Lead me to the cross

Our faith is not based on feelings, not based on fairy tales, but based on Truth of God.

If faith is based n feelings, then sunday feeling will not be there on monday morning with all the stress.
If faith is based on fairy tales, then new tales will take over the old tales.
But the Faith that is based on Truth will help each one of us in working out our salvation and we will endure till the end.

1 Corinthians 15 : 1-5

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,

We are saved if we hold fast that Word which was reached to us.
Basics:

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
He was buried
He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.


The essence of Christian life is at the Cross.

When we go through stress, anxiety, confused, what we need to look is at the Cross.

It is at the cross, every question is answered.
It is at the cross, every storm quiets down.
It is at the cross where lonely found their true family.
It is at the cross every pain got healed.

Let us look what hapenned on the cross.
Matthew 27:27
27 Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole garrison around Him. 28 And they stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. 29 When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand. And they bowed the knee before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” 30 Then they spat on Him, and took the reed and struck Him on the head. 31 And when they had mocked Him, they took the robe off Him, put His own clothes on Him, and led Him away to be crucified.

50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.


I want all of us to understand the depth of the Cross.
There was a preperation for the Cross.
Mocking..
Spat on the Face of Son of God.
Stripped Him
And V50 says He yielded up His Spirit.
I want all of us as we fast and pray to meditate on the cross.
Worship is never completed without meditation on what was done on the cross.
There should never be a moment in our lives where we take the work on the cross lightly.

For my sin, for your sin - to redeem us this precious Act of God on the Cross.

Lead me to the Cross where your love poured out.

Lead me to the cross where your love poured out.
Jesus died on the Cross.
Luke 9:23 says - if you want to be my disciple, deny yourself and take up your cross.

Quiet my soul.

When we goto God, first thing we should ask God is to quieten our soul.
The Word of God says - Be still and know that He is the Lord.
We dont know when God when we are in hurry, when we are busy, when have to finish things quickly or emotionally charged.
We know God when our soul is quietened.
When emotions calm down.
Sometimes when emotions are running high we would say or do things in haste and when we quiet down we look back and think, i should have done things when i had quietened a bit.

Even in a marriage, you will know your spouse , not at the time of wedding or before wedding, that time it is all excitement about marriage , but when everything quiets down then you start living together then you will know truly what the other person is.

Quiet down in presence of God.
In Presence of God , enjoy the presence of God,
God is on the throne, dont talk too much. Meditate on His goodness. Meditate on the cross.

In our prayers, don't just blabber, but ask God quiet my soul.
My soul is going through too many questions, anxieties.
Quiet me Lord.

Then look at the wonderful cross where the blood was spilled.


But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
John 19:34 NKJV

The blood and water came out.

This blood came because of my sin.
My shame.
All because of me.

Look at the cross. Look at the blood and water. Medically , when a person go through so much of flogging and loss of blood, all the blood and fluids in the body gather at one place.
Spiritually
Blood - redemption
Water - life imparting.

My glory is in the cross.

Everything I once held dear I count it as loss.

What is the dearest thing we hold dear today in our lives.
For some - their identity in society.
For some it might be - your beauty.
For some it might be - their money.

What is the richest gain. I count it as loss.

For Paul, he counted all as rubbish in comparison to knowing Christ.
I don't want to know anything in you except Christ.

Philippians 3:8 says
8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 



Lead me to the cross. Bring me to my knees
When we come to the cross, the cross teaches us Humility.

- Humble.
Whoever boasts, let him boast in Christ.

Whatever we hold dear to our lives, we try to boast about it.
For example, if our children does very well in studies, and we hold the thought my children are doing very well better than others. You hold that dear, then you start boasting without knowing saying wherever you go , whomever we meet, we will start saying my children does well in the whole school than everybody else.

Galatians 6:14

 14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom[a] the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 

Rid me of myself -
At the cross, every selfishness should go.

Lord Jesus on the cross. He was full of concern for people.

Father please forgive them.
To thief, you will be in paradise with me.
To John, take care of mother.

Let us ask God to get Rid of ourself .

We can look at it others and say am not like other person.

Pharisee prayed and said am not like other person.

9 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.’ 13 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
I belong to you.
If we find anything of ourselves in us, then we still belong to ourselves, but He sealed us with His Holy Spirit.

Judgement
John 8:15

15 You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.
Whoever boats, let him boast in Christ.

Nothing to boast.

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Even priesthood is by calling.
No man takes this honor to Himself
There is nothing for man to boast, but only glory in God.

And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was.
Hebrews 5:4 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/heb.5.4.NKJV

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