follow Jesus

The Choice Is Up To You

“Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, …” – Proverbs 8:10 It is absolutely possible for your life to be better than it is right now. You don’t need to worry about how sick you are. You don’t need to worry about how old you are, where you’re from, or what family you came from. It doesn’t even matter what the balance in your bank account is. If you desire change, you can create a more fulfilling life right now if you invite Christ into your heart. Here’s a big mistake a lot of us make: We think that if we attend a better school, get a better boss, live in a bigger home, get a better spouse or better children, then our lives will be better. Folks, your life gets better when you get better. People think that things will improve when we get the

February 12, 2023 No Comments

Change Your Direction

“ ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’ ” – Mark 1:15 Today, I was meditating on an old-fashioned word nobody wants to hear, including me! It’s a word that bothers so many people, but it doesn’t have to. The word is repent. When we think of repenting, we think of hell, fire, and brimstone, or curses. We think of shame or of feeling guilty. Nobody wants to feel these things, although sometimes they can be beneficial for us to feel. Allow me to explain. Repent means that wherever you are, you change your direction. Imagine you were going one way, but now you’re moving in the opposite direction. Maybe today, you say, “I need a change in my life.” You haven’t made progress in relationships or spiritual growth. You haven’t accomplished the things that you hoped for.

January 7, 2023 2 Comments

Draw Near to Him

“When Jesus saw their faith, he said, ‘Friend, your sins are forgiven.’ ” – Luke 5:20 It’s interesting to me that many people today don’t genuinely know how to get into Heaven. I think most people in America believe in God and an afterlife, but they’re unsure what the “rules” are. They ask, “How do I get in?” Many Christians also wonder, “Did I lead a good enough life to still get in?” It’s not about you leading a good enough life, and that’s comforting news. It’s really about who you trust. If you lived an imperfect life but were friends with Jesus Christ, He will let you in. If you led a flawed life but knocked on His door and said, Can I come in? He will welcome you with a warm hug. The Bible says that if you draw near to Jesus, He will draw near to you.

December 30, 2022 No Comments

The Cost of Non-Discipleship

“Then he said to them all: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’ ” – Luke 9:23 Another term that was coined by Dallas Willard is non-discipleship. There is a trend in our society toward not taking responsibility for choices and actions. Even sadder is the fact that this appears to be happening in the Church as well. In many congregations today, you can be a Christian without walking the narrow road, paying the price, sacrificing for your neighbor, and serving people. What is often taught is that as long as you pray and ask Jesus into your heart, everything’s fine and you never have to sacrifice again. Although the prayer of salvation is very important, there is also a call to be responsible and moral. This is much more costly in the long run. Becoming a Christian doesn’t

October 4, 2022 No Comments

A Choice to Follow God

“The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ ” – John 1:43 In life, we have to make a choice to follow God, or turn our backs on Him. There’s a famous passage in the book of Joshua, and it states: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” It was time for the people of Israel to enter the Promised Land, but before they went, Joshua said, “Some of you are worshiping idols and you’re worshiping Yahweh God. But today, as we enter into the Promised Land, you can’t do both anymore. You have to choose either idols or the Lord.” You only get so many moments in your life to make a decision to follow Jesus before you stand before the Lord in your death or the return of Christ. Maybe you’ve made some mistakes or

September 27, 2022 1 Comment

Good Company With The Lord

“For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.” – Psalm 27:5 Today I want to talk about the importance of keeping good company with the Lord, particularly as it has to do with personal development. We can incorporate personal development into our view of discipleship. To be a disciple of Jesus means to be an apprentice or a student, and the expectation is that we make a choice every day to do our best to follow Christ and become like Him. This is demonstrated as we apply ourselves with a degree of effort to become the best version of ourselves. This version of transformation is not something we’re called to do by duty, but it’s the best possible life we can live. I want to invite

August 12, 2022 No Comments

Jesus Calls the Unlikely

“As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.” – Matthew 9:9 I enjoy exploring how Jesus called His disciples to follow Him. One of the most amazing things about Jesus is He called unlikely people who you wouldn’t think would be considered. My favorite is the calling of Matthew, the tax collector. Matthew gives his own account of this calling by Jesus in the Book of Matthew. In Jesus’ day, tax collectors were seen as outsiders and traitors. Today’s tax collectors have rules that you follow; you hire an accountant or use an online platform, you fill out all your forms, and pay your taxes. At times you may not appreciate the taxes that are due! Some think their taxes are too high, but most people would say

July 15, 2022 1 Comment

The Power and Honor of Being a Disciple

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ ” – Matthew 4:18-19 Jesus lived in the ancient city of Capernaum on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and was considered a famous Rabbi who exemplified the characteristics of a great teacher. In this region, it was a big deal to be a sage, a Rabbi, or someone who knew the Torah (first five books of the Bible), and had a group of people following them. Many great Rabbis in Jesus’ day had different interpretations of the Torah and its most important commands. This was called a Rabbi’s yoke. If a Rabbi was famous, he would pass on his yoke,

July 14, 2022 No Comments

The Hard Road to Jesus’ Easy Yoke

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24 We’ve been talking about walking in the easy yoke of Jesus. We’ve discussed how doing life attached to Him sets us free from the need to pretend that we’re perfect as we keep trying harder to win the approval of others. I’m sure by now, you’re fully convinced that’s the best way to live your life. However, you may wonder why certain Scriptures seem to contradict this idea. There is no denying that Jesus, in addition to teaching rest, also instructs us to do things like take up our cross and follow Him or be crucified with Him. How, then, do we explain what seems to be a contradiction? Is Jesus’ yoke easy or is it hard? Does

May 15, 2022 No Comments

The Good Shepherd

“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.” – Psalm 23:1-3 Earlier this month, we touched briefly on Psalm 23, reminding us we lack nothing. For the next couple of days, we’re going to take a closer look at this beloved verse as we continue talking about living a life without lack and having everything we need in the sufficiency of God’s Kingdom. As we work through specific verses of the Psalm, I encourage you to commit them to memory so you can meditate on them and really allow their truth to sink into your spirit! The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing. We talked yesterday about how we have a good Shepherd and how in His love, we have everything

February 15, 2022 2 Comments

The Choice Is Up To You

Change Your Direction

Draw Near to Him

The Cost of Non-Discipleship

A Choice to Follow God

Good Company With The Lord

Jesus Calls the Unlikely

The Power and Honor of Being a Disciple

The Hard Road to Jesus’ Easy Yoke

The Good Shepherd

Receive your daily eDevotional

Don't miss new updates in your email!

WATCH

CONNECT

SHOP

ABOUT

DONATE