Teach Us to Number Our Days Take Up Your Cross Daily

Teach Us to Number Our Days

Take Up Your Cross Daily

Ha, young fellow can you do this?

It starts with discipline.

Jesus was very strong on discipline.

Jesus spoke a lot of hard sayings.

FF Bruce wrote a 265 page book

covering 70 of Jesus’ hard sayings.

 

Sayings that can only be embraced by the disciplined.

Repeatedly, we find these words of Jesus,

“Take up your cross daily.”

To Jesus, discipline was a daily requirement.

It was not something you put off till tomorrow.

Jesus lived a life of discipline;

rose up early to pray,

fasted and faced challenges.

We, too, should number our days with discipline.

My mother-in-law, Dodie is 84 years old.

Don’t let that fool you.

When we get together for Thanksgiving

she puts on a show for the family.

She will bend her body in ways that hurt just watching.

One of the amazing things she does

is bends over and touches the floor

with the palms of her hands

and then puts her head through her legs

and wraps her arms around her legs

and walks across the room.

Now I don’t advise anyone to do that.

She is able to do these amazing things

because she is a very disciplined woman.

Every day she does stretching exercises;

every day she is up before dawn working out;

has a devotional time with God;

power walks and does group aerobic classes.

Discipline has paid her great dividends.

Scripture Reading

Luke 9:23-27 NIV

23 Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me,

he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.

24 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it,

but whoever loses his life for me will save it.

25 What good is it for a man to gain the whole world,

and yet lose or forfeit his very self?

26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words,

the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory

and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

27 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death

before they see the kingdom of God." 

Teach Us to Number Our Days My Life Verse Protects Me From the Fear of Others

Teach Us to Number Our Days

My Life Verse Protects Me From the Fear of Others

Have words ever hurt you?

Have they ever kept you from your best?

Don’t forget God is with you.

 

I believe it is impossible for someone

to walk down a dark street

in a major city and not feel fear.

Fear of being mugged, raped, or even murdered.

The fear of physical harm is very real.

But the fear of physical harm and its dangers

is not as great as the emotional fear.

You have heard the old saying,

“sticks and stones can break my bones,

but words can never hurt me.”

 

What others say and what they think of us can paralyze us.

The fear of others can keep you and I from productive lives.

I just talked to a young man who was asked to lead youth in his church.

This 19 year old was afraid because he is young and inexperienced.

 This young man has a heart for God and will do well.

I shared with him that when I was 19, I was starting a church.

People today will tell you I wore them out; but they still love me today.

 Why? Because I had a heart for God.

I made a lot of mistakes; there was a lot you could criticize.

One day one of the Elders called me and said he had to meet with me.

When he arrived, he had a list.

The list included everything I did at the church

and even things about my family.

He, in short, said I was a failure in every area of life.

I was devastated.

The cuts were so deep,

I made immediate arrangements to get away for 3 days.

I could hardly see the road for the tears

as I drove up to Michigan crying out to God.

God was with me and He healed me.

After I came back,

I was told that this elder told a couple of other elders

what he had done and they rebuked him

and came to me to make sure I was ok.

I went on to serve God, and the other elder,

years later committed adultery and left his wife and kids.

You don’t have to be afraid of what man can do to you

when you have a heart that is after God.

Because He will be with you to protect you, even if you are wrong.

Scripture Reading

Hebrews 13:5-6 NIV

…because God has said,

"Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you."  

6 So we say with confidence,

"The Lord is my helper;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?"  

Psalms 118:5-7 NIV

5 In my anguish

I cried to the LORD,

and he answered by setting me free.

6 The LORD is with me;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?

7 The LORD is with me;

he is my helper.

I will look in triumph on my enemies.

Teach Us to Number Our Days My Life Verse Keeps Me Righteous

Teach Us to Number Our Days

My Life Verse Keeps Me Righteous

We learn to play “Peek a Boo” at a very young age.

As adults, we sometimes want to play the game with God.

Times we want to say,

“Don’t look God! Don’t look!

But He sees all and knows every thought.

When our granddaughter Tori was little,

we would play the peek a boo game with her.

She used to sit at the dining room table

and cover her eyes thinking no one could see her.

And we would say,

 “Where’s Tori?”

as if we didn’t see her.

 

In John Ortherg’s book,

“God is Closer Than You Think”

he wonderfully describes

how close God is to us.

In one section of the book,

he shares a story of a little boy and his mommy.

The little boy is playing

and mommy tells him not to get dirty.

The little boy plays a game with mommy

where mommy covers her eyes.

The little boy says,

“Don’t look mommy!”

Children many times

think it is all right if no one sees.

God is closer than we think.

We want him with us,

but there are times

we are like a little child that says,

 “Don’t look! Don’t look!”

It might be that second helping at the dinner table…

or the rush on the express way…

maybe a TV show…

or an alone moment with the internet…

And we say,

“Don’t look God! Don’t look!”

He said,

“Never will I leave you”

Yes, God is with you where ever you are

and there is not a time that He is not there

wanting to bring blessing to your life.

This consciousness of His presences

has maybe been the greatest factor

in keeping me on the righteous road of life.

Oh, at times I’ve wanted to play the game

and say,

‘Cover your eyes, don’t look!’

But God is not playing;

 He loves you and me too much!

Scripture Reading

Hebrews 13:5 NIV

…because God has said,

"Never will I leave you;

never will I forsake you."  

Psalm 139:1-12 NIV

O LORD, you have searched me

and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;

you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;

you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue

you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in — behind and before;

you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me

and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day,

for darkness is as light to you.