People often reject the gospel because they would rather rely on good advice for what they need to do rather than receive good news about what Jesus will do for them. Humans love self-help strategies that promise you can fix yourself until they inevitably find that these strategies don’t actually help self. Well-meaning sayings like toughen up, lighten up, buck up and cheer up are just a set up that make us want to give up. Real, lasting change will only come when we ask God to begin and complete His good work in us so we can live by His power. He’s ready, willing and able to do it if we’ll stop trying to do it ourselves.
Two Kinds Of Help
There are two basic kinds of help. First, there is help for things I can do without you. Second, there is help for things I cannot do without you. I can lift a cumbersome box by myself, but your help would make it easier. I cannot lift a couch by myself, so your help would make it possible. As branches to the vine, we only receive the second kind of help from Jesus. He helps us do things that we could not do apart from Him (John 15:5): bear fruit, do good, live rightly, have faith, glorify God, persevere, experience His joy, everything. His help doesn’t just make these things easier. His help makes these things possible.
Jesus Will Come Through For Us And Come For Us
As we trust Jesus to come through for us, we will be filled with peace when we’re running low, renewed with spiritual energy when we’re running out, helped through difficulty when we’re running down, and kept steadfast when we feel like running away. This is our hope in Jesus: the best is yet to come. Let us believe it, expect it, anticipate it and await it to come true. Let us watch for the daily doses of His grace to appear when we need them. And let us regard the eternal pleasure of heaven with Him as something wonderful on the calendar that is certain to come at the appointed time. Because it is. Because it will.
You Are Never Helpless Against Temptation
Every day there is a tug-of-war for your thoughts, feelings, motives, attitudes, words and actions, pulling you in the opposing directions of what sin entices you into and what God invites you into. Look to Jesus for help and look for His help to arrive as a way to leave the temptation, the power to say “no” to the temptation, a divine removal of the temptation, the arrival of someone to help you through the temptation, and / or a promise of something worth waiting for that is better than the temptation. Rejoice! You are never helpless against temptation for there is a throne of grace you can run to for help.
When Reading The Bible
When reading the Bible, if you don’t experience both conviction and celebration, you’re not reading it correctly. On one hand, we should not ignore the places where God’s words challenge and correct the way we are living if we are disobedient to His commands. On the other hand, we should not isolate the places where God issues His commands so all we have is a list of “dos and don’ts.” A proper reading and understanding of the Bible should equip us to joyfully do as God intends and encourage us with all that Jesus has done, is doing and will do for us. His doing makes our doing possible and makes it worth it.
Grace For Believers Who Live Differently Than We D …
We should never approve or applaud someone else’s sin. But we should also be a lot more gracious with other believers who live differently than we do. It can be helpful to remember that every one of us who is following Jesus does so at varying paces and is at varying places in that journey with Him. Not everyone will… Understand things like we do. Interpret things like we do. Practice things like we do. Rather than criticize others because they aren’t carbon copies of us, let us cheer on others to continue growing in the likeness of Jesus. None of us are as mature as we will be; but we’re also not as messy as we used to be.
Jesus Is Ready, Willing And Able
We need help every single day to wisely and safely and joyfully and productively keep going in life. And we will have every single day’s worth of help that we need to keep going in life because we have Jesus! He is gracious, so He is ready to help us. He is loving, so He is willing to help us. He is mighty, so He is able to help us. Ready. Willing. Able. His grace means we don’t have to earn His help, His love means we don’t have to pry His help, and His might means we don’t have to doubt His help. Be confident and courageous today knowing that no matter what comes your way, the help of Jesus is on the way.
There Is An Order To Love
Christians. That is what we are. Love. That is what we do. The entire Christian experience of following Jesus in faith is characterized by love. But only when we love rightly. All the sins of all the people in all the world are the result of loving wrongly. To love like God loves, we should not… Love what it is wrong to love.Fail to love what should be loved. Love too much what should be loved less. Love too little what should be loved more. There is an order to love. By grace… We are to love God above people. Love people above things. And love things in such a way that they help us to better love God and love people.
God Has Solved It All
Here’s just one of the many things that is so amazing about God’s grace: we would still be walking in darkness if He had not shined His light upon our hearts. We would not have seen our sin for what it is, but even if we did… We would not have cared, but even if we did… We would not have been able to do anything to change. But God has solved all of this. His light exposes our sin, reveals His grace and leads us to faith in Jesus. Whoever follows Him does not live in darkness, but has the transforming light of life. Today, as we walk in the light, let us remember to praise God for drawing us to the Light of the World.
Surround Yourself With People Who
There are a lot of important questions we should ask ourselves on a regular basis throughout our lives to make sure we don’t ruin our lives. These include: Who are you following? Where are you going? What will you be doing? There are consequences to who we allow to influence the direction of our lives. These can be positive or negative consequences, depending upon where we go and what we do. That’s why wisely picking your mentor, your tribe and your community is essential. Surround yourself with people who are following Jesus and join them. He will help you all go to the right places and do the right things.
