Where Is Your Cross?

He called the crowd to Him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”-Mark 8:34-

Here’s a true story: A Christian father was getting ready to give his Christian daughter in marriage to an atheist, and he was rightly concerned about it. So he asked his pastor to meet with the young man. A pastor having lunch with an atheist sounds like the beginning of a joke, but they hit it off immediately and talked for hours. After the young man shared his story, the pastor presented the gospel to him. It was the first time the young man heard what the pastor shared. At the end of the conversation, they prayed together and he repented of his sins and confessed that he believed Jesus is the Son of God.
The young couple got married and the husband’s new faith and commitment grew rapidly. One day after about a year, the young man called the pastor. He had been married for 8 months and said that things were going well. But he went on to explain that his father-in-law was upset with him, and he wanted to ask the pastor what he should do. His father-in-law felt that his son-in-law should “throttle back” his faith. Apparently, he had been taking God’s Word seriously in the area of tithing, and his father-in-law felt the money would be better used in saving up for a house. The older man also disapproved of his son-in-law’s decision not to work on Sunday so he could go to church to worship God. The father-in-law said, “I’m really glad you’ve become a Christian, but Jesus never wanted you to become a fanatic about it!”
In other words, “I’m glad you’re following Jesus, but why don’t you put your cross down?”
Jesus, though, makes it clear that a decision to follow Him is a decision to die to yourself. He didn’t come to this earth to modify your behavior or tweak your personality or fine-tune your manners or smooth out your rough spots. Jesus didn’t even come to earth to change you, making you a new and improved version of yourself. The truth of the gospel is that Jesus came so that you would die to your old way of life — and then live a new life for Him. He came so that you would be like Him. If you want to be His disciple, you must take up your cross daily and follow Him.

DENYING TODAY
In what ways is your story like the young man in the story I told? In what ways can you resonate with the father-in-law? What does your cross look like? In other words, describe areas of your life that you have sacrificed (or that you need to sacrifice) in order to fully follow Jesus. Meditate on this for a few minutes: If someone who knew you before you became a Christian were to describe how you’ve changed, what would they say? Would they accuse you of becoming a fanatic?

Smell You Later

“Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25)

Do you ever find yourself struggling with things that you thought you had left behind a long time ago? When I was in high school, I remember being on my way to pick up a girl for a date. As you might expect, I had to walk through her front yard. As you might not expect, it was a minefield of doggie-doo. And being nervous about the date, of course, I wasn’t watching where my big feet landed.
Her mom answered the door, smiled politely, and invited me in. As I sat on the couch next to my date, I noticed a certain unpleasant aroma. I had no clue about its source. I sniffed my date, which, in retrospect, wasn’t a good move for a new relationship. I leaned toward her parents — it wasn’t them either. The source of the smell was me. I was ground zero! I looked down at my shoes and realized that I had really stepped in it this time. Not only that, but I had tracked it through the entryway, across the carpet, and into the family room. Suddenly I wasn’t breathing well.
Some of us have mistakenly believed that once we became Christians, life would be free of complications, smooth sailing, a rosy journey with no splinters or thorns along the way. No trials or difficulties. No sins, no struggles. No doggie-doo. But even the apostle Paul discovered that following Jesus simply doesn’t work that way: “Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me” (Romans 7:21). He described a sin nature that just kept on waging war, even making him a prisoner. Paul concluded with this self-evaluation: “What a wretched man I am!” (Vs. 24).
It’s hard to understand, because we know our sins are forgiven, but we still have the old desires, the old habits. And this is the challenge for many of us. The problem is that we have tried to follow Jesus without leaving something behind.

DENYING TODAY
What are the habits, desires, and sins that still cling to you? What stuff in your life should have been destroyed a long time ago but is still managing to come along for the ride? Maybe you’d be honest enough to write them down, with today’s date, and surrender them anew to the lordship of Jesus. Memorize Romans 7:25.

