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The world often portrays being blessed as the measure of how good we are or how good we have it. We are blessed because of what we do, what we get to do and what we get from our doing. But being blessed in the Kingdom of God is more than that. It doesn’t necessarily mean that all is well on the outside, but that all is well on the inside. It doesn’t necessarily mean that all is well in the everyday matters of life, but that all is well in what matters most. It doesn’t necessarily mean that all is well now, but that all will be well forever. Know this: Real blessing comes in things that can never be taken from us.

If you are trusting Jesus, you are blessed whether you feel like it or not. The Bible doesn’t say you possibly are blessed, probably are blessed or periodically are blessed; it says you ARE blessed. This is a continual certainty for those who follow Jesus in faith. There is… No reason to feel shame for your yesterday because you are blessed with His pardon. No reason to feel discontent with your today because you are blessed with His presence. No reason to feel afraid of your tomorrow because you are blessed with His promises. His mercy is yours. His satisfaction is yours. His kingdom is yours. All because you are His.

You don’t have to cross your fingers. You don’t have to be cautiously optimistic. You don’t have to wonder in uncertainty. You don’t have to have a glass half full disposition. You don’t have to fear the worst. You can have a real hope in this broken world with broken people even when life doesn’t work out the way you thought it would, because you are certain it will work out for good. That’s what real hope is: a confident expectation of something good in your future. And it comes from trusting that Jesus will be with us in time of need, give to us all that we need, and one day put an end to our needs.

It is wonderful to love. One of the greatest gifts that God gives us as humans is the capacity to care for things and care about things. From pizza to people, fireworks to friendships, Chick-Fil-A to conservation, jobs to justice, adventures to Apple, and countless other things, it’s good to give affection and attention to the good things God puts in our lives. But… Only one love can be supreme. Only one love can be primary. Only one love can be central. The love we have for Jesus should be greatest of all. Let us stir our affections for Him, knowing this: We will love other things best when we love Jesus most.

We don’t pretend it never happened. We don’t stay there for long. We don’t give up because of it. As we experience godly sorrow in honest ownership of our sin, it should lead to rejoicing in Jesus. Rejoicing over His forgiving grace. Rejoicing over His transforming grace. Rejoicing over His empowering grace. Yes, we feel genuine regret over our sin because it breaks God’s heart and breaks our lives. But we quickly remember that the finished work of Jesus makes it possible for us to finish well in our fight against sin. It’s not that the standard has been lowered for us; it’s that the standard has been met for us.

Don’t waste it. Don’t misuse it. Don’t underestimate it. God has graciously given you a life that is rich with meaning and purpose in this world, at this time, for His kingdom. Your home life, work life and play life are all a part of His divine plan to make a difference in the lives of the people He has connected you with and entrusted you with. You were made to shine His light! The ordinary things of your everyday routine can be done in a way that counts forever. Today, prayerfully consider what steps of faith He wants you to take in living and loving like Jesus, remembering this: He can do great things through you.

God has committed Himself to the long-term transformation of making us more like Jesus. He is acting as both demolition crew and construction crew in us, tearing down those things that don’t belong and building us up in ways that better mirror His image. He will not stop until the good work in us is done, loving us just as we are, but never content to leave us that way. We are His beloved unfinished masterpieces, treasured works-in-progress that are always under the skilled brush of God Who graciously and patiently adds His loving strokes to who we are so we can become who we were made to be.

Every single day we are forced to choose sides. We will either serve Jesus or something else. We will either prefer Jesus or something else. We will either trust Jesus or something else. The enemy of our souls wants us to look away from Jesus, look at substitutes for Jesus, and look for life apart from Jesus. So, he calls out to us over and over again… Look. Over. Here. He offers distractions to divide our attention and divide our loyalty so he can divide and conquer us. Therefore, let us pray every day that God would get our focus where it needs to be so we look past the distractions to Jesus for help on how best to live.

Jesus did it all. Jesus paid it all. Jesus conquered it all. We couldn’t live up to God’s standards, so Jesus lived perfectly for us. We couldn’t break free from sin, so He set us free. We couldn’t atone for our transgressions, so Jesus died in our place. We couldn’t defeat death, so He conquered the grave so we too will rise. We couldn’t earn an eternal retirement, so He paid for our inheritance. We have become rich in salvation, forgiveness, joy, peace, glory, kindness, favor, righteousness, love and hope because of what He accomplished on our behalf. Every good thing that is ours displays the good news of Jesus.

Do you believe that Jesus is alive? Then don’t live as if He’s still dead. Don’t live as if you are left to your own wisdom, strength and resources to navigate through life. Don’t live as if this world and its stuff is all there is, and you can’t be happy unless you have more of it. Don’t live as if your life has no real meaning and purpose, and how you spend your time doesn’t really matter. Don’t live as if you are a victim of temptation and sin, powerless to stand up to it and resist it and defeat it. Don’t live as if life is out of control, and you have just cause to worry and fear and dread. If you believe He’s alive, live like He’s alive!