There are days when our faith falters, but Jesus does not abandon us.  There are days when we feel like giving up, but Jesus does not let us. There are days when we are too overwhelmed to carry on, but Jesus does not move on without us.   Through every sinful setback, every stagnant season and every stormy squall, Jesus remains faithful to get to heaven all those who believe in Him.  By grace, let us keep taking the next right step in front of us knowing that Jesus is with us every step and will overcome even our mis-steps to take us home.  Hallelujah!  He will not lose us on the way.  He will not let us lose our way.

Biblical faith has a responding side and a receiving side.  Part of faith is responding in obedience.  We trust what God says, we trust He will help us do what He says, and we trust that He will be pleased when we do what He says.  Part of faith is receiving what God does for us.  We trust what God says, we trust He will do what He says, and we trust that we will be pleased when He does what He says.  Real faith includes believing in the promises of God and living out the purposes of God because we trust Him.  Today, let us confidently do what God tells us to do because we are confident in what God tells us He will do.

The weights we carry around inside of us come in many shapes and sizes.  We face an ongoing onslaught of worry, uncertainty, fear, overwhelm, discontentment, indifference, pressure, grief, unrest, outrage and discouragement.  Within these categories are countless daily instances which can let us down, get us down, put us down, shut us down, hold us down and run us down.  But… There is a Burden-Bearer we can turn to for help for the stresses and messes of life.  Nothing is too intense, too great, or too difficult for Him to replace with peace, hope and rest.  Today, cast your cares on Jesus.  They aren’t too heavy for Him.

When we remember and rejoice in Jesus’ removal of our own condemnation, we will stop condemning the people around us.   For those of us who have received His priceless gift of salvation, there is no condemnation for our sins, though we were rightly deserving of that condemnation.  By the lavish grace of God, we are pardoned.  Guilty, yet set free.  Flawed, yet forgiven.  Outsiders, yet welcomed in.  Enemies, yet made family. Deserving of hell, yet shown mercy.  Wages of death earned, yet eternal life freely given.  Instead of condemning others, let us point them to the fountain of grace we ourselves are drinking from.

No one wants you to be happy more than Jesus does.  No one will make you happy more than Jesus can.  But Jesus isn’t primarily aiming at making you happy by getting you past a bad time or helping you have a good time.  His goal isn’t a happier you because He worked it out so you got the new job, got over the breakup, got through the illness, got to take a vacation or got the result you wanted.  Those may be part of His blessings to you, but His main concern is your soul.  He is after your happiness in being forgiven and free from the devastating consequences of your sin so you can know every pleasure of knowing God.

God does not send us ill-equipped into battle against the enemy of our soul.  Instead, He dresses us in His own armor.  In order for us to fight the good fight of faith, we must put on that armor of God … ahead of time, in advance of the skirmish.  We put ourselves and others at extreme risk if we wait until the battle begins to ready ourselves for war against sin and evil.  The enemy does not allow us to call timeout or grant us a recess to gather our ammunition and put up our shield.    This is why we should arm ourselves with a daily dose of God’s instructions, truths, and promises found in God’s Word.  Slow down and suit up.

The world says you can get what you want in life if you believe and behave the right way. You just need to be full of… Self-confidence.  Self-value.  Self-motivation.  Self-effort.  Self-interest.  Self-reliance. In order words, you need to be full of self.  But that simply doesn’t work for long, if at all.  The Bible says something radically different:  that we need to be empty of self and full of Jesus.  So, let us ask God to drain us of all that would get in the way of our more fully enjoying all that He has for us.  Looking to Jesus to evaluate, encourage, empower and exhilarate us, we will find the happy life we’ve been looking for elsewhere.

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. 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.

Freedom isn’t just wanting to do something, being in a position to do something, and having the ability to do something.  Real freedom is all of those things plus no regrets over what you do.  You’re not really free if you have the desire, opportunity and ability to do something that you later wish you hadn’t done.  Only Jesus offers this kind of full and forever freedom.  He takes away our enslaving sin and all of its pain, and makes a way for us to experience life with God and all of its pleasures.  Freedom comes by receiving through faith all that He graciously gives us to enjoy without guilt. Restraint free.  Regret free.  Really free.

