Holy Spirit, Brings God's Truth

2 Peter 1:21  

"For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: 

but holy men of God spake as they were 

moved by the Holy Ghost."

    In prophecy we have a guarantee, "that is, of The Second Coming." The words of the prophets are even a surer guarantee of the reality of The Second Coming. When Peter was writing, there was a tremendous interest, in the words of prophecy, whose fulfillment in Christianity was seen to prove its truth. There is case after case of people converted in the days of the early church, by reading the Old Testament books and seeing their prophecies fulfilled in Jesus. It would be quite in line with that, to declare that the strongest argument for The Second Coming, is that the prophets foretold it. 

    However we take it, the meaning is that the glory of Jesus on the mountain top and the visions of the prophets combine to make it certain that The Second Coming is a living reality which all men must expect and for which all men must prepare.   

    No man has the right to interpret Scripture, to use his own word, privately. How then must it be interpreted? To answer that question we must ask another. How did the prophets receive their message? They received it from the Spirit. It was sometimes even said that the Spirit of God used the prophets as a writer uses a pen or as a musician uses a musical instrument. In any event the Spirit gave the prophet his message. The obvious conclusion is that it is only through the help of that same Spirit that the prophetic message can be understood. As Paul had already said, spiritual things are spiritually discerned. "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned," (1 Cor. 2:14). 
    My Friends, The Holy Spirit, brings God's truth to men, and he enables men to understand that truth. Scripture is not to be interpreted by private cleverness or private prejudice; it is to be interpreted by the help of the Holy Spirit by whom it was first given.
Amen!

Reading: 2 Peter 1:16-21
Ref: HG SB

God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

   The Cross Life Ministry    

  

"That Means Me"

2 Peter 1:4-5  

"Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these 

ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption

that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, 

add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;" 

    He is the Christ of power. In him there is the divine power which cannot be defeated or frustrated. In this world one of the tragedies of life is that love is so often frustrated, because it cannot give what it wants to give, cannot do what it wants to do and must so often stand helpless while the loved one meets disaster. But always Christ's love is backed by his power and is, always an victorious love.

    Christ by whom we escape the world's corruption, by His death on The Cross;  However Peter had to meet the antinomians, the people who used the grace of God as an excuse for sin, just the same as some still do today. They declared that grace was wide enough to cover every sin; therefore, sin does not matter any more, the grace of Christ will win forgiveness for it. For any man to speak like that is simply to show that he wants to sin. But Jesus Christ is the person who can help us overcome the fascination of the world's lust and cleanse us by his presence and his power. So long as we live in this world sin will never completely lose its fascination for us; but in the presence of Christ we have our defense against that fascination
    My Friends, He is the Christ of the precious and great promises. Paul put the same thing in a different way when he said that all the promises of God are Yes and Amen in Christ. "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us," (2 Cor. 1:20). That is to say Christ says, "Yes. So let it be," to these promises; he confirms and guarantees them. It has been put this way--once we know Jesus Christ, every time we meet a promise in Scripture which begins with the word "Whosoever," we can immediately say to ourselves, "That means me." 
Amen!

Reading: 2 Peter 1:1-7
Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

Gird Up, Be Sober, And Hope

1 Peter 1:13  

"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope 

to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto 

you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;" 

    Peter had talked about the greatness and the glory that the Christian can look forward; but the Christian should never be lost in dreams of the future; he must always be virile in the battle of the present. So Peter gives us three challenges here. He tells us to gird up the loins of our mind: Peter is telling us to roll up our sleeves and be ready for a strenuous mental fight against evil.

    He tells us to be sober:  Let's look at this two ways. This could mean, we must refrain from drunkenness in the literal sense of the term; and it can also mean that we must be steady in our minds. In others words we must not become intoxicated with liquor nor with intoxicating thoughts; we must preserve a balanced judgment. It is easy for the Christian to be carried away with this, that, or the next sudden enthusiasm and to become readily intoxicated with the latest fashion and the newest craze.

    He tells us to set our hope on the grace which is going to be given to the faithful when Jesus Christ comes: It is the great characteristic of the Christian that he lives in hope; and because he lives in hope he can endure the trials of the present. Any man can endure struggle and effort and toil, if he is certain that it is all leading somewhere.

    My Friends, the best is always still to come. We can live with gratitude for all the mercies of the past, with resolution to meet the challenge of the present and with the certain hope that in Christ the best is yet to come.

Amen!

