Friday, June 14, 2019

Take God To Work


Galatians 6:9  
"And let us not be weary in well doing: 
for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

   One of the best ways to find God and therefore life, at your place of work is to invite Him there. Pour out your feelings and frustrations about work every morning in prayer. Then spend five minutes in silence listening for God's counsel, not necessarily in words, but in gradual illumination. On your way to work, ask God to accompany you throughout the day, and believe He will. 
   Always remember this truth. No matter where you are, no matter what your job, you can serve God and minister to people around you. God cares less about where you work than how you work. Seek to serve others, work to the best of your ability and maintain a faithful, grateful attitude. There are three things God says about work: (1) Jesus is your boss. (2) God works through your work. (3) You can trust God with your work.
   My Friends, We don't always see immediate results from our commitment to follow God at work, but be encouraged. He will use your commitment to give your best to make an incredible impact on others, in His timing.You will find yourself looking forward to each day
and inspiring others to to the same.
Amen!

Reading: 1 Cor. 1; 2 
Paul's Teaching On:
Unity, Power Of God,
And True Wisdom
Ref: HG SB; DSB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry

Thursday, June 13, 2019

Life Is A Battle

1 Corinthians 9:26-27  
"I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, 
not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, 
and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have
 preached to others, I myself should be a castaway".

   This life would not be a real challenge if one never tried to gain success. But life feels like a battle because of  the universe which we live in. We must stand on our faith for our faithfulness will be redeemed. A weak soldier can not win a battle; A slow runner can not win a race. We must always be pressing onward to a goal. 
   To win the fight and to be victorious in the race demands discipline. We have to discipline our bodies. It is one of the neglected facts of spiritual life that very often spiritual depression comes from nothing else than physical unfitness. If a man is going to do his best work in anything he must have the fittest body when he does it. 
   We must also discipline our minds and it is one of the tragedies of life, that most of us refuse to think until we become incapable of thinking. We can not solve problems by refusing to see them or by running away from them. We must discipline our souls, we can do so by facing life's sorrows, it's temptations with the strength God gives and it's disappointments with courage. My Friends, How much more should a Christian discipline himself to win the crown which is eternal life? 
Amen!

Reading: 1 Cor. 9:22-27
Ref: HG SB; DSB
May God Bless You 
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry

Tuesday, June 11, 2019

Are You A Hinder

1 Corinthians 9:14  
"Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which 
preach the gospel should live of the gospel." 

   Some may say that Paul carried his independence to far, because he may have hurt the Corinthians by refusing all aid. But Paul was one of those independent souls who would starve than be dependent on others. Paul would do nothing that would bring discredit or hinder the gospel. Men judge a message by the life and character of the man who brings it; and Paul was determined that his hands would be clean. 
   My Friends, all leaders in the church today, must not allow anything in their lives that would contradict the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let me go a little father; not only the preachers, deacons and teachers but, the individual Christians as well. Some one once said to a preacher, "I cannot hear what you say for listening to what you are." Question? Could anyone ever say hat about you? 
Amen!

Reading: 1 Cor: 9:9-14
Ref: HG SB; DSB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr
The Cross Life Ministry
   

Monday, June 10, 2019

A Father In The Faith

1 Corinthians 4:14  
"I write not these things to shame you, 
but as my beloved sons I warn you." 

   Paul is saying that all their errors and mistaken ways are due, not to deliberate rebellion, but to the fact that they have forgotten. That is so true of human nature. Often it is not that we rebel against Christ; it is simply that we forget Him. And it is not that we deliberately turn our backs on Him; it is simply that we forget that He is in the scheme of things at all. Most of us need one thing above all; "a deliberate effort to live in the conscious realization of the presence of Jesus Christ." It is not only at the sacrament but at every moment of every day that Jesus Christ is saying to us, "Remember Me." 
   Jesus never said, "By their words you shall know them," He said, "By their fruits you shall know them." The world is full of talk about Christianity, but one deed is worth a thousand words. There is a love which can ruin a man by shutting its eyes to his faults; and there is a love which can mend a man because it sees him with the clarity of the eyes of Christ. Paul's love was the love which knows that sometimes it has to hurt in order to amend. 
   My Friends, What a world we would live in if just half of the men in this world could have the love that Paul had for his fellow man. Paul was a Father in the Faith, because he taught The Gospel of Jesus Christ to anyone who was within hearing distance around him, it did not matter where he was or what time it was.
Amen! 

Reading: 1 Cor. 4:14-21
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry 

Saturday, June 8, 2019

Humility And Unchristian Pride

1 Corinthians 4:6  
"And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos
for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above 
that which is written, that no one of you be puffed 
up for one against another."

   All that Paul has been saying about himself and about Apollos is true not only for them but also for us all. We all must be kept humble by the thought that it is not the judgment of men they are facing, but the judgment of God.
   We must all walk in like humility. Paul had a courteous way of including himself in his own warnings and his own condemnations. The true preacher or teacher seldom uses the word you and always uses the word we. He does not speak down to a man; he speaks as one who sits where they set and who is a man of like passion with them.
   If we really desire to lead men to Christ, our attitude must not be one of condemnation but one of pleading. We must not hit them with criticism, but shower them with compassion. We must remember that it is the word of God, which condemns all pride.When we think of what we have done and think of what God has done for us, pride is ruled out and only humble gratitude remains. My Friends, Let us never forget, that we owe our souls to God!

Amen!

