FOCUSED ON JESUS

"But when Peter noticed the strong wind,^* he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, 'Lord, save me!' ³¹Jesus immediately reached out His hand and caught him, saying to him, 'You of little faith, why did you doubt?'"  (Matthew 14:30-31)

God calls us to be so focused on Jesus that, even if we are in the midst of a crisis, even if there are very real dangers around, we will remain calm, knowing that our focus on God always keeps us from sinking.

-- Copyright Eric Folkerth 1999. All Rights Reserved. (Used with Permission)

#3798

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

"Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves." (James 1:22 NRSV)


A pessimist, they say, sees a glass of water as being half empty. An optimist sees the same glass as half full. But a Christ-follower sees a glass of water and starts looking for someone who is thirsty.


-- Unknown




#3796

STARTING NOW

Though I cannot go back and make a brand new start my friend, anyone can start from now and make a brand new end.

-- Dr. John Maxwell in Making the Most of Your Marriage Video Series

#3795

THE PEARL OF GREAT VALUE

"When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!"  (Matthew 13:46)

Jesus confronted people directly about the choice to become a follower. He came with the gracious announcement that it is now possible to live in the presence and under the reign of God -- that was His Good News. It is possible to live in such a way that when people see us, they will say to themselves, "Wow! I didn't know that a life could look like that." It indeed happens. It has happened for many who have followed Christ, and it really is possible for us. This is the "pearl of great value" of which Jesus spoke, for which any sensible person would sell everything. This is the race for which we were born. But we will not drift into such a life. We must decide.

-- John Ortberg in The Life You've Always Wanted

#3794

VALUES OUT OF SORTS

A prankster broke into a hardware store. He didn’t steal anything, but he did switch price tags throughout the store.  The store manager knew something was wrong when a customer stepped up to the cash-register with a claw hammer and it rang up for $199.95. The customer’s jaw dropped and asked: “What’s this hammer made of, Platinum?” An employee noticed that a big screen TV was priced at $14.95. Many items for sale had their values out of sorts.


We need to be careful that we don’t get values in our life switched and create a chaos of price tags for things we value most. The Apostle Paul made it clear what we should value most:  "The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash -- along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant -- dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by Him… I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally."  (Philippians 3:7-8,10 The Message)


--  Ray Ellis in a sermon entitled "I'd Rather Have Jesus"




#3793