March 18th

And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as the Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

Acts 28:15

Writer Kerry S. Walters suggests that courage is the quality that the Puritan writer John Bunyan, called valor. This quality comes in three dimensions, and our Lord modeled all three.

Walters wrote:"Jesus, who always and everywhere is the model for Christian comportment, Himself exemplified...three kinds of valor: physical courage in enduring bodily torture and cruel death following His arrest by Jewish authorities; moral courage when He defied Temple culture by chasing away the money lenders, and spiritual courage when, despite the shockwave of despair that overwhelmed Him on the Cross, He nonetheless persevered to the end."

The world around us can be intimidating, but the followers of Christ are not easily silenced. With grace and compassion, we are to speak and live as servants of Christ in a hostile world.

As we seek His will for our future, God will also give us the courage to accomplish His plan. Do what the apostle Paul did as he approached Rome: Go forward, thank God, and take courage.