Reading: 1 Cor. 4:6-13
Ref: HG SB; DSB

May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry

Friday, June 7, 2019

The Three Judgments

1 Corinthians 4:1  
"Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, 
and stewards of the mysteries of God." 

   Paul is come to the thought of judgment. The Corinthians, with their sects and their appropriation of the leaders of the Church as their masters, have exercised judgments on these leaders, preferring one to the other. So Paul speaks of three judgments that every man must face. 
   He must face the judgment of his fellow men. In this case Paul says that that is nothing to him. But there is a sense in which a man cannot disregard the judgment of his fellow men. The odd thing is that, in spite of its occasional radical mistakes, the judgment of our fellow men is often right. That is due to the fact that every man instinctively admires the basic qualities of honour, honesty, reliability, generosity, sacrifice and love. "There are only two people who can tell you the truth about yourself--an enemy who has lost his temper and a friend who loves you dearly."   
   He must face the judgment of himself. Once again Paul disregards that. He knew very well that a man's judgment of himself can be clouded by self-satisfaction, by pride and by conceit. But in a very real sense every man must face his own judgment, because if he loses his self-respect, life becomes an intolerable thing.
   He must face the judgment of God. This is the only real judgment. Only God knows all the circumstances. He knows the struggles a man has had; he knows the secrets that a man can tell to no one; he knows what a man might have sunk to and he also knows what he might have climbed to. Only God knows all the motives. "Man sees the deed but God sees the intention." Many a deed that looks noble may have been done from the most selfish motives. . 
   My Friends, We would do well to remember two things; first, even if we escape all other judgments or shut our eyes to them, we cannot escape the judgment of God; and, second, judgment belongs to God, and we are not the judge of any man. 
Amen! 
Reading: 1 Cor. 4:1-5
Ref: HG SB; DSB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry

Thursday, June 6, 2019

Spiritual Things To Spiritual Men

1 Corinthians  2:10  
"But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: 
for the Spirit searcheth all things, 
yea, the deep things of God." 

   Paul lays down the fact that the only person who can tell us about God is the Spirit of God. There are feelings which are so personal, things which are so private, experiences which are so intimate that no one knows them except a mans own spirit. Paul tells us and the same is true of God. There are deep and intimate things in Him which only His Spirit knows; and that Spirit is the only person who can lead us into really intimate knowledge of God.
   Paul speaks of the man who in (v-2:14) lives as if there was nothing beyond physical life and there were no needs other than material needs, whose values are all physical and material. A man like that cannot understand spiritual things. A man who thinks that nothing is more important than the satisfaction of the sexual urge cannot understand the meaning of chastity; a man who ranks the gathering of material things as the supreme end of life cannot understand generosity; and a man who has never a thought beyond this world cannot understand the things of God. To him they look mere foolishness. No man need be like this; but if he stifles "the immortal longings" that are in his soul he may make himself like this, so that the Spirit of God will speak and he will not hear. 
   My Friends, It is easy to become so involved in the world that there exists nothing beyond it. We must pray to have the mind of Christ, for only when he dwells within us are we safe from the encroaching invasion of the demands of material things.
Amen!

Reading: 1 Cor. 2:10-16
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr
The Cross Life Ministry 

     

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

The Wisdom Which Is From God

1 Corinthians 2:9  
"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, 
neither have entered into the heart of man, 
the things which God hath prepared 
for them that love him."  

   Out in the streets, and to those who have just newly come into the Church, we talk about the basic elements of Christianity; but when people are a little more mature we give them deeper teaching about what these basic facts mean. I am not saying that there is a kind of distinction between Christians; it is a difference of the stages at which they are. The tragedy so often is that people are content to remain at the elementary stage when they should be going on further to think things out for themselves. 
   "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery,"  which means something whose meaning is hidden from those who have not been enlightened, but crystal clear to those who havePaul tells us that this special teaching is not the product of intellectual activity of men; It is the gift of God and it came into the world with Jesus Christ. All our discoveries are not so much what our minds have found out, as what God as told us. This by no means frees us from the responsibility of human effort. Only the person who works can make himself fit to receive the real riches of the mind of a great teacher. It is so with us and God. The more we strive to understand, the more God can tell us; and there is no limit to this process, because the riches of God are unsearchable. 
Amen!

Reading: 1 Cor. 2:6-9
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

The Glory Of The Shame

1 Corinthians 1:26-27 
"For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, 
not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the 
foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath 
chosen the weak things of the world to confound 
the things which are mighty;" 

   Paul glories in the fact that, for the most part, the Church was composed of the simplest and the humblest people. We must never think that the early Church was entirely composed of slaves. Even in the New Testament we see that people from the highest ranks of society were becoming Christians.
   Somewhere about the year A.D. 178 Celsus wrote one of the bitterest attacks upon Christianity that was ever written. It was precisely this appeal of Christianity to the common people that he ridiculed. He declared that the Christian point of view was, "Let no cultured person draw near, none wise, none sensible; for all that kind of thing we count evil; but if any man is ignorant, if any is wanting in sense and culture, if any is a fool let him come boldly." Of the Christians he wrote, "We see them in their own houses, wool dressers, cobblers and fullers, the most uneducated and vulgar persons." He said that the Christians were "like a swarm of bats--or ants creeping out of their nests--or frogs holding a symposium round a swamp--or worms in conventicle in a corner of mud." (Ref: DSB). 
   It was precisely this that was the glory of Christianity. In the Empire there were sixty million slaves. In the eyes of the law a slave was a "living tool," a thing, not a person at all. A master could fling out an old slave as he could fling out and old spade shovel or hoe. He could amuse himself by torturing his slaves; he could even kill them. For them there was no such thing as marriage; even their children belonged to the master, as the lambs of the fold belonged not to the sheep but to the shepherd. Christianity made people who were nothing into real men and women, more, into son and daughters of God. It gave those who had no respect, their self-respect. It gave those who had no life, life eternal. It told men who, in the eyes of the world were worthless, that, in the eyes of God they were worth the death of His only Son. My Friends, Christianity was, and still is, the most uplifting thing in the whole universe!  
Amen!

