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God loves us, but He doesn’t approve of everything we think, say and do. God took our sin seriously enough to put His Son Jesus to death in our place; we should take our sin seriously by fighting against it instead of trivializing it, rationalizing it or fraternizing with it. Let us feel godly sorrow for our sin, but may that conviction give way to celebration of the forgiveness and freedom that is ours because of Jesus. Grace means there is pardon for our sin and power not to sin. We fight against it, we fail in the battle, we fall into mercy, we fight on, we finish. For those who are trusting in Jesus… Grace always wins in the end.

Satan is a liar. And there is one lie he both whispers and shouts that is the fountainhead from which ten thousand other lies spring forth: God. Doesn’t. Care. He wants you to believe… God doesn’t care about your sin, your struggles, your service or your sorrows. The enemy wants you to believe that God doesn’t care about your life. But Satan is the one who doesn’t care about you! God showed His care by sending Jesus to defeat sin, turn struggles around for good, make service meaningful and replace sorrows with rejoicing. All around you are shouts and whispers from God proclaiming one wellspring of truth: “I care.”

It is hard to know who is telling us the whole truth, withholding the truth, distorting the truth, misinterpreting the truth, or creating their own version of the truth. We can easily be deceived into thinking something is true when it is not. So, who can we count on to be honest with us with what we need to hear? What is the standard by which we can evaluate all other guiding life principles and philosophies? What truth can we live by so we do not live in vain or error? Who can we believe? Jesus. Jesus is Who we can believe. We can always count on what He says to be true for us and good for us.

God didn’t create you primarily so you could make a lot of money, take a lot of trips, have a lot of fun, and indulge in a lot of temporary pleasures. Those things may be a part of your experience, but they are a means to this end: “to let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Today, be mindful of the beautiful calling upon your life: You were made to be… An image-bearer. A darkness-brightener. A difference-maker. A good-works-doer. A Jesus-treasurer. A God-glorifier. That is why you are here … so, go shine your light!

It’s ironic, isn’t it? For some people… God receives all of the blame for everything bad that happens and none of the credit for anything good that happens. God is questioned when things don’t work out right in the end, but He wasn’t asked in the beginning about what things are right. God gets treated as if He isn’t there most of the time and as if He should show up when summoned at any time. God is met with disbelief that He ever shows His love and disbelief in the cross where His love was most greatly shown. But… No matter how He is seen, God still does good, still works things out, still shows up and still loves.

God wants us to be happy. When He tells us in the Bible to do, say, correct, believe, feel, think or share something, it is not to take away our happiness. Instead, it is to take away things in the way of our full and lasting happiness in Him. We must trust that God is after our happiness, that He knows best how to bring about our happiness, and that what He tells us in the Bible is designed to lead us into happiness. Doing what God tells us is not always easy, popular or instantly gratifying. But it is always for good, always better in the end than sin, and always the best option for making us truly, ultimately, and eternally happy.

One of the primary aims of Christianity is to invite as many people who are far from God into the joy that we have in Him so they can experience it with us. To fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith means not only enduring in the gospel ourselves until our homecoming, but also equipping others with the gospel so they can fight on, race on, and keep on when we have gone on, until there is no place left that has not heard the good news of Jesus. A life well-lived means we press on in the faith ourselves and pass on the faith to others so that God is honored in more of us and more of us are happy in Him.

No matter how much we grow to look like Jesus, there will be countless times when we don’t look much like Him at all. Because Jesus never sinned, and we often will. The natural response for us when we think wrong things, say wrong things and do wrong things is to hide. Hide the truth. Hide our responsibility. Hide from God. But because God is gracious, we don’t have to do any of these things. When we sincerely repent, He is faithful to extend grace. Every. Single. Time. He isn’t reluctant. He doesn’t have a shortage. He won’t turn you away. Run to God with joy knowing this… His fountain of forgiveness will never run dry.

We are to be generous with our words, actions, time, money, forgiveness, kindness, hospitality, patience, service, friendship, compassion, skills, truth-telling and love. Even as we enjoy what God does for us and gives to us, we can confidently share every good resource in our lives as He leads us, knowing that even as we give away, there is always enough. God is continually pouring out more forgiveness, goodness, kindness and blessedness so we can be more of a witness to His generosity by giving away part of what He gives to us. Overflowing cups are not for us to choke on, but for us to let others drink from too.

What you and I have is ultimately not our own; it all belongs to God. Our time is His. Our Talent is His. Our Treasure is His. Little or much, temporary or lasting, tangible or unseen, everything in our lives is the property and possession of God. We have been entrusted to steward it faithfully, dispense it liberally, and credit it clearly to the One from Whom all blessings flow. Our stewardship will not be judged by the amount we are able to give, but by the readiness, cheerfulness and faithfulness of our giving. It is not a matter of how much we have to be generous with, but how generous we are with how much we have.