The Miraculous
Relic of the True Cross
Bible Verses on SURRENDER:
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect.
And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that,
if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.
Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind,
that by testing you may discern what is the will of God,
what is good and acceptable and perfect.
And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that,
if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.
And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you.
Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
John 15:1-7
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine dresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.
I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself,
that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps.
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you,
whom you have from God?
You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
And call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ,
will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife.
So they went both of them together.
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, l et him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it.
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord,
but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does,
that the Son does likewise.
And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “
You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,
Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace,
that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time,
saying the same words again.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.
Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things will be added to you.
Mark 1:35
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark,
he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.
And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord , before the new court, and said, “O Lord , God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you. Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? And they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying, ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’
you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and
with all your soul and with all your might
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.
Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.
And Mary said,
“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
And the angel departed from her.
O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God,
that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.
Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!
Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
So as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God. May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.
So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh.
For if you live according to the flesh you will die,
but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves,
you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death,
or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
“I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.
He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”
“But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows,
not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother,
and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures,
they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you."
So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying,
“For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.”
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,
for they loved not their lives even unto death.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”
Galatians 6:14
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you. For I was not at all inferior to these super-apostles, even though I am nothing.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died —more than that, who was raised — who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are
not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father;
but go to my brothers and say to them,
‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'
I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love,
just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.
These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him,
he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,
it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”
And having said this he breathed his last.
Luke 9:23
And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me,
let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
And they came to Jericho. And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd,
Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside.
And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say,
“Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him,
he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying,
“My little daughter is at the point of death.
Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.”
If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.
For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.
The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged. Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
And David took from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers.
And David hamstrung all the chariot horses, but left enough for 100 chariots.
And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah,
David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians. Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute.
And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went. And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.
And from Tibhath and from Cun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze.
With it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking,
for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God.
But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,
always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness,
but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life,
and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command you.
I know him, for I come from him, and he sent me.”
All photographs (except the Holy Shroud Image) appearing on this site are the property of JOSE SOTO: the webmaster. They are protected by U.S. Copyright Laws,
and are not to be downloaded or reproduced in any way without the written permission of JOSE SOTO: the webmaster. Copyright 2016 - 2022
JOSE SOTO All Rights Reserved.