Word For You: Recent Episodes

UCB

Word For You is UCB’s alternative daily devotional aimed predominantly at young adults. It has daily readings based on the Bible, blended with thought-provoking articles on a variety of topics.

‘Make sure you understand what the Master wants.’ Ephesians 5:17 MSG

To fulfil God’s plan for your life, you need to do these: 1) Map out your day. Plan your time and stick to your plan. Only one out of three people do that. One leadership expert says, ‘It’s…rare…that I get up in the morning wondering what I’ll be doing that day.’ He uses his time in the most efficient and effective way he can. That’s one reason why he’s ended up a leader, and an expert! 2) Keep first things first. Goethe said, ‘Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.’ Most of us don’t get to our most important tasks until mid-afternoon. We complete low-priority tasks first so we will have a sense of accomplishment. That’s not always the best strategy. And if you plan your day but don’t follow through, your results will be the same as those who don’t plan at all. As Dwight Eisenhower observed, ‘Taking first things first…often reduces the most complex human problem to a manageable proportion.’ 3) Be focused but flexible. Expect the unexpected and learn to adapt. Conditions constantly change, and your ways of getting things done need to be flexible enough to adapt to shifting circumstances. 4) Learn to delegate. People tend to fall into two categories: clingers and dumpers. Clingers refuse to let go of anything they think is important, whether or not they’re the best person for the job. Their goal is perfection. Dumpers, on the other hand, are quick to off-load tasks without giving much thought to how well the job gets done. Their goal is to get it off their plate ASAP. Delegating well calls for being wise, secure in who you are, and generous towards others. It also means the job gets done right – and in the end, that’s what you want.

Here’s a Bible verse we should all commit to memory: ‘Keep what you know to yourself, and you will be safe; talk too much, and you are done for’ (v. 3 CEV). In other words, a tendency to speak without thinking will keep getting you into trouble. To illustrate this point, here’s a story about a vacuum cleaner salesman! He had been given a remote rural area as his territory, and on his first day on the job, he was going from farmhouse to farmhouse, trying to sell vacuum cleaners. As he arrived at one farmhouse way off the beaten track, he knocked on the door and was met by a farmer’s wife who asked him what he wanted. Without asking permission, he shoved right past her into the kitchen and said, ‘I’m selling vacuum cleaners.’ Shocked, she replied, ‘Wait a minute!’ But he demanded, ‘Madam, before you say anything, I want to show you something.’ Then he reached into his bag, pulled out a pail of dirt, and threw it across her kitchen floor. ‘If my vacuum cleaner won’t pick up all that dirt,’ he bragged, ‘then I’ll eat it!’ She looked at him and said, ‘Then you're hungry, ’cause we don’t have electricity here!’ How often we have to eat the words we so recklessly toss on the floor of everyday living! Be careful. Jesus said one day we will give an account for every idle word we speak (see Matthew 12:36). An unknown poet wrote, ‘Be careful of the words you say and keep them soft and sweet. You never know from day to day which ones you’ll have to eat.’ So it’s always a good idea to think carefully before speaking.

It can be scary when God tells you ‘go, now’s the time to move’. So when it happens, try reminding yourself that He already knows every detail of your future. Centuries ago, when a mapmaker ran out of the known world before he ran out of parchment, he would often draw a dragon at the edge of the scroll. This was intended as a sign to explorers that they were entering unknown territory at their own risk. But many of them didn’t see the dragon as a mapmaker’s warning sign; they saw it as a prophecy. They foresaw disaster beyond the known world, and their fear kept them from pushing on to discover new lands and people. But other, more adventurous travellers saw the dragon as a sign of opportunity and a doorway to new worlds that were worth exploring. Each of us has a mentalmap that contains the information we use for guidance as we begin each day. And like the maps of long ago, our mental maps have edges to them, and sometimes those edges seem to be marked by dragons or fears. We fear failing, or being rejected, or ridiculed, or that we won’t have enough, or that we will lose what we have. If that’s how you feel today, read these words spoken by God to His people when they stood on the threshold of the promised land without knowing what was waiting for them when they went into it. ‘The Lord, He is the One who goes before you.’ So, write down your goal, map out a strategy, and set a deadline. Then commit it to God, believing that He has gone before you to prepare the way.

Adam had the perfect job, perfect home, perfect companion, and the perfect environment; all the things we strive for. And it came about as a result of his relationship with God! God basically gave him two rules to live by: ‘From any tree of the garden you may freely eat; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat from it you will certainly die’ (vv. 16-17 NASB). So, the two rules are these: 1) With God, what you get back is always greater than what you give up. ‘From any tree of the garden you may freely eat.’ Adam was allowed the fruit of every tree, with only one single exception. But what we so often do – and what legalistic religion does – is look at that verse, and others like it, and focus on what we can’t do. The truth is, when our list of can’t dos is longer than our list of what we’re free to do, we’ve gone far beyond what the Scriptures intended. The Christian life should be measured by what we’re free to enjoy, not by what we’re denied. 2) When you live your life according to God’s Word instead of your own impulses, you’re blessed. ‘Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to…keep all my commands…so that it might go well with them’ (Deuteronomy 5:29 NIV). The only thing God denies us is the right to determine for ourselves what’s ‘good or evil’, because He knows we’re not qualified to do it. We must live by divine revelation rather than human ideas. In His love and wisdom, God set this limitation in place to protect and bless us.

Philosopher Henry Thoreau said, ‘Our lives are frittered away by detail…simplify, simplify.’ Jesus put it another way: ‘Do not worry about your life….Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them’ (vv. 25-26 NKJV). Charlie Shedd pastored a large church with many demands. He and his wife created this simplicity list: Make sure you need to simplify. Your problem may be inertia…because you aren’t doing enough. Selfishness never simplifies - it complicates. Remember why you’re here. Put God’s will first. You unclutter by having a pivotal purpose on which your life swings. Drop useless goals. Don’t wear yourself out on meaningless pursuits. You frustrate yourself by dedicating your life to the unimportant. You can’t do everything. If God intended you to be six people, he’d have divided you up! Leave some ‘world building’ to others. Live one day at a time. Plan and hope for the future - but don’t live there. ‘Each day has enough trouble of its own’ (v. 34 NIV). Live well today and tomorrow’s strength will come. Wherever you are - be there. Stop thinking happiness comes at five o’clock, or at the evening’s party, or when you fall asleep. Live in the present. Develop a hobby. A change of activity keeps you fresh. Time spent playing is time well spent. You can’t slow the world, so slow yourself. Learn to gear down. When you can’t alter the pace, retire to the inner sanctuary and alter yourself. Adopt the perfect pattern: Christ…whose life cut history squarely in two. Follow Him as He lives a mighty life in quiet confidence. ‘Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 2:5 KJV).

To prevent Nehemiah from rebuilding Jerusalem’s walls, his enemies spread rumours about him. ‘It is reported among the nations, and Geshem says, that you and the Jews plan to rebel; therefore, according to these rumours, you are rebuilding the wall, that you may be their king’ (v. 6 NKJV). We can’t control what people think, or stop them saying it, but we can control our response. Nehemiah did: ‘I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” But they sent me this message four times, and I answered them in the same manner’ (vv. 3-4 NKJV). This story teaches us three important principles when we’re following God’s will:1) Refuse to give more attention to a critic than you would to a friend. The people who mattered to Nehemiah were the ones who were for him rather than those against him. So instead of trying to change minds, he changed gears and moved forwards. 2) Realise that with opportunity comes opposition. Paul wrote, ‘There is a wide-open door for a great work here, although many oppose me’ (1 Corinthians 16:9 NLT). Opposition can sometimes be a sign that you’re heading in the right direction; if you weren’t succeeding, they wouldn’t even notice you. 3) Remember that it’s the big battles that produce the big victories. Satan won’t give up because you’ve decided to do God’s will; he’ll fight you every step of the way. But ‘greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world’ (1 John 4:4 KJV). Keep following God, draw on His strength, and refuse to let the opinions of others pull you off His path.

God said, ‘Moab has been at ease from his youth; he has settled on his dregs, and has not been emptied [or poured] from vessel to vessel…Therefore his taste remained in him, and his scent has not changed.’ This Scripture paints two pictures for us; one is natural and the other is spiritual. In the natural picture, we see how wine is made by being poured from one vessel into another. In the spiritual picture, we see how God changes us by pouring us from one experience into another. And just as in winemaking, when the wine is poured out of one vessel into another, it leaves behind the dregs, impurities which must be removed in order to produce a good vintage. And just like a fine wine, God will allow us to be poured into situations that reveal our weaknesses so that we can work on them. And no matter how uncomfortable it is or how much we want to escape, God won’t let us until our issues have been dealt with. We’ll know we’ve been successful when we leave them behind to enter the next new experience. In the winemaking process, the wine doesn’t spend the same amount of time in each vessel. That’s because each vessel serves a different purpose. Only the winemaker knows the purpose of each vessel, and therefore determines the amount of time needed in it. If you’re being poured from one experience into another, read this: ‘Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ’ (Philippians 1:6 NKJV). Even if you feel you're too full of impurities to be any use, God won’t give up on you.

