Pick up you Cross

He woke up this morning to an angel in his bed There was a devil in the bottle, he was talking in his head With his hands still full of whiskey and his eyes now full of tears He dusted off a bottle that he hadn't read in years And he said, I am tired, I am torn And I can't take it anymore You see this bottle has been my longest friend And here I am, my heart to you I give Lord, I come before you today and lift each and every person up to you. I ask that you open their ears, their hearts, and their minds, Lord. I also ask that this word may touch who it needs to touch, Lord, so that you can do your work in them and you can show them your love. I want to give you all the thanks, all the praise, all the glory, because without you, none of this would be possible. And I thank you and praise you. In Jesus' name, Amen. Hey there, it's Anna with God's Podcast. I want to let you know that I put Bible verses down in the description so that you can go back to the Bible and read them for yourself. And you can get God's wisdom and understanding. I put these Bible scriptures and verses down below because this is where I get my inspiration, this is where I get ideas from, and this is where God speaks to me. And today I want to do something a little bit different. I normally have something written out that I can go off of that I want to explain to you or share with you that God puts on my heart. But God spoke to me, and no, I don't hear God's voice like somebody coming into my ear. It's more like He puts things on my heart or gives me like a feeling, and I don't see things, and I'm not a prophet, and I am no expert at what I am doing. And that brings me to what I'm going to talk about today. I'm going in a whole different direction. Normally I would give you something that God has given me that I've heard, listened to, watched, or just happened to be put on my heart. But as I was watching other podcasts, listening to other podcasts, I started thinking about how I am just like you. I struggle, I fall, I fail, I sin, I continually compare myself to others, I'm a perfectionist, and I want everything to be perfect. And I try to learn whatever I can by studying, watching, and then I start thinking, I'm not good enough. God has given me so many different gifts. He's given me the gift of art. He's given me the gift of being able to make something out of nothing. He's given me the gift of when I do learn something, I perfect it. And I don't know if that's a downfall on my part, because I always look back and think about how I am not good enough. That somebody's better than me. Somebody did it better than me. Who's going to want my stuff? Who's going to look at my stuff and think, oh, she does that so great? But that, I just want to let you know, is a lie. The devil keeps telling you, because you are perfect. You are great. And God made you in his image. Just like it says in Psalms 139.4. You are going to fall. You're going to drop your cross. You're going to continue to keep failing at things. But that is the lesson that God wants you to have. So that you can either pick yourself up, or God will pick you up. Because God is always with you. Normally, I wouldn't sit here and talk about myself. And normally, I wouldn't share about myself. But this is my birthday week. And I want to look at myself and thank God for another great year. I want to thank God for giving me all the blessings. I want to thank God for giving me all the gifts that I have. And I want to ask him to help me not compare myself to others. Because God made me for a purpose. God made me for his kingdom. And I want to share his kingdom with you. He gave me the gift of being able to share his words with you. So that is what I'm going to do. And I'm going to be grateful for it. Even though I may not be the greatest person doing this. Even though I may not be a minister. Even though I may not have the degrees behind my name. God gave me this ability. And I'm going to use it. So I'm going to share it. And I'm going to help you get closer to God. I'm going to show you that you too are made perfectly in his image. And he has a purpose and a plan for you. You just have to allow him in. I am doing this totally off script. I did not write anything down. I am just going from what God put on my heart this past weekend. I'm always looking for things to talk about. And I have so many ideas in my head. And I want to put everything in one episode. But I know that that's not what God's purpose and plan for me is. He wants me to take it step by step. And I know that he is making me do this because somebody needs to hear this. Somebody needs to know that you are perfect. You are loved. You are God's child. He wants you to open your heart to him. He wants to have a relationship with you. We have so many things that happen to us in our lives. We have so many things that we may fail at. We have traumas that we have been through. But that's all part of the journey. And sometimes you do fail. And you do have to walk away. And that is part of the journey as well. But you have to know when something is not healthy for you, something that is not good for you, something that's not going to prosper you, to know when to walk away. It may be a relationship. It may be a job. It may be a career. It may be that God is making you pivot into a whole new direction. And you have to be willing to open your heart to that and allow God to give you that discernment. You have to follow him in obedience. And you will see that your life, your heart, your mind will change if you align it with God. And no, this journey will not be easy. It's going to be hard. You are going to be mocked. You are going to be martyred. You are going to fall. But that's the good thing about God. He picks you up. He dusts you off. He gives you strength. And he gives you the ability to keep moving forward. Our God is so great. Think about it. Think about how he can hear each and every one of us in our prayers when