moving to costa rica

in case you've wondered - no i'm not insane (i copied this for the benefit of my family who seem to think i must be insane and have told me i'm selfish and will alienate people by moving to costa rica)

but this is how i feel

Christ Must Be Our Top Priority

In other words, we are fit to be Jesus' disciples only when our love for Him surpasses our attachment to the most precious things in our life and we obey Him even at the cost of being misunderstood. Nowhere does Scripture imply that the Christian life is easy or that our believing friends and family will agree with us. In fact, our faith journey may well be a painful process.

"I want my children to follow the Lord

"I want God to use my children

In other words, our love relationship must be in the correct priority order: Jesus Christ above everybody else and everything else, no matter what.

God will never ask us to do something contradictory to Scripture or inconsistent with Jesus' life. The assignment He gives might seem ridiculous in the eyes of the world, but it will be totally compatible with biblical teachings.

"Okay, Lord, I am willing"

Ask yourself, To what am I attached? There is nothing wrong with enjoying relationships or belongings as long as possessions and emotional attachments do not supersede the Lord in importance.

The truth is, you and I must be available to do whatever God says and to go wherever He directs, at any moment, regardless of what His choice may be.

To be God's disciples, we must detach from this world and be attached to Christ—not to possessions, ideologies, or relationships. We must follow Jesus, whatever the cost, even if it means turning down career advancement or breaking off a relationship.

"So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions." There must come a time in your life when you say, "God, it's all Yours. Do with it as You choose.

Do you desire to be the Lord's disciple?

Then attach yourself to the Savior, and make Him your number one priority.

Adapted from Dr. Stanley's message "The Price of Discipleship."