirit of God brings before you some new proposition.
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve." It is a deliberate calculation, not something into which you drift easily; and everything else is in abeyance until you decide. The proposition is between you and God; do not confer with flesh and blood about it. With every new proposition other people get more and more "out of it" that is where the strain comes. God allows the opinion of His saints to matter to you, and yet you are brought more and more out of the certainty that others understand the step you are taking. You don,t need to find out were God is leading, "Just Go." The only thing God will explain to you is Himself.
Profess to Him-- "I will be loyal." Immediately you choose to be loyal to Jesus Christ, you are a witness against yourself. Don't consult other Christians but profess before Him---I will serve Thee. Will to be loyal and give other people credit for being loyal too.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve"
Will is the whole of man active. I cannot give up my will, I must exercise it. I must will to obey, and I must will to receive God's Spirit. When God gives a vision of truth it is never a question of what He will do, but of what we will do. The Lord has been putting before us all some big propositions, and the best thing to do is to remember what you did when you were touched by God before---the time when you were saved, or first saw Jesus, or realized some truth. It was easy then to yield allegiance to God; recall those moments now as the spirit of God brings before you some new proposition.
"Choose you this day whom ye will serve." It is a deliberate calculation, not something into which you drift easily; and everything else is in abeyance until you decide. The proposition is between you and God; do not confer with flesh and blood about it. With every new proposition other people get more and more "out of it" that is where the strain comes. God allows the opinion of His saints to matter to you, and yet you are brought more and more out of the certainty that others understand the step you are taking. You don,t need to find out were God is leading, "Just Go." The only thing God will explain to you is Himself.
Profess to Him-- "I will be loyal." Immediately you choose to be loyal to Jesus Christ, you are a witness against yourself. Don't consult other Christians but profess before Him---I will serve Thee. Will to be loyal and give other people credit for being loyal too.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Monday, May 27, 2013
Let Go!
Joshua 24:19
"Ye cannot serve the Lord"
Have you the slightest reliance on anything other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural virtue, any set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any particular in this new proposition which God has put before you? It is quite true to say-- "I cannot live a holy life," but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. "Ye cannot serve the Lord God"; but you can put yourself in the place where God's almighty power will come through you. Are you sufficiently right with God to expect Him to manifest His wonderful life in you?
It is not an impulse, but a deliberate commitment. You say--But God can never have called me to this, I am too unworthy, it can't mean me. It does mean you, and the weaker and feebler you are, the better. The one who has something to trust in is the last one to come anywhere near saying-- "I will serve The Lord." We say "If I really could believe!" The point is-- if I really will believe. No wonder Jesus Christ lays such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. "And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief." If we really believed that God meant what He said-- what should we be like! Dare I really let God be to me all that He says He will be? "I Say Yes!" Let Go And Serve God!
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"Ye cannot serve the Lord"
Have you the slightest reliance on anything other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural virtue, any set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any particular in this new proposition which God has put before you? It is quite true to say-- "I cannot live a holy life," but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. "Ye cannot serve the Lord God"; but you can put yourself in the place where God's almighty power will come through you. Are you sufficiently right with God to expect Him to manifest His wonderful life in you?
It is not an impulse, but a deliberate commitment. You say--But God can never have called me to this, I am too unworthy, it can't mean me. It does mean you, and the weaker and feebler you are, the better. The one who has something to trust in is the last one to come anywhere near saying-- "I will serve The Lord." We say "If I really could believe!" The point is-- if I really will believe. No wonder Jesus Christ lays such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. "And He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief." If we really believed that God meant what He said-- what should we be like! Dare I really let God be to me all that He says He will be? "I Say Yes!" Let Go And Serve God!
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Ideal Of Belief
John 11:26
"Believest thou this"
Martha believed in the power at the disposal of Jesus Christ, she believed that if He had been present He could have healed her brother Lazarus; she believed that Jesus had a peculiar intimacy with God and whatever He ask God to do , God would do; but she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha's ideal of belief would change in the near future; Jesus led her on until her belief had became a personal possession, and than slowly emerged into a particular inheritance---- "Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ."
Is there something like that in the Lord's dealings with you? Is Jesus educating you into a personal intimacy with Himself? Let Him press home His question to you--"Believest thou this?" What is your ordeal of doubt? Have you come, like Martha, to some overwhelming passage in your circumstances where your ideal of belief is about to emerge into a personal belief? this can never be until a personal need arises out of a personal problem.
To believe is to commit. In the programed ideal belief I commit myself, and abandon all that is not related to that commitment. In personal belief I commit myself morally to this way of confidence and refuse to compromise with any other; and in particular belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ, and determine in that thing to be dominated by the Lord alone.
When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me-- "Believest thou this?' I find that faith is as natural as breathing, and I am staggered that I was so stupid as not to trust him before.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"Believest thou this"
Martha believed in the power at the disposal of Jesus Christ, she believed that if He had been present He could have healed her brother Lazarus; she believed that Jesus had a peculiar intimacy with God and whatever He ask God to do , God would do; but she needed a closer personal intimacy with Jesus. Martha's ideal of belief would change in the near future; Jesus led her on until her belief had became a personal possession, and than slowly emerged into a particular inheritance---- "Yea, Lord, I believe that Thou art the Christ."
Is there something like that in the Lord's dealings with you? Is Jesus educating you into a personal intimacy with Himself? Let Him press home His question to you--"Believest thou this?" What is your ordeal of doubt? Have you come, like Martha, to some overwhelming passage in your circumstances where your ideal of belief is about to emerge into a personal belief? this can never be until a personal need arises out of a personal problem.
To believe is to commit. In the programed ideal belief I commit myself, and abandon all that is not related to that commitment. In personal belief I commit myself morally to this way of confidence and refuse to compromise with any other; and in particular belief I commit myself spiritually to Jesus Christ, and determine in that thing to be dominated by the Lord alone.
When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and He says to me-- "Believest thou this?' I find that faith is as natural as breathing, and I am staggered that I was so stupid as not to trust him before.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Obedience The Reality of God
John 14:15
"If you love Me, keep My commandments"
Our Lord never insists upon obedience; He tells us every emphatically what we ought to do, but He never takes means to make us do it. We have to obey Him out of oneness of spirit. That is why whenever Our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an -- IF--you do not need to unless you like. "If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself," let him give up his right to himself to me. Our Lord is talking of eternal positions, but of being of value to Himself in this order of things; that is why He sounds so stern (Luke 14:26). Never interpret these words apart from the One Who uttered them.
