Struck Down, But Never Conquered

2 Corinthians 4:8,9

"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:"

        In many places, the pressure from ideologies has increased over the recent years.  And now in our communities where different faiths lived in harmony, are torn apart because some have begun to believe in other religions. It seems to me that Christ' Church is being 'prosecuted all over the world. If we want to be able to do and to endure all the trouble, distress, and prosecution  We must be as; Paul  "Faith in Christ above all."  My friend the way is this:  
        We must be well aware, that if a man would share the life of Christ he must share his risks, that if a man wished to live with Christ he must be ready to die with him. Paul knew and accepted the law of the Christian life "No Cross, No Crown."
        We must face everything in the memory of the power of God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. We must speak with such courage and such disregard of personal safety because we believe that even if death takes us, that God could and would also raise us up.  It is for certain that we could draw on a power which was sufficient for life and greater than death. We must bear everything in the conviction, that through our sufferings and trials others are being led into the light and love of God!
       Amen!

Reading: (2 Cor. 4;8-18)

May God Bless You

And Your Families

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

The Basis Of Love

Ephesians 5:32-33

"This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even

 as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband."

        It must be a purifying love. Christ cleansed and consecrated the Church by the washing of water on the day when each member of the Church took his confession of faith. By the washing of baptism and by the confession of faith, Christ sought to make for himself a Church, cleansed and consecrated, until there was neither soiling spot nor disfiguring wrinkle upon it. Any love which drags a person down is false. Any love which coarsens instead of refining the character, which necessitates deceit, which weakens the moral fiber, is not love. Real love is the great purifier of life.
        It must be a caring love. A man must love his wife as he loves his own body. Real love does not  extract service, it cherishes the one it loves. There is something far wrong when a man regards his wife, consciously or unconsciously, as simply the one who cooks his meals and washes his clothes and cleans his house and trains his children.
      It is an unbreakable love. For the sake of this love a man leaves father and mother and cleaves to his wife. They become one flesh. He is as united to her as the members of the body are united to each other; and would no more think of separating from her than of tearing his own body apart. But Here indeed in this age, men and women changed partners with as little thought as changing clothes.
      The whole relationship is in the Lord. In the Christian home Jesus is an ever remembered, unseen, guest. In Christian marriage there are not two partners, but three and the third is Christ. 

        Amen!!

May God Bless You

 And Your Families

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

Anger In A Christians Life

Ephesians 4:26

"Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the

sun go down upon your wrath:"

        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.There must be anger in the Christian life, but it must be the right kind of anger. Bad temper and irritability are without defense. 
        There were times when Jesus was terribly and majestically angry. He was angry when the scribes and Pharisees were watching to see if He would heal the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath day (Mark 3:5). It was not their criticism of Himself at which He was angry; He was angry that their rigid orthodoxy desired to impose unnecessary suffering on a fellow man. He was angry when he made a whip and drove the changers of money and the sellers of victims from the Temple courts (John 2:13-17). My friends, our anger if, and when it occurs, must be selfless anger just as Christ displayed as an example for the word.
        Amen!

Reading: (Eph. 4:25-32)

May God Bless You

And Your Families

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

       

A Christ Filled World

Ephesians 4:10

"He that descended is the same also that

ascended up far above all heavens, 

that he might fill all things."

        Jesus descended into this world as a baby, and became a man; Jesus ascended from this world when He left it to return to His glory. Paul's great thought is that the Christ who ascended and the Christ who descended are one and the same person. What does that mean? It means that the Christ of Glory is the same as the Jesus who trod this earth; still He loves all men; still He seeks the sinner; still He heals the sufferer; still He comforts the sorrowing; still He is the friend of outcast men and women.  

