Remembering the Cross #2

A Journaling Devotional

I cannot (and refuse to) look at the Cross the same. My faith has changed.

How about you? Journal your thoughts and turn it into a prayer.

Today marks four days since the beheadings of the 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt.

It has been four days since a new war, one by terrorists, was declared on the Nation and People of the Cross.

Today is Day 2 of Lent.

It is not just the fact that 21 Christians were beheaded. It's not just because another American was killed by the terrorists. It's far more than that. People have been burned alive, beheaded, raped, sold into sex slavery, organs have been harvested, and so on... all because of a difference in belief. I do not care who the victim was, where they lived, or what they believed. No one deserves that. And I take a stand for them and will no longer remain silent.

I must admit, though, with how war has already been declared on the USA and on the People of the Cross, it gets my attention all the more and slaps across both cheeks as a wake-up call. This forces me to look inward and upward. It makes me look at the Cross with a capital "C" and that is new to me. I always saw a small "c," but terrorists capitalized it and makes me realize Cross should have been capitalized all along, particularly in my life.

It's interesting to be called the Nation or People of the Cross... not Christian. Is it that they cannot say the name of my Lord, Savior, Redeemed, Messiah--Jesus Christ? Is it easier to refer to a hunk of wood or the manner of death?

Terrorists constantly focus on the past, from centuries ago, from decades ago. Nothing is fair. They cannot see beyond the past. It's where they dwell.

The Nation and People of the Cross focus on the future. On eternity. On never-ending life with our God and King, the only One True God and King. Our future is full of hope.

Their past is nothing but dark, full of hatred and violence. They do not hold fast to a future of hope. They also do not know about unconditional love.

The Nation and People of the Cross know unconditional, undeserved love. Abundant love. Eternal love. For, God is Love (1 John 4:7-8) and He is eternal.

The Cross is not steeped in death, but in life. Death was required so anyone who believes can live and have a future of eternal life and love. What a future of grace and hope.

***

John 17:3 New Living Translation (NLT)

3 And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.

New Living Translation (NLT)

Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

***

Journal your thoughts.

Journal about how your life has been impacted by the beheadings of the 21.

Journal about how it impacts you how a war has been declared on the Nation and People of the Cross.

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Verse of the Day from BibleGateway.com

1 John 4:11-12 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved

********

Journal your thoughts and prayer to the One True God. 

*******

The Call for the Next 40 Days: To the Nations & People of The Cross | A Holy Experience

http://www.aholyexperience.com/2015/02/the-call-for-the-next-40-days-to-the-nations-people-of-the-cross/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aholyexperience.com%2F2015%2F02%2Fthe-call-for-the-next-40-days-to-the-nations-people-of-the-cross%2F&utm_content&utm_campaign=A+Holy+Experience+Blog+Posts

Blessings,

--Stacy Duplease
http://RYPStories.blogspot.com
Sent from my Amazon Kindle Fire HDX Tablet

Remembering the Cross #1

An Easter, Lent, and Christian Journal:

Remembering the Cross

Easter has a whole new meaning this year after 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt were beheaded by ISIS--by terrorists. (This was announced in the news on Sunday, February 15, 2015.)

Today, Wednesday, February 18, 2015, is Ash Wednesday and the first day of Lent. 

ISIS has declared war on the Cross. On the nation and on the people of the Cross.

The people of the Cross. That's me. And, all the people of the Cross are my family. Just as what happened to those on 9/11/2001, my American family, so has this happened to my family. 

The people and the nation of the Cross...

I am one of the Cross.

Questions I am pondering and journaling (you can answer them for yourself as well):

1 How have I lived as though I am one of the people of the Cross? Today? This week? This month? This quarter? This year? The last five years? The last decade? The decades before that? How am I living as a person of the Cross each and every single moment of all the days of my life? 

2 How am I remembering the Cross today? How do I want to remember the cross tomorrow?

3 What does the Cross mean to me and my life?

The Cross:

Jesus was murdered so I could be forgiven for my wrongdoings, because He loves me. 

I do not deserve it and I cannot ever do anything to deserve it, but eternal life is freely given to me. 

His grace shows His love. 

The Cross is about His death, not mine.

He died so I, nor anyone else, has to.

The Cross is about love and peace.

The Cross is about unity, not division or us versus them.

The only thing required of me, ever, is to believe in the Cross. 

The Cross is about faith, hope, and love. 

The Cross is about a God who is All-Powerful, All-Knowing, Ever-Present, All and Ever Loving--and He does not require anyone to defend Him, or die for Him, for He can stand on His own. 

Jesus died on the Cross, not because God forced Him, but because He gave His life freely. 

I can place my worries, concerns, frustrations, burdens, emotions, thoughts, wrongdoings, and anything else I want at the foot of the Cross. It will never fall over or be crushed from the weight for my God is the Only God. He can handle it. He is God. 

The Cross is my firm foundation and solid rock. It is my light and is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

The Cross is love.

Love is the Cross. 

Grace is found there--the Cross. 

Journaling Prompt:

1 Please journal your thoughts.

2 Now, journal your thoughts about the Cross given the terrorists actions over the last couple of months. What does this mean for you and your life?