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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; it is to take away the things that are 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. It is His grace at work when He tells us what to do, gives us power to do it, and delights us in Himself as we do it. God’s way is not always easy, popular or instantly gratifying, but it always leads to real joy.

It’s hard to walk by faith when one is carrying unnecessary weights and entangled by sin. And running through life with endurance becomes a slow, sluggish and sad journey instead of the hope-filled, peace-filled, joy-filled, purpose-filled race it should be. So let us add into our lives things that strengthen our faith and remove from our lives things that weaken our faith. If it slows us down, we let it go. If it makes us weary, we let it go. If it robs us of life in Jesus, we let it go. And by faith, we pick up whatever things God provides to help us keep going. His grace is sufficient for things that weigh us down and trip us up.

One of the evidences that you have received God’s pardon for your sin is that you are relying on God’s power to fight against your sin. Forgiveness and freedom are two inseparable aspects of grace. You don’t get one without the other. Spiritual growth will vary by person and season, but one thing every genuine Christian has in common is this: sin no longer holds the same appeal or power as it once did. We go from loving sin to hating it and from choosing sin to fighting it. Though we will not be sinless, we will sin less because of this… Our relationship with sin changes because of our relationship with Jesus.

God is good at all times in all ways in all circumstances in all of His being. It is Who He is. It is what He does. All that God approves of as right, true, pure and excellent is considered good. His nature is good. His character is good. His creation is good. His work is good. His judgment is good. His discipline is good. His plans are good. His gifts are good. God even works bad things out for good. And in the most stunning show of His goodness, God sent the Good Shepherd to die on Good Friday so we might receive Good News. Let us praise Him forever! For truly, God is good all the time and all the time God is good.

What we say, when we say it and how we say it all have an effect on who we say it to. Our words can both tear down and build up, deceive and enlighten, harm and help. It is essential we ask God for His help in safeguarding our tongues, because the power they yield can either be life-giving or life-draining. We never leave others the same. Our words always make a difference in one way or another. We speak life to others when we repeat what God says to us in the Bible. His truth. His commands. His promises. His good news. When we rightly speak of Jesus, the sweet fruit of the gospel can be eaten by all who hear.

When we receive God’s grace, every sin we have committed, are committing and will commit are all forgiven. Fully. Freely. Forever. That doesn’t mean we can knowingly and willfully continue sinning with no remorse or repentance. True grace is not, “All is forgiven, now you can freely wallow in sin.” True grace is, “All is forgiven, now you can firmly withstand sin.” Jesus did not pick us up just so we would run back to the same thing that knocked us down. He supplies both pardon for sin and power not to sin. So… We rely on His grace as we strive for holiness, and we rest in His grace when we need forgiveness.

True friendship is marked by a love that endures through all of life’s circumstances from the best of times to the worst of times. And while a friend loves always, that love is demonstrated in all kinds of ways. Sometimes it comforts. Sometimes it corrects. Sometimes it cheers. At all times, a friend imperfectly loves in whatever way fits the occasion and points to the perfect love of our greatest friend, Jesus. He knows what is best for us, wants what is best for us and does what is best for us. We rely on Him to pass on what we receive from Him to the people in our lives. Our love to others flows from His love to us.

The bad news is, we are destitute in our sin. The good news is, God is rich in His mercy. When we were unable to save ourselves and undeserving to be saved, God did something so unbelievably gracious it can only be received by faith. He demonstrated His love for us in sending Jesus to live, die and rise for us. The cross is the intersection where God’s hatred for sin and God’s love for sinners meet so that we don’t get what we deserve, and we get what we don’t deserve. Wrath avoided. Benefits gained. Mercy extended. God doesn’t help those who help themselves; God helps those who cannot help themselves.

Faith has a transforming effect upon our lives. It changes us into risk-takers who are willing to take bold steps of faith to carry out God’s will. We go where He says go. We do what He says do. By faith, we rely on God’s grace to prevail against the tribulations, oppositions and distractions that seek to stop us from doing good in the name of Jesus. This faith isn’t a confidence that God will give us all we want to make us comfortable; it is a confidence that makes us willing to give up our comforts to gain something that is far better. What emboldens us to keep going is believing that God will keep His promises to us.

God is too righteous to ignore our sin as if it doesn’t matter to Him, and He is too loving to ignore us in our sin as if we don’t matter to Him. He is both just and justifier. He both hates sin and loves sinners. He both punishes evil and pardons evildoers. How is this possible? By sending Jesus to die in our place for our sin so we can receive His righteousness by His grace. When we trust in Him, God forgives us so we get away with past sin, and frees us so we can get away from future sin. Praise the Lord! As born-again Christians, God now helps us take sin as seriously as He does so we can flee it or fight it by His grace.