You’re going to get wobbly against temptation.  You’re going to stumble in your faith.  You’re going to take a fall into sin.  And here’s what you’re going to find when you do:  Jesus is there with grace.  Grace that forgives you for what you have done, and grace that frees you from doing it again.  And Jesus will repeat this over and over again for the rest of your life.  Now… Don’t mistake this for a license to sin.  It’s not a loophole, permission slip or pre-paid ticket to live unrighteously. So, let us both repent and rejoice at this:  Jesus took our sin seriously enough to die for it, and He took grace seriously enough to die for us.

God doesn’t just do good for you; He delights to do good for you.  When it comes to blessing you both now and forever, your Heavenly Father is not grumpy or grumbly about it.  You will find no hesitance or reluctance in Him as He continuously pours out over your life what He knows is good for you.  He… Gladly guides you.  Fervently forgives you.  Eagerly equips you.  Cheerfully comforts you.  Readily refreshes you.  Willingly welcomes you. Happily helps you.  God is not forced to give us benefits and blessings in Christ. Oh that we might see His loving heart behind all He does for us:  He doesn’t have to.  He wants to.

While things in us and around us seem to constantly change, it is comforting to know that God will always remain the same.  He is perfect in Who He is.  He is perfect in what He does.  He is perfect in every way.  There is no possibility for Him to become better or worse.  His goodness, forgiveness, graciousness, faithfulness, greatness, faultlessness and all God-ness will forevermore remain unchangeable.  He will keep His good promises to us and fulfill His good purposes for us.  Rejoice in the Lord today and remember that all our hope and happiness rests on this unchanging truth:  that God is unchanging.

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.

It should make us bow in awe knowing that God knows everything.  Just thinking about the scope and span of His knowledge is mind-boggling to me, and yet knowing everything that has happened, is happening, will happen and could happen doesn’t boggle His mind at all.  He doesn’t need research.  He doesn’t need reminding.  He doesn’t need rest.  How amazing He is!  How amazing too that He knows all our sinful actions, words, thoughts, feelings and attitudes, and He loves us anyway. Let us praise the all-knowing One, for He showed His love on the cross to cleanse our sin so we can now know Him.

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.

Last week is behind you.  This week is ahead of you.  What did you do, and what will you do, that really matters?  It’s important that we take regular inventory of how we are spending our time to make sure we don’t waste away on unimportant things the lives that God has given us.  The enemy wants us to lose our focus and lose our purpose.  And one of his primary weapons against us is busyness.  Much of it is meaningless distraction away from the important work God has given us to do.  Today, listen for your Father’s voice calling out from the noise and leading you to do great things that matter forever.

For all who trust in Jesus, there is a glorious eternity ahead in which bad things will be eliminated, good things will be perfected, and the best things will be unveiled.  We have an eternity with Him that… Never gets stale.  Never gets boring.  Never gets routine.  Never gets unappealing.  Never gets finished.  There will always be more to discover and enjoy from the immeasurable riches of God’s grace towards us in Christ Jesus.  Don’t live for this day; live for that day.  Don’t be discouraged by this day; be encouraged by that day.  Take hope in this every day:  for those who are trusting in Jesus, the best is always yet to come.

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.

Love your spiritual siblings.  Love your neighbors.  Love your enemies.   The Bible makes it clear that we are to love other people, but sometimes we are not clear about what it looks like to love other people.  One thing we need to understand is this:  It is un-loving to be silent.  Silent in calling people to repent.  Silent in calling people to follow Jesus.  Silent in calling people to live abundantly.  Love isn’t indifferent to the well-being of others or tolerant of the wrong-doing of others.  We are to show up, speak up and stick up for people in ways that invite them in to enjoy the ever-present, everlasting love of God.