The Real Problem Is…

“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.”-Lamentations 3:40-

Recently I ran into our local Wal-Mart to buy some ink for our printer. I don’t understand why the ink costs more than the printer, but that’s not my point. Anyway, as I was heading down the aisle, I saw some shorts for sale. Summer was just around the corner, I could use a pair of shorts, and they cost all of ten bucks. So I grabbed a pair of size 42 shorts off the rack and put them in my basket. The next day, I put on my new shorts and immediately realized they were a little tight. I mean, I could get them buttoned, but that poor button was hanging on for dear life.
Do you know my first thoughts as to why the short’s didn’t fit? Well, here’s what I didn’t think. I didn’t think, Huh, I must have put on a few pounds over the winter. I didn’t think, I guess I haven’t really been watching what I eat. I never even considered for a moment that the shorts were too tight because something was wrong with me. Instead, I thought, Well, I guess you get what you pay for. Wal-Mart must have wrongly measured these shorts.
Here’s my point: Pointing our finger in the wrong direction will keep us from addressing the actual issue. The ability to deny ourselves begins with an honest assessment of where any problems lie. After all, why would you want (or even need) to surrender or sacrifice if everything in your life was already in order? Why would you need to make a life change if you aren’t the one at fault? Who would expect you to admit a wrongdoing if someone else is to blame? Denying ourselves means realizing the truth that “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). It requires acknowledging that we are not excluded from the “all who have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It demands praying this risky prayer of King David: “Search me, God, and know my heart” (Psalm 139:23).
Denying myself starts with looking in life’s dressing room mirror and admitting that the problem is not with the shorts.

DENYING TODAY
Read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Have you ever been “deceived” in some area of your life, denying that the problem is with you? Pray out loud this short prayer from Psalm 139: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (vv. 23-24). Now listen. Have ears to hear. What truth about you is God revealing? Don’t sugarcoat it or mince words. Write it down, and surrender it today to Him.

Disordered Loves

“People are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”
-2 Peter 2:19-

“When Momma’s not happy, ain’t nobody happy.” It’s kind of a funny old saying, but you know it’s true. Regardless of whether you’re a momma yourself, I’ll bet you have firsthand experience of the power of an unhappy momma over the mood of the rest of her family. And the opposite is also true. Sometimes the reason Momma’s not happy is because she has allowed other family members to dictate her frame of mind. Everyone — moms and dads and kids — can give up too much control to others, allowing somebody or something besides God to steer their emotions up or down.
Who’s first? God or your troubled teenager? Who’s in charge? The Prince of Peace or your two-year old tantrum thrower? Do your family member’s issues and outbursts command too much of your attention? Of course we are to love our families. But if a family member consistently has control of our mindset and our emotions, it may be an indicator that God is being replaced. Jesus tells us, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters — yes, even their own life — such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). In Jewish culture, hate was used to express “a lesser form of love.” What Jesus is saying is that our love for God should far eclipse our love for our families.
The early Christian leader Augustine coined the term “disordered loves.” He was talking about legitimate objects of love that have fallen out of order, much like a mis-buttoned shirt. Loving and honoring your parents is a good thing, even one of God’s top ten commands. Loving your wife or husband is a really good thing, even a way that we imitate the heart of Jesus. But the centrality and sheer magnitude of our love for God, expressed as worship, can only be applied in one direction. God won’t share the throne of your heart with your spouse, your children, or your friends. But he will not commandeer your “disordered loves.” Instead, like the perfect Father he is, he will wait patiently for you to return to your first and best love.
Then and only then will you be free to love others well. Or let me say it this way: We love others best when we love God most.

DENYING TODAY
What person or people matter most to you in this world? Is there a relationship in your life that seems to be the determining factor in whether you are happy and joyful or sad and depressed? Can you find disordered loves in your family relationships? Repent for your misplaced relationship priorities and ask the Lord to help you shift your top priority back to Him.

Pain & Hurt

God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our labors, but screams at us in our pain.

In the first part of this century, a young boy was scarred for life by his parents as he grew up during World War 1 in Germany. His family had developed distorted priorities that left the boy emotionally alone and confused. He overheard his father talk about moving away one evening, and assumed that he would be abandoned. He decided then to toughen up and find refuge in things outside of love and family. The world suffered much from that decision — because that young boy was Adolph Hitler.

