Encourage Other People To Follow Jesus
In order for God to be honored in the lives of ever more people and for ever more people to find their happiness in God, we must reproduce our faith and teach others to do the same. This is known as making disciples who make disciples. A disciple is a follower of Jesus. Discipleship is the ongoing process of following Jesus. Disciple-making is the ongoing process of helping others follow Jesus. As we grow in our own faith, we also go and share our faith with others. This is our great commission. We must continually encourage other people to follow Jesus because the world is continually encouraging them not to follow Him.
Dressed For Battle
God does not send us ill-equipped into battle against the enemy of our soul. Instead, He dresses us in His own armor. In order for us to fight the good fight of faith, we must put on that armor of God … ahead of time, in advance of the skirmish. We put ourselves and others at extreme risk if we wait until the battle begins to ready ourselves for war against sin and evil. The enemy does not allow us to call timeout or grant us a recess to gather our ammunition and put up our shield. This is why we should arm ourselves with a daily dose of God’s instructions, truths, and promises found in God’s Word. Slow down and suit up.
Christians Aren’t Exempt From Hurt
Christians aren’t exempt from hurt. No matter what precautions we take to safeguard our lives or how hard we work at being godly people, something will inevitably come uninvited, unannounced, and unwanted into our lives and cause us pain. Yet… Healing will come. Comfort will come. Justice will come. Restoration will come. Deliverance will come. Joy will come. Salvation will come. Eternal life will come. This is all true because Jesus has come. Take heart in this: He has come to join us in our suffering; indeed to suffer in our place on the cross so that one day we can enter into a place where there is no suffering at all.
Guiltiness and Gladness
Christians should know two feelings better than anyone else in the universe: guiltiness and gladness. We must never lose sight of this: our sin is great. We must never lose hope in this: our Savior is greater. A right response to our unfolding transformation as we follow Jesus in faith is the ongoing rhythm of repenting of our sin and rejoicing in our salvation. We are guilty, yet acquitted. We are undeserving, yet rewarded. We are trapped, yet freed. May we know the humbling, exalting experience of knowing both our sinfulness and our Savior. Be glad in this: Our sin may begin our story, but the grace of God will have the final word.
The Right Response To Failure Is Faith
Do you know what your failure is for? It has a purpose, and that purpose is to help you succeed. Not just so you’ll try harder next time. Not just so you’ll be wiser next time. Not just so you’ll do better next time. But rather so you will rely more fully on Jesus next time. His strength. His guidance. His way. His plan. His timing. His help. Failure, futility and frustration are intended to move you away from self-reliance to Savior-reliance, and that move is always for the better. It is always the first and foundational step to real success. The right response to failure is faith, for every person who turns to and trusts in Jesus will win in the end.
What We Most Want Known
My personal mission statement is: “I exist to know Jesus and make Him known so that God is honored in us and we are happy in Him.” That’s what I am after in everything I do … an honored God and happy people. With that as my life’s purpose, what do I most want people to know about Jesus that will enable them to find their happiness in God so that He is honored? Grace. It is the fountainhead from which everything else that is good springs forth and overflows into our lives. Every blessing received. Every burden lifted. Every benefit gained. Every single thing that God offers us now and forever by inviting us into life with Him is secured by Jesus and offered to us freely by grace.
You Are Not Done Shining Yet
God will bring you through 100% of your dark days until He brings you home. He will not forget you a single moment. He will not forsake you a single time. He will not fail you a single day. Will it always be easy? No. Will it always be comfortable? No. Will it...
Jesus Governs Our Lives For Our Good
Our hope is not in who sits in the Oval Office, but in Who sits on the throne in heaven. Our hope is not in who governs us on earth, but in Who reigns and rules over the entire universe. Our hope is not in what laws are passed, but in the One Who has written His law of love on our hearts. While politics, parties, programs and policies do have an impact upon our lives and our country, and we should take these things seriously, the optimism we have for everyday and eternal well-being does not rise and fall on one of us, but on Jesus, Who is God with us. This is where we pin our hope: Jesus governs our lives.
Bad, Good, Better, Best
For those who are trusting in Jesus… The bad that we are going through is nothing compared to the good that we’ll get to, good is going to come from the bad we are going through, and God will give us all that we need to get through the bad to the good. Our struggles are real, but they are not permanent or pointless, and we are not pitiful or powerless. The enemy wants us to live in defeat and despair as if our lives are only going to go from bad to worse. But our redemption stories move from bad to good when we met Jesus earlier, good to better as we follow Jesus now, and better to best when we see Jesus later.
Mindful And Merciful
We may be growing in the likeness of Jesus, but there are times we don’t look much like Jesus. It is easy to see these faults and flaws in other people while overlooking our own sinful shortcomings. Hypocritically ignoring the log in our eyes while harshly judging the speck in the eyes of those around us will only be remedied when we recognize our sin, repent of our sin, receive forgiveness for our sin, and resolve to help others be as forgiven and free as we are. We point ourselves to Jesus; we point others to Jesus. Today, let us be as mindful of our sin as we are of others, and as merciful to others as we are to ourselves.
