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In this world, we will have tribulation. Trouble has either already made its way into your life, or it is on its way. But… Jesus has overcome the world. His power is greater than our enemies, His sovereignty rules over our battles, His promises reside in our hearts, His forgiveness ensures our futures, His presence empowers our lives, and His grace provides for our needs. Though He doesn’t always remove the threats from our lives, He does render them powerless to do anything that would prevent us from joyfully enduring and prevailing in the end. Take heart! He didn’t get you this far just to get you this far.

Pride includes thinking and acting and speaking as if self is the source of everything good about who you are, what you have and what you do. Humility includes the opposite. It recognizes that we would be nothing good, have nothing good and do nothing good apart from the grace of God. We can know whether we are prideful or humble by whether we take credit ourselves or give it to God, take charge ourselves or trust in God, and take care of ourselves or rely on God. Today, let us humbly and joyfully praise Him for all that is good about ourselves and our lives, remembering this: If it’s good, it’s from God.

We need help every single day to wisely and safely and joyfully and productively keep going in life. And we will have every single day’s worth of help that we need to keep going in life because we have Jesus! He is gracious, so He is ready to help us. He is loving, so He is willing to help us. He is mighty, so He is able to help us. Ready. Willing. Able. His grace means we don’t have to earn His help, His love means we don’t have to pry His help, and His might means we don’t have to doubt His help. Be confident and courageous today knowing that no matter what comes your way, the help of Jesus is on the way.

Who God is and what God does is powerful enough for the entire universe and personal enough for you. He knows everything that is happening in the universe. He knows you. He sustains everything that is enduring in the universe. He sustains you. He guides everything that is staying on course in the universe. He guides you. He helps everything that is fulfilling its purpose in the universe. He helps you. He blesses everything that is enjoyed rightly in the universe. He blesses you. No matter what today brings, remember this wonderfully good news: God isn’t just out there somewhere; He is right there with you.

The One who knows us most is also the One who loves us most. He sees every sin, every shortcoming, every struggle … and He sets His affections upon us anyway. God loves us just as we are, but He loves us enough not to leave us as we are. When we put our faith in Jesus, God begins to transform us into people who both hide less and less and have less and less to hide. He doesn’t expect us to change our lives before He welcomes us into His family, but rather He welcomes us into His family and then He begins to change our lives. Remember today: We are not fully changed, but we are fully loved sons and daughters.

Every human knows what it feels like to be stuck. Stuck in repeated mistakes, personality flaws, bad habits, unfulfilling rhythms and inner unrest caused by our sinfulness. But God in His grace sent Jesus to get us un-stuck and offer real transformation for those who put their trust in Him. This is what becoming new in Christ means: a change in our standing with God, a change in what makes us happy, a change in what controls our lives, and a change in what our eternity will be like. He changes everything! Trust Him day by day and watch Him change you from who you used to be into who you were made to be.

Christians. That is what we are. Love. That is what we do. The entire Christian experience of following Jesus in faith is characterized by love. But only when we love rightly. All the sins of all the people in all the world are the result of loving wrongly. To love like God loves, we should not… Love what it is wrong to love. Fail to love what should be loved. Love too much what should be loved less. Love too little what should be loved more. There is an order to love. By grace… We are to love God above people. Love people above things. And love things in such a way that they help us to better love God and love people.

Devastating tragedy. Unexpected loss. Agonizing heartache. There is no way to be adequately prepared for sudden suffering when it blindsides us. We don’t see the hardship coming, but we can be sure of this: we will see the grace of God coming. He will not leave us alone to face the trials of this world. We don’t have the answers, but He will give us guidance. We don’t have the will, but He will give us strength. We don’t have optimism, but He will give us hope. We don’t have a lot of things on our own, but we do have Jesus. And He is everything. Take heart in this: He will help us every moment we cannot help ourselves.

Here’s just one of the many things that is so amazing about God’s grace: we would still be walking in darkness if He had not shined His light upon our hearts. We would not have seen our sin for what it is, but even if we did… We would not have cared, but even if we did… We would not have been able to do anything to change. But God has solved all of this. His light exposes our sin, reveals His grace and leads us to faith in Jesus. Whoever follows Him does not live in darkness, but has the transforming light of life. Today, as we walk in the light, let us remember to praise God for drawing us to the Light of the World.

If God and I don’t think the same way, it’s me that is thinking wrongly. If God and I don’t speak the same way, it’s me that is speaking wrongly. If God and I don’t act the same way, it’s me that is acting wrongly. God never adjusts His ways to match mine, but is continually and graciously transforming me to be more like Him. So… It’s never right to conclude that God is wrong. Yes, He does things we can’t understand. Yes, He does things we don’t like. Yes, He does things we wouldn’t choose. But He absolutely never makes an error in anything He does. Let us trust in this: He knows what He is doing, even when we don’t.