Reading: 1 Cor. 1:26-31
Ref: HG SB:
       Barclay Study Bible
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry


 

Monday, June 3, 2019

Sin Shall Not Have Dominion

Romans 6:6  
"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, 
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that 
henceforth we should not serve sin." 

   Standing with Christ on the resurrection side of death, we must present our whole being to God for His use. Because we have left forever behind, nailed to the cross, the body of sin, and therefore must see to it that every power within us shall become a weapon in God's great warfare against evil. "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;" (Col. 2:14). Let your powers be mobilized for God, so that there shall be no room left for the devil. "Neither give place to the devil, " (Eph. 4:27).
   All of us serve a higher power, but which one is it? Our real owner and master, whatever we may say, is indicated by our life. We belong to the one whom, in a crisis, we obey. My Friends, service to sin leads to uncleanness,iniquity, and death. Service to God leads to righteousness, and that to sanctification, and that to eternal life. Mold your life after Christ, as an obedient child of God. We have our reward in Heaven where life is life indeed!
Amen

Reading: Rom. 6:12-23
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Saved By His Life!

Romans 5:1  
"Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:"   

   We stand in grace, we look for glory. Our standing is sure, It is ours forever, through union with the living Christ. It is our admission to the home of God's elect. We have passed the threshold and have received, our new white robe. But being in the house we find it several stories high. They are marked  with the Phrases, Not Only So and Much More. 
   Starting from faith, the staircase mounts from peace to hope, "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God," (Rom 5:2); from hope to love, "And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us," (Rom. 5:5); from reconciliation to salvation and life and joy in God, "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement," (Rom. 5:5-11). So what He does is, He awakens in our hearts responsive admiration and glad consent.  Stand on these successive heights in your mountain climb to take your breath and behold the far spread landscape.
   My Friends, Let us not be worried with the ladder climb when all these rounds of light invite us. Just ponder where the Apostle distinguishes between reconciliation and salvation. What music there is in that wonderful phrase, Saved By His Life! By His Life For Us In Heaven And In Us By His Spirit. 
Amen! 

Reading: Rom. 5:1-11
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
and Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross life ministry 

Thursday, May 30, 2019

All Freely Justified By Grace

Romans 3:24  
"Being justified freely by his grace through 
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:"

    From the universal need the Apostle turns to the all sufficient remedy. The Law and the Prophets hinted dimly at justification by faith, but did not unveil it. Gods way of justification is to impute righteousness to the believer. He places us in that position in law, before proceeding by the Holy Spirit to bring us into the condition of holiness.
    The perfect day is imputed to the dawn, the perfect flower to the seed, the finished picture to the sketch. As soon as we trust in Jesus we are viewed as standing in Him and justified before the Law; but before us lies the great work of assimilation to His perfect likeness by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
    My Friends, It is a sin to come short, "Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God,"(Rom. 3:23). And who among us fulfilled his possibilities of god likeness? " Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus," (Rom. 3:24). Though justification costs us nothing but sacrifice of our pride, it has cost Christ His own blood. "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God," (Rom. 3:25).
    The propitiatory, or mercy seat, was the golden lid of the Ark which the high priest sprinkled with blood. Faith has no room in her household for vaunting and boasting. " Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith," (Rom. 3:27). The Law is best honored when the Lawgiver, dwelling within us, fulfills it through us. 
Amen!

Reading: Rom.(3:21-31)
Ref: HGSB

May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry

Monday, May 27, 2019

Battle Gear, "The Armor Of God"

Ephesians 6: 11 
"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may 
be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." 

   Paul has helped us understand the armor of God and how to use it, by taking the armor worn by a Roman solider and makes Spiritual applications to each one. First is The Girt (girdle) with Truth. This was no mere adornment for the soldier, but an essential part of his equipment. It holds his sword and other parts of his equipment in place. Truth is the truthfulness found in a true believer in Christ. Therefore, if a believers life is tainted with deceit and falsehood that forfeits the very thing that holds other pieces of his armor together. 
   The second piece of armor is The Breastplate of Righteousness. The breastplate of righteousness symbolizes the right acts as practice by the believer. The breastplate is to protect the heart of the soldier; therefore unrighteous acts committed by a Christian, rob him of the vital protection and expose his Spiritual heart to Satan. "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water," (Heb. 10:22).
   The third piece of armor is The Sandals of The Gospel. The Roman Soldiers wore sandals which were bound with straps over the instep around the ankle and sometimes up to the calf of the leg. The soles of the sandals were thickly studded with nails. This gave a Solider firm footing in time of attack. This refers to the assurance and confidence which comes from knowing the doctrinal truths of the gospel. "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:" (1 Pet. 3:15). 
    The fourth piece of armor is The Shield of Faith. This is to me the most important piece of the Armor of God, because we control our own Faith and our Faith is what we stand on daily in Christ! A Soldier used his shield to protect him from all angles of attack, no matter which way he turned he had his shield to protect him. With Faith in our Lord And saviour Jesus Christ and God, The Father of all things from the beginning till the end, you are protected by your Faith.
    The fifth piece of armor is The Helmet of Salvation. The helmet of  course protected the head and brain. This piece of armor like the sandals refers to the intake of the Bible Doctrine, (ie) "lest ones eyes be blinded, his ears deafened, and his mind confused with the attacks from the world, the flesh and the devil.
The Sixth piece of armor is The Sword of The Spirit. This is the only offensive weapon listed among the various pieces of armor. The rest are defensive in nature. The sword of the Spirit identified to be the Word of God, "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart," (Heb. 4:12).  Believers in Christ are commended to wear the armor of God daily, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand, " (Eph. 6:13).
   My Friends, God has provided everything we need to live in this world today.  It may not be what we planned or what we thought our life would be like,  but it doesn't matter. We are where we are today because that's God's plan in our life. Now think how many times you might have veered off the path that God put you on, maybe that's why somethings you thought would be never become. One thing for sure God has taken care of everything that His Children need to be united with Him in Eternity. Will You Be There? 