Reading: Devotional Scripture

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

Failed Love Shall Rise Again

Mark 14:72  

"And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind 

the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow 

twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he

 thought thereon, he wept" 

    That had to be the worst day of Peter's life, when he recalled what Jesus had said to him earlier, that day. Jesus predicts Peter's denial in (v-30), "And Jesus saith unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this day, even in this night, before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice."  When Jesus foretold this tragic failure of loyalty, Peter could not believe that it would happen.  Peter, like all of us, this is one time he got too sure. He had forgotten the traps that life can lay for the best of men. He had forgotten that the best of men can step on a slippery place and fall. He had forgotten his own human weakness and the strength of the devil's temptations. But there is one thing to be remembered about Peter, "his heart was in the right place." 
    My Friends, Peter who never broke a promise, who never was disloyal in thought or action to a pledge. Peter loved Jesus, and even if his love failed, it rose again. What a lesson for all people! If we fail God or make a mistake, hurt a brother or sister in Christ, we must acknowledge our actions and ask God for forgiveness, and though our love might have failed, it shall rise again. 
Amen!

Reading: Mark 14:66-72
Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You 

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

Thoughts That Comforts The Soul

Psalms 94:18-19 

"When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, 

held me up. In the multitude of my thoughts 

within me thy comforts delight my soul." 

    The comforts that we get from God; are His promises believing and hoping in Him and the comforts of His presence. When God draws near to our souls and shines into them we know that He is near. The comforts we get from the Lord Jesus Christ; are thinking of His person, His blood, His righteousness, His intercession, His exaltation, His glory, His second coming, our meeting Him, and then ourselves becoming Christ like.  

    We have the comforts of the Holy spirit, "The Comforter"  when He opens the Scriptures to us, and speaks to us, shining in the grace of God in our hearts enabling us to see His work and to see in it God's, eternal love to us.  However, not opening the book of life and showing us our names, but doing something that makes us almost as joyful as though the book were opened to us; "showing us the hand of God in our own souls.  Making us feel His grasp of love, and feel that it is a grasp which He will never loosen. 

    My Friends, Let's stop for just one moment, and ponder on the last sentence in this devotional. "We have a Loving God that guides us with one hand and holds us with His other hand; We are in the hands of  an Almighty God!"  
Amen!!

Reading: Psalms 94:1-23)

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

Know And Speak The Truth

John 3:33-34  

"He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true.

 For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God:

 for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." 

    If we want information, we have to go to the person who possesses that information. If we want information about a family, we get it first hand from a member of that family. If we want information about a town we will get it  from someone who comes from that town. So, If we want information about God, we will get it only from the Son of God; and if we want information about heaven and heaven's life, we will get it only from Him who comes from heaven. Let me make it very plain here. Jesus alone knows God, He alone can give us the facts about God, and these facts are the Gospel. 
   God poured out the Spirit in full measure, keeping nothing back. The full measure of the Spirit was reserved for God's own chosen one. The Spirit of God had two functions. First, the Spirit revealed God's truth to men; and, second, the Spirit enabled men to recognize and understand that truth when it came to them. The Spirit was on Jesus in the completest possible way, and in truth we can say that He perfectly knew and perfectly understood the truth of God. To put that another way; to listen to Jesus, is to listen to the very voice of God. 
   My Friends, Choose today whom you will serve!  "And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD." (Josh. 24:15). All life comes before a man at the crossroads. What matters is a man's reaction to Christ. If that reaction be love and longing, that man will know life. If it be indifference or hostility, that man will know death. It is not that God sends His wrath upon him; it is that he brings that wrath upon himself.
Amen!

Reading: John 3:31-36
HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry 

   

Life Needs Purpose

2 Corinthians 8:12-13  

"For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according 

to that a man hath, and not according to that he 

hath not. or I mean not that other men 

be eased, and ye burdened:" 

     A purpose driven life will give you and others around you equality. Someone once said, "I feel like a failure because I'm struggling to become something, and I don't even know what that is. All I know is how to get by, and if someday I discover my purpose, I'll feel I'm beginning To live." 

    Without God, life has no purpose, and without purpose, life has no meaning. Without meaning life has no hope. In the Bible, many different people expressed this hopelessness. Isaiah complained; "Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God," (Is. 49:4). Job said, "My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope," (Job 7:6). The greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose.

    If you want your life to have impact "Focus It." You were not put on earth to be remembered. You were put on earth to prepare for eternity.  What do you think your family and friends would say is your driving force in your life? What would you say is your driving force in life?

