The "Word"

John 1:1-2 

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 

and the Word was God. The same was 

in the beginning with God." 

   When John wrote of the beginning, he was paralleling the words of the creation account. John called Jesus, “the Word.” John did not identify this person immediately, but described His nature and purpose before revealing His name. As the Word, the Son of God fully conveys and communicates God. "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ," (John 1:17). In the Hebrew language of the Old Testament, “the Word” is described as an agent of creation, "By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth,"(Ps. 33:6). 
   John may have had these ideas in mind, but his description shows clearly that he spoke of Jesus as a human being he knew and loved who was at the same time the Creator of the universe, the ultimate revelation of God, and also the living picture of God’s holiness.  By using the expression, He was with God,  "the Word" (the Son) and God (the Father) already enjoyed an intimate, personal relationship in the beginning. 

   My Friends, Not only was the Son with God, He was Himself God.  John’s Gospel, more than most books in the New Testament, asserts Jesus’ divinity. One of the most compelling reasons to believe the doctrine of the Trinity comes from the fact that it was revealed through the people most likely to reject it the Hebrews. In a world populated by many gods, it took the tough minded Hebrews to clarify the revelation of God’s oneness expressed through “three-in-oneness.”  The Holy Trinity. 
Amen!

Reading: John 1:1-18
Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You 

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

Abraham's Faith

Romans 4:3  

"For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, 

and it was counted unto him for righteousness." 

   Paul is seeking to prove that what makes a man right with God is not the performance of the works,  but the simple trust that takes God at His word and believes that He still loves us even when we have done nothing to deserve that love. It was not the fact that Abraham had performed the demands of the law that put him into his special relationship with God, it was his complete trust in God and his complete willingness to abandon his life to Him. That for Paul was faith, and it was Abraham's faith which made God regard him as a good man.

   Abraham was the only righteous man of his generation, therefore he was chosen to be the ancestor of God's special people. The question might be; How could Abraham keep the law when he lived hundreds of years before it was given? "He kept the law of the Most High,"and was taken into covenant with God. Therefore God assured him by an oath that the nations should be blessed in his seed. "As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations," (Gen 17:4).

   The basic thought of Christianity is that all a man can do is to take God at His word and stake everything on the faith that His promises are true. Paul's argument was, and he was exactly right, is that Abraham entered into a right relationship with God, "not" because he did all kinds of legal works, but because he cast himself, just as he was, on God's promise. 

   My Friends, During our Christian life, we do not need to torture ourselves with a losing battle to earn God's love, but rather we need to accept in perfect trust, the love which God offers to us.  "Very True," after that, any man of honour is under the life long obligation to show himself worthy of that love. But he is no longer a criminal seeking to obey an impossible law; he is a lover offering his all to one who loved him when he did not deserve it. I have been talking about faith. If you want to see what faith is, read and look over the history of Abraham." 

Amen!

Reading: Rom. 4:1-8

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

Faith Defied The Facts

Luke 22:69  

"Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on 

the right hand of the power of God." 

    During the night Jesus had been brought before the High Priest. That was a private and unofficial examination. Its purpose was for the authorities to question Jesus and beat him, while trying to trip him up in cross examination so that a charge could be brought against him. The next morning Jesus was taken in front of the council. The trial began; "Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, "If I tell you, ye will not believe:" (Luke 22:67). They did not believe!

   Sentence of death could never be carried out on the day on which it was given; a night must pass so the court could sleep on it, so that, by chance, their condemnation might turn to mercy. The whole procedure was designed for mercy; and, even from Luke's summary account, it is clear that the council, when it tried Jesus, was far from keeping its own rules and regulations. It is very clear that the charge the council finally produced against Jesus was one of blasphemy. To claim to be the Son of God was an insult to God's majesty and therefore blasphemy, and punishable by death. However Jesus was and is the Son of God. 

   My Friends, It is tragic, that when Jesus asked for love, He did not even receive simple justice. He had emerged from a night of questioning, even when He had been mocked and scourged, still had  confidence that He would set down at the right hand of God and that His triumph was sure. His faith defied the facts. Jesus never for a moment believed that men in the end could defeat the purposes of God. God has a purpose for all of us and it would be in our best interest, not to go against the purposes of God!!!

Amen!

Reading: Luke: 22:63-71

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

God Recognizes Service

Luke 22:24  

"And there was also a strife among 

them, which of them should be 

accounted the greatest."

    It is one of the most tragic things in the gospel story that the disciples could quarrel about, "precedence" in the very shadow of the cross. They wanted to know who among them should be accounted the greatest. How inconsistent is this with the verse before (V-23)? They wanted to know who would be the traitor, and now here, which should be the greatest. What a self-contradiction is the deceitful heart of man. 

