Easter 6

 I’ve worried that I would be like Peter, All in for Jesus…until life gets difficult and the persecution begins. When push comes to shove, will I stand firm with Him, or will I cut and run?  Will I deny everything I believe to save my own skin?  My arrogance of self sufficiency may crack, but a humility of being loved by my Savior strengthens me.  Listening to shocking stories on the podcast ‘Voice of the Martyrs’, documenting modern ordinary heroes forced under gun point to denounce Christ, gives me courage that I will be loyal to Him. Faith is more than information stored up for the storms of life. Faith is a heart grasping possession to His presence, an allegiance that cannot shake me. 

“Humility, as we all know, is one of those virtues that is never gained by seeking it. The more we pursue it the more distant it becomes. To think we have it is sure evidence that we don't.” - Richard J. Foster, Celebration of Discipline

“I am starting to see there is a difference between “saying prayers” and honest praying. Both can sound the same on the outside, but the former is too often motivated by a sense of obligation and guilt; whereas the latter is motivated by a conviction that I am completely helpless to “do life” on my own. Or in the case of praying for others, that I am completely helpless to help others without the grace and power of God.” - Paul E. Miller, A Praying Life: Connecting with God in a Distracting World

“The apostle Paul knew that wherever he went there would be trouble and pain and persecution. Some of his friends warned him to protect himself and escape. But the great apostle Paul was not the kind of person who ran away from difficulty or challenge. This is why, in Acts 20:24, he said to his friends, “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” - Excerpt, Bumps Are What You Climb On by Warren Wiersbe