Following Christ

"When we are called to follow Christ, we are summoned to an exclusive attachment to His person."

The modern follower of Jesus of Nazareth no longer walks the Galilee road with Him. We are to walk many different roads. For some it is the road of politics; for others it is missionary work. Some, in following Christ, embrace a 'secular' career, while others choose a 'spiritual' vocation.

All of these are equally important and valid if they spring from the desire to emulate Christ's way of living and doing. The issue is not so much what kind of work we are doing, although some work is clearly inappropriate for the Christian, but whether we are honoring Christ in our work. (SD)


Thought: The issue is not what road we walk, but who we are following!

Each New Day!

To acknowledge the presence of God at the start of each day before we encounter our family, friends and workmates not only gives God the right priority, but more adequately equips us to serve others. Our first act is not to do, but to believe; not to give, but to receive; not to speak, but to listen; and not to perform, but to pray. And in the act of prayer we may receive not only God's grace, but also His wisdom and direction. (SD)


Thought: The first moments of the new day are not the time for our plans and worries, not even for our zeal to accomplish our own work, but for God's liberating grace, God's sanctifying presence.

I Will Rejoice!

At times it seems that everything around you is collapsing. Endeavors you invested in may fail. People to whom you minister may disappoint you. The business or career you worked so hard to build may crumble. These times, as difficult as they are, are opportunities to stop and examine what is truly important to you.

Do things seem to be falling apart around you? You can still praise God! Your praise for HIM does not depend on the success of your endeavors but on God's nature and His love and faithfulness to you. Ask God to help you look past worldly concerns to understand the reasons you have to praise HIM. (EGD)

God Speaks through His Activity

CHRISTIANS habitually seek God's voice through prayer, through His Word, or through His messengers. Yet sometimes we fail to hear God speak through His activity, even though He is working all around us. Unbelievers see God's activity without understanding what they see. God encourages His people to watch for His activity so they will know how they should respond and adjust their lives.

If you want to hear God's voice, look around you to see what He is doing. When you are watching for God at work, what you see will reveal His character, and you will have a fresh understanding of how to respond Him.

If you are sensitive to what God is doing around you, He will clearly speak to you through His activity. You will know that God is at work, because what you see will astound you, and human power and wisdom will not explain it.

Christ Died to Save Sinners

When a person recognizes the awful reality of his sin before a holy God, he may be overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness and despair. He cannot escape the fact that he is a sinner, and he knows he cannot save himself. But there is always hope! You see, it was for sinners that Jesus died, and He can replace, hopelessness and despair with confidence and unbounded joy.

Pride makes it difficult to acknowledge the wickedness in our heart. But admitting our sin is the first step to salvation. Then we must place our trust in Christ and accept His wonderful gift. But remember, only the spiritually needy qualify for God's offer. Sinners are the ones for whom
Christ died! (DB)

"Man is dead IN sin, but JESUS can make him dead TO sin."

Calvary's Cross

Many heart-touching stories were circulated after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. None seems more spiritually significant than that of ironworker Frank Silecchia. As he was helping to recover bodies, Frank noticed two steel beams in the shape of a cross standing upright in the middle of all the debris.

Appointing himself as the curator of that striking symbol of God's love, he often took heartbroken visitors to see it. Many of them were comforted by the silent testimony to the divine Presence in the worst tragedies. One day when journalist Barbara Walters came with tearful friends who had lost a son in the catastrophe, Frank simply led them to the cross.

The answer to the world's terrible pain and evil is not philosophical argument or a theological treatise. The all-sufficient answer is Calvary's cross, where in fathomless grace Jesus, the incarnate God, took upon Himself the burden of our sins and bore them "in His own body on the tree, that we... might live for righteousness." (I Peter 2:24)

If you have not been led to Calvary's cross, let me take you there. He died for you and then rose again. Believe in Him and you will be saved (1 Cor. 1:21) - Vernon Grounds

Christ on the road with us!

Without the word of Jesus for our lives, we may be busy and active, but we cannot be ultimately productive. Nor are we purposefully sustained and encouraged. But in ordering our lives on the word of Jesus, we may find ourselves walking a difficult road. However, on that road we will be kept, for the Master himself is with us. (CR)

Thought: The alternatives are not 'life without the word of Jesus will be easy' and 'life obeying
Christ is hard'. Rather the options are without the word of Christ, we walk alone' and
and in' obeying Him, He is with us'.

Thirsting for the Word

God's truth is like bread to the hungry and like water for the thirsty. God's word is a light for those who walk in darkness, bringing healing and hope for those who are sick or in despair. It is revealed to those who are seeking and guides those who wish to walk in God's ways. God's truth is not for those who know it all, who are self-satisfied and who are curious, but do not want to be changed. From such the word is hidden, for its meaning only comes to those are willingly obey. (CR)

Thought: How long has it been since you've read and followed God's Word? Don't underestimate its benefits. It could mean the difference between health and sickness, between victory and defeat.