The Bible says: ‘Someone came from the ruler of the synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead”…when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well.” When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl. Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead. But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, “Little girl, arise.” Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately’ (vv. 49-55 NKJV). There’s an important lesson here for us. To experience the resurrection power of Christ, we need the right people and the right environment. Just as oil and water won’t mix, neither will faith and doubt. Jesus took Peter, James, and John into the house with Him, and put all the others outside. That would likely have offended some people, and Jesus probably came in for a lot of criticism that day. But when we’re in a crisis, we need to surround ourselves with people who can stand with us, rely on God’s Word, and believe Him for the answer. When Jairus heard that his daughter had died, he must have thought, ‘That’s it; nothing more can be done!’ But that’s not what Jesus thought. In the original Greek text, Jesus said, ‘Don’t be afraid; only believe, and keep believing and she will be made well.’ We need people who will keep believing God for the answer, which helps us to stay strong and faithful in the difficult times, too.

When Jezebel threatened Elijah’s life, he fled to a cave. And that’s when God said to him: ‘“Go out, and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice…Elijah heard it’ (vv. 11-13 NKJV). God can speak to you anywhere, anytime, through anybody, in any situation. But often, He’ll share His greatest insights when you’re alone with Him. In order to hear God’s ‘still small voice’, two things must happen: 1) You must have silence and solitude. This calls for shutting out everything else and focusing on God. Not everyone will understand or appreciate what you’re doing, but the privilege of hearing from God can help you stay strong when faced with misunderstanding or opposition. 2) You must get close to Him. Think about how often you get messages and notifications popping up on your phone. We’re willing to take the time to stop and listen to what others have to say, but most people don’t seem as willing to do the same for God. Imagine the possibilities if you made up your mind to try and spend as much time checking in with God as you spend checking your phone! The songwriter Everett W. Sugg put it this way: ‘Shut in with God in a secret place, There in the Spirit beholding His face, Gaining more power to run in this race, Oh, I long to be shut in with God.’

The Bible says: ‘Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Listen to this message from the Lord: The time is coming when everything in your palace - all the treasures stored up by your ancestors until now - will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. Some of your very own sons will be taken away into exile. They will become eunuchs who will serve in the palace of Babylon’s king.” Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “This message you have given me from the Lord is good.” For the king was thinking, “At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime.” (vv. 16-19 NLT). Hezekiah heard that the things he had inherited would be lost, and his children would live in slavery to their enemies. But instead of being concerned and praying for God to intervene on their behalf, he said, ‘At least there will be peace and security during my lifetime.’ Why did he say that? Was he being selfish, thinking only of himself? Was he being fatalistic, thinking, ‘The prophet has declared it, and there’s nothing I can do to change it?’ Was he just trying to grab at the only positive he could see in a terrible situation? Maybe it was a mixture of feelings. It’s interesting that Hezekiah’s initial reaction didn't involve prayer - he could have prayed for the people who would be affected, or even given thanks that God’s judgment would happen after Hezekiah’s time. So, how do you think you’d react if you were in Hezekiah’s position? With relief that you won’t be affected, or with compassion for those who will? Would prayer be your first reaction?

Each time we offer our bodies as ‘living sacrifices’ to God, our stubborn natures will rebel. But with Christ in control we can break its grip. ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (NIV). We have the option: be conformed or transformed! Deciding ‘l will not conform to the world’ leads to a transformed lifestyle. Our old natures naturally conform, trapping us with worldly influences. J.B. Phillips's translation of the Bible says: ‘Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould.' If we choose to conform to worldly values, like self-gratification, pride, control, and so on, we move further away from the liberating power of Christ within us, and eventually become trapped in a recurring cycle of guilt, failure and discouragement. Choosing not to conform to this world is what opens the door to transformation. Our walk with God will become an external expression of an internal change. Just like the tadpole's life is transformed into the frog's life, and the caterpillar's into the butterfly's, you become transformed from the inside out - and it happens because ‘Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world' (1 John 4:4 KJV). So, decide not to conform to world values, commit to ‘the renewing of your mind’ (which in Greek text means you think God's thoughts instead of your old thoughts), and then watch as a transformation that’s empowered by the Holy Spirit begins to take place in your life!

What does it mean to give yourself fully to God? 1) It’s an act of worship. ‘Offer your bodies…this is your true and proper worship’ (v. 1 NIV). Worship isn’t just attending a church service, singing praises and saying prayers. ‘This people…honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me’ (Isaiah 29:13 NASB). It calls for surrendering your heart to God twenty-four hours of every day; whether you're alone or in a crowd, at work, enjoying a hobby, spending time with family, at school, on a date, or just walking the dog. If your heart isn't moving you, your behaviour will only be an act of reluctant compliance, rather than one of joyful commitment. Surrendering to God isn’t a part-time thing that’s done for our own benefit; it's a full-time act of worship for God. 2) It’s a response to God’s generosity. ‘In view of God's mercy...offer your bodies’ (Romans 12:1 NIV). God doesn't say, ‘If you don't surrender to Me, I‘ll punish you.’ There's no threat. We don't submit through clenched teeth because of fear; instead, it's a response our hearts want to make in tribute to God’s mercy. Everything God asks is initiated by His giving to us first. Your repentance is a response to His love. Your giving is a response to His blessing. Your obedience is a response to His promises. God's grace is never ‘a deal’, it's the ‘free gift’ of His love to the undeserving (see Romans 5:18). So, as a rational response to His mercy, ‘offer your bodies as a living sacrifice.’ It’s your ‘true and proper worship’, and it will be ‘pleasing to God’ (Romans 12:1 NIV).

Transformation requires two things. First, it needs personal sacrifice. It’s not easy, natural or automatic. It calls for becoming a ‘living sacrifice’. The problem with ‘living’ sacrifices is that they tend to keep escaping, and have to be led back to the altar repeatedly to be given again and again. Salvation is an instant, once-and-for-all experience, but there’s no instant, once-for-all ‘living sacrifice’. It’s a day-by-day, moment-by-moment recommitment which means bringing our stubborn natures back to the altar and surrendering them to God as often as necessary. We might think we need to be closer to perfection before our sacrifice will be truly genuine, but the truth is, we mustn’t wait for our old natures to improve or to be completely subdued first - we need to act now. Our old natures and our regenerated spirits are mutual enemies, ‘constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions’ (Galatians 5:17 NLT). We’re not called to obliterate our earthly natures, but to crucify them every time they want to take over. We mustn’t get discouraged by the battle, but keep fighting and refuse to let our old natures hold back our spiritual growth. Second, transformation is a two-sided issue. ‘Offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God’ (Romans 12:1 NIV). That involves a firm decision of our mind and our will, because our bodies don't surrender themselves. Until we deliberately choose to let God use us, our earthly natures will be able to act with no restraint. ‘In the past you offered the parts of your body to be slaves to sin and evil…In the same way now you must give yourselves to be slaves of goodness. Then you will live only for God’ (Romans 6:19 NCV). When we surrender to our lower impulses, we reap sin. But when we surrender to God, we reap His blessing.

Pastor Chuck Swindoll said, ‘We like to imagine ourselves a race of rugged individuals – the Patrick Henrys, Davy Crocketts and Lone Rangers. The truth is, we hate to appear different lest we be ostracised, branded fanatics and rejected. So, we conform. You'll see it in the child eager to please; the adolescent aligning with peer pressure; the adult breaking their back to keep up with the Joneses.’ But the Bible says: ‘Therefore, I urge you...to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (vv. 1-2 NIV). Trying to be different just to stand out, or because we want to push back against conformity and rules, doesn’t really have much value. What God had in mind when He inspired Paul to write ‘do not conform’ is our willingness to let Him radically transform us. Here are two important concepts to help us reach that goal. 1) Transformation belongs to believers. We can't break the world's control over them without Christ, but believers are promised: ‘the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world’ (1 John 4:4 NLT). God's indwelling Spirit enables us to resist the world's pressure to conform to its ungodly ways. 2) God’s appeal is urgent. Paul wrote, ‘I urge you.’ Words like beg, plead, beseech are used in some translations because the appeal isn't secondary or optional. It’s vital, a divine command! God is looking for surrendered vessels that are ready to be transformed for His use and filled by Him. Are you willing to say, ‘Yes, Lord, use me’?

