Renewed by the Spirit
At various times in our lives, many followers of Christ can identify with those bells. We express our faith through our words and actions, yet internally we may feel a lack of the divine power that once resided within us. In the coming weeks, I'll be posting a sermon series on my BLOG entitled “A Brand New You! This sermon is the first in this series.
Discipleship or Followership
Jesus had followers and disciples. What is the difference? Well, followers of Jesus are curious about Jesus. They may even attend church. Jesus’ followers, like many today, stopped following Him when things got tough. The disciples, while certainly not perfect, hung in there. This devotional addresses the difference between a disciple and a follower.
THE STRUGGLE OF SELF-DENIAL
“Then he said to them all, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23 NRSV Self-denial is a spiritual discipline that is hard to practice but is necessary for our growth in Christ.
Counting the Cost of Discipleship
Luke 14:28-30 provides an essential lesson on the importance of thoughtful commitment. Jesus is teaching the crowd traveling with him about the cost of discipleship. I imagine Jesus sees a guard tower under construction, turns, looks toward his followers, and says, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?"
Devoted to Fellowship
Devotion—what comes to mind when you think of what devotion entails or is? The first thing I think about is a faithful dog. Many of you, I am sure, remember the TV show Lassie. In nearly every show, Lassie rescues Timmy from some dangerous situation. I even experienced a dog's rescue when I fell into the waters of Buckeye Lake as a small child. The family dog, Mutsie, came to my rescue despite her fear of water.