Psalm 119 is a song lyric on the priority of God’s Word. In verses 65-72, the psalmist zeroes in on the healing process of God’s Word when we face pain, hurt, and sorrow. Pain is seldom our welcomed friend, but it seems to come calling upon every single one of us at some point in our lives. So the issue is not whether or not we can avoid it. You and I simply cannot. The issue is: how will we respond to it when it arrives in our lives. In this text, the psalmist gives us “perspective on pain” in our lives:

1. God always deals with us rightly & fairly, v. 65
2. Meditation on His Word brings us discernment, v. 66
3. Pain & hurt are to be guideposts to intimacy with God, v. 67
4. God’s nature is only good, & all that He does is good, v. 68
5. We must forsake lies & buy into truth about ourselves, v. 69-70
6. Pain & hurt, though not fun, motivates us to find truth, v. 71
7. God’s Word is known as central in the healing process, v. 72

WHAT JESUS TAUGHT ABOUT PAIN . . .

Jesus Did Not Teach:
That pain is a punishment
That pain can always be blamed on our parents
That God causes suffering and pain
That God will never allow good people to suffer

Jesus Did Teach:
It is our response that enables us to grow from it
We must identify with Him, as the servant is not above his master
That it is normal while on earth
That it can be a blessing

My Time With God

Preparation Time
Psalm 119:67, “Before I was afflicted, I went astray . . .”

List 1 principle or truth God has taught you through pain in your:
Personal Life –
Family Life –
Church Life –
Business Life –
Other –

Waiting Time
During your waiting time, let God . . .

Love You.
“God, I need to feel Your love today, especially in the area of…”

Search You.
“God, You have my permission to reveal any bitter attitude or wrong motive in my life.”

Show You.
“God, is there anything that I need to know as I enter this day?”

Confession Time
Read Psalm 22:1 & 1 Kings 19:1-4

Confess areas that you have experienced hurt or sorrow and express your feelings honestly to God:

Bible Time
We can never pray out of God’s will when we pray God’s Word.
. . . Read Psalm 119:65-72 slowly a couple of times.
. . . Close your eyes & allow a main truth to surface in your heart.
. . . Pray the Scripture & allow God to minister to you.

Meditation Time
After praying the Scriptures, write down the thoughts that God has impressed upon your mind . . .

Intercession Time – Praying for Others
Begin this time with a prayer of blessing for the people of whom you will now intercede. Then, pray for any healing for pain that they may need in their life (James 5:16).

Name Request

Petition Time

How to Petition God Properly
Talk to Him about any needs you have for healing & comfort.
Be honest with God about your response to pain.
Pray “Thy Will Be Done.”

If you are facing pain & hurt right now . . .
1. Start by facing the facts (What’s happened? Don’t Rationalize.)
2. Forgive as much as can be forgiven (Hurt is legitimate, but expect release.)
3. Seek the healing of memories (God doesn’t want you to carry hurt.)
4. Find a caring community (Accountability or support group.)
5. Believe that God can be different. He is generous, forgiving, trustworthy, and truthful.

Prayer Requests

Application Time
The smallest obedient act is better than the greatest intention.

Q: What is the main thing that God has impressed on me today?

Q: What am I going to do about it?

Steps to Take in my Obedience to God This Week:

My Goal: To implement the above steps in the next 7 days.

Faith Time
Faith is our positive response to what God has said. Spend a few moments praying, through your eyes of faith. Tell God the positive things you see happening because of His goodness!

Praise & Thanksgiving Time

Praise God by recognizing WHO HE IS!
Thank God by recognizing WHAT HE HAS DONE!

This Week’s Memory Verse: Psalm 119:65-72

This Week’s Time Alone With God

Monday – This Lesson

Tuesday – Go back to the beginning of this study and review the 7 statements that the psalmist gives us as “perspective on pain” in our lives from our memory passage in Psalm 119, and answer the following questions:

Q: Which of those 7 statements do you embrace? In other words, which ones have you experienced most in your personal life?

Q: Which of those statements have you struggled with and why?

Q: Take some time, and write out a personal prayer that expresses to God the specific pain you’ve felt in your life, how you’ve responded to it, and what it has done to you, or for you, as a result.

Wednesday – Frequently, a struggle with depression can accompany emotional hurts. Notice how this happens to the prophet Elijah as you read 1 King’s 19:1-4.

We learn from Elijah that depression often:
1. Follows great excitement and victory
2. Produces feelings of loneliness
3. Causes mistaken views of life
4. Requires divine measures to end it

Notice how God deals with Elijah and depression…
1. God strengthened his hope (v. 5-8)
2. God caused him to face the issues squarely (v. 9-10)
3. God worked in a new and different way (v. 11-13)
4. God refused to let him sulk in the pit of “self” (v. 14-18)
5. God gave him clear instructions to get up and Go! (V. 15-18)

If necessary, allow God to walk you through the same process of understanding and response-ability to your own situation. If you are living free of depression right now, pray for someone else that you’ve observed is struggling with it.

