The answer to life and all its riddles can be found in these few statements that Jesus made to his disciples right before he predicted his death.  These are so good, that it is better just to let Jesus’ words stand by themselves. “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.” (Matthew 16, verse 23) God’s concerns for us go beyond just merely human concerns.  God is concerned with our soul. “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their […]
“Don’t you remember?”, Jesus asks his disciples. Silence. “It’s not about the bread.”  (shaking his head) “Oh, now we get it!”, exclaim the disciples. Jesus smiles and laughs to himself. That’s how I like to imagine the conversation went in Matthew 16. It’s kind of an odd passage for Matthew to interject in the middle of his writing, but it shows the human nature of Jesus, with emotions and personality, and an enormous capacity to care about people.  He was also God in human form, for no one else could do what Jesus did without fault.  He came out of heaven to live among the poor and […]
(one of the most photographed gates ~ built in 1888 in  St. Augustine, Florida) We live in an age of mob mentality and contradictions.  We, as a nation, cry out that all lives matter, which indeed they do, yet many will blindly follow a crowd by destroying and burning property and bringing harm to others.  Women scream for the right to do what they want with their own bodies, but individualism in others is not valued.  What I have noticed most in watching people on the news lately is that they are not thinking for themselves.  It’s a crowd mentality, and we have a fear of being left out of the crowd.  But Jesus warns us about […]
I sat in my favorite seaside restaurant enjoying a platter of fried catfish and hush puppies.  The food was delicious but I had to hold back the tears as my husband and I adjusted to a “table for two” instead of a “table for three”, now that our son was away in college.  I thought I would burst out crying when the hostess asked me, “How many for dinner?”  I wanted to stop and tell her all about my wonderful son who used to come with us.  I can still feel my husband rolling his eyes behind me. As I enjoyed the […]

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About the Author

Sue McCusker is a writer, Bible teacher, and web developer who loves sharing the stories of life, hope, and faith she sees around her every day. She has written for Guideposts and Angels on Earth magazines, and teaches the story of God in women's Bible study.