there's so many people out there praying. He hears each of us because our God is a miraculous God and there's nobody or nothing like him out there. Don't let the devil fool you. Don't let the devil grab hold of you. Don't let that devil win. God will get you through anything. He will be able to pick you up. He will be able to carry you if you drop that cross. The good thing about our God is if you truly ask for forgiveness, he will forgive you. If you truly ask for grace, he will give you grace. If you truly ask for mercy, he will give you mercy. If you truly ask in your prayer for understanding and wisdom or to show you or guide you, he will do that for you. You just have to let him in. Like I said, I am not perfect. I have failed so many different times in my life. I have been through so many different traumas in my life. I have doubted myself. I have struggled with my faith. I have put down my cross, but I know God loves me and he is going to do his work in me. And his work is not to harm me, but it is to prosper me. Like it says in Jeremiah 29 11, we can do all things through Christ, but you have to believe. You have to have faith and you have to work on it. It is not going to be given to you. Just like nothing in this life that we want is free, there is always something that you have to do in order to get what you want. But you can do that with God by your side or you can do it alone and continue to keep falling and continue to keep failing and continue to live a life that is miserable, a life that has no purpose, a life that is meaningless. I sit there and I think about all those people out there that don't know God and what they are missing out on and it honestly breaks my heart because God's love, God being a part of my life is so much better than trying to do things alone and not having anyone or having any purpose. It fills me knowing that I have somebody to turn to, somebody to talk to, somebody that is going to listen, somebody that is going to love me unconditionally no matter what I do. So it is my mission. Even if I am not ever going to be famous or even if I am never going to have thousands and thousands of listeners, that's okay because if I at least reach one person and change their mind and change their heart and they allow God to come in and they grow a relationship with Him and they see God's miracles, His works and that they feel God's presence, I have done what I have set out to do. Like I have told you before, I am no expert. I am not perfect. I constantly sit there and watch other podcasts. I listen to other podcasts to try to get ideas or to see how I am doing or what I can change or how I can become better. But I am not doing this for myself. This is all for the glory of God, to glorify Him, to show you, to praise Him, to allow you to see what He can do for you like He has done for me. I know there are people out there that don't like me that don't want to listen to me and that's okay. I don't need everybody to like me. I don't need all sorts of friends. What I do need is God because He is the only one that I care about who is going to judge me, who is going to look at me, who is going to love me, who is going to pick me up, who is going to allow me into His kingdom and that is the whole purpose of why I am doing what I am doing because I am doing it all for God. I am doing it all for His glory, all to allow you to know that our God is the Most High. He is the Alpha, the Omega. He is the Maker of Heaven and Earth. He created us. He sent His only Son for us to die for our sins, to give us a second chance, to allow us to come to Him. So that is my purpose. That is why I am doing what I am doing and I hope that this reaches somebody who needs God and I hope that you open your heart to Him and that you allow Him in so that you can see what He is doing for you and what He wants to do for you. That you will have a purpose in life. That you will see that it is to prosper and not to harm you. I hope I reach one person. I hope that you can share this with somebody else that you feel needs God because we all need God. Remember, you are never going to be perfect. You are never going to do everything right. You are going to fail. You are going to drop that cross and that is okay because God is here for you each and every day to pick you back up, to allow you to feel His love, to let you know that He is with you. It is okay not to be perfect. It is okay to struggle. It is how you get back up that counts. How you let God work in you that counts. So I hope that this message hits somebody. I hope that this message allows somebody to come closer to God or allows God into their life. I want to say thank you for listening. Thank you for coming here each and every week. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. I hope it brings you hope and I hope it brings you a new beginning. So until next episode, keep bibling, keep spreading God's word and pick up that cross. Allow God in. Lord, I thank you. I thank you for this platform. I thank you for giving me the joy, the love, the peace, the ability to share your word with others and let them know how much you love them. Lord, I praise you. I give you all the glory and I thank you for this life you have given me, for the blessings you have given me, for another year of life, Lord. Lord, I lift each and every person up to you. Whatever they may be going through, whatever struggles, whatever season that they may be in, Lord, I ask you heal them, that you come into their life and you give them the love, the joy, the peace, the calm that they need, Lord. I pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. She struggles with addiction She struggles to live She takes too much medication To cover up her tears A warm pill will make her happy Two pills make her sad And then she notices the Bible In a hotel by her bed She says, I am with me, I am whole And I can't take it anymore See this bottle has been my only friend Here I am, my heart to you I give