Thursday – Again, go back to the beginning of this study and review WHAT JESUS TAUGHT ABOUT PAIN…

Reflect on those truths for a moment. Have you bought into any of the statements about pain that Jesus did not teach? Where do you think you have a distorted view of pain & hurt?

Now, take some time to both pray & write. What have been the God-given blessings you’ve received for having suffered through pain & hurt? Then rejoice in God’s providence!

Friday – Look again at Psalm 119:65-71.
Take some time just to meditate on this portion of Scripture. Write out what specifically God is saying to you through it today.

Again, at the beginning of the week, you were given some steps to take. If you are facing pain & hurt right now, God desires to heal you. Take whatever time you need to thoroughly walk through those steps again and meditate on them.

Too Many Gods

“You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image.”(Exodus 20:3-4)

Idolatry isn’t just one of many sins; rather, it’s the one great sin that all others come from. It’s not an issue; it is the issue. There may be a hundred million different symptoms, but the issue is always idolatry. If you start scratching at whatever struggle you’re dealing with, eventually you’ll find that underneath it is a false god. And until that God is dethroned, you will not have victory.
God isn’t interested in competing against others or being first among many. He will not be part of any hierarchy. God declines to sit atop an organizational flowchart. He IS the organization. He is not interested in being president of the board. He IS the board. He is God, and your life will not work until everyone else sitting around the table in the boardroom of your heart has been fired. There can be no partial gods, no honorary gods, no interim gods, no assistants to the regional gods.
God designed and created the universe to work this way, and He’s the sole owner and operator of it. So only the one true God knows how it works. He is the only God who can help us, direct us, satisfy us, and save us.
By the time we read Exodus 20, we see that God has had it with imitation and substitute gods. He tells Israel to break up the pantheon (“many gods”). All other God activity is canceled. He makes sure the people understand that He is the one and only. He is the Lord God!
You may be thinking this is not a problem today. But my guess is that our list of god’s is longer than ever. We may not have the god of commerce, the god of agriculture, the god of sex, or the god of the hunt. But we do have portfolios, automobiles, adult entertainment, and sports. Simply calling them by different names doesn’t change who they are.
When someone or something, good or bad, replaces the Lord God in the position of glory in your life, then it has by definition become a god.

DENYING TODAY
Just this week, what drew your attention the most? What does your checkbook or calendar or to-do list reveal about your priorities? What people or things keep sneaking into your mind and blocking your view of God? Be honest here; see if you can’t identify by name some of the gods who have set up thrones in your life.

25 Days of Denying

You can’t follow after Jesus without denying yourself. Jesus puts it quite simply: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves” (Luke 9:23).
To deny yourself isn’t just the idea of saying no to yourself — or even resisting yourself. It’s not simply giving up something you really, really want. It’s so much more than putting something off for the delayed gratification of receiving it at a later date. The idea of denying yourself is that you don’t look in your own direction. It’s saying, “I choose Jesus. I choose Jesus over my family. I choose Jesus over career goals. I am His completely. I choose Jesus over getting drunk. I choose Jesus over looking at porn. I choose Jesus over a redecorated house. I choose Jesus over my freedom. I choose Jesus over what other people may think of me.”
A follower makes a decision every day to deny self and choose Jesus, even if it costs everything.
25 days of denying starts right now…

Pull the Plug

Jesus said . . . “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” . . .
Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. (John 11:25-26, 43-44)

Lazarus did not have a near-death experience. He was completely, undeniably dead. First, he was miserably sick, and then he passed away. He expired. He kicked the bucket. He bought the farm. He bit the dust. However you want to say it, make no mistake about it: Lazarus DIED! His sisters washed his body and wrapped it in linen. Weeping, they laid his corpse in a cave-tomb and leaned a flat stone across the opening.
We like to read this story because it ends so well, with Jesus arriving apparently too late — 4 days later — only to dramatically raise Lazarus from the dead and give him back to his family.
I wonder, though, if we devote enough time to thinking about the implications for our own lives. In our excitement about the resurrection part, do we forget that you can’t raise a person from the dead unless he or she is actually DEAD? Do we really get it — that we need to be dead people ourselves before Jesus can infuse us with His life?
2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” Colossians 3:3 says it even more clearly: “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.” The expectation is obvious: When Jesus invites us to follow Him, it’s an invitation to die. Only when we die to ourselves can we truly live for Him. That kind of surrender goes against every instinct we have. We want to hang on. We can’t seem to let go. We refuse to pull the plug. But it is only when we die to ourselves that we can finally experience the resurrection power of Christ.