The Lord does not give me rules, He makes His standard very clear, and if my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without any hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone else in competition with him, IE (my wife, myself).. Jesus Christ will not help me to obey Him, I must obey Him; and when I do obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowed with small petty incidents, altogether unnoticeable and mean; but if I obey Jesus Christ in the haphazard circumstances, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God, and when I stand face to face with God I will discover that through my obedience many were blessed. When once God's Redemption comes to the point of obedience in a human soul, it always creates. If I obey Jesus Christ, the Redemption of God will rush through me in other lives, because behind the deed of obedience is the Reality of Almighty God.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"If you love Me, keep My commandments"
Our Lord never insists upon obedience; He tells us every emphatically what we ought to do, but He never takes means to make us do it. We have to obey Him out of oneness of spirit. That is why whenever Our Lord talked about discipleship, He prefaced it with an -- IF--you do not need to unless you like. "If any man will be My disciple, let him deny himself," let him give up his right to himself to me. Our Lord is talking of eternal positions, but of being of value to Himself in this order of things; that is why He sounds so stern (Luke 14:26). Never interpret these words apart from the One Who uttered them.
The Lord does not give me rules, He makes His standard very clear, and if my relationship to Him is that of love, I will do what He says without any hesitation. If I hesitate, it is because I love someone else in competition with him, IE (my wife, myself).. Jesus Christ will not help me to obey Him, I must obey Him; and when I do obey Him, I fulfill my spiritual destiny. My personal life may be crowed with small petty incidents, altogether unnoticeable and mean; but if I obey Jesus Christ in the haphazard circumstances, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God, and when I stand face to face with God I will discover that through my obedience many were blessed. When once God's Redemption comes to the point of obedience in a human soul, it always creates. If I obey Jesus Christ, the Redemption of God will rush through me in other lives, because behind the deed of obedience is the Reality of Almighty God.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Friday, May 24, 2013
A Satisfaction To Him
John 20 : 28
"Thomas answered and said unto Him"
"My Lord and my God"
"Give Me to drink." How many of us set in wait for Jesus Christ to take care of our thirst and wants, when we ought to be satisfying Him? We should spend our time serving Jesus Christ not drawing on Him to satisfy us. "Ye shall be witness unto Me"--- that means a life of uncompromising, and unbridled devotion to the Lord Jesus, a satisfaction to Him wherever He places us.
We must beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. There are all kinds of things that we claim "OR BLAME" as being a competitor to Jesus. It is much easier to stand strong and firm, and serve than serve while dragging your leg and foot behind you. The aim of the call of God is the satisfaction of God, not just a call to do something for him. We are not to battle for God, but to be used by God in His battling. We are here to serve, but don't be more devoted to service than to Jesus Christ.
LOVE AND SERVE "JESUS CHRIST"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross life Ministry
"Thomas answered and said unto Him"
"My Lord and my God"
"Give Me to drink." How many of us set in wait for Jesus Christ to take care of our thirst and wants, when we ought to be satisfying Him? We should spend our time serving Jesus Christ not drawing on Him to satisfy us. "Ye shall be witness unto Me"--- that means a life of uncompromising, and unbridled devotion to the Lord Jesus, a satisfaction to Him wherever He places us.
We must beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. There are all kinds of things that we claim "OR BLAME" as being a competitor to Jesus. It is much easier to stand strong and firm, and serve than serve while dragging your leg and foot behind you. The aim of the call of God is the satisfaction of God, not just a call to do something for him. We are not to battle for God, but to be used by God in His battling. We are here to serve, but don't be more devoted to service than to Jesus Christ.
LOVE AND SERVE "JESUS CHRIST"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross life Ministry
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Be His Temple
Genesis 41 : 40
"Only in the throne will I be greater than thou"
I have to account to God for the way in which I rule my body under His domination. Paul said he did not "frustrate the grace of God"--- make it no effect. The grace of God is absolute, the salvation of Jesus is perfect, it is done for ever. I am not being saved, I am saved; salvation is as eternal as God's throne; the thing for me do do is to work out what God works in. "Work out your own salvation," I am responsible for doing it. It means that I have to manifest in this body the life of the Lord Jesus, not mystically, but really and emphatically. "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection."
Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. God has made us to have government over all the temple of the Holy Spirit, over imaginations and affections. We are responsible for these, and we must never give way to inordinate affections. Most of us or much sterner with others than we are in regard to ourselves; we make excuses for things in ourselves while at the same time we condemn in others things to which they do.
"I beseech you," says Paul," " present your bodies a living sacrifice." The point to decide is this---:Do I agree with my Lord and Master that my body shall be His temple?" If so, then for me the whole of the law for the body is summed up in this revelation, that my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"Only in the throne will I be greater than thou"
I have to account to God for the way in which I rule my body under His domination. Paul said he did not "frustrate the grace of God"--- make it no effect. The grace of God is absolute, the salvation of Jesus is perfect, it is done for ever. I am not being saved, I am saved; salvation is as eternal as God's throne; the thing for me do do is to work out what God works in. "Work out your own salvation," I am responsible for doing it. It means that I have to manifest in this body the life of the Lord Jesus, not mystically, but really and emphatically. "I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection."
Every Christian can have his body under absolute control for God. God has made us to have government over all the temple of the Holy Spirit, over imaginations and affections. We are responsible for these, and we must never give way to inordinate affections. Most of us or much sterner with others than we are in regard to ourselves; we make excuses for things in ourselves while at the same time we condemn in others things to which they do.
"I beseech you," says Paul," " present your bodies a living sacrifice." The point to decide is this---:Do I agree with my Lord and Master that my body shall be His temple?" If so, then for me the whole of the law for the body is summed up in this revelation, that my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Placed on God's Shelf
Exodus 2: 11
"Moses... went out unto his brethren"
"And looked on their burdens"
Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After the first strike for God and for the right, God allowed Moses to be driven into blank discouragement, He sent him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared and told Moses to go and bring forth His people, and Moses said---"Who am I, that I should go?" In the beginning Moses realized that he was the man to deliver the people but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in the individual aspect, but he was not the man for the work until he had learned communion with God.