Paul wrote: ‘I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand…how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete’ (vv. 16-19 NLT). In spite of our best intentions, we still sin. And that makes us feel bad about ourselves. Satan uses our feelings of guilt and self-condemnation to make us doubt God’s love for us. But if God loved you enough to send His Son to die on your behalf even though you’re imperfect, you can be sure He won’t change His mind about you when you’re His redeemed but struggling child. Feeling bad about sin is actually proof that you truly are God’s child. When you accepted Jesus to be part of your life, you became a renewed spirit living in a body still drawn to earthly things. So whenever we allow sin to enter our lives, our renewed spirit rises up and says, ‘Get that out of here, it’s incompatible with who I am.’ God doesn’t stop loving us when we sin, but sin is an unwelcome guest that makes us feel bad about ourselves and steals our confidence in God. So if you’re aware of any sin that’s made its home in your life, repent, receive God’s forgiveness, and move forwards stronger and wiser.

When you’re facing a problem, a ‘word’ from God can bring you the solution you need. God created the world with a word - imagine what a difference just a single word from Him could make in your situation. The Bible says, ‘Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.’ Let’s think about the phrase, ‘Your ears shall hear a word.’ If our spiritual ears aren’t open, trained, and attuned to God, we won’t hear what He’s saying to us. If we’re inclined to filter what He’s saying to us through our human logic and intelligence, and try to harmonise it with our own opinions, we limit the message. We won;t always understand God’s ways, and they may make no sense from a human perspective; but we need to trust God’s wisdom and perspective. He gives a ‘word’ to those who have an open ear – and heart. Try asking yourself these questions: 1) When you pray, what are you looking for? A spiritual high, or a time of intimacy with the Lord, when He speaks and you listen? 2) When you read your Bible, are you looking for confirmation of your own thoughts, or are you looking to learn more about God’s will? The Bible says, ‘The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits’ (Daniel 11:32 NKJV). Imagine what one of God’s ideas could do! Whatever you hope to achieve in your life, the best strategy is to get to know God. He’ll reveal Himself to you through His Word. You’ll hear a lot of different ideas each day; some will benefit you, others won’t. But when you get a ‘word’ from God it’s like a seed; it has the potential to produce a tree; or better yet, a whole orchard of fruit.

When we’re struggling with temptation or disappointed in ourselves because we’ve started to give in to sin, well-intentioned friends sometimes try to comfort us by saying, ‘I know how you feel.’ But deep down we think, ‘No, you really don’t.’ But Jesus knows! He was ‘tempted in all things as we are,’ so He can interpret and present our feelings to God. And He really does! When you pray in Jesus’ name, pouring out your heart to God, Jesus acts as your lawyer and says, ‘Father, I know what this person is feeling. I know what it’s like to be under pressure to sin. I stand with this child of Yours who needs Your help.’ You might ask the question, ‘But Jesus was without sin, so can He really feel my sin the way I feel it?’ Yes, He can. In fact, because of His purity, He actually feels the pain of sin even more. If that sounds confusing, try thinking of it this way: In our everyday world, we live with germs all around us, and even on us. Because we aren’t in a sterile environment we don’t notice these germs and we learn to live with them. But it’s an entirely different story in a hospital’s operating theatre. There, any contamination from germs is a real threat that needs the attention of the entire staff. So they sterilise everything, because even a small amount of bacteria could lead to an infection that harms the patient. Because the room is kept so pure, the slightest impurity is even more noticeable and needs to be dealt with. So Jesus’ separateness from sin, and sensitivity to it, actually increases His ability to sympathise with us. Jesus understands what you’re struggling with, so don’t be afraid to ask Him for help.

When we’ve been hurt, our first instinct is often to retaliate. We know it’s wrong because the Bible teaches us the importance of forgiving others (see Mark 11:25). We also know that holding on to bitterness can hurt us. But sometimes we can’t bring ourselves to forgive, so we keep wrestling with it in our minds. But take a minute to think about what happens in a wrestling match. You focus on your opponent, clinging to them and trying to control them. Your aim is to put them on the mat and bring them into submission, and it takes all your energy. Plus, you risk getting hurt in the process. The only real power you have over someone who hurts you is the power of forgiveness. So the best course of action is to forgive them, leave the situation in God’s hands, and move on. When you don’t feel like being forgiving, bring to mind the words of Colossians 3:13 - ‘Bear with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you’ (NCV) - and pray, ‘Father, help me become willing to forgive.’ It’s easier for us to forgive small offences, but big ones will need God’s help. And we can have it: ‘God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him’ (Philippians 2:13 NLT). From a human perspective, we might want the person who has hurt us to suffer, but when our most precious wish is to please God, He’ll give us the grace to forgive, the wisdom to let Him administer justice, and the strength to move on.

When we knowingly sin, it puts our bodies under stress. There’s actually no such thing as a ‘lie detector test’. The fact is, the test cannot determine if someone is lying. It simply measures how a person’s response to certain questions affects their nervous system. God designed our system to glorify Him (see 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). So when we sin, it negatively impacts our bodies. Even if you’ve never taken a polygraph, or lie detector test, you’ll probably agree that at times when you’ve lied, you’ve also felt your heart rate increase. So when God tells us not to sin, He isn't trying to spoil our fun and steal our joy, but preserve it. Sin deprives us of these three things: 1) Comfort. ‘“There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord’ (Isaiah 48:22 NLT). If you know you’ve compromised your values, you become uneasy in your own skin. 2) Character. Your reputation is how others see you, but your character is what you see when you look at yourself in the mirror each day. Your thoughts determine your deeds, your deeds determine your habits, your habits determine your character, and your character determines your destiny. 3) Confidence. Nothing in life is more important than to be able to approach God with confidence. ‘If we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him’ (1 John 3:21-22 NLT). So the next time Satan tempts you to sin, stop and think about what you’ll end up losing in the long run. When you consider the end result, you’re better equipped to make the right choice every time.

Today, have a think about how you would answer these two questions: 1) Do you really care about others? 2) If your answer was yes, could you be more involved in meeting their needs? The Bible says, ‘Whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?…let us not love in word…but in deed’ (vv. 17-18 NKJV). That Scripture could be reduced to two words: Do something! In the parable of the Good Samaritan, two different ministers walked past a dying man on the Jericho road without stopping to help. Ever wondered why? Wasn’t this a great opportunity to ‘practise what you preach’? How did they become so insensitive and uncaring? Did they think, ‘The problem is too big, there is nothing I can do about it?’ Were they so focused on their church’s agenda that they didn’t want to commit the time or the resources that would be needed to get this man back on his feet? Jesus said: ‘But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him’ (Luke 10:33-34 NKJV). Notice the word ‘compassion’. it points to the fact that the Good Samaritan was willing to get emotionally involved - and we must be, too. Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision, once prayed, ‘Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.’ Today, maybe God is saying to you, ‘Do something!’

The Bible says, ‘Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him…“up to seventy times seven”’ (vv. 21-22 NKJV). Seventy times seven equals 490 times. But the number doesn’t matter as much as the concept; basically, Jesus was saying, ‘Forgive, and keep on forgiving.’ And it’s a ‘brother’, someone close, someone we may have to live or work with, who we’re called to forgive. Let’s be honest, we all make mistakes because we’re flawed in different ways. Only God is perfect. Think about Jesus’ words as He hung, dying, on the cross: ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do’ (Luke 23:34 KJV). When we’ve been hurt, it’s perfectly normal to feel anger, and it’s a natural human reaction to feel mistreated. But there's a big difference between healthy, natural anger and the corrosive emotion of bitterness. Bitterness could be compared to a disease or a parasite in a relationship. Dr Maya Angelou said, ‘[Bitterness] feeds upon the host. It does nothing to the object of the displeasure.’ In this case, the ‘host’ is the relationship, and forgiveness is the medication and the cure. Jesus said, ‘Do to others as you would like them to do to you.’ (Luke 6:31 NLT). Offering the amount of forgiveness we would like to receive ourselves helps a relationship to stay healthy and free from the disease of bitterness. Forgiveness doesn’t mean we let the other person walk all over us. It also doesn’t mean that we need to stay in a toxic situation - we mustn't put ourselves at risk, and it is a totally legitimate course of action to forgive and still walk away if we need to. What forgiveness does mean is that we refuse to carry the bitterness and we’re leaving the situation in God’s hands. It can be very hard to do, but if we pray, God will give us the grace to do it!

