Saturday, May 25, 2013

Embrace Your Cross

BEADS OF JOY 05-25-13
“Embrace Your Cross”
©2013 James Dacey, Jr. OFS



My Friends,

How can anyone be expected to show love for us when we constantly reject them and spit in their face? Yes that was a hard sentence to begin this with, but truthful to the heart when you think about it. Jesus died for us, He took on every single sin, every single burden, including a humiliating painful death; and He took it from us, so that through Him we might attain eternal life. My friends, Jesus Christ LOVES us so much. The power that is on that cross is beyond the power of anything, and everyone in this entire world. Almighty God has placed His only Son on a cross to save us, why would anybody do that? It's because He loves us so much. God who is love, who is life, who creates life, who has made male and female in His own image; took His only begotten Son and had Him beaten almost to death, then humiliated and spit upon in order to save all of us from our death; so that we can be with Him for all eternity. It is through Jesus' death on that cross that we can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. He was sent to pay the price for our sins. We must do all we can in this life to make sure to the best of our ability, that we indeed spend eternity with Him. A huge price has been paid for our salvation. A man, a man of God was put in our place, to die for us.

The world we live in will deceive us, it will mislead us; it will do all it can make sure that we do not spend eternity in Heaven. We must love Jesus before we can love or even forgive anyone else in our lives. This life was never meant to be lived so freely, so safe that getting to Heaven would be such a breeze. On the contrary, satan has been given power of the earth and he has become a master of deceit and destruction. He will make us not believe things that we question. Think of satan as a parasite. Yes a parasite, very small, very unnoticed, yet very destructive over time. Little by little we have doubts, we have questions, we're not sure, life seems like it's going to go one forever. We can always ask for forgiveness, we're not hurting anybody, and we can go on and on. Time to remove the parasites, the poison, the lies; and it's time to stay true to God. It's not going to be easy, we will suffer with Jesus and we will at times feel uncomfortable. But in time and with God's grace we will prevail and we will defeat all that is evil while we are here.

We need to know that our addictions are the devil's greatest weapon against us, along with our attitude that we carry with them. Many people think, myself included, "I'm not hurting anybody, and besides it's not a public thing, I'm home." Meanwhile our lives, our souls, our hearts, and our families are being destroyed from within. Seeds of lies and deceit are filling us with all the acceptable reasons and excuses we give ourselves so that we can continue sinning. How can we be reborn when we are old? How is that possible? How can we change? How can we be any different than the person we have always been? How Lord??!!! What must I do to inherit eternal life? If I am to be reborn, what should be my first step, how do I know I am reborn in the Spirit? My heart and soul scream up to Heaven in a crying, sobbing voice, begging Jesus to guide me, to show me, to almost carry me. I can't do this alone, I am so weak, and my weakness comes from my inability to stop my addiction. Satan has me in a strangle hold and he keeps stabbing and jabbing my heart with his anger towards God. Please Lord, help me break free from this bondage, help me never be squeezed in the hands of satan ever again.

It is only by your love for me Lord that I can break free from this pain. It is only by your death, a horrible, painful, humiliating death on a cross that I will be set free from the strong hold of such an evil being as satan. It is only by my love given back to you and telling and showing others how much I love you. It is only by my humiliation on my knees before the cross begging for your forgiveness of the horrible pain I have inflicted upon you with my sins. I must die to my old self, I must never return to that old wretched miserable, sinful person, I once was. I must turn away and never return to the vomit of my life. Jesus you alone, no one else must remain my only central focus, nothing can or should ever come before you. We all know that life doesn't always make sense. Each day we experience, pain, suffering, joy, loneliness, happiness, no understanding as to why. Then we look around and we see Jesus and in many ways it all makes sense. We must look at Him first, then everything else makes sense. There is so much power in the cross.


Don’t be afraid to embrace your Cross.

LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!
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Your brother in Christ Jesus 
And His Most Blessed Mother,
Jim (The Rosary Man) Dacey Jr OFS


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