We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and we start to do the thing, then comes something equivalent to the forty years in the wilderness, as if God had ignored the whole thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged God comes back and revives the call, and we get the quaver in and say---"Oh, who am I?" We have to learn the first great stride of God--- "I AM THAT I AM hath sent thee." We have to learn that our individual effort for God is an impertinence; our individuality is to be rendered incandescent by a personal relationship to God (Matthew 3:17). We fix on the individual aspect of things; we have the vision--"This is what God wants me to do"; but we have not got into God's stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a big personal enlargement ahead. God will take you back off His shelf
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"Moses... went out unto his brethren"
"And looked on their burdens"
Moses saw the oppression of his people and felt certain that he was the one to deliver them, and in the righteous indignation of his own spirit he started to right their wrongs. After the first strike for God and for the right, God allowed Moses to be driven into blank discouragement, He sent him into the desert to feed sheep for forty years. At the end of that time, God appeared and told Moses to go and bring forth His people, and Moses said---"Who am I, that I should go?" In the beginning Moses realized that he was the man to deliver the people but he had to be trained and disciplined by God first. He was right in the individual aspect, but he was not the man for the work until he had learned communion with God.
We may have the vision of God and a very clear understanding of what God wants, and we start to do the thing, then comes something equivalent to the forty years in the wilderness, as if God had ignored the whole thing, and when we are thoroughly discouraged God comes back and revives the call, and we get the quaver in and say---"Oh, who am I?" We have to learn the first great stride of God--- "I AM THAT I AM hath sent thee." We have to learn that our individual effort for God is an impertinence; our individuality is to be rendered incandescent by a personal relationship to God (Matthew 3:17). We fix on the individual aspect of things; we have the vision--"This is what God wants me to do"; but we have not got into God's stride. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a big personal enlargement ahead. God will take you back off His shelf
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Into The Cross
John 16 : 26
"At that day ye shall ask in My name"
We think of the Cross as something we have to get through; we get through it only to get "Into It." The Cross stands for one thing only for us, a complete and entire and absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is nothing in which this identification is realized more than in prayer. "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him." Then why ask? The idea of prayer is not in order to get answers from God; prayer is perfect and complete oneness with God. If we pray because we want answers, we will get all huffed up with God. The answers comes every time , but not always in the way we expect, and our spiritual huff shows a refusal to identify ourselves with our Lord in prayer; we are here to be living monuments of God's grace.
"I say not that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father Himself loveth you." Have you reached such an intimacy with God that the Lord Jesus Christ's life of prayer is the only explanation of your life of prayer? Has our Lord's vicarious life become your vital life? "At that day" you will be so identified with Jesus that there will be no distinction.
When prayer seems to be unanswered, beware of trying to fix the blame on someone else. That is always a snare of Satan. You will find there is a reason which is a deep instruction to you, not to anyone else.
THINK AND STRIVE TO LIVE ON THE ETERNAL SIDE OF LIFE "NOW"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"At that day ye shall ask in My name"
We think of the Cross as something we have to get through; we get through it only to get "Into It." The Cross stands for one thing only for us, a complete and entire and absolute identification with the Lord Jesus Christ, and there is nothing in which this identification is realized more than in prayer. "Your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask Him." Then why ask? The idea of prayer is not in order to get answers from God; prayer is perfect and complete oneness with God. If we pray because we want answers, we will get all huffed up with God. The answers comes every time , but not always in the way we expect, and our spiritual huff shows a refusal to identify ourselves with our Lord in prayer; we are here to be living monuments of God's grace.
"I say not that I will pray the Father for you: for the Father Himself loveth you." Have you reached such an intimacy with God that the Lord Jesus Christ's life of prayer is the only explanation of your life of prayer? Has our Lord's vicarious life become your vital life? "At that day" you will be so identified with Jesus that there will be no distinction.
When prayer seems to be unanswered, beware of trying to fix the blame on someone else. That is always a snare of Satan. You will find there is a reason which is a deep instruction to you, not to anyone else.
THINK AND STRIVE TO LIVE ON THE ETERNAL SIDE OF LIFE "NOW"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Monday, May 20, 2013
Walls Have Holes
Ezekiel 8 : 5-8
"Son of man, lift up thine eyes now"
The glorious personage Ezekiel beheld in vision, seemed to take hold upon him, and he was conveyed in spirit to Jerusalem. There in the inner court of the temple, was prepared a place for some base idol. The whole in the wall vision presented to the prophet, is simple to understand, We cannot hide from God. A man that says, The Lord seeth me not is a fool!
Nothing can or will preserve men from lust, or idolatries, when they are left to their own deceitful hearts; and those who are soon wearied in the service of God, often grudge no toil nor expense when following their superstitions. If we hide our self behind the wall of an outward profession, there is some hole or other left in the wall that betrays us to those who look closely at our lives. There is a great deal of secret wickedness in the world. They think themselves out of God's sight. But destruction they will reap, who lay blame of there sins upon the Lord.
"SON OF MAN, LOOK UP , AND GIVE YOUR HEART TO JESUS CHRIST"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"Son of man, lift up thine eyes now"
The glorious personage Ezekiel beheld in vision, seemed to take hold upon him, and he was conveyed in spirit to Jerusalem. There in the inner court of the temple, was prepared a place for some base idol. The whole in the wall vision presented to the prophet, is simple to understand, We cannot hide from God. A man that says, The Lord seeth me not is a fool!
Nothing can or will preserve men from lust, or idolatries, when they are left to their own deceitful hearts; and those who are soon wearied in the service of God, often grudge no toil nor expense when following their superstitions. If we hide our self behind the wall of an outward profession, there is some hole or other left in the wall that betrays us to those who look closely at our lives. There is a great deal of secret wickedness in the world. They think themselves out of God's sight. But destruction they will reap, who lay blame of there sins upon the Lord.
"SON OF MAN, LOOK UP , AND GIVE YOUR HEART TO JESUS CHRIST"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Emotional Counterfeits
II Corinthians 2 : 9
"Be obedient in all things"
One of the greatest acts of obedience is to share Christ with others in the power of the Holy Spirit. Since He came to seek and to save the lost and has commissioned us to witness for him, nothing could please the savior more. If you want a valid, vital exciting awareness of Christ in your experience, begin to share Christ with others as a way of life as you walk in the Spirit.
Avoid man-made emotionalism that is generated by restoring to tricks and manipulations of individuals. Many such emotional experiences are a counterfeit of the genuine experience which can be yours through obedience to Christ, our Savior. We live according to God's promise, trusting in the integrity of God Himself. You see, faith must have an object. And the object of our faith as Christians is God and His word. God has proven Himself to be worthy of our trust. There are thousands of promises for us contained in God's Word, and no Christian has ever found any one of them to be untrue. When God says something, you can stake your life on it; you can know that He will not fail you.