Paul wrote, ‘I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it’ (Galatians 1:13 NIV). Paul clearly had no thoughts of becoming a Christian at first. As a Jew, he was obsessed with the law. As an intellectual, he could debate the best minds. He was articulate and educated, and committed to the teachings of his faith. But he hated Christians! He watched as Stephen, the first martyr, was stoned to death. And while he didn’t personally participate, he held the coats of those who did (see Acts 7:57-59). Paul must never have dreamed that one day he’d switch sides. But when God has a plan for your life, He‘ll do whatever it takes to fulfil it. By the time He casts His net over you, He’s already begun to work out His purpose for you. Even while Paul held the coats of Stephen’s executioners, God had plans to use him. Just as He had plans for you when you were going around doing your own thing, perhaps acting from selfish motives, or prizing ungodly ideas of success. None of that stopped God because, ‘Where sin abounded, grace abounded much more.’ If Paul had known God planned to meet him that day on the Damascus Road, he might have taken a different route. But ‘He was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice’ (Acts 9:3-4 MSG). This proud Pharisee had an appointment with God that wasn’t in his diary - but it was in God’s. And it was a meeting that would turn his life upside down. And to bring you into alignment with His will, God will do whatever it takes. He won’t allow stubbornness, selfish desires, or human motives to derail His plans for your life!

If Job had a weakness, it was his tongue. He talked excessively. But who could blame him? After being hit by disaster after disaster, there wasn’t a wall left standing in his house, and his loved ones had been wiped out. His wife told poor Job to ‘curse God, and die’ (Job 2:9 KJV). Then his four friends, with all the sensitivity of a sledgehammer, told him he had probably brought all this trouble on himself. We’re thirty-seven chapters into the book of Job before God speaks a word. Chapter 38 begins, ‘Then the Lord answered Job’ (KJV). And after God finished speaking, Job said, ‘I am not worthy; I cannot answer you anything, so I will put my hand over my mouth’ (40:4 NCV). Notice that before he heard from God, Job couldn’t talk enough? But after he heard from God, he couldn’t talk at all. The only thing Job got right was: ‘Even if God kills me, I have hope in him’ (13:15 NCV).After we’ve talked, or even complained to God about a problem, often the best thing to do next is to trust, not talk; to submit, not speak. Job didn’t know it at the time, but God’s plan was to give him twice as much in the end as he had lost. And it happened when he stopped focusing on his own problems and started praying for his friends (see 42:10). So, be still. Be open and willing. God is still on the throne. He is in control of every detail of your life. Even in the worst of circumstances, He has your best interest at heart. Psalm 138 says, ‘The Lord will vindicate me’ (v.8 NIV). And often, that’s all you need to know! God will do the rest.

If you’d like to get more wisdom, here are some steps to help you: 1) Acknowledge that you need it. Benjamin Franklin said, ‘The doorstep to the temple of wisdom is a knowledge of your own ignorance.’ If we think we already know everything we need to know, our minds won’t be open to receiving new wisdom. 2) Go to the right source. ‘The Lord gives wisdom’ (Proverbs 2:6 NKJV). Only God can give us true wisdom, because He’s the only one who has true wisdom. His wisdom makes ours look microscopic in comparison. Paul said, ‘The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom’ (1 Corinthians 1:25 NIV). Think about it this way: if God were capable of a stupid thought, which He is not, it would still be wiser than the wisest thought we could ever produce. 3) Ask for it. God doesn’t hoard His wisdom; He is ready to give it away. Solomon said: ‘If you call out for insight…cry aloud for understanding…look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding’ (Proverbs 2:3-6 NIV). James wrote: ‘If any of you need wisdom, you should ask God, and it will be given to you. God is generous and won’t correct you for asking. But when you ask for something, you must have faith and not doubt. Anyone who doubts is like an ocean wave tossed around in a storm. If you are that kind of person, you can’t make up your mind, and you surely can’t be trusted. So don’t expect the Lord to give you anything at all’ (James 1:5-8 CEV). Today, pray for wisdom.

The Bible talks a lot about Solomon’s wisdom. One of the reasons his wisdom is memorable is that it’s not human wisdom raised to God’s level of understanding, it’s godly wisdom offered in a way that humans can understand. And that means God’s wisdom can be accessible to all of us! If you think God’s wisdom is beyond you, or you think you’re ‘not clever enough’, listen to what Solomon, the wisest man in the world, said: ‘Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. The beginning of wisdom is this: get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding. Cherish her, and she will exalt you; embrace her, and she will honour you’ (vv. 6-8 NIVUK). Along those same lines, the preacher Haddon Robinson said: ‘Since 1955 knowledge has doubled every five years…High school graduates today have been exposed to more information about the world than Plato, Aristotle, Spinoza, or Benjamin Franklin. In terms of facts alone, neither Moses nor Paul could pass a college entrance exam today. Yet, by everyone’s standards, even with all our knowledge…society today is peopled with a bumper crop of brilliant failures…men and women…educated to earn a living often don’t know anything about handling life itself. Alumni from noted universities have mastered information about a narrow slice of life – but couldn’t make it out of the first grade when it comes to living successfully with family and friends. Let’s face it. Knowledge is not enough to meet life’s problems. We need wisdom, the ability to handle life with skill.’ And Charles Spurgeon once said, ‘There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool; but to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom.’ The more information we’re exposed to, the more we need to pray for wisdom so we can use our knowledge in ways that honour God.

When King Solomon asked God for wisdom instead of power, fame, or riches, God told him: ‘You could have asked me to make you rich or famous or to let you live a long time. Or you could have asked for your enemies to be destroyed. Instead, you asked for wisdom and knowledge to rule my people. So I will make you wise and intelligent. But I will also make you richer and more famous than any king before or after you’ (2 Chronicles 1:11-12 CEV). Did God keep His promise? Well, a pretty accurate description of King Solomon is that in his time, he was the most famous, the richest, the most powerful, and the wisest person on the planet! He ruled the world’s greatest empire. His merchant ships sailed the seas, bringing him back the treasures of the earth. He designed and built some of the world’s most important buildings, including the temple. He built reservoirs, parks, gardens, and vineyards. He mastered commerce, science, and literature. He became a celebrated poet, a distinguished writer, and a gifted musician. He learned the incredible worth of wisdom, enjoyed all its benefits, and wrote: ‘Let instruction and knowledge mean more to you than silver or the finest gold. Wisdom is worth much more than precious jewels or anything else you desire’ (Proverbs 8:10-11 CEV). And as the author of the book of Proverbs, Solomon’s wisdom is something we can all learn from today. There are thirty-one chapters in Proverbs – one for every day of the month – so why not try reading a chapter a day for the next month and draw on Solomon’s wisdom!

When King Solomon ascended to the throne, God told him, ‘Ask! What shall I give you?’ (v. 7 NKJV). Imagine the scene: Solomon was given a free rein by the One for whom nothing is impossible. But behind the scenes, God was testing Solomon to find out what was really in his heart. An arrogant person would have asked for fame. A worldly person would have asked for wealth. A self-absorbed person would have asked for power. So what did Solomon ask God for? He said, ‘Now give me wisdom.’ So, God granted Solomon’s request and gave him something more gratifying than fame, more extravagant than wealth, and more thrilling than power. As it turned out, all the material blessings that Solomon enjoyed were by-products of the gift of wisdom. An anonymous thinker wrote: ‘Tell me your dreams, and I will tell you the riddle of your life. Tell me your prayers, and I will write the history of your soul. Tell me your askings, and I will tell you your gettings. Tell me what you seek, and I will tell you what you are…I do not wish to know your possessions…only your wants. I do not care to know what you have, only what you have not and desire to have; not your attainments, but what you have not yet attained and follow after; that which comes to you in your victories by day and your dreams by night, the ideal you set before you, the things you approve as excellent, what you seek after and have given your heart to, these are the measure of a man.’ So today, pray for wisdom.

The Bible says, ‘You can trust God, who will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand. But when you are tempted, he will also give you a way to escape so that you will be able to stand it’ (v. 13 NCV). Our minds are like a hotel. The manager can’t stop someone entering the lobby, but they can prevent that person from getting a room and staying there. And it’s the same with temptation. When God redeemed you, you became a renewed spirit living in an unrenewed body. And you were ‘sealed [by the Holy Spirit] for the day of redemption’ (Ephesians 4:30 NIV). Think of it like an envelope - when you seal it up, its contents are protected until it’s delivered to its destination. Satan can’t triumph against your renewed spirit, so he attacks you through your earthly nature. Paul acknowledged this: ‘I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway’ (Romans 7:19 NLT). None of us will ever be immune to temptation, but we can overcome it. Think about these three things in 1 Corinthians 10:13: 1) ‘You can trust God.’ Like a shepherd who never abandons his sheep, when you go astray, He’ll bring you back to Him. 2) ‘[He] will not permit you to be tempted more than you can stand.’ Like a good coach training you, God will allow the weight of temptations to strengthen you, but not to the point that it breaks or destroys you. 3) ‘When you are tempted, he will also give you a way to escape.’ If you choose your own way, temptation can easily defeat you. But God’s ‘way to escape’ is through prayer, His Word, Christian fellowship, and Spirit-filled living. That’s how to overcome temptation.

