“Then Jesus said to His disciples,
‘Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross
and follow Me.’” (Matthew 16:24 NIV)
Reality is hard, it’s messy, it takes us
unawares, and it happens to be precisely where we live. The point of this
pilgrim path is to be a disciple, a follower of Jesus, right in the middle of
routine stuff -- good, bad, and ugly.
Jesus didn’t promise to make anything
easy, but He does promise to be our faithful companion along the way.
-- Derek Maul in “The Unmaking of a Part-Time Christian”
#4379
“Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in
humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to
your own interests, but to the interests of others. Let the same mind be in you
that was in Christ Jesus,…” (Philippians
2:3-5 NRSV)
Thoughtfulness is the beginning of great
sanctity. If you learn this art of being
thoughtful, you will become more and more Christ-like, for His heart was meek
and He always thought of others. Our
vocation, to be beautiful, must be full of thought for others.
-- Mother Teresa of Calcutta (1910-1997)
#4378
“There is a time for everything, and a
season for every activity under the heavens.”
(Ecclesiates 3:1 NIV)
Sometimes I wonder if I’ve become so
busy scheduling every moment of my life for success that I miss the one thing I
long for most: time to live.
Time to walk hand in hand with my wife
-- regardless of unfinished tasks. Time to lie on my back and watch the clouds
form and re-form into monsters and angels and things that exist only in the
minds of dreamers. Time to talk to the people I love. Time to write about the
stirrings of my heart. Time to visit with those people across the street I’ve never
met. Time to pray -- not during scheduled prayer time, but simply because I’m
overcome with gratitude, weariness, or joy. Time to simply talk with God.
-- Ken Davis in “Lighten Up!”
#4377
“Do not fear, for I am with you, do not
be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will
uphold you with My victorious right hand.”
(Isaiah 41:10 NRSV)
We have a tough, problem-confronting,
problem-solving God. He does not retreat from either the problems we have
brought on ourselves or the problems life has dished out. And He wants to make
us much tougher people. He wants to give us a new perspective on our problems,
exercise our prayer muscles, and strengthen the fiber of our souls. Instead of
wringing our hands in consternation or running away in panic, He wants to make
us people He can use.
…He wants to transform our approach to
problems. He wants us to think of ourselves as being men and women of valor
because of His might at work in us. And He assures us that His abiding presence
is available to help us tackle every problem with His strength and direction --
confident that problems are not a sign of His absence.
…We all have problems. That’s life. But
we also have a Lord who not only helps us grow through our problems, but gives
us the power to triumph over them.
-- Lloyd J. Ogilvie in “If God Cares, Why Do I Still Have
Problems?”
#4376
Loving God, Mysterious Wind-like Spirit,
blow strongly if You will
and surround with joy all those people
whom I dislike.
Be gracious to those whose giftedness I
envy.
Bless with wealth and success
those already annoyingly more successful
than myself.
They deserve my encouragement, never my
scorn.
I pray especially for all those
who do not particularly reverence me,
or may, in fact, dislike me and shun my
company.
Give me eyes to see beauty and
winsomeness
where I have not seen it before,
and give us all the self confidence to
believe
that we would have no enemies at all
if we were known as You, Holy Wisdom,
know us.
Amen.
-- William Cleary, as quoted in “When in Doubt, Sing” by Jane
Redmont
#4375
