Crawling comes before walking. Planting comes before harvesting. Starting comes before completing. There is an order to things, and for followers of Jesus… Praying comes before doing. You and I often handle things backwards from how we should handle them by acting and then seeking God when we should seek God and then act. The best thing we can do to handle what we face in life is to seek our Heavenly Father before we do a thing more. We ask. He answers. We act. He assists. This is the only way to live happy, holy lives. Turning to Him shouldn’t be our last resort; it should be our first line of defense.
God Has Written Our Stories
God has written our stories. We may not know how this chapter ends and the next one begins, but we trust that God knows exactly what He is doing in every scene of our lives. People aren’t always who they ought to be. Places aren’t always what we want them to be. Plot twists aren’t always what they seem to be. But God is writing a beautiful story for those who trust Jesus! We don’t know what comes with each new turn of the page, and it won’t always make sense to us, but it doesn’t have to. Because our faith is in the One who does know the happily-ever-after ending to our story. After all, He’s the One who wrote it.
Jesus Governs Our Lives
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.
Christian Love Has Two Parts
Christian love has two parts: affection and action. Love feels something on the inside. Love does something on the outside. These two parts work together in the lives of those who follow Jesus to help us relate to each other like Jesus relates to us. When we look at how His love for us is, we see how our love for others should be. To the degree that we anticipate and appreciate His care for us in seeking our good, we will reflect that same lovingkindness towards the people in our lives as we seek their good. Spurred on by His love, let us love today like Jesus … caring about others and caring for others.
What Failure Is For
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. The right response to failure is faith, for every person who turns to and trusts in Jesus will win in the end. Remember this when you find yourself coming up short: Futility and frustration are intended to move you away from self-reliance to Savior-reliance. And that move is always for the better.
Jesus Is An Un-Doer Of Bad Done To You
Jesus is not only a doer of good to you, He is also an un-doer of bad done to you by people. They hurt your heart; He heals it. They distance themselves; He draws near. They sting you with their words; He soothes you with His. They overlook you; He pays attention. They cheat you; He blesses you. They intend you harm; He works it out for good. They judge your sins; He dies for them. We all do each other wrong, but Jesus begins to make things right in us when we turn to Him, and He will someday make things right in all of creation. Until then, let us seek His grace when others wrong us and when we wrong others.
He Will Only Do Good To You
If there is one thing you can be sure of, it is this: people will hurt you. It may be accidental, or it may be intentional, but it will happen. There will be things said and left unsaid, things done and left undone, which bruise and break your heart and spirit. But there is a sweet-like-honey truth to overcome the bitter taste of how others treat you: Jesus is not like others. He is a friend who will never betray you, abandon you, disparage you, neglect you, exploit you, condemn you, harm you, mis-prioritize you, belittle you, mistreat you, lie to you, pretend with you, or withhold love from you. He will only do good to you.
Live This Life In Light Of The One To Come
Living fully is not about having the most fun, experiencing the greatest pleasure, and doing the biggest good in this world as if this place is all there is. Instead, it’s about the eternal ripple your life can make when you use it for Jesus. That doesn’t mean you leave happiness and helpfulness behind; it means you find it in a more meaningful way. We are to be faithful witnesses for God in the everyday things of life that we’re doing on earth (from cookouts to workouts to hangouts) in such a way that we’ll be glad we did when we get to heaven. Enjoy blessings. Do good. Glorify God. Live this life in light of the one to come.
Live Fully. Die Ready.
We don’t like to think about it. We don’t like to talk about it. But death is coming for us all. We may not be certain of the time of its arrival, but the certainty of its arrival is never in doubt. Instead of ignoring, downplaying, or fearing it, we should let its reality accomplish two essential and monumental things in our lives: be purposeful to experience life before death, and be prepared to experience life after death. Jesus makes both of these possible as we trust Him. He gives us grace so we can give ourselves to the things that matter most. In every step of faith, let us rely on Him to help us… Live fully. Die ready.
Things Would Look Much Better
Remember this as you follow Jesus in faith: it’s not what happens to us that is of greatest importance, but rather the end result of what happens. Things often won’t go as we plan, things often won’t work out like we hope, and things often won’t be as simple or easy or comfy as we would like. But in the hands and plans of God, our struggles are not setbacks. They are stepping stones to the good result He has in mind. So… Don’t stop believing. Don’t stop proceeding. Something good is coming even if you don’t yet see it. Take heart! Things would look much better if we could see them not as they are, but as they will be.
Reading And Responding Leads To Joy
For genuine, growing Christians, our relationship with Jesus increasingly influences how we live. As we turn to the Bible and turn its pages, we learn of His good plans for us, His gracious promises to us, and His guiding presence with us. Only when we regularly read and respond to the Bible can we be who we were made to be and do what we were made to do. That’s why it is essential that we… Read it. Pray it. Live it. Share it. If your ultimate aim in life is to be as happy as you can and bring as much honor to God as you can, there is no substitute for the nourishing, encouraging, strengthening, transforming Scriptures.