The Fix Is Jesus
Our world is not going to get better until we realize we cannot fix ourselves. The fix is not in more laws or more freedoms. The fix is not in more penalties or more incentives. The fix is not in more pre-education or more post-counseling. Whatever entry you want to add to the list … that’s not it either. The fix is Jesus. Only He can transform us from rebellious, idolatrous sinners into the glorious image-bearers of a loving God we were created to be. When we turn to Him again and again in faith, He will… Change our minds. Change our hearts. Change our lives. He takes our broken pieces and puts them back together again.
We Don’t Have To Drink Poison
Many Christians are slowly being poisoned by the indoctrinating words of the world they take in day after day. Words that contaminate their minds with fears and fakes that convince them to look away from God for hope and happiness. If what you’re reading doesn’t encourage you to follow Jesus, stop reading it. If what you’re watching doesn’t build up your faith in Jesus, stop watching it. If what you’re listening to doesn’t deepen your love for Jesus, stop listening to it. There is something better. You and I don’t need to drink poison when there is a fountain that flows with the life-giving water of God’s truth and promises.
Grace For Every Step
So… Where do you go from here? What is your next step? Step one is to welcome Jesus into your life for Who He is: Savior, Provider, Counselor, Leader, King, Treasure. If you have never repented of your sinful life apart from Him and received the life that comes with Him, then by faith ask God for this right now. If you really mean it in your heart, He will give it to you. Step two onward is to grow in grace. Step after step, you let Jesus be Who He is … for you. You seek to know Him, follow Him and enjoy Him, letting His peace, hope and joy rule in your heart as He rules your life for your good.
Has He Started That Good Work In You?
Has He started that good work in you? How can you and I know that we have received God’s grace? There are two really good indicators that your faith in Him is genuine: you have a growing hatred for sin and a growing love for Jesus. You don’t just want to be free from the consequences of sin, but sin itself. You don’t just want to have the blessings of God, but God Himself. There is a desire that begins growing inside of you to experience all that God has for you, in this world and the one to come. You believe in Jesus for the first time, and then you believe in Him more fully over time. We grow. That’s how we know.
Grace Is God’s Answer
Grace is God’s answer to the question of how sinners like you and me could ever be welcomed into His presence, His family and His blessing. Then, grace poses a question for us to answer: will you receive it? The gospel of grace is only good news if it is true, if you are included in it, and if you believe it. It is true. You can be included. Do you believe? You can have it all if you believe Jesus is Who the Bible says He is, Jesus did what the Bible says He did, and Jesus will deliver all the Bible says He will. Grace leads us to Jesus. Faith leads us to follow Jesus in loving obedience. Nearness leads us to enjoy real life with Jesus.
We See His Wonderful Heart
There is a lot we learn to love about Who Jesus is, which we learn about from what Jesus does. We love that He is gracious, kind, powerful, wise and compassionate … and we see He is all of those things in the way He relates to us. He forgives us, so we know He is gracious. He blesses us, so we know He is kind. He helps us, so we know He is powerful. He guides us, so we know He is wise. He cares for us, so we know He is compassionate. But it is His character, nature and personality that draw us and delight us. We don’t love Jesus because we see His wonderful acts; we love Jesus because we see His wonderful heart.
Worship War
Worshipping Jesus is war against worshipping anything else. Only one person, pursuit, prize or passion can rank as your highest priority, get your greatest admiration and be your fullest joy. The more you value Jesus above all other things, the less you will value other things above Jesus. Your heart. Your mind. Your will. These will all bow down to something or someone that means the most to you. While we are “given all things richly to enjoy,” none of these things are meant to compete with our love and loyalty for Jesus. Who is worthy of our worship? May we answer with our hearts, minds and lives: Jesus is.
His Plans Are Perfect
It may surprise us. It may confuse us. It may overwhelm us. But when it does, let us rest in knowing that the plan of God is good for us in the end, better than our own preferred ideas, and the best way of doing things to get what we’re both after. The mutual goal for our lives is simple: for God to be glorified in our happiness. We don’t have to choose between God being honored and us being happy. We have to choose between God’s way and our way for getting there. Trust Him today because… His plans are perfect even when we don’t think they are. Our plans are flawed even when we don’t think they are.
Tell Jesus
You can tell Jesus anything about the help you need and He will tell you something to help you with that need. Tell Him you’re uncertain and He will tell you to follow Him. Tell Him you’re worried and He will tell you to trust Him. Tell Him you’re dissatisfied and He will tell you to enjoy Him. Do you know what will happen when you tell Jesus that you’re tired, discouraged, lonely, angry, hurting, stressed or sad? He will tell you that His grace is sufficient to bring you relief, rest, renewal and even rejoicing as He brings you through hard times. Tell Jesus what’s on your heart and let Jesus tell you what will unburden your heart.
Turn On The Light Today
The Bible is a light that illuminates dark places. When you read it or hear it, it lights up the darkness of… Your heart. Your path. Your witness. Your life. It exposes the sinfulness of your heart so you can go to Jesus for forgiveness. It shows you the pitfalls of the path you are on so you can follow Jesus safely to where you are meant to go. It brightens your witness before other people as you go so you can point them through your good works to the hope and happiness you have in Jesus. It shines encouragement into your life so that you can keep going because of the promises of Jesus. So… turn on the light today.
