Key Verse: Luke 9:23
Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross DAILY, and follow Me…”

Peter, Andrew, James and John left their nets. Levi (Matthew) left his tax collecting post. The others left whatever it was they were doing. Now Jesus teaches that this decision must be made DAILY! As God, Jesus made the decision, with His Father, to become Man. As Man, He learned DAILY to live in obedience. “Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Isaiah 50:4 says, “He awakens me morning by morning to hear as the learned.” In verse 7 of Isaiah 50, the experience of the Messiah is described this way, “I have set my face as a flint.” This blog is designed to help us all every day in making a fresh decision to follow Jesus.

PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord God, I confess that most mornings I would like to stay in bed for another hour, but I know that I cannot follow You closely without doing as Jesus did, taking up His cross daily. I praise You for the grace You give me to follow You. Please continue to give me the gift of discipline every day. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen!

100 PERSONAL WORDS:
[Written by David September 16, 2016]

As some readers know, I was told by the experts in March 2012 that I had two years to live. Thanks to the professionals and the Lord Himself, as a result of your prayers, that “expiry date” has been changed. God knows! I’ve been in hospital ever since shortly after my 80th birthday on August 13th. They say I have cellulitis, a bacterial skin infection. Some speculate that an insect bite might be the original cause. The infection, particularly seen on my right leg, is now in retreat. Praise the Lord!

I take comfort in that often-repeated Bible verse, “His mercy endures forever.” That’s found 26 times in Psalm 136. God is consistent. I need to learn by making a deliberate decision every single day to follow Jesus more consistently. How are you, my blog partner, doing in this department?

Yours for “daily” following Jesus,

David

P.S. Luke, the Physician, is the primary historian of the New Testament. In Luke and Acts he covers a period of 70 years. Over the next few days, I would like to beg the indulgence of readers as I write in the P.S. some thoughts on the reliability of the historical record of Scripture!