Walking With Jesus
Followers of Jesus take steps of faith in our day-by-day “walk” with Him. Wherever He leads, we follow in the same direction, one step at a time. In loving obedience. With humble dependance. For a blessed experience. While there are many places we will go and things we will do, there are four basic steps that every Christian never stop taking until they follow Jesus all the way home: Pray. Read the Bible. Respond to what tells you. Help others do the same. This is how God is honored in us and we are happy in Him. Certainly we will take mis-steps along the way; but Jesus will never let us permanently lose our way.
It’s Not Without Jesus
At His first coming, Jesus took our place so we can be with God. At His second coming, Jesus will take us to a place where we can be with God. We live in the present between His two appearances: when He came to live, die and rise for us, and when He will return for us. It’s hard now. It’s sad now. It’s messy now. Yet it’s not without peace, hope and joy … because it’s not without Jesus. Jesus came to make us right with God, He is with us so we can make it through this world, and He is returning to make all things as they should be. Take heart! For though things aren’t yet perfect, the day is coming when they will be.
Grace Points The Way To Be With Jesus
All of God’s gracious actions toward us are designed to lead us toward Him. He means for us to respond to His gifts not by seeking more gifts, but by seeking Jesus … to know, trust, serve, obey, honor, enjoy, worship and love Him as we follow Him. Grace enables and encourages us to take steps with Jesus. When we do, we grow in our relationship with Him as we go with Him wherever He leads to do whatever He says. God woos us with His kindness along the way because He wants us to be together every step in this life until we are with Him forever in the life to come. Grace points the way to be with Jesus.
Experiencing More Of His Grace
There are certain rhythms of grace that will help us better experience the forgiveness, freedom and favor of God. These habits, disciplines and practices help us remember and rely on God’s generosity toward us in Christ. While there are many of them, there are four basic steps that give birth to the rest of them: Pray. Read the Bible. Respond to what God tells you. Help others do the same. This is how we better experience all that God means for us to have in Christ: we live in step with Him as we live out His plans for us. The best way to dive into the fountainhead of grace is to walk daily with the Giver of grace.
Headed In The Right Direction
It may not be the easy way. It may not be the popular way. It may not be the crowded way. But following Jesus is always the right way. As it has been said, when the whole world is running towards the cliff, he who is running in the opposite direction appears to have lost his mind. But he is actually the only one in his right mind headed the right way no matter how hard, unaccepted or lonely it may be. So, let us follow Jesus confident that He will always lead us to the right place at the right time. We’ll often be heading in the opposite direction of the crowd, but we’ll always be headed right to where we need to be.
Grace To Begin Again
There are three questions we should regularly ask in an honest-as-we-can-be evaluation of our spiritual journey with Jesus. First, how am I relating to God through my daily prayer and Bible time? Second, how regular and authentic is my corporate worship with others? Third, how am I stewarding my time and resources for the kingdom of God? These are essential parts of us knowing Jesus and making Him known so that God is honored in us and we are happy in Him. When we have been less-than-faithful in these areas, let us ask God for grace to begin again, rejoicing that He will never stop being fully faithful to us.
Jesus Is Our Security
Jesus is our security… He laid down His life on the cross so we can be forgiven and freed from the one thing that can truly threaten us, our sin. He rose from the dead to defeat the one thing that we could never safeguard against, our mortality. He sits in the position of power and authority to rule for good the one thing that we struggle to control, our lives. He prepares for us a place and an inheritance to be enjoyed forever by ensuring the one thing that we cannot, our eternity. He promises to provide all we need until He brings us safely to the one thing in our future that we long for most, our home with Him.
We Must Encourage Each Other To Follow Jesus
Every Christian faces the ever-present danger of distraction, frustration, and temptation to become preoccupied with things that don’t matter, things that don’t satisfy and things that don’t last. That’s why Christian community is so important in helping each other keep the faith and keep our focus. Let us… Spur each other on to good works for Jesus. Strengthen each other with good news about Jesus. Support each other with good deeds like Jesus. By His grace and in His love… We must continually encourage each other to follow Jesus because the world is continually encouraging us not to follow Him.
Do You Believe In Jesus In That Way?
Know this: everyone is a believer. There is no one who is not a believer. We all believe in something. Even to disbelieve in one thing is to believe in another. All of life’s desires, decisions, and deeds flow from one of two basic beliefs: we believe that we need Jesus, or we believe that we do not need Him. Want to know what you believe in? Look at your life. You will pin your hopes upon your beliefs, devote your time and resources to your beliefs, look for happiness in your beliefs, find your sense of well-being in your beliefs, and stake your life on your beliefs. The question is: do you believe in Jesus in that way?
