Monday, October 23rd, 2017

Over the last week, a feud between a Florida Congresswoman and President Trump over a phone call he made to a widow of a fallen soldier has divided the nation. Sadly, politics has swallowed up another former area of agreement between all members of this nation, that those men and women who give their lives in our nation's defense should be revered and remembered. But in the place of that reverence has erupted the bitter seeds of anger, hate, and discord. These seeds are the result of the enemy working in our nation, seeking to divide and destroy. Division inevitably leads to isolation, and when we are isolated, we are ripe for the plucking by the devil. All of this happens after the devil convinces us that in our lives, we need to seek what is best for ourselves at any cost. He tells us that we cannot succeed if others succeed before us -- it must be us or them. All of this is a fallacy, and could not be further from the Godly truth. Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." This is a clear lesson that sadly, most of us have to re-learn many times in our lives. Doing what is right often means sacrificing what we think is best for us. However, when we do, our lives following Jesus always far exceed any hopes or dreams that we could have possibly imagined on our own. Make the commitment today to think first of others over yourself, and pursue Jesus instead of selfish goals.

"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