Take Up Your Cross

Matt. 16: 24 - 26, 'Then Jesus said to His disciples, if anyone wants to become my disciple, he must deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, but whoever seeks to lose his life for My sake will find it. For what would it profit a man to gain the whole world, and then lose his own soul?  What can a man give in exchange for his soul?

The epitome of following Jesus is to take up your cross on a daily basis. The bible speaks of a young man compelled by the Romans to carry the cross of Christ.  Think of it, this man was responsible for the final destination of

Christ that day...with his assistance, He was going to set in motion a spiritual dynamic that would change the world!  All he had to do was carry the cross of Christ!

You must put yourself there for a moment and allow your imagination to grab a hold of what is taking place.  Simon (The Cyrenian), not only had to carry the cross, but Jesus as well!  He could feel the life of Jesus leaving Him as he helped him with His cross.  The blood of Jesus was no doubt all over this man!  Perhaps, he heard Jesus wheezing and breathing heavy with the smell of death all over him!

As Simon carried Jesus and His cross through the streets, all of the people hurled insults, threw stones, spit, and he even felt the sting of the whip as he moved through the city - everything they hurled at Jesus, Simon got it too!  BUT THAT DIDN'T STOP HIM FROM CARRYING THE CROSS!  What will it take to get you to lay down your cross?  Simon was faithful to the end, we must be also if we are to fulfill the destiny God has for us!

I often wondered if Jesus ever made contact with Simon after He resurrected?!  Could you imagine the look on Simon's face as Jesus approached him only to say, 'Thank you!'  'Your helping Me to My death, set in motion the birth of the church, the introduction of Salvation, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit!'  I wonder what we're doing for Jesus whenever we carry OUR Cross!!

You know, the people, and even the devil saw defeat, but God saw victory that day - Simon endured a lot of things, only to later realize what his work accomplished...let that encourage you!!  You may suffer presently, but by carrying the cross of Christ, there are things that are gonna be set in motion due to your obedience!!  Don't give up!!  Change is coming!!

- Pastor Melrose

The Favor Of God

Acts 2: 46 - 47, 'So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having Favor with all the people.  And the Lord added to the church daily, those that were being saved.'

There is nothing like the favor of God on a person's life!  When God visits His people, it produces an idea, a confidence, that anything can happen!  What a confidence booster!!  We as children of God, should and must strive for God's favor all the time!  In order to obtain God's favor, you must gain God's approval...in other words, are you doing things that will capture His attention?

Hebrews 11: 6 - 'Without faith, it is impossible to please God...'  The hand of God is upon the people of God whose actions, motives, and direction are approved by God.  If you're out of line with God, chances are, the situation won't get better.  So many look for superficial or carnal things from God...we say, 'Lord, give me more money, or a better job, or a new home / husband / wife.'  The problem with this is that you've defined happiness as a blessing.

In other words, if you're not happy, then you're not blessed.  This is so untrue...allow God to work on you daily, allow Him to change your attitude towards Him and focus on Him. Not only will this take faith, it will also take investment...you must invest your time, money, and energy to the will of God if you're truly after His favor / approval on your life.

This past weekend, there have been so many good testimonies of the favor of God in our congregation...all 3 testimonies have a common denominator...FAITH and INVESTMENT!!  Jobs, raises, and even a new car!!  What is so beautiful about these testimonies is, my brothers and sisters simply follow after God's grace and walk in His truths...no fanfare, no specialties, etc...just plain ol' believing Jesus!

Have you experienced the favor of God?  If you have, I'd love to hear about it...write it in the comments...sharing testimonies is a sure fire way to boost confidence and faith in others...it also encourages others who already bask in God's glory!!

Chicago Impact

Matt. 11: 12 - '...the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force...'

Our church had a tremendous evangelical trip to Chicago this past weekend!  There were 17 of us in all, we touched down on Thursday evening, and Friday morning, we set out for outreach!  Friday evening was the highlight of our trip because, we ventured into the subway station and literally took it over!!  There were on lookers and travelers mesmerized by our witnessing, praying, singing, and testifying!  Saturday was a great day to build on the momentum from the previous night.  We had the opportunity to set up in a park, (Horner Park), without Police interruption!  The rap group Last Generation as well as myself performed, testified, and preached into the middle of the afternoon!  In the 2 days we were able to minister there - we were privileged to lead 36 people to the cross of Jesus Christ!!  It was absolutely powerful!!

What I've taken away from this trip is the fact that God's people were able to really experience an evangelical event like that...it's one thing for them to hear stories from me, it's quite another for them to have their own stories to tell!!  I believe this trip brought us closer together, we were able to build relationships with other Fellowship Christians, and stir up the fire of Evangelism in our hearts!

In Christ, we can do anything!!  I'm so excited for God's people, and this is only the beginning of what God wants to do in the Pasadena TX church!!

Please pray for us as we are currently seeking a new place to worship - we are currently outgrowing our building and are in need to fill up a bigger one!!  If God can bring revival to our hearts in such a short time, surely He can open the doors for the building we need!  I'll share some truths of His Word on the next post...I wanted to give a praise report of what God has done in our church this past weekend!

 Here are some pictures of the trip...hope you like them!  This was just an amazing time...we are definitely going to do this again next year!!