"I thank all of you for your prayers while I was in the Hospital. I ask you to continue to pray for I am still weak in body; but my heart and mind is still strong in Christ."
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"Be obedient in all things"
One of the greatest acts of obedience is to share Christ with others in the power of the Holy Spirit. Since He came to seek and to save the lost and has commissioned us to witness for him, nothing could please the savior more. If you want a valid, vital exciting awareness of Christ in your experience, begin to share Christ with others as a way of life as you walk in the Spirit.
Avoid man-made emotionalism that is generated by restoring to tricks and manipulations of individuals. Many such emotional experiences are a counterfeit of the genuine experience which can be yours through obedience to Christ, our Savior. We live according to God's promise, trusting in the integrity of God Himself. You see, faith must have an object. And the object of our faith as Christians is God and His word. God has proven Himself to be worthy of our trust. There are thousands of promises for us contained in God's Word, and no Christian has ever found any one of them to be untrue. When God says something, you can stake your life on it; you can know that He will not fail you.
"I thank all of you for your prayers while I was in the Hospital. I ask you to continue to pray for I am still weak in body; but my heart and mind is still strong in Christ."
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Practical Righteous
Psalm 119 : 7
"I will praise thee with uprightness of heart"
"When I Have learned thy righteous judgements"
Doing practical righteousness differs from being self-righteous. The self-righteous person sets up his own standard of moral conduct and seeks to live by it. But this self -righteous, produced by the unsaved, is not what God requires. When we receive Christ for salvation, we are justified by God. This means that we are acquitted of His verdict of condemnation and are declared to be righteous in His sight. He can do this, for He gives us His gift of righteousness and makes us righteous constitutionally in Christ.
Because of God's justifying work, the saved person is able to do practical righteousness. This means that he is able to do what is right in God's sight. This is possible, for we have God's word which shows us His will, we have an inner desire to do His will, and we have the needed power through the Holy Spirit.
It was Paul's prayer for the Philippians that they be filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Christ. This kind of righteousness is a sign of new life.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"I will praise thee with uprightness of heart"
"When I Have learned thy righteous judgements"
Doing practical righteousness differs from being self-righteous. The self-righteous person sets up his own standard of moral conduct and seeks to live by it. But this self -righteous, produced by the unsaved, is not what God requires. When we receive Christ for salvation, we are justified by God. This means that we are acquitted of His verdict of condemnation and are declared to be righteous in His sight. He can do this, for He gives us His gift of righteousness and makes us righteous constitutionally in Christ.
Because of God's justifying work, the saved person is able to do practical righteousness. This means that he is able to do what is right in God's sight. This is possible, for we have God's word which shows us His will, we have an inner desire to do His will, and we have the needed power through the Holy Spirit.
It was Paul's prayer for the Philippians that they be filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Christ. This kind of righteousness is a sign of new life.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Delight of Despair
Revelation 1:17
"And when I saw Him"
"I fell at His feet as dead"
It may be like the apostle John you know Jesus Christ intimately, when suddenly He appears with no familiar characteristic at all, and the only thing you can do is to fall at His feet as dead. There are times when God cannot reveal Himself in any other way than in His majesty, and it is the awfulness of the vision which brings you to the delight of despair; if you are ever to be raised up, it must be by the hand of God.
"He laid His right hand upon me." In the midst of the awfulness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. It is not the right hand of restraint nor of correction nor of chastisement, but the right hand of the everlasting Father. When ever His hand is laid upon you, it is ineffable peace and comfort, the sense that "underneath are His everlasting arms," full of sustaining and comfort and strength. When once His touch comes, nothing at all can cast you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory the Lord Jesus comes to say "Fear Not"
Watch some of the things that strike despair. There is despair in which there is no delight, no horizon, no hope of anything brighter; but the delight of despair comes when I know that "in me (that is,in my flesh0 dwelleth no good thing." I delight to know that there is that in me which must fall prostrate before God when He manifests Himself, and if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. Remember! God can do nothing for us until we get to the limit of the possible. When we can't seem to accomplish any more!
"GOD CAN"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"And when I saw Him"
"I fell at His feet as dead"
It may be like the apostle John you know Jesus Christ intimately, when suddenly He appears with no familiar characteristic at all, and the only thing you can do is to fall at His feet as dead. There are times when God cannot reveal Himself in any other way than in His majesty, and it is the awfulness of the vision which brings you to the delight of despair; if you are ever to be raised up, it must be by the hand of God.
"He laid His right hand upon me." In the midst of the awfulness, a touch comes, and you know it is the right hand of Jesus Christ. It is not the right hand of restraint nor of correction nor of chastisement, but the right hand of the everlasting Father. When ever His hand is laid upon you, it is ineffable peace and comfort, the sense that "underneath are His everlasting arms," full of sustaining and comfort and strength. When once His touch comes, nothing at all can cast you into fear again. In the midst of all His ascended glory the Lord Jesus comes to say "Fear Not"
Watch some of the things that strike despair. There is despair in which there is no delight, no horizon, no hope of anything brighter; but the delight of despair comes when I know that "in me (that is,in my flesh0 dwelleth no good thing." I delight to know that there is that in me which must fall prostrate before God when He manifests Himself, and if I am ever to be raised up it must be by the hand of God. Remember! God can do nothing for us until we get to the limit of the possible. When we can't seem to accomplish any more!
"GOD CAN"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Monday, May 13, 2013
Confession Cleans the Soul
Matthew 10:32
"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men"
"Him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven"
The Christian faith begins with an honest admission that we are followers of Christ. Confession is that initial step of identity with the Church. We generally see the word confession as being honest about a wrong doing. Therefore; confession is viewed in terms of our sin. We are all sinners. We make confession as a we bring our sin to Jesus, openly admitting everything to Him. We ask Him to save us. We repent, that is we turn away from our sin and depend on Jesus to forgive our sin. We let Him take away the barrier that sin sets up between the sinners and God. Confession of sins is so overwhelming we cannot confess it without seeing the great difference between ourselves and God. God is Holy and complete. We are sinful and incomplete. We live in a fallen world and are so needy that we cannot live without Him.
If we only confess our sins when we are first saved, we are utterly miserable. Those sins that we commit after we arrive at grace still separate us from an open and free walk with God. Once we have come into relationship with Christ we continue to confess our sins, so we can live in relationship with Him. Confession does not mean that God does not know what sins we have sinned. He knows everything about us, even those secret sins of our hearts. If we don't freely confess our sins, we tend to "believe" we are concealing them in our lives and refuse to be open with God.
