An ongoing battle that every Christian faces is the one between the person you were before you met Jesus and the one you are now that you have met Him. Old temptations beckon. Old habits resurface. Old desires rekindle. Old loyalties divide. Old beliefs hinder. Old memories haunt. When you feel this tension, remember that you have a new identity, a new life and a new you because you believe in and belong to Jesus! You have been changed, are being changed and will be changed by His transforming grace. So fight the good fight of faith against sin as you rejoice in this today: that’s not you anymore.
God Is Actively Working Behind The Scenes
God is actively working behind-the-scenes for you right now to meet your needs in ways that you don’t see. You don’t have the answers; God does. You don’t know the next move; God does. You can’t see how it will work out; God does. Everything you really need will really be supplied. Not maybe. Not probably. Definitely. God will provide for every need. Not some of them. Not most of them. All of them, without exception. Right when you need it, not a second too late. Today, do the work that God has said is for you to do, and believe that He is doing the work that is not for you to do.
A Joy That Can Never Be Taken
Our joy will always be at risk if it is dependent upon things that we look to instead of Jesus because we are always at risk of losing them. The thrill fades away. The moment is over. The thing breaks. The experience disappoints. The person leaves. But Jesus has promised to give us a joy that doesn’t burn out, fade out, check out or sell out so we don’t have to miss out on real and lasting happiness that is only found in Him. Though every other form of happiness will inevitably leave or forsake us, He never will. In Jesus, we are offered a joy that can never be taken from us no matter what else is.
He Is Preparing Us For A Place
Bad circumstances, bad people and bad news make me want it. The more I survey the landscape of the sinfulness and brokenness we are all a part of, I look forward to our eternal heavenly home that Jesus is preparing for us so we can be with Him forever. A place where there will be no more sorrow, suffering or sin. A place where bad things will be eliminated, good things will be perfected and the best things will be unveiled. Our citizenship is in heaven, and God has put a longing in us for our homeland. When it’s hard here, let’s take heart and remember: He is preparing a place for us, and preparing us for a place.
Striving For Holiness, Resting In Grace
Imperfect words. Imperfect actions. Imperfect thoughts. Imperfect attitudes. Imperfect motives. Even though we are not who we used to be, we are also not yet who we will become. We are imperfect people. That doesn’t mean we should be indifferent to our sin-produced flaws or complacent in our grace-driven effort to overcome them. We should work hard to act like Jesus on the outside while God works to make us more like Jesus on the inside. But we do this secure in His love, safe in His mercy and strengthened by His power. Today, let us strive for holy living while relying on and resting in His grace.
Sights Set On Eternity
One of the enemy’s biggest lies is convincing us to live as if this life is all there is. He wants us to prioritize and pursue things that won’t matter for long over things that will matter forever. But everything looks different when you look past the temporary to eternity. This place isn’t our home; we’re heading home. This life won’t last forever; the next life will. This treasure trove will fade away; the ones laid up in heaven have an everlasting shine. Yes, let us enjoy our time on earth and the things of earth as God means for us to do. But, even more, let us think, feel, speak and act as people who have set their sights on eternity.
You Have Been Blessed … Now Go Be A Blessing
God has not blessed us with time just so we can use it binge-watching Netflix. He has not blessed us with money just so we can spend it on more comforts. He has not blessed us with abilities and skills just so we can serve our own interests and passions. The generosity of God has been extended to us with blessings of time, talent and treasure that we might both enjoy them ourselves and extend them to bless others. Those of us who are trusting in Jesus have been entrusted with showing the world His heart for them by being His hands and feet and mouth to them. You have been blessed; now go be a blessing.
Chosen By Grace
Chosen means to be selected. Chosen means to be wanted. Chosen means to be included. And there is always a basis for being chosen that explains why any person, place or thing is selected, wanted and included. I’ve been chosen to be on an all-star team, to be a keynote speaker and to be a husband. These were all based on merit. But when God chose me to be in His family, it wasn’t because I deserved it. It was because Jesus took all of my sinfulness and replaced it with all of His righteousness. His merit replaced my demerit. I wasn’t chosen because of my skill, knowledge or charm. I was chosen by grace.
To Gain All That Jesus Has To Offer
We go to great measures to gain treasures in this world. But trophies, trips, triumphs, titles, toys, things and time spent on earthly pursuits and pleasures with no regard for eternity will undo us in the end. It’s not that these things are inherently wrong, evil or unprofitable; it’s that we often ignore God to pursue them and value them more than we do Him. God has given us all things richly to enjoy, but the point of that enjoyment is to point us to Jesus. To gain all that the world has to offer yet not have Jesus is to have nothing at all. To gain all that Jesus has to offer yet not have the world is to have everything.
It’s Always An Upgrade
God delights to give His children the good things they ask from Him. Why then are there times when we don’t get what we want in life? One reason is simply that we aren’t asking Him for good things. That could mean that we aren’t praying at all, and we don’t get what we ask for because we aren’t asking. That could mean that we are praying, but what we are asking for isn’t good for us to get. Whether it’s the wrong thing, the wrong track, or the wrong time, God loves us too much to say “yes” to all of our requests that we would regret in the end. When He acts differently than we asked, it’s always an upgrade.