    My Friends, It is impossible to do everything people want you to do. You have just enough time to do God's will. A purpose driven life will give you and others around you equality. "But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:  As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack," (2 Cor 8:14-15).

Amen!

Reading: Devotional Scripture
Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr. 

The Cross Life Ministry

Voices For God

2 Corinthians  6:1-2  

"We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye 

receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have 

heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of 

salvation have I succoured thee: behold 

now is the accepted time; behold, 

now is the day of salvation.)"

    There is no other position of more responsibility than that of Ambassador. A Christian is always like that. He lives in the world; he takes part in all the life and work of the world; but he is a citizen of heaven. To that extent he is a stranger. The man who is not willing to be different cannot be a Christian at all. There are times when the Christian has to speak for Christ. In the decisions and the counsels of the world, his must be the voice which brings the message of Christ to the human situation.
    It is the Christian's proud privilege and almost terrifying responsibility, because The honour of Christ and of the Church are in his hands. By his every word and action he can make men think more or less of his Church and of  God. 
    My Friends, We must "Be reconciled to God." The New Testament never speaks of God being reconciled to men, but always of men being reconciled to God. There is no question of pacifying an angry God. The whole process of salvation takes its beginning from Him. It was because God so loved the world that He sent His son. It is not that God is estranged from man, but that man is estranged from Him. God's message, the message which Paul brought, is an appeal from a loving Father to wandering and estranged children to come home where love is waiting for them. Be A Voice For God Today.
Amen!

Reading: 2 Cor. 5:20-21
               2 Cor. 6:1-2
Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr. 

The Cross Life Ministry 

        

Don't Get Left Behind

2 Corinthians  5:1  

"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, 

we have a building of God, an house not made 

with hands, eternal in the heavens." 

    The  phrase "we know" means "to know intuitively" as a result of being a child of God. It is the knowledge that accompanies the new birth in Jesus Christ. What Paul is saying here, is the spirit is the real person found in the body. The body is represented here by the Greek word (skenon 4633), which means "tent" in our English language it refers to the material portion of a person.

    The scriptures has told us over and over that this earthly body (house) will be dissolved. God has promised that there will be a "building of God." This is a description of death of the mortal body, yet this should be encouragement for the believers as they look toward death. God is building a new house for the believer's spirit, which will be disembodied at the point of death, leaving the body remaining on earth.

    My Friends, God will create something completely new. It will be the "dwelling place" for the eternal body. God will change the believers mortal bodies into glorified bodies, and it will be eternal. " Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?  The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen!

Reading: 2 Cor. 5:1-10

               1 Cor 15:50-57

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

       

  

Spiritual Treasures In Clay Pots

2 Corinthians 4:7  

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, 

that the excellency of the power may 

be of God, and not of us." 

    It is commonly know that clay pots break easy when they are empty. We are nothing but earthly vessels in God's clay pots. When the vessel inside that clay pot is filled with the Holy Spirit; it's not going to break. At times we get weary and may begin to crack, or get tossed around and dropped, but never completely fall apart or (break). Why? Because the Gospel of The Glory of God is all about us; earthly vessels in God's clay pot's. 

    All who have this Spiritual Treasure (Believers in Christ), are like common clay pots. In order to show that supreme power belongs to God, and not to us; We are troubled but not crushed. Sometimes in doubt, but never in despair. There are many enemies but never without friend, and though badly hurt at times, we are not destroyed. "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed," (2 Cor. 4:8-9). 

    Let's all look closely into our lives as Believers in Christ.  Are we clay pots setting still and empty. Are we cast down, destroyed forever. Maybe we are a weak vessel inside God's clay pots that can still be destroyed, or we can be a vessel filled with the Holy Spirit, that Satan himself can't destroy 

    My Friends, God in His mercy has given this work to do. We put aside all secret and  shameful deeds. We do not act with deceit or do we falsify the Word of God. "Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not," (2 Cor. 4:1). The Gospel we preach is hidden, it is hidden from those who are lost and kept in the dark by the evil of this world. "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:,"(2 Cor. 4:3).

Amen!

Reading: 2 Cor. 4:1-18

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

Living Waters Run Deep

John 4:14 

"But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him 

shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him 

shall be in him a well of water springing 

up into everlasting life."