"CONFESS AND CLEANSE THY SOUL"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men"
"Him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven"
The Christian faith begins with an honest admission that we are followers of Christ. Confession is that initial step of identity with the Church. We generally see the word confession as being honest about a wrong doing. Therefore; confession is viewed in terms of our sin. We are all sinners. We make confession as a we bring our sin to Jesus, openly admitting everything to Him. We ask Him to save us. We repent, that is we turn away from our sin and depend on Jesus to forgive our sin. We let Him take away the barrier that sin sets up between the sinners and God. Confession of sins is so overwhelming we cannot confess it without seeing the great difference between ourselves and God. God is Holy and complete. We are sinful and incomplete. We live in a fallen world and are so needy that we cannot live without Him.
If we only confess our sins when we are first saved, we are utterly miserable. Those sins that we commit after we arrive at grace still separate us from an open and free walk with God. Once we have come into relationship with Christ we continue to confess our sins, so we can live in relationship with Him. Confession does not mean that God does not know what sins we have sinned. He knows everything about us, even those secret sins of our hearts. If we don't freely confess our sins, we tend to "believe" we are concealing them in our lives and refuse to be open with God.
"CONFESS AND CLEANSE THY SOUL"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Let's Get Real
Luke 21:19
"In your patience possess ye your souls"
When a man is born again, there is not the same robustness in his thinking or reasoning for a time as before. We have to make an expression of the new life, to form the mind of Christ. "Acquire your soul with patience." Many of us prefer to stay at the threshold of the Christian life instead of going on to construct a soul in accordance with the new life God has put within us. We fail because we are ignorant of the way we are made, we put things down to the devil instead of our own undisciplined natures. Think what we can be when we actually "WAKE UP" !!!
There are certain things we must not pray about, and moods are one. Moods never go away by praying, moods go by kicking. A mood nearly always has its seat in the physical condition, not in the moral. It is a continual effort not to listen to the moods which arise from a physical condition; never submit to them for a second. We have to take ourselves by the back of the neck and shake ourselves, and we will find that we can do what we said we could not. The problem with most of us is that we won't. So let's get up and shake our heads and start doing what we say!
"HAPPY MOTHERS DAY"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"In your patience possess ye your souls"
When a man is born again, there is not the same robustness in his thinking or reasoning for a time as before. We have to make an expression of the new life, to form the mind of Christ. "Acquire your soul with patience." Many of us prefer to stay at the threshold of the Christian life instead of going on to construct a soul in accordance with the new life God has put within us. We fail because we are ignorant of the way we are made, we put things down to the devil instead of our own undisciplined natures. Think what we can be when we actually "WAKE UP" !!!
There are certain things we must not pray about, and moods are one. Moods never go away by praying, moods go by kicking. A mood nearly always has its seat in the physical condition, not in the moral. It is a continual effort not to listen to the moods which arise from a physical condition; never submit to them for a second. We have to take ourselves by the back of the neck and shake ourselves, and we will find that we can do what we said we could not. The problem with most of us is that we won't. So let's get up and shake our heads and start doing what we say!
"HAPPY MOTHERS DAY"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Saturday, May 11, 2013
God Never Fails
Hebrews 13:5
"For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee"
What line does my thought take? Does it turn to what God says or to what I fear? Am I learning to say not what God says, but to say something after I have heard what He says? "He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper,and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."
"I will in no wise fail thee" ----not for all my sin and selfishness and stubbornness and waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never fail me? If I have listened to this say-so of God's, then let me listen again. "Neither will I in any wise forsake thee." Sometimes it is not difficulty that makes me think God will forsake me, but drudgery. There is no Hill Difficulty to climb, no vision given, nothing wonderful or beautiful, just the commonplace day in and day out---- can I hear God's say-so in these things?
We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing, that He is preparing and fitting us for some extraordinary thing by and by, but as we go on in grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, in this present moment. If we have God's say-so behind us, the most amazing strength comes, and we can rejoice on any day.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"For He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee"
What line does my thought take? Does it turn to what God says or to what I fear? Am I learning to say not what God says, but to say something after I have heard what He says? "He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper,and I will not fear what man shall do unto me."
"I will in no wise fail thee" ----not for all my sin and selfishness and stubbornness and waywardness. Have I really let God say to me that He will never fail me? If I have listened to this say-so of God's, then let me listen again. "Neither will I in any wise forsake thee." Sometimes it is not difficulty that makes me think God will forsake me, but drudgery. There is no Hill Difficulty to climb, no vision given, nothing wonderful or beautiful, just the commonplace day in and day out---- can I hear God's say-so in these things?
We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing, that He is preparing and fitting us for some extraordinary thing by and by, but as we go on in grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, in this present moment. If we have God's say-so behind us, the most amazing strength comes, and we can rejoice on any day.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Friday, May 10, 2013
The Next Step
II Corinthians 6:4
"In much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses"
It takes Almighty grace to take the next step when there is no vision and no spectator--- the next step in devotion, the next step in your study, in your reading, in your kitchen; the next step in your duty, when the is no vision from God, no enthusiasm and no spectator. It takes far more of the grace of God, far more conscious drawing upon God to take the step, than it does to preach the gospel.
Every Christian has to partake of what was the essence of the Incarnation, he must bring the thing down into flesh and blood actualities and work it out through the finger tips. We flag when there is no vision, no uplift, but just the common round, the trivial task. The thing that tells in the long run for God and for men is the steady persevering work in the unseen, and the only way to keep the life uncrushed is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the Risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to damp you. Continually get away from pettiness and paltriness of mind.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"In much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses"
It takes Almighty grace to take the next step when there is no vision and no spectator--- the next step in devotion, the next step in your study, in your reading, in your kitchen; the next step in your duty, when the is no vision from God, no enthusiasm and no spectator. It takes far more of the grace of God, far more conscious drawing upon God to take the step, than it does to preach the gospel.
Every Christian has to partake of what was the essence of the Incarnation, he must bring the thing down into flesh and blood actualities and work it out through the finger tips. We flag when there is no vision, no uplift, but just the common round, the trivial task. The thing that tells in the long run for God and for men is the steady persevering work in the unseen, and the only way to keep the life uncrushed is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the Risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to damp you. Continually get away from pettiness and paltriness of mind.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Mystery of Believing
Acts 9:5
"And he said, Who art Thou, Lord?"