  Remembering Memorial  Day
God Bless Those  Who Gave All

The Cross Life Ministry  
Minister Robert A. Lail    




     

Thursday, April 4, 2019

Front Line Fighting

Ephesians 6:12  
"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, 
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, 
against spiritual wickedness in high places." 

   As a Believer, we must be ready to battle our enemy "the devil."  We must also battle his cohorts which we find in (Eph. 6:12).  Our battle starts at the top with Principalities, which is lets say Satan's Generals who have the over sight of entire nations, (see Dan. chap 10).  His powers are his "privates" who possess human beings, (see Mark 5:1-20; Matt. 17:14-21). Then we have the world rulers, these are the demons that are in charge of worldly religion.
   Now that we know who we must battle, we need to understand his tactics, which is called the wiles of the devil, (v. 6:11).  these are his cunning arts, deceit craft and trickery. Then we must battle the fiery darts of the wicked. These are arrows that are tipped with tow, pitch, and other material than set on fire before they are discharged.
   My Friends, we can not battle Satan and his demons with a weak christian attitude. We must be in union with God and put on the whole armor of God, which we will discuss in our next Devotion.
Amen!
Reading:  Eph: 6:10-12
                Dan. chap. 10
                Mark 5:1-20
               Matt. 17:14-21
Ref:HG SB

May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry
     

Monday, April 1, 2019

Banished From Christian Life

Ephesians 4:32  
"And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, 
forgiving one another, even as God for
Christ's sake hath forgiven you." 

   You must get rid of your old way of life just like you would get rid of an old suit of clothes. Clothe yourself in a new way; put off your sins, and put on the righteousness and the holiness which God can give you.  Paul speaks of the things which must be banished from the Christian life. 
   There must be no more falsehood. There is more than one kind of lie in this world. There is the lie in speech, sometimes deliberate and sometimes almost unconscious. When something happens at one place and time, and they, when relating to it say it happen at another place, do not let it pass, instantly check them; because you just don't know where deviation of truth will end.  It is more from carelessness about truth than from intentional lying, that causes falsehood in the world today. Truth demands a deliberate effort. There is also the lie of silence, and it is more common. It is things that should have been said that wasn't, (ie) you did not listen to the Holy Spirit.   
   There must also be anger in the Christian life, but it must be the right kind of anger.  The anger which is selfish and uncontrolled is a sinful and hurtful thing, which must be banished from the Christian life.  But the selfless anger which is disciplined into the service of Christ and of our fellow men is one of the great dynamic forces of the world.  The man who was a thief must become an honest workman.
   Paul urges us not to grieve the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the guide of life. When we act contrary to what our parents tell us when we are young, we hurt them. So, to act contrary to the guidance of the Holy Spirit is to grieve the Spirit and to hurt the heart of God, the Father, who, through the Spirit, sent his word to us. 
   My Friends, It would save a great deal of heartbreak in this world if we simply learned to keep our voices down and if, when we had nothing good to say to a person, we did not say anything at all. The argument which has to be supported in a shout is no argument; and the dispute which has to be conducted in insults is not an argument but a brawl
Amen!
Reading: Eph. 4:25-32
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
 The Cross Life Ministry

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Live In The Unity Of Christ

Ephesians 4:4
"There is one body, and one Spirit
even as ye are called in one
hope of your calling" 

    Here Paul is talking about the Jew and the Gentile which had always been prejudice against each other. The Jews thought the Gentiles were not true followers because they were not circumcised and obedient to the Law of Moses. But over all Paul is talking  about the unity of believers in Christ. And still today there is problems with unity within our Christian families, inside our Church walls and outside the Church walls. The reason being, at times we as believers put ourselves in the center of the plan of Salvation instead of  placing Christ there. We should view our brothers in Christ on an equal level. 
   My Friends, God is sovereign over all races, cultures, problems of humanity (such as social and family situations, and even the unseen beings, "To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God," (Eph. 3:10). We are God's chosen people having been set free from sin and made to be equals by Jesus' death and resurrection, we must live in unity of Christ.
Amen!
Reading: Eph. 4:1-16
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry
   

Friday, March 29, 2019

Blessed Is The Lord

Psalms 68:19  
"Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, 
even the God of our salvation. Selah." 

   God's benefits are not few or light, they are loads; and they don't just come once, they come “daily.”  They are never confined to one or two favorites, for God knows we change and what we need changes daily. If He Himself burdens us with sorrow, He gives strength sufficient to sustain it; and if others oppress us, there is no cause for fear, for the Lord will come to the rescue of His people. 
   A world of meaning is condensed into a few words. His yoke is easy, and His burden is light, therefore blessed be the Savior's name for evermore. My Friends, Let us all bless the Prince of Peace! All the saved adore thee, and call thee blessed. 
Amen!
Reading: Ps. 68:18-20
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross life Ministry



Thursday, March 28, 2019

The Gifts Of God

Ephesians 1:7-8  
"In whom we have redemption through his blood, 
the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; 
Wherein he hath abounded toward us 
in all wisdom and prudence;" 

    In our verses we study today we come across three of the great conceptions of the Christian faith.    The first is deliverance:.  In every case the conception is the delivering of a man from a situation from which he was powerless to liberate himself or from a penalty which he himself could never have paid, for his own redemption.  
   God delivered men from a situation from which they could never have delivered themselves. That is precisely what Christianity did do for us. When Christianity came into this world we were haunted by the sense of our own powerlessness. We knew the wrongness of the life we were living; and we also know that we were powerless to do anything about it.
   Then we have forgiveness: Even the rich and the strongest people in the world knows that they are in the grip of something they are helpless to deliver themselves from, and they need liberation. It is  that liberation which Jesus Christ brought. It is still true that he can liberate men from slavery of Sin, to the things that attract and disgust them at one and the same time. To put it at its simplest, Jesus can still make bad men good. 
    If there was one thing which men knew it was the sense of sin and the dread of God. Jesus changed all that. He taught men about the love of God. Because Jesus came into the world, men, even in their sin, discovered God's love.  My Friends, as the Scriptures tell us there is wisdom and prudence (sound sense), and Christ brought both of them to us, therefore let us stand on our Christian faith with God's gifts in hand.
Amen!
Reading: Eph. 1:7-8
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry 
  

