Rejoice in this today: Though God is a million miles away, He is also right here with us. We cannot be in two places at the same time, but He is in all places at all times. Everywhere He is present, and nowhere is He absent. Let us praise Him as the uncontainable, unlimited, unequaled One Who is always both there and here, both far and near. So amazing it is that He can be high above it all and still be close enough that we feel Him… Guiding us. Helping us. Correcting us. Delighting us. Sustaining us. Here with us. In any place we are, may our hearts be full of worship for the One Who is in every place.
God Is Able
God is the most-powerful, all-powerful being in existence and is able to do whatever He purposes to do. Nothing is too hard for Him. Nothing is mightier than Him. Nothing can stop Him. And He has graciously chosen to use His power over all things to work all things together for our good. Praise God He needs no help! Praise God He helps those in need! When we grow weak, He strengthens us. When we grow weary, He sustains us. May we rest today knowing He will use His power in ways that will bring blessing to us when all is accomplished as He intends. He has made us promises, and He is able to keep them all.
He Loves You Because You’re His
Striving for self-worth through your own performance will create more unhappiness in you than you ever dreamed possible. Why? Because you will face disappointment in yourself when you don’t perform well, discontentment when others don’t applaud your performance, and depression when you don’t get to perform at all. The good news is this: that’s not where your value comes from at all. You are priceless because of God’s unrelenting love for you in Christ. God doesn’t love you because you’re beautiful, witty, popular, fit, wealthy, fast, intelligent, kind, influential or talented; He loves you because you’re His.
God Cares
Satan is a liar. And there is one lie he both whispers and shouts that is the fountainhead from which ten thousand other lies spring forth: God. Doesn’t. Care. He wants you to believe… God doesn’t care about your sin, your struggles, your service or your sorrows. The enemy wants you to believe that God doesn’t care about your life. But Satan is the one who doesn’t care about you! God showed His care by sending Jesus to defeat sin, turn struggles around for good, make service meaningful and replace sorrows with rejoicing. All around you are shouts and whispers from God proclaiming one wellspring of truth: “I care.”
Safe And Secure In The Love Of Jesus
People go to great lengths to safeguard their money, health, jobs, computers, phones, homes, families, and minds against dangers that threaten their well-being. They look for security in a variety of places like their bank account balances, home alarm systems and workplace seniority. But all of the security measures people take have one thing in common: they can fail at any time, which means they don’t really offer security at all. Real security is having something which guarantees a good future for you that can never be lost by you or taken from you. And that kind of security is only found in the love of Jesus.
Unfinished, But Not Unloved
A semi-painted canvas doesn’t show the whole picture. A rough draft doesn’t tell the whole story. A list of ingredients doesn’t look like the whole entrée. Similar to these things, you and I are works-in-progress in the transforming hands of our loving Father. And He will continue changing us from who we used to be into who we will be. We are… Unfinished, but not unsaved. Unfinished, but not unfixable. Unfinished, but not unloved. Because God will finish what He starts in you, you don’t have to give in to despair when you stumble in your faith or give up in trying to live out your faith. He isn’t done yet. And neither are you.
Rest For Your Stress
Life can be stressful. There are… Problems we can’t solve. Situations we can’t handle. Demands we can’t meet. Changes we can’t avoid. Troubles we can’t escape. As Christians, we aren’t exempt from the stresses of life, but we are empowered to endure them. Real relief from stress comes not from the absence of tense and troubling situations, but from the presence of Jesus with us in those situations. Stressful becomes stress-free when we trust in this: Jesus will be with me. Jesus will help me. Jesus will guide me. Jesus will deliver me. Rest in knowing that you’re not the one who holds it all together. He is.
God Is Able To Carry The Heaviest Burden
God is able to carry the heaviest burden you will ever face and carry you to the other side by His grace. There is no weapon too powerful. There is no mountain too big. There is no task too great. There is no situation too hopeless. There is no adversary too insurmountable. Not. For. Him. Whatever you are struggling with… God will get you over it, under it, around it, through it, or away from it some way until the day comes when every obstacle has been permanently removed. Rest in this today as you trust the day to God: It may be too much for you to handle, but it’s never too much for Him.
God Still Is
The scoreboard may show us behind, but the game isn’t over yet. The pieces may be a jumbled mess, but the puzzle isn’t assembled yet. The road may seem to lead in the wrong direction, but the journey isn’t complete yet. For those who love Him, God is working ALL things together for an ultimate good. That means there is not a bad thing in the universe that isn’t factored into His plan. Even the difficult things, painful things, unexpected things, and hostile things will work toward a good result, a good fit and a good place for believers. When things don’t seem to be working, let us remember that God still is.
He Will Always Choose What Is Best For Us
Every hour of every day we must choose between two options for how we will live: the ways of the world or the ways of God. The temporary pleasure, the quick fix, the easier path, the feel-good philosophy, the you-do-you attitude and the comfort zone are incredibly popular and powerful enticements. They aren’t always wrong options, but they are never right options if we choose them over what God tells us. The good news for us is this: We do not have to face life’s temptations, tests and turns in our own power and wisdom. When we rely on the Holy Spirit to guide us, He will always choose what is best for us.