By the miracle of Redemption Saul of Tarsus was turned in one second from a strong-willed, intense Pharisee into a humble, devoted slave of the Lord Jesus.
There is nothing miraculous about the things we can explain. We command what we are able to explain, consequently it is natural to seek to explain. It is not natural to obey; nor is it necessarily sinful to disobey. There is no moral virtue in obedience unless there is a recognition of a higher authority in the one who dictates. It is possibly an emancipation to the other person if he does not obey. If one man says to another; "you must" and "you shall," he breaks the human spirit and unfits it for God. A man is a slave for obeying unless behind his obedience there is recognition of a Holy God.
Many a soul begins to come to God when he flings off being religious, because there is only one Master of the human heart, and that is not religion but Jesus Christ. But woe be to me if when I see Him I say; I will not. He will never insist that I do, but I have signed my death warrant of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say; I will not, He will never insist; but I am backing away from the recreating power of Redemption. It is a matter of indifference to God's grace how abominable I am if I come to the light; but woe be to me if I refuse the light. (ref to John 3:19-21)
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"And he said, Who art Thou, Lord?"
By the miracle of Redemption Saul of Tarsus was turned in one second from a strong-willed, intense Pharisee into a humble, devoted slave of the Lord Jesus.
There is nothing miraculous about the things we can explain. We command what we are able to explain, consequently it is natural to seek to explain. It is not natural to obey; nor is it necessarily sinful to disobey. There is no moral virtue in obedience unless there is a recognition of a higher authority in the one who dictates. It is possibly an emancipation to the other person if he does not obey. If one man says to another; "you must" and "you shall," he breaks the human spirit and unfits it for God. A man is a slave for obeying unless behind his obedience there is recognition of a Holy God.
Many a soul begins to come to God when he flings off being religious, because there is only one Master of the human heart, and that is not religion but Jesus Christ. But woe be to me if when I see Him I say; I will not. He will never insist that I do, but I have signed my death warrant of the Son of God in my soul. When I stand face to face with Jesus Christ and say; I will not, He will never insist; but I am backing away from the recreating power of Redemption. It is a matter of indifference to God's grace how abominable I am if I come to the light; but woe be to me if I refuse the light. (ref to John 3:19-21)
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Your Price Tag
Matthew 10: 30-31
"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered"
"Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more"
"value than many sparrows"
Visualize the vault of God! In this vault He keeps the precious things of eternity. In His vault are all those people who mean so much to Him. In this file is your person-hood. There is a list of pertinent statistics; when you were born, when you will die, a list of your strengths, a list of your charitable acts. There
also is listed the number of hairs on your head. Across the front of this file God has stamped the word mine. Under the word mine is the signature of God. Jesus said that God, meticulous in keeping track of His world, has numbered the sparrows. Therefore, we are to rejoice, for we are worth more than many sparrows.
In that all we mean to God, why do we so often mean so little to ourselves? Low self-esteem afflicts almost everyone at one time or another. Whenever we suffer from it, should we not stop and ask ourselves, Have we any right to feel badly about something that God feels so good about? To be loved with such overwhelming love as God sheds upon us makes our not loving ourselves a strong disagreement with God. When we disagree with God, are we not acting as though God has made a mistake?
Is there evidence that we are wrong in not loving ourselves and that God is right in not agreeing with us? Of course there is. There stands the cross of Christ! Here is the opinion of God. "I love you. If you do not love yourself, you fail to understand the day my only begotten Son died there on Calvary. In Gethsemane, the night before His cross, He would have chosen another evidence that He might honor the fact that I (God) was in love with you. There was no other way. Study the dying of my Son. Can you still feel worthless? Consider what you are worth to me. His hands bear the mark of that great expense my Son and I both paid. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and you are worth much more than sparrows."
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered"
"Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more"
"value than many sparrows"
Visualize the vault of God! In this vault He keeps the precious things of eternity. In His vault are all those people who mean so much to Him. In this file is your person-hood. There is a list of pertinent statistics; when you were born, when you will die, a list of your strengths, a list of your charitable acts. There
also is listed the number of hairs on your head. Across the front of this file God has stamped the word mine. Under the word mine is the signature of God. Jesus said that God, meticulous in keeping track of His world, has numbered the sparrows. Therefore, we are to rejoice, for we are worth more than many sparrows.
In that all we mean to God, why do we so often mean so little to ourselves? Low self-esteem afflicts almost everyone at one time or another. Whenever we suffer from it, should we not stop and ask ourselves, Have we any right to feel badly about something that God feels so good about? To be loved with such overwhelming love as God sheds upon us makes our not loving ourselves a strong disagreement with God. When we disagree with God, are we not acting as though God has made a mistake?
Is there evidence that we are wrong in not loving ourselves and that God is right in not agreeing with us? Of course there is. There stands the cross of Christ! Here is the opinion of God. "I love you. If you do not love yourself, you fail to understand the day my only begotten Son died there on Calvary. In Gethsemane, the night before His cross, He would have chosen another evidence that He might honor the fact that I (God) was in love with you. There was no other way. Study the dying of my Son. Can you still feel worthless? Consider what you are worth to me. His hands bear the mark of that great expense my Son and I both paid. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny, and you are worth much more than sparrows."
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The Fields
John 4:35
"Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?
"Behold, I Say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the Fields"
"For they are white already to harvest"
Never has this world known a shortage of places where we can begin telling others about the love of God. The fields are ripe,and the grain is ready to be harvested. If you are not leading new believers to faith, it is not because the world is not interested in Christ. As a matter of fact, the entire world is interested in the Kingdom of God.. Many feel that the world has grown so secular that people have lost interest in the good news. Not so! There is plenty of evidence that everybody wants to know how to replace the deadness at the center of their souls with meaning.
Like the women at the well, the world is tired of the dull routine of hauling water and finding the next drink less tasty than the last. All the faces you see at your work, or market or even when on vacation; The faces are smeared with question marks. They want to know if there is any good reason to get up of in the morning. They are tired of trying to make anything meaningful in there lives.
See this people as better than they are, and you will love them for what they can be. As of the moment, the picture may be glum. They seem to be the most drunken, criminal, divorced culture that has ever crossed the globe. These people are waiting, like an overripe harvest, for you to come along and help them. They won't hate you for trying to help them to a better life. They will love you for doing it. You will likely never do it unless you accomplish Jesus' simple little commandments, "Lift up your eyes unto the fields. They are ripe already to harvest." The first step is looking. The rest is an act of courage where Christ empowers you and you begin to serve him.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?
