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Greatness defined:
You can gauge the size of a ship that has passed out of sight by the huge wake it leaves behind.
–Philip Yancey

In line with this idea, Yancey provides this quote from H. G. Wells:
“More than 1900 years later, a historian like myself, who doesn’t even call himself a Christian, finds the picture centering irresistibly around the life and character of this most significant man…. The historian’s test of an individual’s greatness is ‘What did he leave to grow?’ Did he start men to thinking along fresh lines with a vigor that persisted after him? By this test Jesus stands first.”

Have you considered the greatness of Jesus?
Have you allowed the huge wake He left behind to impact your life?

The old man, alas, yet lives within me. He has not yet been entirely crucified; he is not yet entirely dead. He still lusts strongly against the spirit, and he will not leave the kingdom of my soul in peace. But You, Who can command the power of the sea and calm the tumult of its waves, arise and help me.
–Thomas à Kempis

Amen. God help me to crucify my sinful thoughts, attitudes, actions, and words.

Why, then, any miracles? Did they make any difference?
I readily concede that Jesus, with a few dozen healings and a handful of resurrections from the dead, did little to solve the problem of pain on this planet. That is not why He came. Nevertheless, it was in Jesus’ nature to counteract the effects of the fallen world during His time on earth. As He strode through life Jesus used supernatural power to set right what was wrong. Every physical healing pointed back to a time in Eden when physical bodies did not go blind, get crippled, or bleed nonstop for twelve years — and also pointed forward to a time of re-creation to come. The miracles He did perform, breaking as they did the chains of sickness and death, give me a glimpse of what the world was meant to be and instill hope that one day God will right its wrongs. To put it mildly, God is no more satisfied with this earth than we are; Jesus’ miracles offer a hint of what God intends to do about it.
–Philip Yancey

I can’t wait!

People are God’s method. The Church is looking for better methods, God is looking for better people.
–E. M. Bounds

Don’t focus on how to “do” Christianity better, instead strive to become a better person by becoming more like Christ.

Remember the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are the character traits we are to develop in our lives.

The beginning and the end of all Christian leadership is to give your life for others.
Thinking about martyrdom can be an escape unless we realize that real martyrdom means a witness that starts with the willingness to cry with those who cry, laugh with those who laugh, and to make one’s own painful and joyful experiences available as sources of clarification and understanding.

–Henri Nouwen

There are times we feel that we would be willing to die for Christ, if it came down to that. But are we living for Him? Truly dying for Christ is a daily activity that occurs throughout life as we make ourselves available to His every desire – to cry with those who need comforting, to celebrate with those who have great news, to be transparent and available to others in whatever way they need. Are you willing to be a daily martyr for Him?