Monday, March 25, 2019

In Christ

Ephesians 1:3  
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings 
in heavenly places in Christ:" 

   The creating of this body was wrought and planned by the Father: He blessed us, He chose us, He predestined us, He adopted us. All this happened before the foundation of the world, (cf. v. 4).  Paul writes to those at Ephesus, "and to the faithful in Christ Jesus" (v. 1). The little word (in), is the most  important word  of this epistle when it precedes Christ. There have been so many words defining our salvation such as redemption, atonement, justification, reconciliation, propitiation  and the sacrifice of Christ.
   All of these are fine, and each presents one aspect of the many facets of our salvation, None however seem entirely adequate. What does it mean to be saved? This is a question that is answered simply by the Bible term, "in Christ." To be saved means to be in Christ. A sinner who has trusted Christ for his salvation has as much right in heaven as has Christ; or he has no right there at all! 
Amen!
Reading: Eph. 1:1-6
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You 
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry

Friday, March 22, 2019

Share In All Good Things

Galatians 6:10  
"As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, 
especially unto them who are of the household of faith." 

    Paul is being Practical here. He reminds us that Church was and still is really a sharing institution. No Christian should strive to have too much while others had too little. "Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things," (Gal.6:6). So what Paul is saying here is; If a man is teaching you the eternal truths, the least you can do is share with him such material things as you possess. 
    Life holds the scales with an even balance. If a man allows the scales to tip to the lower side of nature, in the end he can expect nothing but trouble. But if he keeps walking on the high side doing the right thing, in the end God will repay. 
   My Friends, Christianity never takes the threat out of Life. What we do need to remember is this. It is the blessed true that God can and does forgive men for their sins, but not even he can wipe out the consequence of sin. For example: If a man sins against his body, sooner or later he will pay in ruined health, even if he is forgiven. If a man sins against his loved ones, sooner or later hearts will be broken even if he is forgiven. We cannot trade on the forgiveness of God. There is a moral law in the universe. If a man breaks it he may be forgiven, but he breaks it at his risk. Let us all remember the duty of generosity, and the old cliche, "No man who ever cast his bread upon the waters found that it did not return some day to him." 
Amen!

Reading: Gal. 6:6-10
Ref: HG SB; BDSB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Bearing Burdens

 Galatians 6:5  
"For every man shall bear his own burden."    

   Paul knew the problems that arose in any Christian society. The best of men slip up, it does not mean a deliberate sin; but a slip as a man on an icy road or a dangerous path. Now, the danger of those who are really trying to live the Christian life is that they are apt to judge the sins of others. Sadly to say but there is some hardness in many a good man. And there are many good people to whom you could not go and tell a story of failure and defeat, because they would probably be unsympathetic.    
However, if a man does make a slip, the real Christian duty is to get him on his feet again. The whole meaning of the word restore, stresses not to tear down, but to rebuild.  
   We are not to compare our achievement with the work of our friends and neighbors, but with what our best would have been. When we do that, there can never be any cause for conceit. When we speak of bearing burdens, there is a kind of burden which comes to a man from the chances and the changes of life. "It is fulfilling the law of Christ to help everyone who has such a burden to carry." 
   My Friends, There is also a burden which man must bear himself. There is a duty which none can do for us and a task for which we must be personally responsible. "But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another," (Gal. 6:4). 
 Amen!

Reading: Gal. 6:1-5
Ref: HG SB; BDSB 
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry  

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Keep In Step With The Spirit (PT-2)

Galatians 5:21 
"Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: 
of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you 
in time past, that they which do such things 
shall not inherit the kingdom of God." 

   Today we finish the rest of Paul's list of evil words, that if understood will keep us in step with the Spirit. We start with Uncontrolled temper;  the word Paul uses here means bursts of temper. It describes not an anger which lasts but anger which flames out and then dies. Self-seeking; this word has a very illuminating history. It originally meant the work of a hired laborer.  So it came to mean work done for pay. It went on to mean canvassing for political or public office, and it describes the man who wants office, not from any motives of service. but for what he can get out of it. Kinda like our government is today. 
   Dissension; literally the word means a standing apart. Dissension describes a society in which the   members fly apart instead of coming together.  Heretical division; this might be described as crystallized dissension. The word is hairesis (G139), from which comes our word heresy. It was not originally a bad word at all. It comes from a root which means to choose, and it was used for a philosopher's school of followers or for any band of people who shared a common belief. The tragedy of life is that people who hold different views very often finish up by disliking, not each others' views, but each other. It should be possible to differ with a man and yet remain friends. 
   Envy; is a mean word. It has been called  "the greatest of all diseases among men." The essence of it is that it does not describe the spirit which desires, nobly or ignobly, to have what someone else has: it describes the spirit which grudges the fact that the other person has these things at all. It does not so much want the things for itself; it merely wants to take them from the other. 
   Drunkenness; in the ancient world this was not a common vice. The Greeks drank more wine than they did milk; even children drank wine. But they drank it in the proportion of three parts of water to two of wine. Greek and Christian alike would have condemned drunkenness as a thing which turned a man into a beast. Actually we still do today.
   Revellings;  is a wild and fun time, if you enjoy the revelry of  New Year's Eve party, you might pay for parting hard the next day. But because it comes from the french word reveler meaning to rebel, it's tone indicates carousing or noisy partying. My Friend,s When we get to the root meaning of these words, we see that life has not changed so very much. 
Amen!

