Read Matthew 4:18-22 - Jesus calls his first disciples And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people." Matthew 4:19 (NRSV) Connie Paulson lives in Delaware. She lives near the ocean, and she loves to walk on the beach. Experiencing the changing seasons and feeling the sand go from frozen and snowy to scorching hot causes Connie to reflect on the seasons of life. When her granddaughter Kacey visits on summer week-ends, they often go to the beach. They lo

Jesus said to them, "You are truly my disciples if you live as I tell you to, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8: 31-32 (TLB) Cheryl Esper Balcom lives in Michigan. Cheryl cried for the first five years of her daughter's life. She had been alive for only eight months when she was diagnosed with Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder characterized by growth delays. Though not life-threatening, the disorder can manifest in a spectrum of sy

Read Matthew 19: 23-30 And anyone who gives up his home, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, or property, to follow me, shall receive a hundred times as much in return, and shall have eternal life. Matthew 19:29 (TLB) Dennis Oh lives in Ho Chi Ming City, Vietnam. In the summer of 2011, he was in Singapore for what he thought would be a short trip to renew his visa before returning to his mission field in northern India. Dennis was excited to email his sponsorin

Always be full of joy in the Lord; I say it again, rejoice! Let everyone see that you are unselfish and considerate in all you do. Remember that the Lord is coming soon. Don't worry about anything; instead pray about everything; tell God your needs and don't forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as y

Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing it everywhere around the world! Sing out his praises! Bless his name. Each day tell someone that he saves. Publish his glorious acts throughout the earth. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. Psalms 96:1-3 (TLB) You know better than to put new wine into old wineskins. They would burst. The wine would be spilled out and the wineskins ruined. New wine needs fresh wineskins. Mark 2:22 (TLB) Peter Caligiuri lives in Florida. He has bee

Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had said they would find him. There they met him and worshiped him - but some of them weren't sure it really was Jesus. He told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and earth. Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have give

Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-7 So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord - for we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:6-7 (NRSV) Kami K. Preston lives in Tennessee. Making connections with students while teaching remotely is hard. She can't pat them on the back or easily whisper words of encouragement when they struggle. She can't offer high fives when they succeed. Instead, she tries to get to know her

Read Deuteronomy 17:14-20 Victor Carcioppolo, from Ohio, was a health-care clinician for 40 years. To maintain his credentials and remain in good standing, he had to provide his clinical board with annual proficiencies and continuing-education units. This was achieved by attending meetings, reading current articles, teaching, or writing articles. All of this ensures that practitioners are aware of the ever-changing field of medicine. We should never stop learning, growing,

If you believe that Jesus is the Christ - that he is God's Son and your Savior - then you are a child of God. And all who love the Father love his children too. So you can find out how much you love God's children - your brothers and sister in the Lord - by how much you love and obey God. Loving God means doing what he tells us to do, and really, that isn't hard at all; for every child of God can obey him, defeating sin and evil pleasure by trusting Christ to help him. But wh

Several days later, he returned to Capernaum, and the news of his arrival spread quickly through the city. Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there wasn't room for a single person more, not even outside the door. And he preached the Word to them. Four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a stretcher. They couldn't get to Jesus through the crowd, so they dug through the clay roof above his head and lowered the sick man on his stretcher, rig