Consider the Joy of the Cross in your life...

What is our Joy and Hope when we consider the cross for our lives?

In Proverbs 13:7 it says, There is he that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing: there is he that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches. Which one sounds better, riches or greater riches? Don't think of riches as material gain and wealth in this world but think of inner-riches verses inner-poverty. It starts with You and Me, not what we currently have. What we possess can never determine who we are, but rather what is it that possesses us? Is it SELF or is it Christ? In Phil. 2:1-11, Christ says, fullfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded...let each esteem the other better than themselves...look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others...Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: In life there is always some sort of joy before us. This is called hope and it is what carries us through life, but what if it only turns into me? That my only Joy is me and not something greater? Christ said you have to be likeminded as I was. He was the the One who took on the form of a servant and became obedient unto death. He made Himself of no reputation, meaning He emptied Himself and took on something greater. Imagine that, Jesus emptied Himself to take on something greater!!! The greatest reputation is the one found in Heaven and in Hell but not on this earth. In Heb. 12:2-3 it says, "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame....for consider Him that endured such contrition...." I once heard that the Joy that was before Christ was us. That when He saw the cross He only saw you and me -- beloved lost souls! And I believe this is what carries us through life with Christ. When we see the cross what is "the joy set before" us? This could be someone that God has put on your heart, maybe a burden for a whole country or just the simple call to pray and hear from God. Its a decision that must be made based on the plan and call of God for our lives. Obedience is imperative! But what we find through the cross is great riches that can not be explained or made up, they are simply GREAT RICHES!

Roger