    As human beings we need water in our bodies, to keep us from dehydration, and death. We see in this event at the well, the Samaritan women came to draw water. But first Christ' said to her, Give me to drink.  She turned in astonishment. "I am a Samaritan," she said. "You are a Jew. How is it that you ask a drink from me?" Now we must remember that there was no kind of come and go at all between the Jews and the Samaritans. 

    I believe that all we have here is the briefest possible report of what must have been a long conversation. Clearly there was much more to this meeting than is recorded here. Let's use an analogy, This is like the minutes of a meeting where we have only written down relative points of the discussion. I think that the Samaritan woman must have unburdened her soul to this stranger, (Jesus Christ). How else could Jesus have known of her tangled domestic affairs? For one of the very few times in her life she had found one with kindness in his eyes instead of critical superiority; and she opened her heart.  
    Few stories in the Gospels show us so much about the character of Jesus. It shows us the reality of his humanity. Jesus was weary with the journey, and he sat by the side of the well exhausted. John does not show us a figure freed from the tiredness and the struggle of our humanity. He shows us one for whom life was an effort as it is for us; he shows us one who also was tired and had to go on.

    My Friends, When we are in need, neither man or custom can not stop us from bringing our needs to Christ. Our action would cause a sensation but we should not care what people said so long as we obtained the help we so much wanted. If we want the help which Christ can give we must be humble enough to swallow our pride and not care what any man may say. 

Amen!

Reading; John 4:1-42

Ref: HG SB 

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr. 

The Cross Life Ministry

     

Seven Steps To Maintaining Joy

Psalm 100:1-2   

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands.

Serve the LORD with gladness: come 

before his presence with singing." 

    There is a Joy in serving Jesus. We sing it, talk it, it can even be seen in our actions. We are commanded to serve God with gladness. But sometimes we lose the joy. How can we keep from losing our joy and gladness? Well again my friends; God has given us guidance in His word, that I like to call, Seven Steps to Maintaining Joy In Serving Our Lord. 

    🙏 Make sure it is the Lord you are serving. Don't worship wrong objects, Don't get stuck in a church where you go because, the Pastor never talks about Hell, and his service is always short and you have fun at all the Church social gatherings. Meeting together is fine but it can get away from God!. If you don't feel God when you are at service, then that is not the church you want to be in. When you get around the wrong people you are around wrong motives, and self satisfaction. "Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture," (Ps. 100:3). 

    🙏 You must spend time with the Lord before working with the Lord.  That's where you receive your direction, assurance and strength, basically your needs to serve and work for the Lord. Then you will need the means, which is The Word of God, Prayer and Devotions. Study God's Word daily, Pray without ceasing, And be faithful to God in all things. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," (Heb. 11:1).

    🙏 Ask God what He wants You to do during your Christian walk. You can not guess at what you think God wants. You must ask and in time God will reveal it to you. It may not be what you would like to do, but remember it's God that we are serving and not ourselves. A divided mind hampers joy. Be sure you are doing what God wants you to do. "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God," (Eph. 5:17; Rom. 12:1-2).  
    🙏 Put total effort in what you do for God. Don't hold back, step out and trust God. Whatever you are going to do for God, do it to your best ability. "For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon," (1 Cor. 3:9_10).  
    🙏 Commit yourself to seeing it through. Don't quit and give up in weakness what you have taken up in strength. Don't lay down what you are doing until God has given you something else. "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God," (Heb. 6:1). 
    🙏 Keep your mind on your task and not on the result. God measures success by faithfulness and effort. "That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love," (Eph. 3:16-17). 

    🙏 Adjust your focus: Seek to count the blessings. Strive to increase your effectiveness. Spread The Word Of God, and always look on the bright side. "1Co 9:10  Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope, " (1 Cor. 9:10).  

    My Friends, There is Joy in Serving our Lord. If you don't apply these steps to ensure you want have it. So, I ask today, Do you need to get back the Joy? 

Amen!

Reading: Ps. 100:1-5
Devotional Scripture
Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You 

And Your Family

Minister Robert A Lail Sr. 

The Cross Life Ministry

        

Give It All

Gen 22:2; 10  

"And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, 

and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a 

burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will 

tell thee of.  And Abraham stretched forth his 

hand, and took the knife to slay his son."

    Abraham Loved his son Isaac, But he Loved God, he was Loyal to God, and he Obeyed God. First let's understand that God does not tempt. "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man," (James 1:13). Temptation is used in two senses: Solicitation to evil, "But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed," (James 1:14). Testing under trial, Abraham prepared the wood and the fire and the next morning Abraham took Isaac up to the place where God had told him, "And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together," (Genesis 22:7-8).

