Luke 9:23 (Not Alone) by Kristi McClintock

Welcome God with this LIFE Group Devotion (website, Facebook).

"Then he said to all, 'If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'" Luke 9:23 (full readings)

Kristi's Reflections: I am struck by His words “follow me”. When we follow Jesus, WE ARE NOT ALONE! He is leading/guiding, and we are to simply follow His path. I have sometimes looked at this call of ‘taking up my cross daily’ as a task I have to push through with my own determination and will power. But today I realize this call – to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him – is more correctly understood as a response. This is a response to His ultimate love for us on the cross. I recently had a conversation with a friend about Lenten sacrifices. He shared how tempting it is to do our sacrifices just for ourselves and then pat ourselves on the back when Easter comes. With this mentality, we are not letting those sacrifices teach us more about Jesus or enter into ‘being with Him’ during the Lenten journey. I believe a first step in letting our ‘crosses’ and Lenten sacrifices lead us to Jesus is to recognize that He is with us the entire time. We are following Him, which means we are not alone!

Faith Challenge: As we struggle to keep the commitments we’ve made to help us in holiness this Lenten season, may we always remember that the goal is to be more fully with Jesus.

Counter-Culture News: LSN, Vatican, AFA, Priests for Life, Live Action

Our Prayers: Prayer to end abortion, Spiritual Adoption, Alpha Center, Peters family (JP). Add Prayers on our website. Pray with meals, bedtime, wake up, LIFE Runners, etc. Consider mid-week Family Rosary (17 min). Let’s pray now.

Feast Day: St. Simplicius

Faith Quote: "The world promises you comfort but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness." ~ Pope Benedict XVI

Through Christ our Lord,

Kristi

1 John 4:19

* Pray/Fast: Prayer connects us with God’s will & His miracles, changing us & helping others. Fast from things that take your eyes off Jesus. Those who pray together stay together, and close to God!
* Save Unborn (& family): Abortion reality (images)…#1 death cause (23% pregnancies). Prov 24:11 & Jer 1:5. “A great poverty that a child must die that you might live as you wish.” Mother Teresa
* Evangelize:Make room for unbelievers & re-evangelization of self, by way of prayer (relationship) and following Christ’s example of love (service/sacrifice/mercy). Matt 28:19.

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