When the Bible talks about integrity, it means having a good character. And good character sets boundaries. It might not always determine what we will do, but it always determines what we won’t do. Character lets us realise how much we're willing to pay to get what we want. When someone has no character, we need to be cautious with them. The writer of Proverbs says, ‘The righteous man walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him.’ Character doesn’t have to be in the spotlight, excessively running the show. And it doesn’t resort to intimidation or shaming to get its own way. Anyone who thinks they can get what they want by lying, cheating, or manipulating is sadly mistaken. No matter where you go, the real you will eventually show up! And if you don’t work on your character, you won’t be able to build healthy relationships. Genuine relationships need integrity; someone who shows consistent character in all circumstances; someone who plays by the rules and can be relied on; someone who gives credit where credit is due; someone who lives by faith; someone who trusts that God will enable them to achieve all that they were created and called to do. The Bible tells us the wicked might prosper for a season, but their prosperity won't be lasting. And ultimately, they'll definitely not be successful (see Proverbs 11:21). The psalmist said, ‘The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them’ (Proverbs 11:3 NKJV). So today, be reminded to pray and ask God to help you be full of integrity, and to work on your character.

Do you remember the first time death forced you to say the final goodbye to a loved one? At the funeral you heard words like departed, passed on, gone ahead. These were unfamiliar terms. You wondered, ‘Departed to where? Passed on to what? Gone ahead for how long?’ When someone dies after a full life, the loss is a little easier to accept. But what if they die as a result of violence? Or after a long battle with illness? It can feel like your plans and hopes for the future are lost too. But Paul wrote: ‘I want you to know what happens to a Christian when he dies so that when it happens, you will not be full of sorrow, as those are who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and then came back to life again, we can also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him all the Christians who have died’ (vv.13-14 TLB). Those words can turn our hopeless sorrow into hope-filled sorrow because they assure us that we will see our loved ones again. Isn’t that what we want to believe? We long to know our loved ones are safe in death. We're desperate for the reassurance that the soul goes instantly to be with God. But can we dare to believe it? According to the Scriptures, yes, we can believe it confidently! At death a Christian immediately enters the presence of God and delights in conscious fellowship with the Father and with others who have gone before. These words on a believer’s gravestone say it all: ‘The parting is for a moment, but the meeting will be for eternity.’

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us to pray, ‘Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’ Satan is always trying to lead us into temptation, while the Holy Spirit who lives within us is always trying to lead us away from temptation. It tells us a lot that the devil is named the tempter - and the accuser: ‘For the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down’ (Revelation 12:10 NIV). There's no such thing as fair play with the devil. As soon as he gets us to give in to temptation, he switches hats and tries to convince us that we’re beyond the reach of God’s grace and redemption because we've submitted to temptation's charms. But Satan is a liar, and there's no truth in him. It’s only when we deny our sins and reject God’s mercy that we're outside of His help. But the moment we acknowledge them and ask God to restore us, His redeeming power will be at work. The Bible says: ‘If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:8-9 NIV). Some people are delivered from temptation instantly; others battle it for a long time before finding deliverance and victory. God’s always willing to extend grace to us, but we're not always ready to receive it. So whether you come the easy way or the hard way, as long as your heart's true desire is to come to God, ‘He will also provide a way out’ (1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV).

Ever noticed that when you’re hungry, even the most unhealthy food looks good? And when your soul is dissatisfied, sin looks just as tempting. That’s why we have to constantly try to be spiritually self-aware and monitor our levels of soul satisfaction. On the dashboard of a car are lights that show things like how hot the engine is, or when the fuel or oil is about to run out. It isn;t a good idea to ignore them. If your heart had a dashboard, it would have a ‘soul-satisfaction’ light. So, why do we keep getting snared? Often it’s because when we’re dissatisfied with something about our lives, we’re more vulnerable to temptation. And the deeper our level of discontent, the more vulnerable we are. We were made for soul satisfaction. But we can look for it in the wrong places, instead of turning to God and drawing our refreshment and soul nourishment from our relationship with Him. That’s why in the Bible there are so many Scriptures that call us to joy: ‘The joy of the Lord is your strength.’ ‘You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand’ (Psalm 16:11 NIV). ‘With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation’ (Isaiah 12:3 NIV). ‘Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete’ (John 16:24 NIV). Paul said, ‘The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 14:17 NIV). Remember the words ‘joy in the Holy Spirit’. The secret to finding joy lies in allowing the Holy Spirit to guide our lives, and remembering that God is bigger and more powerful than any temptation we’ll face.

Jesus said, ‘A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers’ (Luke 10:30 NIV). Jerusalem represented the place of God’s favour, whereas Jericho was cursed by Joshua when God destroyed its walls (see Joshua 6:26). The road connecting the two cities was full of robbers, so was this man’s intention to travel part of the way, then get off? The Bible doesn’t say, but one thing we do know is God goes to great lengths to keep us from going down the road to temptation and getting hurt. And even with all His safeguards in place, we still manage to get into trouble. First, we stop listening to the promptings of His Spirit. Second, we’re unwilling to pray about certain wrong desires with a heart that’s submitted to God. Third, we’re not interested in talking to a trusted friend who would be willing to help us. Fourth, we don’t want to know what the Bible says about temptation. When we’re tempted and begin to take that first step to acting on our feelings, what we’ve done is decided to quench the Spirit so we can indulge our fleshly natures. Temptation always comes at a price, and it’ll end up costing us in the long run. Real freedom isn’t about being able to gratify every feeling, impulse, and appetite; it’s about refusing to become a slave to unhealthy desires. The battle against temptation is noble, but if all we do is struggle to repress our desires, eventually they’ll wear us down. So we need to hold on to a clear mental image of the kind of people God wants us to be and cooperate with His Spirit to become who He intends us to be.

Imagine you were Abraham, and having to offer your child on an altar as a sacrifice to God. And God doesn’t tell you why! Here’s what Abraham said to the two young men who accompanied him on the most difficult journey of his life: ‘Stay here…the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back [both of us!].’ Abraham’s commitment to God was unwavering: ‘I will worship my way through this and come back stronger!’ Worry and worship are total opposites. And we’ll be much happier when we learn to become worshippers instead of worriers. Worry causes an opening for the Enemy to torment us, but worship guides us into God’s presence where we unfailingly find peace, joy, and hope. We were created to worship God (see Revelation 4:11). When nothing else works, worship does because it places our entire focus on Him. God is good even while our circumstances aren’t. So, when you feel worried; give your concerns to God, and rest in His grace. Grace isn’t just divine favour; it’s also power and divine enablement! Don’t waste another minute on needless worries. Share every one of them, big and small, with God, and let. Him handle them. Don’t try to take on His responsibility. When you do what you can do, God steps in and does what you can’t do. Offer yourself and your worries to God, praise Him, and start enjoying the abundant life He provides. The moment you realise you’re worrying about something, disrupt that thought pattern by saying, ‘I will not worry. I will worship you, Lord. You are good, and I completely trust You.’

Paul wrote: ‘Whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honourable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them]’ (v. 8 AMPC). If we’re serious about wanting a better, godly life, we need to change the way we think. The best way to stop thinking about something is simply to think about something else. When you don’t enjoy a certain song, what do you do? Skip it and change to a different song! Does the song you don’t like stop existing? No, it’s there anytime you choose to switch back to it. It can be the same with our thoughts – when we find ourselves stuck in a repeated thought pattern that’s lowering our mood and we know isn’t good – one that plays like a broken record in the mind – we can take action. We can take a stand against the devil and say to him, ‘You CAN’T use my thoughts.’ The only place a thought can live is in the mind, and that means it is possible to deny the devil access. It takes strength and courage, so we’ll need God’s help every step of the way. Focusing on the right thought is like flipping a light switch; it banishes darkness and illuminates the room, and the right thoughts are always those that line up with God’s Word and what He’s saying to you. Today, try ‘fixing’ your mind on the things that Paul wrote about - things that are good and God-inspired - and see if it makes a difference to your outlook on life.

