The Calling

The same God who agonized in the garden over what He had to bear,
          the same God who was brutally beaten, made fun of, and scorned,
               the same God who was humiliated, spit upon, and stripped of all dignity,
                    the same God who grieves over my wrong doing, is hurt by it, repulsed by it,
                         the same God who let the nails be driven through his hands and hung exposed,

Is calling me by name.

Yes, this One who gave His life for me, is calling me to give my life for others.

He's calling me to . . . bear the cross.

I don't really want to.  It hurts.  I agonize over the humiliation, the suffering, my own desires.  I'd rather carry out my own agenda for this day.  It is hard to deny my own comforts for the good of others.   And it is so easy to ignore His call, His voice.

All He asks is this day.  And tomorrow it will be that day.  And the next.  He does not demand it of me, but only offers, so that my life will be abundant . . . if I heed His call.

Today, my time is not my own.
   Today, I deny myself all things I would like to eat.
      Today, I give my undivided attention to my husband and children.
         Today, I 'beat my body and make it my slave'.
             Today, I choose to let my thoughts dwell on what is good and pleasing to God...truth.
                Today, I love as He loves.
              
 Because I don't want to miss the joy,
      the joy set before me as I choose to take up my cross and follow.

Click on the link below and take a moment to be blessed by a song I can't put down.  Let it sink in and wash over your soul.  Catch the heart cry of God.  It gets me every time I listen. 

What is the cross God asks you to bear this day?  In what manner will you bear it?  Are you listening to His call?  Those are the questions I ask myself.

I look only to Jesus.  Not to my computer, not to accolades, not to movies, not to food, not to friends, not even to my own disciplines, wrongly thinking they might put me in favor with God.  No, only to Jesus.  All eyes look to Him for their sufficiency, their provision. 

Deliver us Jesus.  Save us from ourselves.  Deliver us from apathy. 

You're calling, you're calling, you're calling us
                                                            . . . to the cross.   The Same Love by Paul Baloche

"Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  

Listen, listen to me and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.  

Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live..."  Isa. 55:2-3