    No where do we see that Abraham pleaded with God, or ask why. He never tried to plea bargain 

with God. God gave all of us a message that day on that hill with Abraham and Isaac. The Message was Faith, belief in God, Trust, depend on God for results, and obedience, listen and follow through with God's guidance at all Times and in all things.

    Little did Abraham know what he said, when He said, God will provide Himself a lamb. God did provide his own lamb. That lamb was our lord and saviour Jesus Christ, slain at Calvary. Some ask why would God ask someone to kill his own son; Or Did He. No it was an offering ask by God. Giving Something back to God, a test of faith. He Test Thee To Know Thee.

    My Friends, God calls for individual obedience. Through Faith, Trust, Obedience, Isaac was spared. It's the obedience not the sacrifice that God wants from you, God may ask for a blood sacrifice, but his looking for obedience. (He Test The Heart). 

Amen!

I Will Live This Day As If It Is The Last

Reading: Gen. 22:1-14

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

                              

Call To Worship

2 Corinthians  5:17  

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:

old things are passed away; behold,

all things are become new." 

    The Cross of Christ is God's instrument for delivering us from the old nature. God don't take us back to Pentecost, but to Calvary. He don't give us thrills and chills and some kind of ecstatic experience, He takes us back to the Cross. It is in our death, burial and resurrection with Christ that deliverance comes. Jesus died not only for you and I, but for you and I at Calvary. God dealt not only with the question of sin and satan , but with the question of self as well..  

    The old nature in the believer is likened to an old man now dead, "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," (Rom. 6:6). Like an old Monarch that has been defeated, "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace," (Rom. 6:12-14) It is also like an old Master that as been disposed, "Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness," (Rom 6:16-18). 

    My Friends, No matter who we are or were we are, we are all God's creations. Therefore, we all are branded with sin. That is our bourn nature, but by the Grace of God, through the life and death of His Son Jesus Christ on The Cross we can become a new creature in Christ. We live by Grace but that is not a free ride to sin. Your Old Nature Is Dead!  You Are A New Creature In Christ. However you must believe it yourself. And that My Friends, is the problem with the world today. 

Amen

Reading: Rom. 6:1-23

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A.Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

  

Ask, Seek, Knock

Matthew 7:7  

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; 

knock, and it shall be opened unto you:" 

    Ask, Seek, and Knock; This is what Jesus told the people during the Sermon On The Mount.

I want to share with you three things that happen with Prayer. (1) Prayer is as old as man, and is universal as religion, and as instinctive as breathing. (2) It is practiced in some form by all men of  all faiths. Prayers comes from the heart, with a need greater than mans ability to encounter. Prayer is mans acknowledgement of a being higher than himself. (3) Most men try to pray, yet so few know how.  

    Now let's go a little deeper into Prayer. There are two kinds of Prayer: One that reaches God, which is a righteous Prayer, and one that does not reach God and that's a self righteous Prayer.

 "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted," (Luke 18:14). 

    Ask, Seek and Knock, these three words cover the whole spectrum of Prayer. Prayer is asking and receiving: When you know the will of God regarding a need, whether it be material or Spiritual, you can ask and receive, if you believe. "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:  And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him," (1John 5:14-15). For example, To be saved, to heal the sick, and to take our burdens.

    Prayer is seeking and finding. When you don't know the will of God , then you ask to seek His will in Prayer concerning the material or Spiritual need until you find it. "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God," (Col. 3:1).

Prayer is knocking and opening. When you know the will of God and yet find a closed door, you are to knock, and keep on knocking until God opens the door. Knocking Prayer perseveres until the impossible becomes possible. All things are possible when you ask seek and Knock. But there are questions. Does God Answer All Prayers? Yes, He answers in three ways. Immediate, delayed or just plain no, but with peace and grace,  (read 2 Cor. 12:7-10). 

    My Friends it is a great joy to be able to talk with God, any time, any place under any condition, and to know that he will hear and answer, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" (Matt. 7:11).

Amen!

Reading: Luke 18:9-14

Devotional Scriptures

Ref: HGSB; Sermon Notes

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

Power Of The Word

Hebrews 4:12 

"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." 

