57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
58 Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head
59 He said to another man, "follow me." but he replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
60 Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61 Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family."
62 Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
Excuses ultimately have little influence on God. When Jesus extended a call for someone to follow Him many responded with various excuses and reasons why the timing was off, or task was too difficult, or other needs were more pressing.
One person suggested he needed to first go home and say goodbye to his family. It seemed like a legitimate excuse, but it was answered by Jesus with a proverb. He said, "no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God." Jesus understood that in order to plow straight and to finish the task you could not turn around and look behind.
Excuse makers look backwards to see where they have been, how they are doing, and forget that the future is ahead. To plow a straight furrow it was always necessary to look ahead. Make no excuses for following Christ. Simply look forward to where He is guiding and follow Him.
______________Today's personal note from Dennis
Greetings from Starbucks in beautiful Tempe, AZ.
Happy St. Valentine's Day!! and Happy Arizona's Birthday!! (I am writing this on Tuesday February 14th) ALthough Valentine's Day has been around since the 14th century, the State of Arizona is only 100 years old today. Just a young state in the scheme of things. Celebrations will be held throughout the state today. It seems strange to think that living here for 23 years that our family has lived in Arizona almost a quarter of its existence as a state.
I do hope you shared your love with family and with that special person in your life on Valentine's day. Sandy and I have celebrated 47 Valentine's Day together.
Sandy and I are hard a work studying for our various Bible Studies and Sermons. We both enjoy teaching and study is such a vital part of enjoyment. Sometimes I wonder what I learned the first 40 some years of my ministry. The Bible seems to just come alive as I study it great truths.
All of my labs, CT scans and other tests are complete. I should have a report on Monday, February 20. I will see the oncologist on that day. I ask you to join me and pray that the tests will show no new tumors or growth in the current one. I feel good and believe things are going very well. I praise the Lord for His comfort and peace.
I so enjoy hearing from you. Sometimes I write The Encourage and wonder if it is worth the effort and then one of you send a nice return email and remind me that God is using these words of encouragement. Thanks for telling me so.
Sandy and I made official our membership in First Baptist Church of Tempe this past Sunday. We are excited about our new church and the opportunities for ministry. Sandy's Tuesday morning Bible Study is going well. She finished her study for this week's lesson and commented to me, "that will preach!" It was 16 typed pages long. Not many of you would want to sit through a sermon that long, but would gladly listen to Sandy teach that long.
Our whole family has passed around the 'bad cold' that is going around. It is not a fun time and lasts way too long.
Pray for the upcoming speaking opportunities that Sand and I have. I will be preaching at First Baptist Tempe on March 4th at the 9:30 Intersect service. Please pray as I prepare for the revival at Second Baptist Church in Lebanon, MO, April 29-May 2.
Appreciate so much your prayers, concerns and support of our ministry and our family.
God bless you. May god give you new understanding of your personal ministry and open doors to use your spiritual gifts in serving Him and His people. ~ DGW
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