   What the world needs is service. The odd thing is that the business world knows this. You will find by the roadside, over and over again, the sign, Service Station. They will crawl under your car and get themselves dirtier than any of us." The strange thing is that there is more argument about precedence, and more concern about peoples "places" in the church than anywhere else. The world needs and recognizes service.  It is only the man who will agree to serve more than anyone else who will really rise high. It frequently happens that the ordinary worker will go home at 5.30 p.m. to forget his or her job until next morning, while the light will be burning in the office of the chief executive long after that. 

   My Friends, We can found our life either on giving or on getting; but the plain fact is that if we found it on getting we shall miss both the friendship of man and the reward of God, for no one ever loved a man who was always out for himself. Jesus finished His warning by promising His disciples, that those who had stood by Him through thick and thin would in the end reign with Him. God will be in no man's debt. Those who have shared in the bearing of Christ's cross will some day share in the wearing of His crown.  

Amen!

Reading: Luke 22:24-30

Ref:HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry  

"Woe;" It's Your Choice To Make

Luke 6:24  

"But woe unto you that are rich! for 

ye have received your consolation." 

   Those are blessed indeed whom Christ blesses, but those are dreadfully miserable who fall under his woe and curse! What a vast advantage will the saint have over the sinner in the other world! 

The key to this is in Luke 6:24; "ye have received" The word Jesus uses here is used for receiving payment in full of an account. What Jesus is saying is this, "If you set your heart and spend your whole energies to obtain the things which the world values, you will get them, but that is all you will ever get. In other words, literally, you have had it! But if on the other hand you set your heart and bend all your energies to be utterly loyal to God and true to Christ, you will run into all kinds of trouble, you may by the world's standards look unhappy, but much of your payment is still to come; and it will be joy eternal. 

   We are here face to face with an eternal choice which begins in childhood and never ends till life ends. Will you take the easy way which yields immediate pleasure and profit? or, Will you take the hard way which yields immediate toil and sometimes suffering? Will you seize on the pleasure and the profit of the moment? or, Are you willing to look ahead and sacrifice them for the greater good? Will you concentrate on the world's rewards? or, Will you concentrate on Christ? If you take the world's way, you must abandon the values of Christ. If you take Christ's way, you must abandon the values of the world.
   My Friends, It is your choice to make. God wants all His children to be happy and to have what they need, and also more. But if you have more you should in turn, give to the needed, and to the sharing of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.     
Amen!

Reading: Devotional Study
                Luke 6:20-24
Ref: HG SB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry 

 

Personal Touch

Luke 6:19  

"And the whole multitude sought to touch him: 

for there went virtue out of him, 

and healed them all."

   Those who do not have faithful preaching near them, had better travel far than be without it. It is indeed worth while to go a long way to hear the word of Christ, than to make way for some other business of much less importance. They came to be cured by Him, and He healed them. There is a fullness of grace in Christ, and healing virtue in Him, ready to go out from Him, that is enough for all, enough for each. Men regard the diseases of the body as greater evils than those of their souls; but the Scripture teaches us differently.

   My Friends, The work of Jesus is not in the hands of men whom the world calls great, but in the hands of ordinary people like ourselves. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father," (Luke 14:12). 

   When men are really Christian the most diverse and divergent types can live at peace together. It is only in Christ that we can solve the problem of living together; because even the most opposite people may be united in their love for Him. If we really love Him, we will also love each other. 

Amen!

Reading: Luke 6:17:19

Ref: HG SB

May God Bless

You And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

When Jesus Comes Again

Luke 17:24  

"For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one 

part under heaven, shineth unto the other part 

under heaven; so shall also the 

Son of man be in his day." 

   What did Jesus mean when He answered the Pharisees, "The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you," (V-20b, V-21). I believe He meant just what He said, "The kingdom of God is within you." That is to say, the kingdom of God works in men's hearts; it is to produce not new things, but new people. It is not a revolution in material things that we are to look for, but a revolution in the hearts of men. God will not hold a man guiltless, who, on the road of life, sends a younger or a weaker brother on the wrong path. 
   There will be times when the Christian will long for the coming of Christ. Like the martyred saints he will cry out, "And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth,"(Rev. 6:10).  But he will need to learn to light a candle of patience and wait. God takes his own time! 

   My Friends, The coming of Christ is certain, but its time is unknown. Speculation would be in vain. People will come with false prophecies and false predictions; Therefore we must stand our ground and we must not forsake our faith or our duties to follow them. The best way that Christ can come upon a man is when he is faithfully and humbly and watchfully doing his duty.  "No man will foresee it, but all men will see it."  

Amen!

Reading: Luke 17:20-24

Ref: HGSB

May God Bless You

And Your Family

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry