Carrying your cross

If we talk to anyone about Jesus, we are doing work for the Lord. 

email: RuggedTruthGodsWord@gmail.com

God has a super huge plan. We all have to do our part as He assigns to us. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hello, brothers and sisters of the Lord. This is Brother Rick, and I hope you all are having a good day and been having a good week. But I hope there's some people that don't know the Lord that are listening, and maybe we could all learn something together. Not that I'm such a fantastic teacher, but I just let myself be used by the Lord to teach all of us, including myself. Every time I do one of these, I learn a little more. Just like this song I was I was listening to recently, Contemporary Christian song. It says that sometimes I have to be reminded of what I'm made of. And personally, the way I look at it is I'm made of dust and the Holy Spirit. And I need to keep that mindset so I don't get too big for my britches, no matter what's going on. The one that does matter is Jesus. And the carpenter from Nazareth, as he was known, built a bridge to heaven with two pieces of wood. And he's turned it into a way for everybody that wants to, that desires to find God and follow God, can. And all he asks in return is that we trust him, turn ourselves over to him, pick up our cross and follow him. That just means we talk to people about what he's done for us and what he can do for them, help them. When Christianity was first getting started, and uh Saul was doing his damage to the church, he really was. He was throwing Christians into prison, and he thought he was doing God's work. And actually, he was doing God's work, not by throwing them in jail, but by chasing other Christians off. And when they did go, they had the Spirit of the Lord in them, and they were the Christians that fled were telling other people about the Lord and what the Lord had done, and how he was resurrected, and how it's he is helping them to live a life that's worthy to be saved. Only by the Spirit of God is anybody worthy. All the works we do, they're nothing. In Isaiah 64, 6. That's exactly what it says. Talks about our own righteousness, kind of make uh ourselves good by all the works we do for God. Well, without the Spirit, all of our works are as filthy rags, they're like nothing. And Saul was doing God's bidding, and he didn't realize it. He thought he was doing a good thing by the teachings that he had been involved with and he had accepted from uh the Pharisees, and he was uh a very uh intelligent man and he learned a lot, but he was busy swallowing a loaf and choking on the crumbs. And us Christian believers, we we like being with other Christian believers, and that's what they were doing, they were hunkering down, staying together, but then uh when the persecution came about, it scattered them all over the place, which was good for everybody else. And sometimes we have to go through bad stuff and we don't understand what we think it's bad, but turns out it's actually good and what God needs us to be doing and talking to folks, and sometimes it's hard, but sometimes it's needed. We are to go out into the world, like the Great Commission in Matthew 28, 18 to 20, when he he told the apostles to go out and talk to everybody, tell everybody about what's happened. It's not up to them to make people believe. You can't make anybody believe. All you can do is offer it to them and tell them what's happened. If they choose not to believe it, then the spirit isn't working with them. If hopefully the spirit will work with them and save their souls, it's not up to us to save people, we can't save anybody. We couldn't save ourselves, much less anybody else. But it's our job to set up the introduction between Christ and them, and we just tell them what he can do and what he has done for us. But we definitely have to tell people that don't know the Lord they're on a path to hell. Everyone that's ever been born is on the same path. There's only one that wasn't, and that was Christ. And he got murdered, but he had to be killed so that we could come to the Father, so that we could know eternal life instead of eternal death. And like that first persecution when the Christians were they got chased off, they fled for their lives, they were getting thrown in prison. We have to go out, we have to get out of our comfort zone, and we have to talk to people. We don't have to be beaten across the face with the Bible, but we do need to let them know that hell waits for those that don't know the Lord. In John 14, 6, Christ says, He is the way, the truth, and the life. This is the only way, the only way to God the Father. And that's the way to heaven, that's the way to eternal life. The other way, the other path, the wide path that everybody's born on is headed to hell. Because we're all impure unless we let the Spirit of God purify us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Everything we've ever done can be forgiven. Everything. It doesn't matter what you've done, you don't have to be proud of it, but you can shake it off. You can give it to the Lord and let him clean it off you. And while he's at it, he'll take the guilt and the shame because everyone has sinned. Everyone. There's Romans 3 10 says that. Even from the least of us to the most eldest of us are on the same terrible path. And I'm not firing brimstone in here. I am warning, though. And that's what we all need to see: the warning sides on the highway to hell. We really are, just like the song says, the highway to hell, everybody's on that road, on that highway, if they don't know the Lord. And we need to have enough compassion to care. Just and if you want that compassion, ask the Lord for it. He'll give you a burden for souls, for people. He will give it to you, he will give you a love for people. Just ask him. Don't be afraid to ask. We need to be talking to folks. The first time or two might be difficult, though. It will be difficult. But you know what? You'll get smoother at it, you'll get better at it. And you just present it as it is. And you keep reading in the word and praying, and the Lord, He'll give you the answers you need for the questions they have. And you know what? He's given some of the best tools, like Google. It helps me a lot. Helps me find quick verses. And just talking to people about the Lord is working for the Lord, is doing something for the Lord. Really? And he wants that more than anything. That's the whole reason why Christians are here. To help people, to show the love of God. Because Christ is his spirit, God's Spirit is in us. And it his spirit gives us the ability to care, to love, to help. He gives us the knowledge and wisdom we need to talk to people and the bravery. We just have to draw from it. And you're going to come against resistance. Satan doesn't like it when you talk to people about the Lord. He wants everybody to go to hell because he hates God. He's trying to hurt God as much as he can. And when Satan rears his head, you give him what I call the God punch. You call out in the name of the Lord. You rebuke him in the name of Jesus Christ. We're not powerful enough to stand up to Satan or any demon, but we can shove them back with the Lord Jesus Christ's power. Actually, I'm saying that wrong. The Lord Jesus Christ can shove them back. We just be the vessel. We carry the Holy Spirit in us. We show up in a room and the Spirit of God is with us. People might not believe that, but it is so true. We have the Holy God of forever living inside of us as believers. The Almighty God of forever, the creator of everything, lives in us. And the work we do is telling people about Christ. We don't have to be yelling and hollering. We can just talk to them, we can talk one-on-one. We can talk to a room full of people. However, we can talk to family members. Sometimes families are the hardest ones to believe, uh to convince because they they remember the old person, the old you. Just like my family. They don't want to see anything good in me. The only thing good in me, actually, is the Holy Spirit, is Christ. Like I said at the beginning, I'm dust in the Spirit. I'm dust filled with spirit. That's all. The Holy Spirit. That's the way I want to be remembered. I want the Lord to have any glory that comes from what I do. I want it to be given to the Lord, pointed to the Lord. I point to Him. He's the reason for everything. And even for, like we talk about holidays, holy days. They're supposed to take time to remember God. All of them, the rest, the blessings we get, like Memorial Day. We thank the good Lord that what the people had to go through to help bring this beautiful country that's that's falling right now. But it can be saved. Good Lord willing, it can be saved. But the work we do for the Lord is talking to people and helping them and showing them the love of God. Sometimes it's in actions, helping them, uh stopping to help somebody with this with a flat tire, or buying a few groceries for somebody, or just little things. And through that, you can talk to them about the Lord, really. You showing them and they ask why you're like this. Tell them, say, it's the Lord, it's Jesus has made many changes in me. I wasn't always like this. Just be honest with them. You don't have to lie, just tell them the truth. Because nobody is perfect. Like when Christ uh in John chapter 8, 1 to 11, Christ says, Whoever's without sin, whoever's not sinned, come on, pick up a rock and throw it at this lady. Anybody? No, nobody? Nobody? And you know what he told that lady after that? He says, Go away and sin no more. That's what Christ wants from us, and don't sin anymore. Well, we have to lean on him to not sin. Because we're sinful beings and we fall easily, and we have to be careful because there's an old saying that says uh there, but for the grace of God, there we go. I so we just all have to be careful. We just keep doing what the Lord needs us to do, wants us to do. Talk to people, help them get off the highway, take the exit off of the highway to hell, and take the offer to heaven. That's the work he wants us to do. Well, brothers and sisters, I'm gonna get off of here for now and I pray the good Lord bless you, save your souls, and I love you in the name of Jesus Christ.