   The Bible's worth is declared by most all. It has always had enormous value to God's people. The power of God's Word shows us His mercy toward us, and also His wrath. Keep in mind that the Bible is not a book of philosophy. However there is no discrepancy between ascertained facts of science and the Bible. The bible is not a book of history, but it's accurate when recording history. The Bible was given to man from God, revealing Jesus Christ, The Son of God, the only Savior. "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me,"  (John 14:6).

   The Word is Christ from Genesis to Revelations. The Word is a cleansing power, a power to keep from defilement, It will separate man from sin. "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). "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee," (Ps. 119:11).

    The Word is a storehouse of good things, wondrous things and truths are delights. The Bible is also a help in time of trouble. God's Word will never let you down. It will aid you when you are tempted with unrighteousness. It's A Saving Message, with confirmation from The Son of God our Savior Jesus Christ. 

   My Friends, The power of God's Word is a wonder, that the natural man will never understand. But the real wonder; however is, Why don't we make use of, in our daily lives. Faith comes by hearing. "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," (Rom. 10:17). Therefore we must search the Scriptures. "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me," (Rom 5:39).

Amen!

Reading: Devotional Scripture

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

   

Don't Look Back

Luke 9:62  

"And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put 

his hand to the plough, and looking back, 

is fit for the kingdom of God." 

    Distractions take our focus off of Jesus. We can be in the middle of doing good things, but if we take our eyes off Jesus a moment, we can begin to fall away little by little. However God can refocus our attention on His way, by distracting us from our our ways. When God wants our undivided attention, He may use a distraction much harder then the one that took our focus off of Him in the first place. Don't be distracted even by good things, if they take you away from what you know is right.

    My Friends, In no way, am I all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing.  Forgetting the past and looking toward what lies ahead. Don't look back into the past, for the past will get you off track and drag you down. As Believers in Jesus Christ we must keep our energies on what we can do for God, and others now and in the future.

Amen!

Reading: Devotional Scripture

Ref: HGSB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

    

Island Of Banishment

Revelation 1:9-10  

"I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, 

and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the

isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for 

the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit 

on the Lord's day, and heard behind me 

a great voice, as of a trumpet," 

    John was placed on the island of Patmos, which was a barren rocky little island ten miles long

and five miles wide. John was a leader of Christians and Christians were considered criminals, and treated like criminals. John's banishment would consist of  beatings, scanty clothing, insufficient food, sleeping on the bare ground, a dark prison, and work under the lash of the military overseer. It was to all the hardships and pain and weariness of banishment, and hard labor on Patmos that John went for the sake of God's given Word. And it was John's unshakable loyalty to the word of God, and his insistence on preaching the message of Jesus Christ, which brought him to banishment in Patmos. 
    We don't hear or speak of banishment in the Twentieth Century. But we all have an island of banishment that we must face in our life. I'm not talking about being banished or the actual act of banishment, only what takes us there, what happens there, and what brings us out. Let's begin with what takes us there. Sin takes us there! We are born in sin because of the fall of mankind. Marked as sinners with no hope and separated from God. So our island of banishment is sin and always will be.
    My Friends, Let's look at what happens there and what brings us security from that island of banishment called Sin. We all have tried over and over to say there is nothing wrong with what I do, or what I do is not as bad as what you do. We ask ourselves, am I doing what God wants. When you start asking yourself questions, it is time to talk to God. If not, you will live a live of confusion and conflict. "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. For he that is dead is freed from sin," (Romans 6:6-7). 
Amen!

Reading: Devotional Scripture
Ref: HGSB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry 

                  

Growing In Love

1 John 4:19  

"We love him, because he first loved us. 

     How then can we develop our Love for God that He has for us. The Scripture gives us the first clue, "He first loved us." Our love for God can only be a response to His love for us. If we don't believe God loves us, how can we love Him? To love God we must believe that He is not against us, but accepts us as we are, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31). What would keep us from believing that God loves us? The only answer is, a sense of guilt and condemnation because of our sin.
    Jesus said, "Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little," (Luke 7:47). Basically what Jesus said is, those who are forgiven much, "love much." Therefore, we can say that the extent to which we realize and acknowledge our own sinfulness, and to the extent to which we realize the total forgiveness and cleansing from those sins will determine the measure of love to God.
    My Friends, So if we want to grow in our love for God, we must keep coming back to the Cross and the the cleansing blood of Jesus Christ. That is why it is important to keep the Gospel before us every day.      

 Grace be with all them that love our

 Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. 

  Amen!           

Reading:  Devotion Scripture

Ref: HGSB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry