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The enemy wants to convince you that God isn’t using your life to make much of a difference in this world, but nothing good you do for others in the name of Jesus is ever wasted. What you do matters! Even the small stuff counts, for a tiny spark can start a wildfire and a tiny seed can birth a mighty tree. In your home, at your workplace, throughout your neighborhood, across your community, around the world… Keep doing what you were made to do even when it is hard, unpopular, tiring, inconvenient, thankless, lonely or unnoticed, trusting that God will work through you to fulfill His purposes.

Some storms build slowly. Some storms develop quickly. Some storms end quickly. Some storms disappear slowly. But… No matter how great or lasting the storm that arises in your life, Jesus rules in absolute control over when it rages and when it ceases. It doesn’t get in the way of His plan working out; it’s a way of working out His plan. Even storms serve His purposes for good! Listen… If you trust Jesus for eternal life, then trust Him during everyday life. And if the storm doesn’t scare Him, it shouldn’t scare you either. Because you are in the boat together, and He’s already promised to get you to the other side.

Hard times can cause people to harden their hearts against God, but good things in life can make us just as unfeeling toward Him. When things go wrong, we are tempted to blame God; when things go right, we are tempted to ignore God. Overcoming this sinful tendency to live as if God doesn’t care or as if God isn’t there will only happen when we regularly remind ourselves of Who He is and how good He is. He helps us in hard times and gifts us with good things so that we will… Remember Him. Rejoice in Him. Remain with Him. Don’t let the seriousness of the bad or the shininess of the good keep you from Him.

We’ve been conditioned our entire lives to keep our eyes on the scoreboard. The metric may come as points in a game, likes on a social media post, balances in savings accounts, members of a network, or notches on whatever kind of belt you’re wearing. However it is measured, the attitude is the same: the one with the best score wins. But in God’s kingdom, it’s not about how we rank against others or how we are rated by others. Instead, it’s about depending on Jesus to faithfully use what we have been given to do what we have been assigned. The only score which matters is the one in which Jesus wins in our lives.

If you do it out of duty, you’ll be resentful. If you do it for attention, you’ll be prideful. If you do it just when it’s convenient, you’ll be neglectful. But… If you do it because of love, you’ll be joyful. Obeying Jesus isn’t a matter of duty, show or convenience; it’s a matter of the heart. Our affection for Him produces our devotion to Him. We don’t say and do the right things because that’s the way we should live, but because that’s the way we should love the One who tells us what things are right for us to say and do. May grace continue to change how we feel about Him so that more and more His wants become our wants.

There are days when our faith falters, but Jesus does not abandon us. There are days when we feel like giving up, but Jesus does not let us. There are days when we are too overwhelmed to carry on, but Jesus does not move on without us. Through every sinful setback, every stagnant season and every stormy squall, Jesus remains faithful to get to heaven all those who believe in Him. By grace, let us keep taking the next right step in front of us knowing that Jesus is with us every step and will overcome even our mis-steps to take us home. Hallelujah! He will not lose us on the way. He will not let us lose our way.

Biblical faith has a responding side and a receiving side. Part of faith is responding in obedience. We trust what God says, we trust He will help us do what He says, and we trust that He will be pleased when we do what He says. Part of faith is receiving what God does for us. We trust what God says, we trust He will do what He says, and we trust that we will be pleased when He does what He says. Real faith includes believing in the promises of God and living out the purposes of God because we trust Him. Today, let us confidently do what God tells us to do because we are confident in what God tells us He will do.

The weights we carry around inside of us come in many shapes and sizes. We face an ongoing onslaught of worry, uncertainty, fear, overwhelm, discontentment, indifference, pressure, grief, unrest, outrage and discouragement. Within these categories are countless daily instances which can let us down, get us down, put us down, shut us down, hold us down and run us down. But… There is a Burden-Bearer we can turn to for help for the stresses and messes of life. Nothing is too intense, too great, or too difficult for Him to replace with peace, hope and rest. Today, cast your cares on Jesus. They aren’t too heavy for Him.

When we remember and rejoice in Jesus’ removal of our own condemnation, we will stop condemning the people around us. For those of us who have received His priceless gift of salvation, there is no condemnation for our sins, though we were rightly deserving of that condemnation. By the lavish grace of God, we are pardoned. Guilty, yet set free. Flawed, yet forgiven. Outsiders, yet welcomed in. Enemies, yet made family. Deserving of hell, yet shown mercy. Wages of death earned, yet eternal life freely given. Instead of condemning others, let us point them to the fountain of grace we ourselves are drinking from.

An evidence that you are a genuine, growing Christian is that you want to be freed from your sin, not just forgiven of it. It’s not just escape from the penalty and consequences of sin that you desire, but escape from the power and control of sin as well. Those who love Jesus will inevitably and increasingly hate their sin. We are not perfect, but we want to be. We will fail, but we wish we wouldn’t. We like some wrong things, but we long for change. Jesus will soon fully deliver us from sin, but until then, let us pray for Him to progressively replace our taste for wrong things with new appetites for the better things He has for us.