Reading: Gal. 5:16-21
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Keep In Step With The Spirit (PT-1)

Galatians 5:16  
"This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, 
and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh;"
  
    No man was ever more conscious of the tension in human nature than Paul. For Paul it was essential that Christian freedom should mean not freedom to indulge the lower side of human nature, but freedom to walk in the life of the Spirit. He gives us a list of evil things. Every word he uses has a picture behind it. Lets start with, Fornication; it has been said, and said truly, that the one completely new virtue Christianity brought into the world was chastity. Christianity came into a world where sexual immorality was not only condoned, but was regarded as essential to the ordinary working of life.  
   Impurity, is used of that ceremonial cleanness which entitles a man to approach his gods. Impurity, then, is that which makes a man unfit to come before God, the soiling of life with the things which separate us from God. Wantonness; It has been defined as "readiness for any pleasure." The man who practices it has been said to know no restraint, but to do whatever is desired. Josephus ascribed it to Jezebel when she built a temple to Baal in Jerusalem. The idea is that of a man who is so far gone in desire that he has ceased to care what people say or think
   Idolatry; this means the worship of gods which the hands of men have made. It is the sin in which material things have taken the place of God. Witchcraft; this literally means the act of  administering drugs and given of magical potions. It can mean the beneficent use of drugs by a doctor; but it can also mean poisoning, and it came to be very specially connected with the use of drugs for sorcery, of which the ancient world was full of.
   Enmity; the idea is that of the man who is characteristically hostile to his fellow men; it is the precise opposite of the Christian virtue of love for the brethren and for all men. Strife; originally this word had mainly to do with the rivalry for prizes. It can even be used in a good sense in that connection, but much more commonly it means the rivalry which has found its outcome in heated arguments and disputes. Jealousy; this being from which our word zeal comes and was originally a good word. It meant effort to match or surpass the desire to attain to nobility when we see it. But it degenerated and became to mean the desire to have what someone else has. A wrong desire for what is not for us.
Amen! 

Reading: Gal. 5:16-21
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry




Monday, March 18, 2019

The Heart Of Man

Proverbs 14:10  
"The heart knoweth his own bitterness;
and a stranger doth not intermeddle with his joy." 

   The bitterness of his soul, the distress of his conscience, the anguish of his mind; for the heart of man only knows the whole of it. Some of it may be known to others by his looks, his words, and gestures, but not all of it, "But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God," (1 Cor. 2:10).  Bitterness of soul often arises from outward troubles, pains, and diseases of body, losses, crosses, and disappointments. Sometimes it is upon spiritual accounts; but this is not the case of every heart. The hardened and hardhearted sinner feels nothing of it, only those who are awakened and convinced by the Spirit of God, to these, sin is a bitter thing in itself. It puts the want of repentance in them, it brings trembling and astonishment on them, fills them with shame and confusion of face, and severe reflections upon themselves seeing sin in its own colors. 
   Spiritual joy, passes the understanding of a natural man; he has no true idea of it: spiritual joy is what a sensible sinner partakes of upon the Gospel, the joyful sound of salvation, reaching his ears and his heart, at the revelation of Christ in him and to him. When pardoning grace is made to his soul, and he has the complete righteousness of Christ, then he is favored with a sight of the fullness of grace in Christ, and of the spiritual and eternal salvation that Christ has wrought out for him. He enjoys communion with God, and when he has a glimpse of eternal glory, and with the work of grace in his heart and well grounded hope, meekness and spiritual joy, that no stranger can interrupt nor take it away.      
Amen!

Reading: Devotional Scripture
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry


Friday, March 15, 2019

Freed From The Law

Galatians 3:13  
"Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed 
is every one that hangeth on a tree:" 

      Paul's argument seeks to drive his opponents into a corner from which there is no escape. Suppose, he says, "You decide that you are going to try to win God's approval by accepting and obeying the law. What would be the consequence?" First of all, the man who does that has to stand or fall by his decision; if he chooses the law he has got to live by it. Second, no man ever has succeeded and no man ever will succeed in always keeping the law. Third, if that being so, you are accursed, because scripture itself says, "Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen" (Deut. 27:26). Therefore, of trying to get right with God by making the law the principle of life is a curse. 
     But scripture has another saying, "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith," (Hab. 2;4). The only way to get into a right relationship with God, and therefore the only way to peace, is the way of faith. But the principle of law and the principle of faith are completely opposite; you cannot direct your life by both at the same time; you must choose; and the only logical choice is to abandon the way of legalism and to venture upon the way of faith, of taking God at His word and of trusting in His love. 
   How can we know this is so? The answer to this truth is Jesus Christ; He brought this truth to the world and He had to die upon a Cross. For, Scripture says, "His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance," (Deu. 21:23). and so to free us of the curse of the law, Jesus himself had to become accursed.
   My Friends, As Believers, we must never forget that the peace, the liberty, and the right relationship with God that Believers possess, cost the life and death of Jesus Christ, for how could men ever have known what God was like unless Jesus Christ had died to tell them of his great love.
Amen!

Reading: Gal. 3:10-14
HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry






Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Unity Is Essential

Galatians 2:11  
"But when Peter was come to Antioch, 
I withstood him to the face, because 
he was to be blamed."

