In front of an older house there was a “for sale” sign and on that sign in bold green letters, the lawn sign read “I’M BEAUTIFUL ON THE INSIDE.”
At graduation ceremonies the commencement speaker almost always says, “Be true to yourself” or “You be you.” This advice sounds innocent, but is it?
Jesus invites us to carry a cross for his sake. But that sounds painful. And in times of acute stress, our natural impulse is to run. Even Jesus himself longed to escape the cross.
Jesus invites his followers to carry the cross. But its pain may produce an angry response.
Jesus invites us to take up our cross daily and follow him (Luke 9:23-24). But what does he mean?
John the Baptist was in prison. Feeling depressed, he sent messengers to Jesus expressing his doubts: “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matt. 11:3). The Lord’s reply includes a unique blessing.
Jesus told his followers some difficult things. They didn’t want to hear it – and walked away. The Lord looked at the apostles and said, “Do you want to go away as well?” (John 6:67). And Peter said, “To whom shall we go?” (v. 68)?
Some Greeks came to Philip and said, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” (John 12:21). I think the people of our community are looking for the same thing. They have little interest in our attendance or budget numbers, the size of our building or even the quality of our programs. They just want to see…
The Bible says that whoever claims to abide in Jesus “ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” (1 John 2:6). So how did he “walk” or live his life?