Red-letter Words #217

Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (NIV)                                                     John 6:31 Do to others as you would have them do to you. (NIV)               John 14:13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. (NIV)                                                                 Matthew 20:25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Great spiritual leaders are often known by their sayings. They are identified with and by their words. The Chinese spiritual leader is known primarily by “the sayings of Confucius.” Buddha is known for the “eight-fold path of Buddha,” that are the sayings of Buddha. Philosophers are also known by their verbal and written words. “I think therefore I am.” Rene Descartes

Jesus is likewise known for His famous sayings. All the scripture above are words that Jesus spoke. Many Bible translations print the words of Jesus in red letters in order to emphasize the words that He Himself said. Often His words are hard or difficult sayings. To take his words and only give them shallow attention will leave you with a lack of understanding. Read through the words above again and allow God’s Holy Spirit to speak to your spirit. The words are truth, spoken by God’s only Son. They are words of life and words to live by.

His words are not always easy to apply or to even absorb. They are words that challenge, encourage, admonish, and guide. Take some time and read through the red-letter parts of the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John to get the message of Jesus through His words. ~ DGW

________________________Today's personal note from Dennis

Greetings from Starbucks in beautiful Tempe, AZ

God is so good!! I continue to praise Him for the recovery that I am experiencing. The last thing that corrected was my appetite. It returned on Monday. The weight loss was over 25 pounds. It is good to actually want to eat again. I have discovered over the past several years that when the liver is infected the appetite goes. I assume this also means the infection is gone. 

Several of you have commented how good Sandy and I looked in the picture in last week's Encourager. Some of you said for people in your 60's that we looked real good. The truth is that picture was taken in 1988 when we moved to Arizona. Wish we did look that good now. I will try to send a more recent photo in the coming weeks. 

Sandy and I are planning a few days away from beautiful Tempe to get a little R&R. I know you may think that as retired old folks that all we do is R&R. Well it may seem that way, but we still like to get away for a few days now and then to spend some time together. 

Mandy and John took Johnny to the store. He tried on all the hats. See the picture of him in my favorite one. Isn't he the cutest. Mandy is in her 23rd week of her pregnancy. She is doing well. Continue to pray for her to go full term. We look forward to this 5th grandson. 

Sandy and I had the privilege of attending band concerts and choir concerts last week. Burke and Bennett both did fabulous. We are so proud of them. Collin has a band concert next week. 

God continues to open ministry opportunities for Sandy and me. Sandy is teaching on Tuesday mornings at First Baptist Church of Tempe at 9:30AM. Join her. I will be teaching our Sunday School class the next three Sundays. Our teacher is on vacation. I really look forward to sharing the Word with the class. FBC is kicking off the fall Men's Ministry and have asked me to speak at the first meeting. I am excited about the Men's Ministry and the opportunity to disciple men.

We have currently canceled meetings that require much travel. We both have found we don't travel as well as we used to and also with my health going up and down we are a bit reluctant to get very far away from our doctors. We still plan on being in Quartzsite for the annual Campers on Mission project. Sandy and I both will be speaking during the week as well as doing ministry at the Rock and Gem Show. The Quartzsite church has asked that I stay over and preach on the Sunday after the project. They are a wonderful church and their pastor, Aaron Chicon, is a great man of God. 

I was challenged again this past few weeks concerning my purpose in life. Sometimes it becomes confusing with so many things pulling each of us in different directions. I was reminded again that my purpose is to glorify God. I am not on this earth for me, but for Him. I also know that God has given me the privilege and responsibility of making disciples of those He puts in my path. What an awesome calling. "Go and make disciples." 

"Love the Lord with all of your heart and go and make disciples;" a purpose that is hard to beat. What is your purpose for living?  ~ DGW