Living a disciplined life needs a disciplined mind. Jesus said Satan’s plan consists of three things: to ‘steal, and to kill, and to destroy’ (John 10:10 KJV). And we need to remember that. In our own strength, we’re no match for Satan, but God will give us strength to overcome His strategies and use our self-control. And the Bible tells us how we can do that: ‘Set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth.’ Remember the words ‘set your minds and keep them set’. Many cars come with cruise control. When you reach the speed limit, you simply ‘set’ the car’s computer by pushing a lever or hitting a button and the car maintains that speed. It won’t go above it or drop beneath it. Similarly, when our minds are programmed with God’s Word, we ‘set’ our thoughts and desires on things that please God rather than things that satisfy the cravings of our ungodly natures. Self-discipline is the price of freedom. When we’re controlled by your impulses, we’re not free, we’re at the mercy of those feelings. Even legitimate things can trap us. As the old saying goes, ‘Too much of a good thing quickly becomes a bad thing!’ Paul wrote: ‘Everything is permissible (allowable and lawful) for me; but not all things are helpful (good for me to do, expedient and profitable when considered with other things)…I will not become the slave of anything or be brought under its power’ (1 Corinthians 6:12 AMPC). So, the secret of self-control is to program your mind with God’s Word.

Yesterday we looked at how we can grow our relationships. The second place we can find growth in relationships is in ourselves. Relationships help us to get to know ourselves better. Even when we’re committed to being a good friend, family member, or partner, we’ll still have days when we struggle with the relationship. People will frustrate us. People will make mistakes. But the tough times in relationships can grow us. It’s in those times when we learn how we respond to frustrations. Do we communicate well or do we give people the silent treatment? Are we quick to forgive or do we hold on to bitterness and resentment? In order for us to grow, we have to be able to evaluate ourselves honestly, and our relationships with other people provide good opportunities for us to do this. The people closest to us help to shape our beliefs, character, and faith. They influence our choices and habits. In 1 Corinthians 13, we find a list of the characteristics of love. It’s a useful checklist for our character in our relationships. It says: ‘Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails’ (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIVUK). If we want to grow through our relationships, we need to evaluate where we’re at, what we need to improve on, and then put the work in to grow in those areas.

We all have a number of different types of relationships in our lives. There are the relationships we have with our family, our friends, our partners, and our colleagues. All of our relationships can lead to growth, if we’re open and committed. Firstly, our relationships themselves can be grown when we put the effort in. We have to spend time with people for a relationship to develop. We need to really listen to what the other person has to say, and remember details about them. It’s through this time and conversation that we can begin to understand the other person better, allowing us to grow closer to them and know how to show them love. It can be easy to take people for granted. We need to learn how other people feel loved and appreciated, and then act in that way towards them. It’s also important to treat the other person with respect, in the way that we would want to be treated. The Bible says: ‘Do to others as you would have them do to you’ (Luke 6:31 NIV), which is a great rule for us to live by if we want our relationships to grow. The Bible also says: ‘Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.’ If we don’t exercise humility, patience, and love in our relationships, we’ll find that they begin to fall apart rather than grow. Finally, communication is necessary to maintain and grow any relationship. We need to remember that people can’t read our minds, so we’ll often have to tell them if we need something or if we’re upset by something. So if we want our relationships to last, we need to commit ourselves to growing them.

The word commit means ‘to bind, or obligate, or pledge’. And for some of us, it might make us think of restraint, oppressed servants, and the loss of our freedom. In other words, it frightens us. If we’re the type of people who place a high value on our independence and self-sufficiency, that can mean we’re more reluctant to commit to a relationship that’ll need compromise and consideration of another person's views (see Philippians 2:3-4). And that, in turn, could lead to a desire to keep the relationship fluid and flexible, so we can stay or leave whenever we want to. If the other person values commitment, the relationship is likely to become frustrating and stressful. So, what should you do if you’re reluctant to commit to a friendship, or any other type of relationship? Two things: 1) Be honest with yourself about your fears, feelings, and motivations. David said, ‘You want me to be completely truthful, so teach me wisdom’ (Psalm 51:6 NCV). Wisdom comes from being honest about what’s going on inside us. We might have past experiences of a hurtful relationship, or we might have witnessed others go through a toxic relationship, and we’re worried about getting trapped in one ourselves. These things can seriously affect our level of commitment and what we’re willing to invest in a friendship. 2) If you’ve been involved in a relationship that ended badly, think about what you could have done differently to produce a different outcome. It may only take a bit of an attitude adjustment to make the next relationship a positive experience. (That doesn't mean we should work to repair a toxic or harmful relationship - there are times when we must walk away for our own safety and wellbeing.) Keep in mind these words from God: ‘Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing’ (Isaiah 43:18-19 NKJV).

One of the greatest Scriptures on commitment in the Bible are the words of Ruth to Naomi: ‘Entreat me not to leave you, or to turn back from following after you; for wherever you go, I will go; and wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.’ When we stand at the beginning of a new friendship, or any other type of relationship, we might feel afraid of truly committing time, effort, and emotions into it. We might experience fears like these: 1) Fear of pain: ‘I’ve been hurt before, and I don’t want to be hurt again.’ 2) Fear of inadequacy: ‘What if I’m not good enough for them? What if I can’t live up to their expectations?’ 3) Fear of lack: ‘What if the other person ends up taking things from me?’ 4) Fear of losing control: ‘Why should I give up my independence?’ 5) Fear of loneliness: ‘What if they walk away from me?’ Weighed down by these fears, we might only allow the friendship to be a shallow one, keeping a bit of distance and never really letting the other person get to know us properly. Or we might avoid a relationship altogether to save ourselves from the possibility of being hurt. But God designed us to have companions, and He’ll place the right people in our lives - we just need to use discernment and prayer when it comes to making a commitment. So when you meet someone new, whether that’s a friend, a work colleague, or a potential romantic partner, make sure you talk to God about the relationship before you decide to reject it or to jump in, and ask for His guidance on how to proceed.

The Bible says, ‘Peter remembered the word of the Lord…“Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So Peter went out and wept bitterly’ (vv. 61-62 NKJV). It’s our faith in Christ that saves us, not our good works (although that doesn’t mean we can neglect doing good). ‘By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast’ (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV). This helps us understand Jesus’ words to Peter: ‘I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail’ (Luke 22:32 NKJV). When we have faith in Christ, we can bounce back. There’s no limit when it comes to God’s grace. Peter denied Jesus not once, but several times. Perhaps that’s your story too! This wasn’t a moment that Peter would be proud of, but it was an experience that would help him grow stronger. When someone fails badly, you might hear it said that they’ve ‘crashed and burned’. And when something is burned, all that’s left is ashes. But we serve a God of restoration who gives ‘beauty for ashes’ (see Isaiah 61:3). If you’d seen Peter swearing that he didn’t know the Lord, would you have picked him to be your church leader? God did. He made him the head of the New Testament church. We tell people, ‘Don’t get into messes’ and ‘Don’t sin’. And that’s good advice – God doesn’t want us sinning. But we should really say, ‘Don’t walk head first into sin when you know better. But when you fail, which will happen at some point, turn to God, because He’ll restore you and use your failure to strengthen you.’

Jesus knew Peter would deny Him, but He still called him to be His disciple, saying: ‘Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren’ (vv. 31-32). The mistakes we make and the messes we create often don’t happen by accident but because of choices we’ve made. But that doesn't mean they put us beyond the reach of God’s grace. The secret of victory is to let God use our mistakes to develop us rather than let Satan use them to destroy us. Pay attention to the words ‘Satan hath desired to have you’. Satan wants to take back what he lost – you. When you doubt God’s grace and love, Satan has the power to bring you down. Have you ever seen wheat going through a threshing process? It’s not a pretty sight. And when it happens in your life, it doesn’t feel good. If Peter, one of Christ’s handpicked disciples, could fail, how much more likely is it to happen to us? And when it does, what do you think the Lord wants to accomplish through it? Today, your life might look like it’s in a mess, but if you turn to God, He can make something beautiful out of it. And here’s one last thought: Jesus told Peter, ‘I have prayed for thee.’ Today, Jesus is praying for you. ‘If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous’ (1 John 2:1 KJV). So, if you have fallen, Jesus will lift you up and restore you.

By the year 2030, about a fifth of the world’s population will be over seventy years old. Millions of us will probably live to be a hundred or more. When someone asked President Dwight D. Eisenhower at his birthday party how he felt about turning eighty, he replied, ‘It sure does beat the alternative!’ In 2007, a lady from California called Anita Bogan died at the age of 106. Listen to some of the words from her obituary in the Los Angeles Times: ‘Blessed with good health and a sound mind, Bogan spent most of her old age doing what she wanted to do, with a feisty, what’s-age-got-to-do-with-it attitude. In the decades following her 80th year, she created a non-profit foundation to build senior housing…opened a floral shop, played golf daily…took cruises to celebrate her…birthdays…and inspired people. On Bogan’s 100th birthday, the Kern County Board of Supervisors declared an “Anita Bogan Day”.’ By her attitude towards life, Anita changed the way people around her viewed aging. Instead of focusing on the negatives of getting older, let’s try to focus on the quality of the years ahead of us. The Bible has this advice for us: ‘Do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity’ (vv. 1-2 NIV). ‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life’ (Proverbs 9:10-11 NIV). We don’t need to fear the aging process, and we can even enjoy the experience when we build a close relationship with God and live in agreement with His Word.

