Following Jesus
This fresh set of Daily Devotions is being provided for our LCA/NZ family, friends and visitors to help us to keep our eyes on Jesus as we face unsettling times. They can be used by families and individuals as part of the LCA/NZ’s Church@Home resources to encourage us and build trust in our Heavenly Father during this season of uncertainty and physical isolation.
by Maria Rudolph
Click here for your printable verse to carry with you today.
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).
Jesus requires his followers to be completely different from what we would expect from a worldly perspective.
Knowing Jesus causes a paradigm shift in us. The world promotes self-fulfilment, focus on self and a right to follow your dreams and desires. Jesus teaches self-denial.
Does this attitude come easy to you? You are not alone. As we are filled with the Holy Spirit daily, it isn’t us living but Christ living in and through us.
Also, Jesus never said that following him would be easy. Instead, he asks us to pick up our cross daily. What is your cross? Jesus carried a gruesome, heavy cross up a hill to his death. Through it, he freed us from condemnation forever and restored us to the Father.
The way of Jesus is full of obstacles and hardship, but Christ also promises to walk with us and carry our burden, our crosses, with and for us if we come to him with them. 1 Peter 5:7 reminds us to ‘cast all our anxiety [burdens] on him, because he cares for us’.
Jesus wants us to follow him. Let’s walk with him along the path of life. What is your greatest joy in following Jesus? Tell him in prayer now.
Holy Jesus, my greatest joy in following you is … To walk the road with you isn’t easy, but please strengthen and guide me every day as I long to follow you. Give me courage to deny myself and put my focus on you and what you want me to do in a situation. Please help me carry my burdens when they seem too hard to bear. I know you are always with me. You are the Good Shepherd who comforts and sustains me forever. In your precious name I pray. Amen.
- Click here to read previous devotions.
- We are also posting them on LCA Facebook, making it easy for you to share them with family and friends.
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