This is a series about following Jesus.
When you hear that phrase, how do you respond? If you’re like most, you give a hearty, “AMEN, BROTHER!” But, sadly, that’s about as far as it goes.
Jesus declared, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19) and “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)
When He spoke these words, 12 young men did follow Him!

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Jesus and the Desperate Housewife

In John 4:4 Jesus says to His disciples, ‘…I must needs go through Samaria…’ Well, He didn’t HAVE to go through Samaria. He could have taken the long route like other respectable Jews. Jesus, obviously, felt the imperative to take these twelve Jewish men, who are to be the progenitors of the Kingdom, through a region they had avoided their whole life. He wanted to go through a region His culture had been taught to avoid. He walks into Samaria and goes to the first town of Sychar. He then makes His way to the middle of town and sits down at a well where He meets A WOMAN. This is not just any woman. It’s a Samaritan woman! Oh, my goodness, what in the world is Jesus doing?

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Feeding the 5000

I believe that all of us are aware that pain is part of the process of moving forward in life; so, how did Jesus handle pain? Well, interestingly, when Jesus heard of John the Baptist’s death, He took the disciples and withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place. However, by the time they arrived, the crowd had followed them, and Jesus was deluged again with needy sheep in search of a shepherd. Jesus, through great personal pain, grief, and loss has such empathy for their need that He reaches out and ministers to them.