Obedience toward God Results in Consequences.

Luke 23:26
26 As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.

Are you in love with God? If so, obedience is FREE and brings contentment. However, for those who don't love him, the pain begins and thus our obedience costs us. I know that when I sacrifice some of my time with God, it causes some to be upset with me because I could be spending that time with them. Sure we could prevent these hard feelings, but in order for us to obedient to God, we must pay the price elsewhere.

[A bit of a sidenote...] Don't let that stir you away from forming relationships with others though. If we don't accept anyone other than God then there's a pride issue going on and essentially we're disobeying God because we're discriminating his people. Have loving relationships with one another just like the Lord does.

Finally, we can't tolerate the pain on our own. We can disobey God and it will resolve the pain issue quickly, but it will certainly hurt God. If we sincerely respect God, then he will go mind over matter and help those who have suffered as a result of our decision. In the end, we must obey God and leave the anxiety for God to handle.

Here's to a beautiful song entitled "Healing Begins" by Tenth Avenue North. As you face any pain today, whether it's the aforementioned type or a different kind of pain, remember the cross is where the healing begins. "So please don't fight this coming light."



P.S. If you have trouble with the video stopping and starting, keep the video paused, and let it "buffer" (load) as it's called for a while. You will see the red bar along the bottom advance (speed depends on your Internet connection). Wait until that bar gets pretty far along (I'd say more than halfway) before you play the video and it shouldn't pause.