Does the thought of getting older make you feel a bit anxious? It isn’t something we like to think about. But we needn’t fear it, because with God, the contents are more important than the package. We can feel at peace with getting older if we try to look at it from God’s perspective. Ultimately, it’s not the number of days in our life that count but the quality of life in our days. Jesus’ first miracle recorded in the Bible was turning water into wine at a wedding. The host of the wedding reception said: ‘Everyone brings out the choice wine first…but you have saved the best till now’ (John 2:10 NIV). And that can be the story of our lives too. We don’t have to suffer from gerascophobia, the fear of ageing, if we keep fighting, keep growing, and keep moving forwards. Listen to the words of Caleb: ‘For my part, I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God…Moses solemnly promised me, “The land of Canaan on which you were just walking will be your grant of land and that of your descendants forever”…Now, as you can see, the Lord has kept me alive and well as he promised for all these forty-five years since Moses made this promise – even while Israel wandered in the wilderness. Today I am eighty-five years old. I am as strong now as I was when Moses sent me on that journey, and I can still travel and fight as well as I could then. So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me…So Joshua blessed Caleb…and gave Hebron to him as his portion of land’ (Joshua 14:8-13 NLT). That’s what ‘growing older with grace’ can look like.

The Bible says: ‘They provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They did not remember His power’ (vv. 40-42 NKJV). In the wilderness, the Israelites continually aggravated God to the point of anger and caused great sadness in His heart by limiting Him. They limited what He could do for them and through them. And we do the same thing when we don’t recognise and use the gifts He gives us and the creative ideas He places in our minds. God wants us to break out of the ‘box’ of our own backgrounds, stumbling blocks, and personal limitations. One of the ways we can do that is by constantly letting ourselves experience and be open to new ideas, new places, and new people. God’s Word says: ‘Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left’ (Isaiah 54:2-3 NKJV). Notice the words ‘enlarge’ and ‘stretch out’ and ‘lengthen’ and ‘strengthen’ and ‘expand’. If we want to be really creative, we also have to be teachable. We need to keep learning, growing, and expanding our thinking so we can make room for innovative new ideas. Some people might think they’re not naturally creative. But we’re not necessarily born with creativity - it comes through developing our God-given gifts and seizing the opportunities He sends our way. Do you want to break out of the box? That’s how to do it!

Imagine the temple lying in ruins, and having to be rebuilt from the ground up. That’s what things were like when Zechariah shared his vision with the people of Israel. Some thought it couldn’t be done, and others thought that their particular contribution would make no difference. So Zechariah challenged them in these words: ‘Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings? They’ll change their tune when they see Zerubbabel setting the last stone in place!’ Sometimes we can feel like there are too many changes we need to make to our lifestyle, our relationships and our faith. It’s at that point we need to choose to rebuild. And that can feel pretty overwhelming. Maybe we don’t know where to start, or we can’t see how such a huge task is even possible. But making changes to our lives is a process. Rebuilding takes time and patience. It’s a step-by-step thing. Even the smallest change we make in our lives is important. We may feel like we’re not advancing quickly enough, that we’re failing because we’re taking such small steps. But God doesn’t see it like that. He takes us on a journey, and He’s gentle with us. He only helps us change and rebuild things at the pace we can handle. The Bible tells us that ‘he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion’ (Philippians 1:6 NIV). God doesn’t start working with us and in us, to leave us halfway through, He doesn’t give up on us because we’re taking too long to change. So when we find ourselves in a place where we need to begin to rebuild, let’s remember Zechariah’s words and avoid despising the ‘day of small beginnings.’

Years ago, there was a TV series called The Six Million Dollar Man. He was built and equipped with nuclear-powered bionic limbs and implants. Well, that’s nothing compared to what God has created! Each one of us is unique…one of a kind…a genuine marvel of God’s creative genius. For example, our tongues contain thousands of tiny taste buds; each one is capable of discerning between different flavours. And then there’s our digestive system - perfectly designed to break down our food, extract the nutrients from it, and pass them into our blood stream to energise our cells. Then there’s our cooling system - around four million sweat glands working to keep us from overheating. And our sensory system, which contains over 37 miles of nerves to send and interpret messages and formulate a response. And every single one of the seven billion people on our planet is unique! Nobody else has your voice pattern, fingerprints, and DNA. When each of us was born, God never wondered if He made a mistake. He knows everything about us. He paid a great price for us (see 1 Corinthians 6:20). He made us members of His redeemed family (see 1 John 3:2). He has a path already laid out for us to follow, if we choose to (see Psalm 37:23), and He wants to see us succeed in His plan. He loved us even when we were at our most unlovable, and He chose us before we could do right or wrong. And all that He asks in return is our praise; our thanks for the things He’s blessed us with; He asks us to spend time with Him, to talk to Him, and to read the Word He gave us. He loves us so much more than we could ever imagine. Let’s not allow anything to come between us and God.

How can we be sure the Bible is divinely inspired and we can trust it? By the prophecies that have been fulfilled! No other religion has such specific, repeated, and unfailing fulfilment of predictions. Those predictions were made many years in advance, and predicted by people who had no control over the outcome. Finite human beings can only know the future if it’s told to them by an infinite being - in other words: God. He provided this evidence for us so we could be sure that the Bible has a divine author: ‘For I am God…Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done’ (vv. 9-10 NKJV). Out of the Bible’s sixty-six books, written between 1400 BC and AD 90, approximately 3,856 verses are about prophecy. And here’s the best part… over 25 per cent of the entire Bible contains specific prophecies that have literally already been fulfilled. Sir Isaac Newton said, ‘I find more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history whatsoever.’ We might wonder why people don’t believe the Bible. The answer is because they haven’t opened their hearts to God! Paul wrote: ‘No one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches…the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned’ (1 Corinthians 2:11-14 NKJV).

Wherever you go, you’ll find people who think they know it all. Older people who are afraid of becoming useless might try to prove they have a superior amount of knowledge. Religious people might use their strong opinions like a weapon, attacking you until you’re beaten down, and it feels easier to agree with them than to keep defending your viewpoint. The Bible says, ‘fight hard for the faith’ (Jude v. 3 NCV). But there’s a difference between fighting and being antagonistic. Paul wrote: ‘Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful’ (2 Timothy 2:23-24 NIV). Remember these four phrases: 1) ‘Must not be quarrelsome.’ Don’t argue, just plant the seeds of God’s Word and trust the Holy Spirit to work in people’s hearts. 2) ‘Be kind to everyone.’ There’s no need to be hostile or disagreeable, or to try and put someone down when they don’t share your viewpoint. If you find yourself doing that, stop and ask yourself what’s actually driving you towards unkindness. Your self-worth isn’t measured by how many people you can prove wrong, and you don’t lose anything by being kind. 3) ‘Able to teach.’ Instead of trying to force your opinions on someone, just say, ‘Here‘s what I’ve discovered in the Bible, and here’s the difference it has made in my life.’ Nobody can argue with the evidence of a changed life - and your testimony might just change theirs. 4) ‘Not resentful.’ Only when your own hurts have been healed can God use you to heal the hurts of others. So, pray: ‘Father, make me an instrument of peace so that people will be open to the truth that you reveal to them through me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.’

Two of the most famous ‘marriage advice’ type of verses can shed some real light on how all relationships, not just the relationship between husband and wife, can work better: be considerate (1 Peter 3:7) and be worthy of respect (1 Timothy 3:11). In any kind of relationship, it’s about growing an environment where the relationship works to help both people become better people, and draw closer to God. And to build that kind of environment means giving a lot of encouragement and support. Not only when we feel like it, but also when we don’t feel like it. Jesus’ commandment to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ (Matthew 22:39 NIVUK) sums it up perfectly. It means asking God to soften our sharp edges, and provide us with the strength, patience, and opportunities to show His love to those around us. Want to work out a difficult relationship, make long-lasting friendships or even just feel loved? Make the first move. When we’re prayerfully proactive in a relationship, and willing to drop our own petty disagreements or dislikes for the sake of blessing someone, God will add to it. That doesn’t mean we should let ourselves be walked over by someone who isn’t willing to show love back. Sometimes, there’s reason to find the way out of a relationship (and if you do feel as though you need to get out, then listen to yourself, you know your situation best), but a few steps before that, it’s worth considering if you can bless the other person in some way.