If It’s More Than You Can Handle Alone
It’s okay to not be okay. It’s not okay to stay that way. Especially when God has equipped the church to take care of one another as we depend upon Him to graciously provide what we need in our time of need. He calls, gifts, empowers, mobilizes, and sends the church of Jesus to be His hands, feet, and mouth to people inside and outside the family of God. Therefore, the smartest thing you can do when you find yourself feeling overpowered, overwhelmed or overloaded is to ask for help. If it’s more than you can handle alone, that’s God’s way of saying He doesn’t want you to handle it alone.
If He Is For Us
Because of Jesus, we can have courage; the kind of courage that does not shrink back from saying and doing the right things no matter what people might think of us, what might happen to us, and what it might cost us if we remain faithful to Him. We press on, knowing that He will graciously keep us and empower us and provide for us and go with us and deliver us and save us because He has promised to do so. Therefore… Be bold to speak the truth in His love. Be brave to face enemies with His love. Be encouraged in opposition by His love. If He is for you, it really doesn’t matter who is against you.
Good News That Overcomes Bad News
The Bible doesn’t pretend that bad people don’t exist or bad things don’t happen. It actually warns us about the reality of bad stuff, prepares us to deal with bad stuff, encourages us as we go through bad stuff, and guides us to get past bad stuff. Supplies may be short, but God will supply our every need. Finances may crash, but God will be our security. Relationships may deteriorate, but God will never leave us. Sickness may invade our bodies, but God will ultimately heal us forever. Whether we escape trouble or endure it, we can be sure of this… There is always good news that overcomes the bad news.
His Way Is Always The Right Way
Over the course of our lives, we will make countless decisions, and each of them will change the course of our lives. Some significantly. Some insignificantly. But all of them will steer us in varying degrees as we journey through this world into the one to come. While we often let intuition and emotion be our inner guide as to what is right and wrong for us, these often lead us astray because they are skewed by many biases, experiences and influences. Thankfully, God does not leave us alone to navigate through life. He graciously directs our paths when we trust in and submit to His guidance. His way is always the right way.
He Makes Us Safe And Secure
What Jesus has done, is doing and will do out of His love for us is what makes us safe and secure. He atones. He rules. He provides. He sustains. He delivers. There is nothing that can stop Him from loving us like that. And there is nothing that can separate us from a love like that. Because Jesus loves you… 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. Christian, take heart today, for though your life is not without threats and troubles, your life is safe and secure in the love of Jesus. He has loved you every day of your life. Today will not be any different.
Help For Every Test, Trial And Tribulation
Though binge-eating, relaxing and other ways of coping might offer some temporary numbness when we cannot escape or eliminate the trials of life, we need something better. Because sooner or later, the numbness fades. What Jesus offers is a real comfort that doesn’t wear off. It’s an encouraging, strengthening, sustaining help that is ours when we stop looking to other helpers to do for us what only the Helper can do. Jesus will not walk away from us, but will walk with us to help us this very hour, and He will stay with us to help us through every test, trial and tribulation until He brings them to an end.
Jesus Entered Our World Of Troubles
No matter how tough we are, removed we are, indifferent we are, or protected we are, there are real threats to our peace of heart and peace of mind. In this world, we will have troubles. But Jesus entered our world of troubles so we could have our peace restored, now and forever. This brings peace: Jesus has overcome the world, is with us as we live in the world, provides all that we need in this world, and promises to come back to deliver us from this world! If you trust that He can handle sin, death and Satan to give you eternal life, then trust He can also help you through all the issues you face in everyday life.
Today When…
Today, when that temptation is offered, that relationship blows up, that meeting goes wrong, that diagnosis is grim, that pleasure is available, that problem shows up, that plan falls through, and that thing happens … you will believe something to be true. Instead of believing sin’s promises that you have been abandoned by God, or you should accept a substitute for God, believe the promises of God. Place your full weight on God’s Word, for it is the only solid ground in a world full of cleverly-disguised sinking sand. If He says it, you can believe it. And if you can believe it, you can experience its life-giving assurances.
An Infinite Difference
There is an infinite difference between… Who we were and who we are. What we were and what we are. We were sinners who were infinitely separated from God with no hope of avoiding the coming judgment and wrath for our sin. But God demonstrated His infinite love for us by sending Jesus to shower infinite grace upon us through His perfect life, sacrificial death and victorious resurrection. By faith, we are now infinitely forgiven through Him, infinitely connected to Him, infinitely secure in Him, and infinitely blessed by Him! So… Let us use our lips and our lives to give Him what He deserves: infinite praise.
You Are Not Done Shining Yet
God will bring you through 100% of your dark days until He brings you home. He will not forget you a single moment. He will not forsake you a single time. He will not fail you a single day. Will it always be easy? No. Will it always be comfortable? No. Will it always be the way you want it? No. But it will always be under the careful, calculated and compassionate rule of a Father Who loves you and has a purpose for you. You are alive and breathing today because God made it so; God made it so because you were made to be a light in this dark world. And you are not done shining yet.
