Here’s the ironic truth about gossip:  it says more about the one doing the talking than the one being talked about.  Gossip reveals a heart that finds more pleasure in the transfer of information than in the transformation of an individual.  It is the opposite of the gospel for it is indifferent to its harmful effect on others, or it is intent on that harmful effect.  Rather than pointing out the bad news about others, we should use our words to point to the good news of our Savior.   Let us fill our minds and our mouths with things that repeat His story. If we’re going to say something about someone else, may it be about Jesus.

The singing lauds the greatness of Jesus.  The preaching proclaims the message of Jesus.  The offering furthers the mission of Jesus.  The discipleship equips the people of Jesus.  The prayers unleash the power of Jesus.  The Spirit transforms the image-bearers of Jesus.  The communion celebrates the finished work of Jesus. The invitation welcomes new believers of Jesus. The fellowship encourages the good deeds of Jesus.  The service nurtures the joy of Jesus. The gathering sends out the representatives of Jesus.    Why go to a church service?  Because it leads to greater honor for Jesus and greater happiness for you.

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.

We spend planting day in anticipation of harvest day.  We spend pre-season getting ready for post-season. We spend rehearsal time longing for show time.  We spend work hours to enjoy weekend hours. All this for a fleeting yield, championship, applause, and pleasure.  How much more important is it to spend today in getting ready for, in anticipation of, and in longing for eternity? This life isn’t all there is!  Eternal fruit, eternal victory, eternal glory and eternal enjoyment are coming.  Christian, rejoice and recommit to living for what matters most. This life will soon end, but praise God, the next one never will.

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.

The incomparable and incalculable benefit of following Jesus is that we get to be with Jesus.  We get the pleasure of His company and the contentedness of His presence.  It’s not just life.  It’s not just the best life.  It’s not just the best life now.  It’s not just the best life now and forever.  It’s the best life now and forever with Jesus.  We go with Jesus not just because it’s the smartest thing to do and the safest thing to do, but even more so, because it’s the satisfying thing to do.  Giving up all the world’s substitutes for Him, in order to be with Him, is not a trade-off; it’s a trade-up.  It’s an infinite upgrade to know and enjoy Jesus.

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.

The thing about being deceived is you don’t know you are being deceived.  You think something is real, but it’s not.  You think something is true, but it’s not.  You think something is right, but it’s not.   Things aren’t always what they look like, sound like or feel like they seem to be.   And often it’s our own hearts that trick us into believing what we want to be genuine.  So, how do we spot counterfeits?  By hearing, embracing, knowing and living out the message of Jesus.  We must look to His life-giving, life-enriching truth to be the fountainhead of our thinking and feeling and desiring that sets us free from all deception.

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.

Biblical humility is a response to grace.  It is an acknowledgement that God helped us over and over in the past and an awareness of our need for God to help us again and again in the future.  When you are humble, you know that the good things about who you are and the good things you have done are because Jesus has freely and fully made it so.  We work hard, but He empowers us.  We make decisions, but He enlightens us. We take opportunities, but He equips us. We keep going, but He encourages us.  Let us humble ourselves and exalt Him, for nothing good about our lives would be possible without Him.

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.

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.

There is not a human being on the face of the earth who fully discloses every thought, feeling, motive, desire, and attitude to others.  We hide many of those things within ourselves, hoping that no one ever finds us out, because we fear the ugliness we keep tucked away would drive others away.  So, we put on a mask, and we put on a show, make-believing we are something that we are not. But there is Someone Who knows the real you and loves you with a forgiving, lasting, transforming, blessing love.  Christian, you are fully known by Jesus and fully loved by Jesus, even with all of your sins and shortcomings.

The decision we need to make, the step we should take, the future that is at stake are all too important to risk trying to take our best guess and our best shot at getting it right.  The good news is, we don’t have to.  The sweet voice of Jesus will guide us from where we are to where we need to be when we ask Him to do so. But we will not hear these life-giving, joy-producing, hope-inspiring, course-correcting, God-honoring, truth-telling words of His if we neglect to read the Bible and pray, as this is where asking and receiving takes place.  So… Before you make a move, your first move is always to ask Jesus for your next move.

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.

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.

Not guilty.  But it happened.  Not guilty.  But You saw it.  Not guilty.  But I did it.  Not guilty.  But I owe for it. Not guilty.  When we repent and believe the gospel, God applies the perfect life of Jesus and the atoning death of Jesus to our record, and we who really are guilty of sin are set free.  Free from shame.  Free from judgement.  Free from punishment.  Therefore, we can dismiss fear of death, face life courageously and look forward to an eternity where punishment has been replaced by reward, inheritance and blessing in God’s presence. Rejoice today, for Jesus has the final word for those who are trusting in Him:  Not guilty.

Even if no one repaid them.  Even if no one appreciated them.  Even if no one saw them.  The acts of kindness, acts of generosity, acts of sacrifice, acts of love and all other times you act like Jesus are not unnoticed in heaven.  While it may be tiring to keep giving up your time and giving of yourself to do good to the people that Jesus brings into your life, don’t give in to the temptation to stop blessing others in His Name. Remember, the things you do for others, you do for Him.  And Jesus sees them.  Jesus appreciates them.  Jesus will repay them.  Someday you will see the glorious outcome of the good you do today.

There are many reasons to regularly gather with other followers of Jesus, but each of them points to the ultimate reason for getting together.  Christian community serves as a reminder that we are not the center of it all. It’s an interruption of our thinking that it’s our duty to carry out our plans in our ways with our wisdom by our strength to accomplish our goals so we can be happy with ourselves and our lives.  Attending a “church service” reorients us and refreshes us so we get our minds and hearts back where they belong, on Jesus.  This is how He gets the honor He deserves and we get the happiness we desire.

I’m a recovering sight-walker.  Give me the plan.  Give me the map.  Tell me where we’re going, how we’re going to get there, what’s going to happen along the way, and what awaits us at our destination.  While the Bible does give us the “big picture” view of these things, the everyday details of our individual lives aren’t specifically given to us in advance.  It takes faith for us to follow Jesus into the unknown, uncertain and, often, unfamiliar spaces where He leads us.  But our faith rests firmly in this:  When Jesus calls us to leave our comfort zones, we can be sure He will always go with us and provide for us.