By Carlos C. Brown
Good Morning Peeps, how are you and yours doing this Friday morning, good I hope? Are you having a good week so far, I sure hope so? Have a good and very Blessed day today and weekend too! - May God Bless You and Yours In 2019 and Beyond!!! And AMEN goes right here….
#SalvationIsOnlyThruJesusChrist
“This is the day that the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it!”
A Christian Cowboy Perspective:
Thoughts For Today – “Crowns Without Crosses”
One of the many eternal great rewards we've learned about over our lifetime of reading our Bibles and hearing Church Sermons, that awaits us in Heaven, is that we'll get our very own "Crown." And who doesn't want a crown? In my mind, with my Cowboy upbringing and mentality, that I’ve mentioned before, getting a Heavenly Crown at the end of our time on this earth, is the ultimate reward. It signifies that God's Grace has fallen upon you, and that your work towards the "advancement of kingdom building" by living a good clean Christian life (notice I didn't say perfect) and serving God is being rewarded with the ultimate reward...It is with this train of thought or line of thinking that it was placed on my heart this morning to talk about, “Crowns Without Crosses.” And that is worthy of an Amen right here? First, let me define those two words, “Crown” and “Cross.” The dictionary definition of the word “Crown” is : “an ornamental wreath or circlet for the head, conferred by the ancients as a mark of victory, athletic or military distinction, etc.” Now let’s define the words “Cross” : “a structure consisting essentially of an upright and a transverse piece, used to execute persons in ancient times.” Now that we’ve defined them, let’s get into the message today….
Everyday most people get up early in the morning, brush their teeth, shower, put clothes on appropriate for whatever it is career wise that their job requires them to wear, and head out to put in their 8, 10, 12, or however many hours they are scheduled to work in order to earn the paycheck they receive on their company’s designated payday. College students old and young also wake up early and they go to their classes, take notes, or quizzes, from lectures being given by their college professors. Sports athletes usually train so many hours everyday in order to earn success at whatever sport it is that they are competing in. For the most part, unless a person just absolutely hates their job, going to school, or the sport they are competing in, the individual works hard at it without having to be encouraged or without complaining. Why is it that so many so-called Christians find all kinds of excuses NOT to go to Church? “It is raining, or too cold outside, or I don’t feel good this morning, the Preacher talks too long, I don’t like certain people that go there, nobody ever notices how pretty my dress is, or how expensive my suit and matching shoes cost, or the vehicle I drove up into the parking lot in. The same goes for living according to God’s 10 Commandments, “well those are from a different era and century, I don’t think they are still applicable in this day and age. WRONG! The Bible clearly states that God’s word never changes! If He said it, He meant it exactly how He said it. Your twisted interpretation of how He meant it can be a very dangerous game to play with God. I listed all of the examples above to give you an impression of why just like everything else in life, it is very necessary to “EARN” our Heavenly Crown. Why would you be so willing to earn a paycheck, or a starting position in a sport, someone’s love and affection, or respect, or anything else in life you want to earn, but not be willing to earn your Heavenly Cross? That just doesn’t make any kind of sense at all, does it???
But God, yes there is always a "But God" isn't there? In this case, it is the fact that the reason more people don't want to follow the Christian way of living is because it requires giving up all those things that God doesn't like, but we like to, or are addicted to doing. The whole "nothing worth having in life comes easy," mentality is what you have to take on if you want to earn that Heavenly Crowns. You can't buy your way into Heaven, You can't Lie your way into Heaven, and you can't sneak your way into Heaven either! You should consider yourself lucky if you wait until you are on your death bed to accept Jesus Christ into your Heart/Life as your personal Savior. Not everyone will get that opportunity to get Saved before they die if they wait until the last minute of their time here on earth. A lot of again “So-called” born again Christians are very lucky that Jesus Christs’ sacrifice on the Cross made it really easy for you to attain Salvation. However, the Bible says "anyone who accepts Jesus Christ into their Hearts as their Lord and Savior is a NEW creature"!!! That means you have to "kill/discard/walk away from/aka CHANGE FROM YOUR OLD SINFUL WAYS!!! You can't serve TWO masters!!! There is only ONE TRUE God, JESUS! Too many people think that their work or effort is done when they accept Jesus Christ into their Hearts. Just like anything else in life, you have to put in work for the Kingdom in order to truly be Blessed. I can still hear my Grandmother “Muddea” telling us, “Anytime you are in a position to help someone help them. Don’t worry about getting reimbursed or even a simple “Thank you” in return, you are building up Blessing (Crowns) in Heaven. Not everyone will thank you or even appreciate you for helping them, do it anyways. You will get you thanks in Heaven in the form of Crowns.” I have tried to live by that mentality, but man is it hard sometimes…
So if you gonna "earn," yeah there's that dreadful word again, YOUR Heavenly Crown you have to be willing to put in WORK!!!!"
Can the h-a-r-d working Christian folk say Amen???
“Today, choose to “Ride or Die” with Jesus Christ 110%! Afterall, isn’t that EXACTLY what HE did for US on the CROSS?”
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