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If you have to sin to get it, it’s not worth it. If you have to sin to enjoy it, it’s not worth it. If you have to sin to keep it, it’s not worth it. Sin is always too high a price to pay for the treasures of this world. When the troubles of fear, worry, pride, dissatisfaction, envy, strife, deceit, selfishness, fruitlessness or worldliness are attached, it is no real treasure. The fear of the LORD brings its own riches. Riches that are freely given. Riches that will fully satisfy. Riches that cannot be lost. The peace, joy, hope, love, freedom, security, rest, strength, provision and satisfaction of Jesus are better than all worldly gains. He is our treasure to pursue.

God does so many wonderful things for us that they cannot be counted. He doesn’t just add His blessings, He multiplies them. He doesn’t just fill our cups, He overflows them. He doesn’t just give us a few things to talk about, He gives us so much that we cannot tell of them all. What we can do is sing a new song of worship for our God Who brought us up out of the miry pit of sin and death to place us firmly on Christ the solid rock. We can praise Him, point to Him and proclaim Him so that others may see and fear and put their trust in Him too. As He multiplies His good deeds, let us magnify His good Name.

Encouragement has a positive and negative component as we spur on others to do some things and not do other things. We are to issue both support for and warnings against. Don’t waste your life on trivial things, but do live for things that count for eternity. Don’t give in to temptation, but do enjoy the blessings and benefits of grace. Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy, but do believe the words of the Lord. Encouragement isn’t neutral. It should repel evil and attract good. Instruction to avoid the world and its ways should always include an invitation to receive the better things of Jesus and His kingdom.

Sooner or later, the things of this world dry up and leave us thirsty and empty. But the cup God offers to us to drink from is overflowing with soul-satisfying forgiveness, goodness, kindness and blessedness to bear witness to His lavish generosity. He provides much more than is needed. He provides much more than is expected. He provides much more than is deserved. This overflowing cup displays His extravagant grace and glory so everyone can see Who He is and all He has and what He does for us. It cannot be contained! And as we drink from His overflowing cup, our hearts will overflow in contented worship.

Satan hates anything and everything we rightly do in the name of Jesus. So, it should not surprise us when we have opponents to our Christ-modeling, Christ-proclaiming, Christ-exalting words and actions. It should also not frighten us. For while they may cause us trouble or pain, they will not win in the end. Our salvation is secure, and any momentary suffering we endure for our faith is not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to us. Therefore, let us keep modeling, keep proclaiming and keep exalting Jesus. Others will either oppose us or join us but they cannot stop us since God is for us.

The biblical story is about a God of grace sending His Son to people in need of grace to rescue them from sin by grace so we can be welcomed into His family to live by grace and serve as ambassadors who tell others about His grace so they might also experience His grace. This beautiful narrative is one in which God repeatedly reaches down to and out for an undeserving people who repeatedly push against and away from Him. Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more! When you trust in Jesus, you can know this: Your chapter in the story is unfolding, and its end has already been written. Grace has the final word.

Even on the darkest of days when you can’t see what is up next, what step to take next or how anything good will come next, stay confident in Jesus. He gave His life for you in the past, He’s walking with you in the present, and He’s coming back for you in the future. Every day of hardship you endure in this broken world is a day closer to when you will receive your heavenly reward. You trusted God then. Keep trusting God now. By faith, press on through all the bad toward all the good that awaits you in Christ. This is no time to turn back. Remember this: Faith doesn’t make all things easy; faith makes all things possible.

When others wrong us, we can respond in hate or in love. Each of these responses leads to an inevitable outcome: escalation or reconciliation. Things can get worse or they can get better, and this will largely be determined by how little or much we respond to the offender like Jesus does. Jesus addresses the wrong; he does not ignore it. Jesus absorbs the cost; he does not force others to pay. Jesus offers forgiveness; he does not hold a grudge. In petty things, we keep quiet in love. In serious things, we speak up in love. In all things, we rejoice over our covered sins and pray that others will repent and ask Jesus to cover theirs.

God made everything in the universe, known and unknown to us. He imagined it. He created it. He rules it. He shares it. And there is not a millimeter of it that does not declare His glory and majesty! Let it be shouted from every distant star to every nearby tree, from every creature to you and me. His hands that shaped the cosmos also shapes our hearts, for He not only cares for the world but also for us. He made us. He knows us. He blesses us. He loves us. From the inner parts of us to the outer reaches of the universe, it is all covered in the fingerprints of God. Indeed, O Lord, how majestic is Your Name!

A glorious day is coming when all will bow before Jesus in humble submission to His absolute authority and rule over all the universe. Those who have rejected Jesus will no longer be able to deny that He is Who the Bible says He is. The mocking will be silenced. The rebellion will be ended. The misbelief will be realized. For Christians, our bowing will be in joy and love and worship for the One Who saved us. We will not bow because we have to; we will bow because we want to. Unhindered, unbridled, uninterrupted joy will follow. This is the day we have been longing for since the day we put our faith in Jesus.