        Jesus ascended up on high; but He did not ascend up on high to leave the world. He ascended up on high to fill the world with His presence. When Jesus was here in the flesh, He could only be in one place at one time. He was under all the limitations of the body; but when He laid this body aside and returned to glory, He was liberated from the limitations of the body and was able then to be everywhere in all the world through his Spirit. The ascension of Jesus did not mean a Christ deserted world, but a Christ filled world! 

        Amen!

Reading: (Eph. 4:8-10)

May God Bless You

And Your Families

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

 

The Marks We Bear

Galatians 6:17

"From henceforth let no man trouble me:

for I bear in my body the marks

of the Lord Jesus."

        What  Paul is saying here is; "I also suffer" This does not mean that he was suffering due to some sin in his own life. Why? It is an inevitable part of the life of a Christian, because he had the same mortal and corruptible body as unbelievers (Rom. 6:12; 8:11) and 1Cor. 15:53 ,54).

        My friends, Christians today are no different. Some act like they are smarter than God, and can defeat any thing God throws at them. Just look around, and you can see even those who say they are Believers are the same ones that are trying to take, and some  has already been taken out of the public eye. They are putting God, and The gospel Of Jesus Christ away like it never happened! You know, I would like to see some of their  Bibles, that is if they carry one? I would probably see a thin Bible; because they would have torn out the pages they did not like! 

        We know that the Word of God makes it clear, that upon receiving Christ, the physical body of the believer does not become exempt from mortality or corruptibility. We also know that suffering may also come as a result of persecution from the world because the Christian does not conform to this world. However; we know that Christ as overcome and will return to take rule. The fight is not ours. The Bible reads, " Vengeance is Mine," saith the Lord.

        Amen!!

Reading: (Gal. 6:12-18)

May God Bless You

And Your Families

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr. 

The Cross Life Ministry

                   

Earthly Riches Or Heavenly Wisdom

Proverbs 3:14

"For the merchandise of it is better than

the merchandise of silver, and the

gain thereof than fine gold."

         This system of high social value of material wealth in comparison with Wisdom, which is not even rational; but rests on the fear of the Lord, and is goodness as well as understanding, never needed preaching with more emphasis than right now today.  Everyday more and more of the commercial spirit invades in every region of our lives, and rich men are the envied types of success. When will  America's believe the religion which they profess, and adjust themselves accordingly? How many so called Christian parents would think their son was crazy if he said, "I do not care about getting rich; my goal is to be wise with God’s Wisdom." How few of us order our lives on the footing of this lesson, and act out the belief that Wisdom is more than wealth!
         The man who heaps millions together, and masses it, fails in life, however a vulgar world and a high class seeking church, may admire and glorify him. The man who wins Wisdom succeeds, however bare may be his cupboard, and however people may pity him for having failed in life, because he has not drawn prizes in the Devil’s lottery. His blank is a prize, and their prizes are blanks. 
         Amen!

Reading: (Prov. 3:11-24)

May God Bless You

And Your Families 

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr.

The Cross Life Ministry

     

Our God Is Just And True!

Psalms 25:8

"Good and upright is the lord: therefore

will he teach sinners in the way." 

        His character is benevolent, and he is worthy of confidence. He is not merely "good," but he is equal and just in his dealings with people. h Our God is not merely benevolent and kind, but He is just and faithful; His administration is based on principles of trust and justice. Believers in God can have unlimited confidence in all of God's dealings. Because He is good and upright, we may approach Him with the assurance that He will guide in truth. His "goodness" may be relied on as true evidence that He will be "present" to do this; his "uprightness" as the promising assurance that the path in which He will lead us will be the best path. 
        We could not rely on mere benevolence, for it might lack wisdom and firmness, or might lack power to execute its own purposes; we can rely upon it when it is connected with a character that is infinitely upright, and an arm that is infinitely mighty. In the right way;  "the way in which they should go, the path of truth, of happiness, of salvation."
        Amen!

Reading: ( Ps. 25:1-22)

May God Bless You

And Your Families  

Minister Robert A. Lail Sr

The Cross Life Ministry