   Here in Antioch arose a terrible problem. The Jews and the Gentiles sit down together at a common meal. If the old law was to be observed it was obviously impossible. Peter came to Antioch and, at first, disregarding the old standards in the glory of the new faith, he shared the meal with Jew and Gentile. Then came in the Jewish party from Jerusalem. They used James' name although quite certainly they were not representing his views, and they worked on Peter so much that he withdrew from the meal. The other Jews withdrew with him and finally even Barnabas got up an moved as well. It was then that Paul spoke with all the intensity of which his passionate nature was capable, for he saw certain things quite clearly.
   A church ceases to be Christian if it contains distinctions. In the presence of God a man is neither Jew nor Gentile, noble nor base, rich nor poor; he is a sinner for whom Christ died. If men share in a common son-ship they must be brothers. 
   Paul saw that action was necessary to stop what just had occurred. He did not wait; he struck.  It made no difference to him that this problem was connected with the name and conduct of Peter. It was wrong and that was all that mattered to Paul.
   My Friends, a famous name can never justify an infamous action. Paul's action gives us an example of how one strong man by his steadfastness can see a obvious infraction and fix it before it becomes a problem.
Amen!

Reading: Gal. 2:11-13
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry 

Tuesday, March 12, 2019

Paul's Gospel Of Free Grace

Galatians 1:3-4  
"Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our
Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that 
he might deliver us from this present evil world
according to the will of God and our Father"

   Paul's gospel was a gospel of free grace. He believed with all his heart that nothing a man could do, could ever earn the love of God. All man could do is ask for God's mercy in an act of faith. But the important thing is, is not what we can do for ourselves but what God has done for us.
   Paul was accused of making religion far too easy. This accusation was the reverse of the truth. If religion consists of fulfilling rules and regulations, it would at least be theoretically possible to satisfy it's demands, but Paul is holding up the Cross and saying, "God loved you liked that.'' Religion is not a matter of satisfying the law, but meeting the obligation of love. 
   My Friend's, Paul was not preaching the Gospel to be favored among men. He preached because he believed and he loved Christ, no matter the consequences. It is when others see that we are prepared to suffer for our faith which we say we hold that they begin to believe that we really hold it. If our faith cost us nothing, men will value it at nothing.  
Amen!

Reading: Gal. 1:1-10
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry

Monday, March 11, 2019

The Responsibility Of Privilege

Romans 2:1  
"Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: 
for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; 
for thou that judgest doest the same things."

   The Jew believed that everyone was destined for judgment except himself. It would not be any special goodness which kept him immune from the wrath of God, but simply the fact that he was a Jew. He thought that he occupied a privileged position. God might be the judge of the heathen, but he was the special protector of the Jews. Here Paul is pointing out to the Jew that he is just as much a sinner as the Gentile is and that when he is condemning the Gentile, he is condemning himself. He will be judged, not on his racial heritage, but by the kind of life that he lives.
   The attitudes among believers and non-believers today are not different than from the Jews and Gentiles. For example, Some believers think, that everyone is destined for judgment except themselves. It would not be any special goodness which kept them immune from the wrath of God,but simply the fact that they are believers. The non-believer is constantly against religious rights and just flat out denies that there is a God. 
   We must remind ourselves, the same as Paul reminded the Jews. He told them bluntly that they were trading on the mercy of God. He asks them: "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? 
(Rom. 2:4). 
   My Friends, Let us think of it in human terms. Suppose a young person does something which is a shame, a sorrow and a heartbreak to his parents, and because they love him, he is freely forgiven, and the thing is never held against him. He can do one of two things. He can either go and do the same thing again, trading on the fact that he will be forgiven once more; or he can be so moved to wondering gratitude by the free forgiveness that he has received, that he spends his whole life in trying to be worthy of it. It is one of the most shameful things in the world to use love's forgiveness as an excuse to go on sinning. That is what the Jews were doing. That is what so many people still do. The "Mercy and Love of God" are not meant to make us feel that we can sin and get away with it; they are meant so to break our hearts that we will seek never to sin again. 
Amen!

Reading: Rom. 2:1-11
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry


  

Sunday, March 10, 2019

Christ Strengthens Me

Philippians 4:12-13  
"I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where 
and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, 
both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things 
through Christ which strengtheneth me." 

   This power can satisfy. It was not that he was dissatisfied with his own state, for he had learned the gift of content. We must understand that contentment is not complacency; it is containment. The abiding Christ within Paul's body assured him of his satisfaction. 
   Which brings us to two kinds of Christians: (1) The thermometer believer. His satisfaction is totally dependent upon outside circumstances. He simply registers the prevailing spiritual temperatures. (2) The Thermostat believer. His satisfaction is totally independent of the outside circumstances. He is not only unaffected by it, but actually controls that area surrounding him.
   This Power can Supply. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."  So Lets just summarize what it means to be in Christ. My Friends, To be in Christ means Salvation. To work through Christ means sanctification. To live for Christ means dedication. To surrender to Christ means consecration. To be with Christ means glorification.  I close with this, "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:19). 
Amen!

Reading: Phil. 4:10-19
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You 
And Your Family 
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross life Ministry
    
   


 

Saturday, March 9, 2019

The Love of God

John 3:16 
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in him should 
not perish, but have everlasting life."  

   This tells us the width of God's love. It was the world that God so loved. It was not a nation; it was not the good people; it was not only the people who loved him; it was the world. The unlovable and the unlovely, the lonely who have no one else to love them. The man who loves God and the man who never thinks of him, the man who rests in the love of God, all are included in this inclusive love of God. 
   My Friends, God loves each one of us as if there was only one of us to love." and that's the way we should love Him. Why? Because each day is a new beginning and things of yesterday are gone. "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day," (2 Cor 4:16).
Amen!

Reading: Devotional Scripture
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You 
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry 

Friday, March 8, 2019

Look Out To God

Romans 1:21-22  
"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, 
neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, 
and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing 
themselves to be wise, they became fools," 

    What did the sinner do? Instead of looking out to God, he looked into himself. He involved himself in vain speculations and thought he was wise, while all the time he was a fool. Why? He was a fool because he made his ideas, his opinions, his speculations the standard and the law of life, instead of the will of God. The sinner's folly consisted in making "man the master of things." He found his standards in his own opinions and not in the laws of God. He lived in a self-centered instead of a God-centered universe. Instead of walking looking out to God he walked looking into himself, and, like any man who does not look where he is going, he falls.
   My Friends, let us not be all about ourselves, and how we do things in life, or what we think we can gain by having our own standards concerning life as we see it. For we are mere sinners saved by  God's Grace. No matter what our calling may be from God, it will all be done under the same Grace.
Amen!

