Nothing is more fun than following Jesus.

---

 

“It is so much fun to serve the Lord.”

 

Be happy as you serve the Lord! Come before him with happy songs!

Psalms 100:2.

 

Dear Lord, forgive them for exaggerating in their admiration for me and forgive me for enjoying every word of it. For a long time, I have been guilty of enjoying the admiration of many when in reality I have been having so much fun that I would not change it for anything in the world the of life and vocation that I have pursued by God's grace.

 

Whatever hardship I have faced in life because of Jesus, in comparison with what awaits me in heaven is literally “nothing.” Even in the midst of hardship his grace was far more abundant, always arriving on time not a minute early not a minute late but when I needed it.

 

His cross is easy and his burden is light and that happens to be the Gospel Truth.  Because of the cross of Jesus, my cross is easy and my burden is light.

My cross is a cross of identity and not a real cross of torture and execution.

 

The heaviness of the cross has already been carried by Jesus, to the point that by his wounds we were healed even in the here and now.  Consider Isaiah 53.

The Suffering Servant

Who has believed our message?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot,
And like a root out of parched ground;
He has no stately form or majesty
That we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.

He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him.

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He did not open His mouth;
Like a lamb that is led to slaughter,
And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers,
So He did not open His mouth.
By oppression and judgment He was taken away;
And as for His generation, who considered
That He was cut off out of the land of the living
For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due?

His grave was assigned with wicked men,
Yet He was with a rich man in His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.

 But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
 As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors

 

How can I in clean conscience accept the praise, honor, glory and admiration when in reality the cross was endured Jesus and the Crown is mine?

The pain was suffered by Jesus but the gain was mine. Jesus was broken bread and poured out wine that I may live a life of comfort and joy. 

I wish I could have been there like Simon of Cyrene to carry the cross for just a little while, enough to give Jesus a break for giving me life of so much fun. 

 

When aches and pains and the humiliations and frustrations of old age visit me sometimes in the flesh, I gladly go through them knowing it is then and there that comfort and joy is within reach, so that I almost look forward to the temporary pain and ache for the sake of being comforted by his own hands.

 

Nothing is like the hands of Jesus to gather together as precious our tears in a little bottle. Nothing like a Look at his beautiful presence at the end of the finish line where he waits with open arms ready to welcome us.

 

Meanwhile, angels in disguise hug me and kiss me showing me the love of Jesus full of smiles and eyes full of nothing but love. Thank you, Jesus thank you Jesus for making so much fun to follow you.

 

The only regret that I will have at death is no longer having a taste of Heaven on earth by testifying his love and grace to wrenched people like me.

The secret of the Saints of old dying joyfully on this side of heaven is to glance at the beauty of the Lord like Steven who saw Jesus already standing to welcome him while he is being stoned to death.

 

Many eyewitnesses of the sacrifice of the saints of old say, “their faces didn’t look afraid or desperate but they look like the face of one going to a party.”

 

Jesus has made out our burden easy and our Cross light. The minimum part of our salvation is to follow Jesus Joyfully and show the world how much fun is to ride in an open chariot of fire like Elijah. It is fun to follow Jesus. Do not tell me otherwise. It would not be true. The danger of suffering and the heroic response on our part can easily become “Good works.” My beloved brothers, salvation is of the Lord. The Bill has been paid in full. Do not live as one who does not know the Gospel of Jesus.

 

Gerry Gutierrez.

 

PS. The pictures are of my little friends "The Dukes". My grandchildren at Grandpa Militiano's Cemetery. The last time on a Harley Davidson. Chuck Colson and Steve Smallman and Me recently converted to Jesus.