Jesus is our Savior and our Lord. Jesus blesses us and commands us. Jesus wants us to be happy and holy. Jesus shows us compassion and correction. Jesus leads us to pleasant spaces and hard places. Jesus loves sinners and hates sin. Genuine, growing Christians take Jesus for Who He is and not Who others try to make Him out to be. Jesus is not a loving, gracious Friend and Enabler Who is there to help us live in whatever way we choose. He is the One Who gives us strength to do all the wonderful, beautiful, purposeful things He Himself has planned for us. Butler Jesus does not exist; Benevolent King Jesus does. And He’s way better.
It May Be Too Much For You To Handle
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.
It’s Okay Not To Be Okay
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.
Christians Aren’t Exempt From Suffering
Christians aren’t exempt from hurt. No matter what precautions we take to safeguard our lives or how hard we work at being godly people, something will inevitably come uninvited, unannounced, and unwanted into our lives and cause us pain. Yet… Healing will come. Comfort will come. Justice will come. Restoration will come. Deliverance will come.Joy will come. Salvation will come. Eternal life will come. This is all true because Jesus has come. Take heart in this: He has come to join us in our suffering; indeed to suffer in our place on the cross so that one day we can enter into a place where there is no suffering at all.
When God Reroutes Our Lives
God sees what we cannot. While delays, detours and dead-ends can bring about disappointment and frustration, they may be God’s way of blocking us from something He doesn’t mean for us to do or have because it is not good for us or others in the end. Let us rejoice when this happens, for when God says “No” to our plans, He is saying “Yes” to something He has planned that is far better. Costly mistakes are avoided, and wonderful blessings are gained when He steps in to order our steps. Remember: when God graciously reroutes the lives of those who are trusting in Jesus, it is always to put us on the right path.
There Is Never Panic In Heaven
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.
God Is Tirelessly At Work
What is going on? Why is this happening? When will it be over? Where is God in all of this? Life may not be working out the way we hoped it would or wanted it to, but God is doing a thousand things for us today even if we don’t have our spiritual eyes locked in on any of them. Our experience may seem pointless and be painful, but we can be confident that He is walking with us and working for us. We don’t have to make sense out of everything that is going on or that we are going through; but we do need to trust that God is tirelessly at work in ways that would make sense if we knew all that He knows.
To Those Who Deserve It The Least
When others wrong us, repaying evil for evil is never the right answer, solution or response. We are commanded to release our instinct for revenge and let God judge, punish and make all things right in His timing and in His way. God will repay, either by accepting the payment made by Jesus on the cross should the evildoers repent and receive His grace, or by making them pay in hell if they do not. Therefore, let us overcome evil with good and leave it to God to do the work He means to do in their lives. We best model the grace of Jesus when we show it most to those who deserve it the least.
If He Is For You
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.
He Didn’t Get You This Far…
In this world, we will have tribulation. It’s inevitable. It’s imminent. Trouble has either already made its way into your life, or it is on its way. But… Jesus has overcome the world. His power is greater than our enemies, His sovereignty rules over our battles, His promises reside in our hearts, His forgiveness ensures our futures, His presence empowers our lives, and His grace provides for our needs. That means, though He doesn’t always remove the threats from our lives, He does render them powerless to do anything that would prevent us from joyfully enduring and prevailing in the end. He didn’t get you this far just to get you this far.
Jesus Cares
Jesus is not only a doer of good to you, He is also an un-doer of bad done to you by others. 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 to harm you; He works it out for good. They judge your sins; He dies for them. When there is a lack of care, no one cares, others care only about themselves, or they can’t provide the care you need … Jesus is a friend who cares, and He will show you that care in whatever way He knows will do you the most good.
Things Are Out Of Our Control, But…
Jesus invites us to come to Him to rest in His righteousness to merit eternal life for us and rest in His sovereignty to manage everyday life for us. He is in charge of the results and outcomes. He controls circumstances and situations. He commands our future and eternity. 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. Things will work out as they should. Because there is a wise, powerful, loving Savior who reigns over all for the good of those who trust in Him. Things are out of our control. But they are never out of His.
As We Trust In Jesus
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, especially when we suffer. 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.
Real Comfort For Real Struggles
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 press on 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.
This Brings Peace
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 until He gets you home.
God Is Doing A Thousand Things For You
First glances can be deceiving. Initial observations can be short-sighted. The opening paragraph doesn’t tell the whole story. While it is easy to see the obvious things happening in, around and through our lives, without a careful look through a gospel lens, there is a lot that we can miss. God is doing a thousand things for us today, and we may not have our spiritual eyes locked in on any of them. Our lives are under the careful rule of a wise, powerful and loving God Who is moving us along toward the glorious return of Jesus when all will make sense, and all will be made right, and all will be made new.
Trials Are Not Pointless
Trials are not pointless; in the end they mean something because God uses them as a means to an end. God uses trials in our lives to confirm, grow, mature, enrich, solidify, purify, multiply and consummate our faith as we trust in, and rely on, the steadfast presence of Jesus to preserve us until the end. In order for us to count our present hardships as joy, we must think about our future. Our faith muscle becoming stronger. Our deliverance becoming sooner. Our witness becoming louder. Our homecoming becoming sweeter. Look ahead to see that there is always something better ahead for those who hope in Jesus.
God Is Good (All The Time)
It’s easy, common and right to feel and say how good God is when the trouble was avoided, the trial has ended or the treasure is received. Oh, how good He is to us! But when we don’t get what we want, or when we get what we don’t want, God is still good, and God is still good to us. His goodness doesn’t disappear when hard things appear; it shines ever so brightly as He works for us to provide all the help we need to endure life’s disappointments, detours and disasters until we get to the other side to something better. Truly… God is good all the time. And all the time God is good.
God Will Provide
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.
Our Hope Is In This
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.
