Luke 5:27-28


After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he left all, rose up, and followed Him.


Personal Challenge…


I am always amazed at how responsive some of the people in the scriptures were to the calling of Jesus. If Jesus where to say to me today, “Go here and do My work.” would I drop everything and go? Levi, Peter, Joseph, Mary, Paul, and the list goes on demonstrate that if I am a follower of Christ then I must be ready to say, “Yes!” when He calls upon me. He has promised to take care of my needs. Do I believe Him? He has promised to guard and protect me. Do I trust Him? My prayer is that if, or when, He calls upon me that I will be able to say, “Yes!”

Luke 1:37

For with God nothing will be impossible.

Encouraging Words…

It has been such a blessing to go through the years of life that I have so far knowing that I can hold on to verses such as this one. I have had my share of ups and downs, joys and sorrows, successes and failures. And I am very aware that there are many, if not most, people that have had many more, and many worse downs, sorrows, and failures than I ever have. My prayers go up to the Father of life and love on their behalf. But I still come back to share that this verse is one of the cornerstones that a life can be built on. If I start here and add other foundational truths my life will be one that defies the impossible because it will be a life built on Jesus Christ.

Romans 15:1-3

We then who are strong ought to bear with the scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to edification. For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.”

Personal Challenge…

I am not only commanded to love my neighbor, but I am also commanded to bear their burdens with them, to lift them up. This all leads to edification, for them, for the name of Christ, and for me as well. And this is not something that Christ Himself was unwilling to demonstrate for us. For He bore my burdens and sins on the cross. Glory be to God!

Matthew 10:38-39

And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

Personal Challenge…

Here is one of the core requirements for living a Christian life…taking up my cross and following Jesus. Where did Jesus go? He gave up the comforts of heaven to come to be amongst us. What comforts of my home, my “entitlement” as a comfortable American citizen, am I being asked to leave behind so that I can follow where He leads me? All of them! He spent time with the outcast, the sick, the broken, the lonely, the lowly. Who is He asking me to spend time with? The homeless, the sick, the broken, my enemies, those whom I love and those whom I don’t, anyone in need! He let go of the possessions that were His. What does He want me to let go of? All that I have because it belongs to Him anyway! Does He want me to give everything away, run off into the desert and spend the rest of my life living the life of a hermit? Not necessarily, but He does want me to live my life ascetically…putting others first, loving my neighbor and doing all that I do in love, holding on to those things that He has given me lightly so that they do not become idols, manifesting the fruit of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Glory be to God!

Mark 9:33-34

Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?” But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

Personal Challenge…

Once again, Jesus cuts to the core of my heart and reminds me where my true place in life is. Because of Him I am a child of God, I have been adopted into His family. Through Him I am a saint, a priest, royalty. However, I am commanded to be a servant, to put others first and myself last. This is so contrary to how the world wants me to operate (as well as my own desires). At work, in our churches, in our homes, we jockey for positions of authority. And when we get there our pride swells up and we begin to lord it over those whom are subordinate to us. This is not what Jesus did. The Creator, the Son of God, became a servant to all. It did not change the fact that He was still royalty, but it did highlight the fact that He loved us dearly and immeasurably. Should I do any less if I truly desire to love and serve Him? I can be elevated to positions of authority and leadership, but for each step of the ladder that I go up I must humble myself all the more to reach the place that I should be in order to be a true servant leader…the bottom of the ladder. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!

Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Encouraging Words…

So! Who is this passage referring to more? The asker, seeker, knocker? or the Giver, Revealer, Opener? Both are at play here. We must be diligent, persistent, relentless in my asking, seeking, and knocking. And part of that diligence is continually renewing our hearts and minds so that we are pursuing those things that God would want me to have. But it also speaks of God who does answer us, and does help us to find, and does open the doors for us. But in His love for us He provides that which is best for us and not just what we think we want. As a father I understand this (to a human point). I tried, and continue to try, to meet my children’s’ (and now grandchildren’s) needs. Sometimes I even met, and continue to try to meet, their wants. But it is still necessary to withhold that which would actually cause harm. I am so thankful that my Father, my Abba, my Daddy, not only knows what I need, but provides it when I need it. Glory be to God!

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Matthew 15:7-9

Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is with you. The Mighty One shall save you. He shall bring gladness upon you and will renew you with His love. He will delight over you with joy as in a day of feasting.

Encouraging Words…

It has always been verses like this one that have made it difficult to accept a doctrine that presents God as a wrathful, judgmental God. I am, we all are, the works of God’s love, created in His image. He has always desired to walk with us in the garden. And yes, we do sin and turn our backs upon Him, and someday we will need to account for these sins. But if God loves us so much that He gave up His only Son in order to redeem us, then His love will be what blesses us as this verse so eloquently reminds us. Glory be to God!

1 Corinthians 6:11

And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

Encouraging Words…

The verses before this one give a long list of the types of sinful backgrounds that the followers of Christ came (and continue to come) from. I know that I can identify with more than one in the list. And yet God cancels this past all out through the work of His Son. The early church fathers taught, and we continue to teach today, that salvation includes being washed in Holy Baptism, sanctified through the Holy Spirit in the oil of chrismation, and justified through our faith. In Christ we can be set free from the very worst of sins. Glory be to God. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

Romans 12:12

rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer;

Personal Challenge…

In this passage Paul gives us some very valuable instructions on how to live our lives. In this verse there are three very vivid reminders. We have such a wonderful hope in Christ for a future that will be filled with God’s grace and glory; we are to rejoice in this. We will encounter tribulation in our lives; by the hope that we have in Christ we must be patient through this tribulation. All of this is made possible by continuing through our lives being steadfast in prayer. Glory be to God!