Denying Today
Someone has said that the hardest part of dying to ourselves is that we have to do it daily. Write out a prayer for today, laying your life at the feet of Jesus. Reaffirm that He is not just your Savior, but your Lord as well. Don’t hurry through this, and prayerfully write only what you mean. For today, list what attitudes, priorities, or sins — what part of you — you will allow to die.

A Followers Prayer

God, I want to be a follower of your Son, Jesus. I am learning that following Jesus just means growing closer to him and becoming more like him. The problem with following Jesus is that I know me, and I am not like him. His character, love, and rightness don’t match the real me. I need your help to follow. I can’t do it on my own. I ask for your grace and strength to give me everything I need to be more like Jesus. On this journey of understanding what following Jesus means, open my eyes to see that following is more about who you are than who I am. I want to know you. Just as you know me — better even than I know myself! — I want to really know you.
Today I am surrendering my willpower to be a better me and instead allowing you to be at work in me, making me more like you. Thank you for helping me follow you. Thank you for leading me to this place where my desire to follow you more closely is fed. I can’t be a follower without your Holy Spirit showing me how to do it. My longing to be a follower of Jesus is as real as my weakness. So I give you my heart, mind, and body in order to follow. Thank you that you not only lead me but also show me how to follow. I am ready. Lead on. AMEN.

“Though every believer has the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit does not have every believer.” –A. W. Tozer-

A committee of ministers in a certain city was discussing the possibility of having D.L. Moody to serve as the evangelist during a city-wide evangelistic campaign.
Finally, one young minister who did not want to invite Moody, stood up and said, “Why Moody? Does he have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit?”
There was silence. Then an old, Godly minister spoke up: “No, he does not have a monopoly on the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit has a monopoly on him!”

In John 14:16-18 and 16:7-15, Jesus begins to get very specific in His description of the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit. He reveals that the Holy Spirit’s ministry will look very much like His, except that He will indwell all believers and, if we will let Him, empower those believers to live and look like Jesus as well. Unfortunately, many have reduced their lives and ministry to a safe, familiar routine that could be accomplished in human strength. Someone once said if the Holy Spirit were suddenly removed from the earth, 98% of all we do would continue, unaffected by His absence. A.W. Tozer writes: “The doctrine of the Spirit as it relates to the believer has, over the last half century, been shrouded in a mist such as lies upon a mountain in stormy weather. A world of confusion has surrounded this truth. This confusion has not come by accident. An enemy has done this. Satan knows that Spirit-less evangelicalism is as deadly as modernism or heresy, and he has done everything in his power to prevent us from enjoying our true Christian heritage.” The Holy Spirit desires to not only indwell but empower us; to not simply be in us, but be on us in power. He is a person, just like Jesus, who has a mind, will, and emotions and wants to gift and enable every Christian for supernatural ministry.

The Holy Spirit’s Job Description In Your Life:
1. Helper (Comforter) John 14:16
2. Guide (Counselor) John 14:26
3. Foreteller (Revealer) John 16:13
4. Empowerer (Power Source) Acts 1:8
5. Advocate (Lawyer) Romans 8:26-27
6. Enabler (Gift Giver) 1 Corinthians 12:4-11

My Time With God

Preparation Time
Read Zechariah 4:6

List the issues in which you lack the empowering of God’s Spirit, experientially — those areas you’ve attempted to control and pull off in your own strength, in your…
Personal Life:
Family Life:
Church Life:
Business Life:
Other:

Waiting Time
During your waiting time, let God…

Serve You.
“God, I know today, I am walking in the power of the Spirit in these areas of my life”:

Search You.
“God, you have permission to reveal any area in my life in which I am walking in the flesh…”

Show You.
“God, is there any new work that You need to do in me as I enter this day?”

Confession Time
According to the Scripture, we can grieve, insult, resist, and offend the Holy Spirit. One way we can do this is by acting like Martha in Luke 10:38-42. Although she was attempting to serve Jesus, He was not impressed — because she was attempting to serve without first being served by Him. She was doing God’s will, her way.