"Behold, I Say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the Fields"
"For they are white already to harvest"
Never has this world known a shortage of places where we can begin telling others about the love of God. The fields are ripe,and the grain is ready to be harvested. If you are not leading new believers to faith, it is not because the world is not interested in Christ. As a matter of fact, the entire world is interested in the Kingdom of God.. Many feel that the world has grown so secular that people have lost interest in the good news. Not so! There is plenty of evidence that everybody wants to know how to replace the deadness at the center of their souls with meaning.
Like the women at the well, the world is tired of the dull routine of hauling water and finding the next drink less tasty than the last. All the faces you see at your work, or market or even when on vacation; The faces are smeared with question marks. They want to know if there is any good reason to get up of in the morning. They are tired of trying to make anything meaningful in there lives.
See this people as better than they are, and you will love them for what they can be. As of the moment, the picture may be glum. They seem to be the most drunken, criminal, divorced culture that has ever crossed the globe. These people are waiting, like an overripe harvest, for you to come along and help them. They won't hate you for trying to help them to a better life. They will love you for doing it. You will likely never do it unless you accomplish Jesus' simple little commandments, "Lift up your eyes unto the fields. They are ripe already to harvest." The first step is looking. The rest is an act of courage where Christ empowers you and you begin to serve him.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Monday, May 6, 2013
Account With Persecution
Matthew 5:39
"But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil"
"But whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek"
"Turn to him the other also"
These verses reveal the humiliation of being a Christian. Naturally, if a man does not hit back, it is a manifestation of the Son of God in him. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but make it an occasion to exhibit the Son of God. You cannot imitate the disposition of Jesus; it is either there or it is not. To the saint personal insult becomes the occasion of revealing the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.
The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not; Do your duty, but ; Do what is not your duty. It is not your duty to go the second mile, to turn the other cheek, but Jesus says if we are His disciples we shall always do these things. There will be no spirit of---"Oh, well, I cannot do any more, I have been so misrepresented and misunderstood." Every time I insist upon my rights, I hurt the Son of God; whereas I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I take the blow myself.
That is the meaning of filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. The disciple realizes that it is his Lord's honour that is at stake in his life, not his own honour. Never look for right in the other man, but never cease to be right yourself. We are always looking for justice; the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is; Never look for justice, but never cease to live it.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil"
"But whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek"
"Turn to him the other also"
These verses reveal the humiliation of being a Christian. Naturally, if a man does not hit back, it is a manifestation of the Son of God in him. When you are insulted, you must not only not resent it, but make it an occasion to exhibit the Son of God. You cannot imitate the disposition of Jesus; it is either there or it is not. To the saint personal insult becomes the occasion of revealing the incredible sweetness of the Lord Jesus.
The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is not; Do your duty, but ; Do what is not your duty. It is not your duty to go the second mile, to turn the other cheek, but Jesus says if we are His disciples we shall always do these things. There will be no spirit of---"Oh, well, I cannot do any more, I have been so misrepresented and misunderstood." Every time I insist upon my rights, I hurt the Son of God; whereas I can prevent Jesus from being hurt if I take the blow myself.
That is the meaning of filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ. The disciple realizes that it is his Lord's honour that is at stake in his life, not his own honour. Never look for right in the other man, but never cease to be right yourself. We are always looking for justice; the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount is; Never look for justice, but never cease to live it.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Bad Habits
I Corinthians 6:12
"All things are lawful unto me"
"But all things are not expedient"
Many people blame their personality for their inability to deal successfully with particular temptations. They say, "That's just the way I am," or "I've always been this way." Often accompanying this way of thinking is a plea to "accept me the way I am."
Do you expect people to accept and adjust to your peculiarities? Have you been using your personality as an excuse for the way you are rather than trying to change? If you have, it is time to quit making excuses and begin making progress. To do otherwise is to rob yourself and others of the joy that comes with the freedom of putting bad habits behind you. "Pray this prayer with me"
Father, I' used a lot of excuses for
my behavior. I acknowledge my
sin and ask Your forgiveness, help
me be not what I was or even what
I am, but what You want me to be
AMEN
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"All things are lawful unto me"
"But all things are not expedient"
Many people blame their personality for their inability to deal successfully with particular temptations. They say, "That's just the way I am," or "I've always been this way." Often accompanying this way of thinking is a plea to "accept me the way I am."
Do you expect people to accept and adjust to your peculiarities? Have you been using your personality as an excuse for the way you are rather than trying to change? If you have, it is time to quit making excuses and begin making progress. To do otherwise is to rob yourself and others of the joy that comes with the freedom of putting bad habits behind you. "Pray this prayer with me"
Father, I' used a lot of excuses for
my behavior. I acknowledge my
sin and ask Your forgiveness, help
me be not what I was or even what
I am, but what You want me to be
AMEN
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Spiritual Heritage
Acts 8:4
"Therefore they that were scattered aboard"
"Went every where preaching the word"
All our plans, purposes, and objectives in all departments should culminate and eventuate in leading lost souls to Christ. Teachers and leaders should major in drawing the gospel net, and the spirit of soul-winning should pervade and permeate all. Thus we will have perennial evangelism." This is evangelism that lasts all year long, year after year, unceasing, never failing, always fresh. This was the evangelism of the early church.
So far as we can discern conditions in the early church, it seems that it would have been unusual to find a believer who was not fired with zeal to bring others to a living faith in Jesus Christ. What lessons we can learn from these early Christians who counted the privilege of evangelizing dearer than life itself? This love for the lost, this passion for souls, is part of our fabulous spiritual heritage It's time we got our zeal fired back up and bring others to the living faith in Jesus Christ.
"LET'S SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST"
"LETS GO SOUL WINNING"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"Therefore they that were scattered aboard"
"Went every where preaching the word"
All our plans, purposes, and objectives in all departments should culminate and eventuate in leading lost souls to Christ. Teachers and leaders should major in drawing the gospel net, and the spirit of soul-winning should pervade and permeate all. Thus we will have perennial evangelism." This is evangelism that lasts all year long, year after year, unceasing, never failing, always fresh. This was the evangelism of the early church.
So far as we can discern conditions in the early church, it seems that it would have been unusual to find a believer who was not fired with zeal to bring others to a living faith in Jesus Christ. What lessons we can learn from these early Christians who counted the privilege of evangelizing dearer than life itself? This love for the lost, this passion for souls, is part of our fabulous spiritual heritage It's time we got our zeal fired back up and bring others to the living faith in Jesus Christ.
