The hardest time to do what is right is when you have been hurt and especially when you have been hurt by those you thought were your friends or those who should be looking out for you!

Yet, Jesus was abandoned by almost all of His disciples and denied three times by Simon Peter! He was betrayed by the false kiss of a fair weather friend! He was falsely accused by the Scribes and Pharisees and tried by an illegal court in the dead of knight! He was handed over to the Romans and having been found innocent, he was severely scourged! He was mocked and spat upon by soldiers that were more beast than human. He was rejected by the very same people that had wanted to make Him king over them and had hailed Him as the King of Israel just a few days before. He was forced to carry the wood of the cross until He could no longer bear it and had to be helped by a foreigner. He was nailed to a cross and mocked not only by the crowd, but also by the thieves crucified with Him. He was given vinegar to drink and taunted mercilessly until He cried out and breathed His last!

The world hates Christians because it hates Christ and Jesus warned us to expect as much. Jesus did all of this voluntarily for ALL mankind! He paid for us with His own life's blood and did it also for those who crucified Him! Jesus forgave the thief on the cross and the Roman soldiers! Jesus did all of that for us as His greatest manifestation of love for us and His greatest example of what we are to do if we are to follow Him!

If we cannot forgive, we cannot follow Him!

If we cannot love, we cannot follow Him!

If we cannot pick up our cross and follow Him daily and daily decide to die to ourselves, the world and all of the false promises of the devil, then we cannot follow Him!

He offers us eternal life, eternal joy and eternal love! What does the world offer that does not pale by comparison? What can the world, the flesh and the devil offer that is not fleeting, vulnerable to rust, decay or thieves?

Pick up your crosses! They are NOT punishment, but the wood from which Jesus has built and prepared a home for His bride! Embrace your cross as if it were Jesus Himself and hold onto it during the storms of life as if it were your own personal ark to ride our the floods that this world will throw your way! Your cross is your Life Line to God and Eternity, which is infinitely more than all the millions Regis ever gave away on his silly little game show!

Pick up your cross daily and follow Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life! Pick up your cross and LIVE!

The hardest time to do what is right is when you have been hurt and especially when you have been hurt by those you thought were your friends or those who should be looking out for you!

Yet, Jesus was abandoned by almost all of His disciples and denied three times by Simon Peter! He was betrayed by the false kiss of a fair weather friend! He was falsely accused by the Scribes and Pharisees and tried by an illegal court in the dead of knight! He was handed over to the Romans and having been found innocent, he was severely scourged! He was mocked and spat upon by soldiers that were more beast than human. He was rejected by the very same people that had wanted to make Him king over them and had hailed Him as the King of Israel just a few days before. He was forced to carry the wood of the cross until He could no longer bear it and had to be helped by a foreigner. He was nailed to a cross and mocked not only by the crowd, but also by the thieves crucified with Him. He was given vinegar to drink and taunted mercilessly until He cried out and breathed His last!

The world hates Christians because it hates Christ and Jesus warned us to expect as much. Jesus did all of this voluntarily for ALL mankind! He paid for us with His own life's blood and did it also for those who crucified Him! Jesus forgave the thief on the cross and the Roman soldiers! Jesus did all of that for us as His greatest manifestation of love for us and His greatest example of what we are to do if we are to follow Him!

If we cannot forgive, we cannot follow Him!

If we cannot love, we cannot follow Him!

If we cannot pick up our cross and follow Him daily and daily decide to die to ourselves, the world and all of the false promises of the devil, then we cannot follow Him!

He offers us eternal life, eternal joy and eternal love! What does the world offer that does not pale by comparison? What can the world, the flesh and the devil offer that is not fleeting, vulnerable to rust, decay or thieves?

Pick up your crosses! They are NOT punishment, but the wood from which Jesus has built and prepared a home for His bride! Embrace your cross as if it were Jesus Himself and hold onto it during the storms of life as if it were your own personal ark to ride our the floods that this world will throw your way! Your cross is your Life Line to God and Eternity, which is infinitely more than all the millions Regis ever gave away on his silly little game show!

Pick up your cross daily and follow Him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life! Pick up your cross and LIVE!