Confess areas that you have initiated without the leading or the power of God’s Spirit:

Bible Time
We can never pray out of God’s will when we pray God’s Word.

Read the following passages slowly a couple of times:
Luke 24:49
Acts 1:8
Ephesians 5:18-21

Meditation Time
After praying the Scriptures, write down the thoughts that God has impressed upon your mind.

Intercession time – Praying for Others
Begin this time with a prayer of blessing and thanksgiving for the people of whom you will now intercede, then begin to pray for them to experience surrender to God, and the empowering of the Holy Spirit.
Name Request

Petition Time – Praying for Yourself
Jesus promised that anyone who asked to “receive” or be empowered by the Holy Spirit would be (Luke 11:13). But the issue we must settle is : surrender. We don’t move forward in control but in submission; walking in the Spirit is more letting than trying. Pray that God would enable you to settle this issue in those areas you need to…
Prayer Requests

Application Time
The smallest obedient act is better than the greatest intention.

Q: What is the main thing that God has impressed on me today?

Q: What am I going to do about it?

Steps to take in my obedience to God:

My Goal: To implement the above steps in the next 7 days.

Faith Time
Faith is our positive response to what God has said. Spend a few moments praying through your eyes of faith. Tell God the positive things you see happening because of His goodness!

Praise & Thanksgiving Time

Praise God by recognizing WHO HE IS!
Thank God by recognizing WHAT HE HAS DONE!

This Week’s Memory Verse – (Ephesians 5:18-21)

This Week’s Time Alone With God

Monday – This Lesson

Tuesday – At the beginning of this study on the Holy Spirit, there was a list that summarized the Holy Spirit’s job description in the Christian life. Which of those 6 items are you experiencing most frequently? Why is that?

Which of those 6 items are you not experiencing very often? Why not?

Wednesday – Go back to the Preparation Time on the subject of the Holy Spirit. Write out why you believe it is that you fail to experience the empowering of the Holy Spirit in those areas.

What decisions do you need to make to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit in those areas?

Thursday – Based on the passages given in the Bible Time, write out a journal entry that describes a word-picture of how your day-to-day life would look if you were to walk consistently in the power of the Spirit. Be specific. Use your God-given imagination, and see yourself with the eye of faith.

Friday – How are you doing at implementing the requests that you prayed for yourself? Are you taking steps of obedience following your time of prayer?

Write out the steps of obedience you still must take, especially if they have changed from your original list you made. Then, jot down, for your eyes only, the specific reasons why you must take these steps of obedience. Finally, pray over them, once you’ve finished writing.

Better Than GPS

Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps. -Jeremiah 10:23-

I have a GPS on my phone, but I rarely use it. I usually tend to think I know where I’m going, even when I don’t. For the most part, every time I do use the GPS, it’s because I’ve already tried finding something myself but have managed to get lost. When I finally type the destination into my phone, the first question that comes on the screen is this: “Directions from current location?” In other words, “Do you want to start where you are?”
The answer to that question seems obvious enough, right? Of course I want to start from here. I’m not even sure where “here” is, but I’m confident that I want to start from here. And as soon as I answer that question affirmatively, the GPS begins calculating my route — not from where I started before I lost my way, not from the direction I should be headed or from a point farther along my journey, but from right where I’m currently located.
So why does such an obvious answer physically seem to elude people spiritually? I’ve discovered that the most common reason people give for not following Jesus is that they want to get their lives together first. They want to get a few things squared away or take care of some personal issues. They want to start their journey from somewhere else than where they are currently located.
When Jesus invites you to follow him, he wants you to start right now from your current location. You don’t have to go back to where you started. You don’t need to get a little closer on your own. He reaches out to you with grace and love and invites you to follow him. Feeling weak? Depend on his strength. Trapped in sin? Find freedom in his endless mercy. Been down this road before? Know that he is still patiently waiting for you to come home. Lost? Trust his directions. Jesus wants you to start following him from right where you are — and he wants you to start right now. It promises to be an incredible journey!

Following Today
Describe your current spiritual location? Far from home? Lost off-road somewhere? Closer than you’ve ever been? Write out a prayer committing to follow Jesus wherever he leads. Affirm your desire to follow him, right now, from right here.