Reading: Romans 1:18-22
Ref: HG SB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry  

Thursday, March 7, 2019

Paul's Last Journey (PT-3 Paul Sails To Rome)


Acts 28:11-12 
"And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria, 
which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor 
and Pollux. And landing at Syracuse, 
we tarried there three days." 

   In the early Part of the Spring, they board a new boat and sail for Rome. Paul is met by some Roman Believers both at Puteoli (forty three miles from Rome. And (35 miles from Rome at the Three Taverns he was met by believers again. Note the phrase in (v-28:15), "to meet us." is the same word found concerning the Rapture of all Believers in 1 Thessalonians. 4:17, where we read, "to meet the Lord in the air." It is a term regularly used of the official welcome given by a delegation who went out to meet a visiting official and accompany him into the city.
   When Paul arrives in Rome he is granted great freedom, by being guarded by only one soldier. Soon after his arrival he assembles the local Jewish leaders to explain who he is and why he is in Rome appealing to Caesar. The Jews are curious to hear his strange message about Christ. After his sermon, some accept the Savior, but of course, many do not. 
   This would be the last of seven recorded defenses of his ministry by the apostle. Here are the other six. Before the Jerusalem mob (Acts 22:1-23, before the chief captain (Acts 22:24-30), before the Sanhedrin (Acts 23:1-10), before Felix (Acts 24:10-23), before Festus (Acts 25:8-12, and before Agrippa (Acts 26:1-32.
   To the unbelieving Paul quotes the words of Isaiah, "And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed," Is. 6:9-10). 
    Luke ends his remarkable account with the following words: "And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him, (Acts 28:30-31). 
   My Friends, Paul did not stop here. It was during this time that Paul wrote , Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon, and Philippians. However it is believed by many that Paul was released after the two years and traveled around once more preaching Christ before his final arrest and martyrdom in Rome. It was probably during this time that Paul wrote 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus. 
   Paul was one of the most Godly person in the Bible except for Jesus Christ. Paul was a believer that never gave up no matter the situation he was in, or the pain he had to ignore. I pray that we all stand firm for our beliefs and serve our Lord with every ounce of strength we have. 
Amen!

Reading: Acts 28:11-31
Ref: HG SB, WGTTB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry 



Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Paul's Last Journey (PT-2 The Shipwreck)

Acts 27:44  
"And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken 
pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, 
that they escaped all safe to land."  

   After Paul told them to be of good cheer; he says, "for I believe God that it will be just as it was told to me. Then He warns everyone to stay on board and not attempt to lower the life boat, and encourages everyone to eat by publicly saying grace over his bread. Soon after the entire 276 souls on board begin to eat, (v-27:36). 
   At daybreak the ship hits a sand bar and runs aground. Julius the centurion denies the soldiers request to kill the prisoners even if they could escape, and orders all to swim for the nearby island of Melita. Soon every single person is safely ashore. The people of Melita treated the shivering survivors with kindness, built a bonfire on the beach to get them warm. Paul is suddenly bitten by a poisonous serpent which has hidden itself among the firewood that Paul help to gather. But to the amazement of all, he suffers absolutely no discomfort whatsoever.  
   My Friends, This event was a direct fulfillment of Jesus' prophecy in Mark and Luke, "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover," (Mark 16:18) Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you," (Luke 10:19).  Note: Paul did not pick up the serpent directly, the serpent was within the wood that Paul picked up. "Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God," (Matt 4:7). During the three month stay on the island, Paul heals many including the father of Publius, governor of the island. Tomorrow (PT -3 Paul Sails To Rome).
Amen! 

Reading: Acts 27:39-44
               Acts 28: 1-10
Ref: HG SB, WGTTB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry 
  

Monday, March 4, 2019

Paul's Last Journey Begins

Acts 27:2
  "And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, 
meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, 
a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us."


   Luke now joins Paul who is placed aboard a ship sailing west with some other prisoners in the custody of Julius, a member of the imperial guard. This Roman official would later treat Paul with great Kindness and respect, (Acts 27:1-3). After some difficult sailing, they arrived at Fair Havens on the southern side of Crete. The time was around about late autumn. In those days it was the dangerous season  for sailing was from September 14 through November 11. After these dates all navigation on the open sea was discontinued. In spite of this knowledge, and over the protest of Paul  who had already been through a least three shipwrecks, "Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep," (2 Cor. 11-25), the boat Captain set sail for Phenice, and stay the winter there.
   Soon however,  they are caught up in the grip of a winter typhoon. One of the must vivid accounts of a storm in recorded history is described by Luke. The ship is blown far out to sea completely out of control. The terrified sailors band the ship with ropes to strengthen the hull. the following day as the seas grow higher they throw the cargo overboard. The next day all the tackle and loose objects are are also discarded. After fourteen frightful and desperate days Luke writes, "And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we souls be saved was then taken away," (Acts 27:20).
   Paul,this fearless apostle of God appears and standing on the water soaked deck, Sirs, if you had listened to me, and not sailed from Crete we would not have gained this harm and loss. (v. 21). Then Paul tells them to be of good cheer for there will be no loss of any man's life, only the ship. For there stood beside me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve, "Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee," (Acts 27:24.) We will continue with (PT-2) The Ship Wreck  Tomorrow.
Amen!

Reading: Acts: 27: 1-38
Ref: HG SB, WGTTB
May God Bless You
And Your Family
Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.
The Cross Life Ministry