"LET'S SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST"
"LETS GO SOUL WINNING"
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Friday, May 3, 2013
Sin A Particular Feature
Isaiah 6:5
"Woe is me! for I am undone"
"Because I am a man of unclean lips"
When we get into the presence of God, we do not realize that we or sinners in an indefinite sense. We know that the concentration of sin is a particular feature of our life. A man will say easily; "Oh, yes, I know I am a sinner"; but when he gets into the presence of God he cannot get off with that statement. The conviction is concentrated on---- I am this , or that, or the other. This is always the sign that a man or women is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but the concentration of sin in some personal particular. God begins by convicting us of the one thing fixed on in our mind that is prompted by His Spirit; if we will yield to His conviction on that point, He will lead us down to the great disposition of sin underneath. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously in His presence.
This experience of the concentration of sin is true in the greatest and the least of saints as well as in the greater and least sinners. When a man (everyone) is on the first rung of the ladder of experience, he may say; I do not know where I have gone wrong; but the Spirit of God will point out some particular definite thing. The effect of the vision of the holiness of the Lord on Isaiah was to bring home to him that he was a man of unclean lips. "And he laid it upon my mouth, and said Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." You see; the cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"Woe is me! for I am undone"
"Because I am a man of unclean lips"
When we get into the presence of God, we do not realize that we or sinners in an indefinite sense. We know that the concentration of sin is a particular feature of our life. A man will say easily; "Oh, yes, I know I am a sinner"; but when he gets into the presence of God he cannot get off with that statement. The conviction is concentrated on---- I am this , or that, or the other. This is always the sign that a man or women is in the presence of God. There is never any vague sense of sin, but the concentration of sin in some personal particular. God begins by convicting us of the one thing fixed on in our mind that is prompted by His Spirit; if we will yield to His conviction on that point, He will lead us down to the great disposition of sin underneath. That is the way God always deals with us when we are consciously in His presence.
This experience of the concentration of sin is true in the greatest and the least of saints as well as in the greater and least sinners. When a man (everyone) is on the first rung of the ladder of experience, he may say; I do not know where I have gone wrong; but the Spirit of God will point out some particular definite thing. The effect of the vision of the holiness of the Lord on Isaiah was to bring home to him that he was a man of unclean lips. "And he laid it upon my mouth, and said Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged." You see; the cleansing fire had to be applied where the sin had been concentrated.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Thursday, May 2, 2013
A Value To God
Mark 14:6
"She hath wrought a good work on Me"
If love does not carry a person beyond themselves, it is not love. If love is always discreet, always wise, always sensible and calculating, never carried beyond itself, it is not love at all. It may be affection, it may be warmth of feeling, but it has not the true nature of love in it.
Have you ever been carried away to do something for God not because it was your duty, but because you loved Him? Have you ever realized that you can bring things to God which are of value to Him. Not Divine, colossal things which could be recorded as marvelous, but ordinary, simple human things which will give evidence to God that your devoted to Him? Have you ever produced in the heart of the Lord Jesus what Mary of Bethany produced?
There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him evidence of how much we love Him. Giving all to God is more value than personal holiness. Personal holiness focuses the eye on our own self; we are concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, fearful lest we offend Him. Perfect love casts out all that once we have totally given our self to God. We need to get rid of the notion; "Am I of any use?" And make up our minds that we are not, and we would be near the truth. It is never a question of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"She hath wrought a good work on Me"
If love does not carry a person beyond themselves, it is not love. If love is always discreet, always wise, always sensible and calculating, never carried beyond itself, it is not love at all. It may be affection, it may be warmth of feeling, but it has not the true nature of love in it.
Have you ever been carried away to do something for God not because it was your duty, but because you loved Him? Have you ever realized that you can bring things to God which are of value to Him. Not Divine, colossal things which could be recorded as marvelous, but ordinary, simple human things which will give evidence to God that your devoted to Him? Have you ever produced in the heart of the Lord Jesus what Mary of Bethany produced?
There are times when it seems as if God watches to see if we will give Him evidence of how much we love Him. Giving all to God is more value than personal holiness. Personal holiness focuses the eye on our own self; we are concerned about the way we walk and talk and look, fearful lest we offend Him. Perfect love casts out all that once we have totally given our self to God. We need to get rid of the notion; "Am I of any use?" And make up our minds that we are not, and we would be near the truth. It is never a question of being of use, but of being of value to God Himself.
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Notion to Devotion
Mark 1:17
"Come ye after Me"
When you feel the "Notion" (realize) that your old self is changing, "Devote" yourself toward that change. That change you feel is God working in your heart. But like most of us the old nature in you will start the blocking of divine will. One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of temperament. We make our temperament (mental and physical characteristics) barriers to coming to Jesus. The first thing we realize when we come to Jesus is that He pays no attention whatever to our natural self or our faults.
The "Notion" that God has place in you is that of consecrate; However you can't consecrate what is not yours. There is only one thing you can consecrate to God, and that is your right to yourself (Romans 12:1). If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you. God's experiments always succeed. When experiments have passed all the required test, they become a final product. You can be God's finish product and have the "Spirit of God" "A well of Living water springing up that will give "Eternal Life" through the blood of Jesus Christ. Have you changed that "Notion" of Jesus Christ" to "Devotion to Jesus Christ."
Have You Come To Jesus? Will You Come Now?
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
"Come ye after Me"
When you feel the "Notion" (realize) that your old self is changing, "Devote" yourself toward that change. That change you feel is God working in your heart. But like most of us the old nature in you will start the blocking of divine will. One of the greatest hindrances in coming to Jesus is the excuse of temperament. We make our temperament (mental and physical characteristics) barriers to coming to Jesus. The first thing we realize when we come to Jesus is that He pays no attention whatever to our natural self or our faults.
The "Notion" that God has place in you is that of consecrate; However you can't consecrate what is not yours. There is only one thing you can consecrate to God, and that is your right to yourself (Romans 12:1). If you will give God your right to yourself, He will make a holy experiment out of you. God's experiments always succeed. When experiments have passed all the required test, they become a final product. You can be God's finish product and have the "Spirit of God" "A well of Living water springing up that will give "Eternal Life" through the blood of Jesus Christ. Have you changed that "Notion" of Jesus Christ" to "Devotion to Jesus Christ."
Have You Come To Jesus? Will You Come Now?
May God Bless You
And Your Families
Minister: Robert A. Lail
The Cross Life Ministry
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