You Don’t Have To Prove Your Worth
This is the jaw-dropping reality of just how much you are worth: Jesus loves you, gave Himself for you and lives in you. Don’t you see? Your worth is not based on who you are; it is based on Whose you are. Your worth is not based on your performance; it is based on His. Your worth is not based on your making a name for yourself; it is based on the Name of the One who lives inside you. If you belong to Jesus, the old you is dead, and the life you now live carries a value that is not found in any personal achievement, accolade or attribute. You don’t have to prove your worth. Jesus already did that.
God Is At Work
God is at work… Through every trial and trouble. Through every problem and perplexity. Through every heartache and hardship. What is God doing during these times? He’s teaching you to look to Jesus, and transforming you to look like Him. When you face adversity, don’t give up hope, because God hasn’t given up on you. You may feel like everything is falling apart, but He’s actually putting you back together again so you can feel, think, speak and act like the person you were born to be. When you look back, you’ll find this to be true: your circumstances may not have changed, but you certainly have.
He Has Kept All Of His Promises To Me
Great is MY faithfulness is not part of a proverb or hymn. Nobody would ever celebrate my ability to do what I should do or do what I say I will do. I’m both a promise-maker and a promise-breaker. A thousand times I have failed to follow-through on my intentions in keeping God’s expectations as I have followed Jesus. And a thousand times I have received in return… Grace. Mercy. Forgiveness. Encouragement. Renewal. Correction. Power. Motivation. Reassurance. Acceptance. Instruction. Hope. Love. I cannot say that I have kept all of my promises to God. But I can say that He has kept all of His promises to me.
What God Has Been Seeing All Along
Like a thousand-piece puzzle, your life often looks like a jumble of disjointed and disconnected fragments that don’t seem to fit together very well. But God is putting everything into place exactly where He wants it so you can be who you were made to be and do what you were made to do. He has a good reason for and a good result from everything He allows to come into your life. Someday all will make sense, all will be made right, and all will be made new when He completes the good work He has started in you. Take heart! When the last puzzle piece is put into place, you will see what God has been seeing all along.
Shine His Light In Your Heart
Darkness isn’t just the time between dusk and dawn; it’s also any time you are facing the unknown. This is especially true of those seasons of suffering when the light at the end of your tunnel is nowhere to be seen. It is during those times that you must not give up hope. For even on those dark days when you can’t see what is up next, what step to take next or how anything good will come next, hope remains. Jesus is still there and Jesus still cares! Ask Him to give you the faith and inner strength that is needed to endure. And though the outer darkness may yet linger, the Son will rise and shine His light in your heart.
Our Motive And Our Mission
Our motive. Our mission. We need to communicate these two things to others when we show them love through the way we treat them. First, we need to let them know that the good we do for them comes from appreciation for what God has done for us and anticipation of what God will do for us. It is from the overflow of what we get from Him that we give to others. Second, we need to let them know that we do good works because a good God has commissioned us to go in His Name to share His love with others. Let us credit Him by telling people this… God has done good to me. God has sent me to do good to you.
The Enemy Of Your Soul
The enemy of your soul doesn’t care about you. His only interest in you is as a victim. He wants to “steal and kill and destroy,” and a primary way he attempts to do this is by leading you astray. How? By making sin look attractive, and obedience seem restrictive. He wants you and me to believe that sin isn’t sin, that sin is worth it, that sin isn’t that serious, and that sin won’t cost too much. Jesus leads our lives to deliver us from sin and deliver to us abundant life now and eternal life later. When He calls us to follow Him in loving obedience, it is not because He’s a tyrant; it’s because He intends to set us free from one.
Christian Is The Adjective
Christian is the adjective that should describe every category of our lives. We are Christian family members, Christian friends, Christian workers, Christian movie-goers, Christian neighbors, Christian drivers, Christian shoppers, and across all categories, Christian mistake-makers. Flawed, but forgiven. Imperfect, but improving. Unworthy, but unfinished. Knowing Jesus… Has changed, is changing and will change who we are and what we do as we grow to trust Him and be like Him more fully in more areas of our lives. A question we need to ask ourselves is this: Do I live as if Jesus is my life or just a part of it?
We Can Have Courage
The gospel emboldens us to not draw back when others push back against our countercultural loyalty to God and His ways. Because Jesus has overcome sin, Satan and death, 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 Jesus. Our courage and encouragement are based on this truth: Jesus has overcome all the tribulations, troubles, trials, tests, and temptations of this world! And… He is for us. He is with us. He is coming to get us.
God Never Freaks Out
God never freaks out. There is never panic in heaven. Things never start to unravel in such a way that even a single situation in all of the universe is beyond His sovereign rule. Even the evil things done by His enemies to His people will be turned around to serve His purposes. No matter what we face today, let us remember that what happens in our lives is not ultimately decided by chance or luck, humans or demons, Satan or self, but rather there is a good, wise, powerful, loving King who reigns over all for the good of all those who trust Him. Things are often out of our control, but they are never out of His.