When a friend or loved one first becomes a Christian, help them plant God’s Word deep in their heart. That doesn’t guarantee they won’t go astray. Many of us got it wrong before we finally got it right. Just make sure they know where ‘the right path’ is. Picture a salmon being spawned in the River Severn, then as it matures, it swims downstream and begins its long migration to the North Atlantic. The salmon swims for thousands of miles. Then, as if by command, it begins the long journey back to its place of spawning. And it not only locates the spot where it entered the ocean, but the estuary, the river, and the exact inlet from which it had been released. In one documented story, a salmon worked its way up through a drain and pushed through a hefty, screened lid atop a three-foot vertical pipe, and ended up in the same tank where it was hatched. Unique markings on its fin confirmed this. ‘Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.’ That Scripture speaks to parents, but we could also think of it as guiding a new Christian in their first steps with God. Give them a taste of the things of God and help them learn some solid, basic principles of a life with Him, then if they stray away from His path, the world won’t satisfy their taste and they'll return to their spiritual roots. Faithfully do your part, and trust God to do His. Your part is to teach, love, and pray for them. God’s part is to draw them back. And He will, for He loves them even more than you do!

Do you have an ‘I-O-YOU’ attitude or a ‘U-O-ME’ attitude? What gives us an attitude of entitlement? It’s found in the middle of the word entitlement itself: ‘title’. We can assume people owe us because of the title we hold in their lives: sister, brother, son, daughter, friend, donor, employee, customer, subscriber, and so on. We might think of our title like a legal document that gives us the right to whatever advantage we expect. But that’s not what discipleship is about. Paul described the essence of discipleship in these words: ‘By love serve one another.’ Here are some strategies to help us overcome any sense of entitlement that we’re aware of in our lives: 1) Understand the difference between your ‘rights’ and your ‘desires’. You have the right to expect your mother or father to love you, but you don’t have the right to expect them to wait on you hand and foot. ‘For God so loved…that he gave’ (John 3:16 KJV). True love is marked by giving, not taking. 2) Live by the Golden Rule (see Matthew 7:12). Jesus said that whatever you want others to do for you, take the initiative and begin doing it for them. Even if they don’t return the favour, God will be pleased with you anyway! ‘He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do’ (Hebrews 6:10 NLT). 3) If someone has been kind and done a favour, don’t expect them to be the source of future favours. God might use others to bless you, but He must always be the only source you trust to meet your needs (see James 1:17).

The Bible says, ‘There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; and one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches’ (v. 7 NKJV). It’s a blessing to have the things money can buy, as long as we don’t lose sight of the things it can’t buy. Money can buy whatever is for sale. But the greatest things in life, like our health and our relationships, can’t be bought because they’re not for sale. We could sum up a lot of what the Bible has to say about money with these three statements: 1) What you are is more crucial than what you have. ‘Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than one perverse in his ways, though he be rich’ (Proverbs 28:6 NKJV). 2) What God sees in you is more crucial than what you have. ‘Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure with trouble’ (Proverbs 15:16 NKJV). 3) What others think of you is more crucial than what you have. ‘A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, loving favour rather than silver and gold’ (Proverbs 22:1 NKJV). Don’t worry about keeping up with other people who appear happier or more successful than us. We don't know what challenges are going on in their lives behind the scenes. It isn't a competition to see who can do best at life - we're all running our own race. The truth is, you'll never be happy with what you have until you learn to be happy with what others have – and that you don’t have. The Bible tells us jealousy is a sin. And jealousy is simply failing to enjoy what God's given you!

If you’re an organised, time-conscious, purpose-driven kind of person, you might find yourself getting upset with others who have more of a laid back, spontaneous attitude to life. And if you’re in the spontaneous, easy-going camp, you’ll probably get cross with the types who prefer to plan and stick to a schedule. In the middle of all that frustration and those conflicting personalities, we can end up speaking words that hurt each other. Here’s how Solomon describes a wise woman: ‘On her tongue is the law of kindness’ (Proverbs 1:26 NKJV). Speaking kindly to and about others was one of this woman’s core principles. And when we stop and think about it, there’s never any justification for being harsh or unkind in our words. Certainly not if we’re Christians. God’s been gracious with us, so we should extend that same grace to others. We’ve all heard the old saying: ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.’ It isn’t true. Harsh words can impact a person for a lifetime. Many so-called ‘social outcasts’ have been victims of verbal abuse at some point in their lives. They might have suffered at the words of parents, teachers, insecure partners and others battling their own emotional issues. So if we find we’re tempted to speak harshly to others, we need to ask God to help us control our words, and then do whatever He tells us to do. The Bible says, ‘He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city’ (Proverbs 16:32 NKJV). Today, make the decision to ‘rule your spirit’ and make kindness the thing you’re famous for.

What type of Bible reader are you? Do you tend to read it hurriedly when you have a few minutes to spare, getting through it as fast as you can? Or are the type of person who prefers to take time and think about what you’re reading? Most of us probably fall somewhere between the two, or change the way we reading depending on our mood. Sometimes it’s beneficial to read a large chunk of the Bible and get an overview of what’s going on. But we mustn’t underestimate the importance of meditating on God’s Word. We might think of meditation as something un-Christian or supernatural, or something difficult and mysterious that only scholars and ‘spiritual’ people do. But really it just means thinking deeply and continuously about a passage of Scripture, letting it take root, and asking God to reveal His meaning in those words. We come across people who seem to have memorised virtually the whole Bible off by heart, but the point isn’t how much Scripture we memorise, it’s what happens to us in the process. Meditating on God’s Word helps us understand what He’s saying to us and why we should change our behaviour to become more Christlike. It broadens our thinking and helps us to make connections we might not have noticed before. The psalmist wrote: ‘The Law of the Lord makes them happy, and they think about it day and night. They are like trees growing beside a stream, trees that produce fruit in season and always have leaves’ (Psalm 2-3 CEV). Meditating on God’s Word is a powerful tool we can use to help us get closer to Him and learn to recognise His will and His voice.

Do you feel like there isn’t enough of you to go around? Like you’re on the cliff’s edge and about to go over? It might be that you’re doing much more than God intended you to do. When God reveals His purpose for your life, He also gives you His power to carry it out. One of the surest ways to know you’re walking in God’s will is that you’ll feel gently led, not harshly driven. Are you resting less and working more? Are you praying and reading your Bible less and worrying more? Maybe, like Moses, you’re dashing from one appointment to another: eating on the run, meeting deadlines, and trying to solve everyone’s problems while your own pile up. Others might have been impressed, but Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, wasn’t. ‘What is this thing…you are doing…?’ he asked (v. 14 NASB). Not surprisingly, Moses became defensive. (it;s a reaction many of us would have in the same situation!) He tried to justify his schedule, but Jethro didn’t buy it. Instead, he told Moses, ‘The thing…you are doing is not good. You will surely wear out.’ And what did he tell Moses to do? Shift gears and start sharing the load! (See vv. 22-23.) Then he summed it all up: ‘That will make your load lighter…you will be able to stand the strain’ (vv. 22-23 NIV). Stress has never been a sign of spirituality, and working long, hard hours isn't a sign of efficiency. So today, be honest with yourself: are you too stubborn to slow down, too insecure to say no, or too proud to ask for help? If you can relate to any of those things, talk to God about them today.

The time to be careful is after you’ve reached your goals and you’re celebrating your victories. There are three crucial points in every battle, and believe it or not, the easiest one is sometimes the fight itself. The most difficult point is the period of indecision right before the conflict – whether to stand and fight or run away – the battle between faith and fear. But by far the most dangerous period is the aftermath. With your resources spent and your guard down, you need to watch for things like overconfidence, dulled reactions, and faulty judgment. Remember King David’s story? ‘In the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle…David remained at Jerusalem. Then it happened…he saw a woman bathing…Then David sent messengers, and took her’ (2 Samuel 11:1-2, 4 NKJV). Pay particular attention to the phrase, ‘Then it happened.’ David chose to stay home rather than go to battle. Who knows why? Maybe his impressive record of successes made him overconfident, or he got careless, or arrogant. It was only a moment, but it changed everything. His peace vanished, his character was ruined, and his family life destroyed. Don’t fall victim to the perils of past victories! Remember the H.A.L.T. sign. When you’re Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired, you’re in a vulnerable place and need to be extra careful. Resting on the success of past projects is almost certain to bring trouble at some point, so it’s vital to stay alert and stay close to God. So, today, keep this in mind – ‘If you think you’re standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!’

In Scripture we see that God usually called busy people. Moses the shepherd was busy tending his flock. Gideon the farmer was busy harvesting his crop. Peter and John the fishermen were busy mending their nets. But there was something inside each of them that responded to God’s call. With God, availability matters more than ability. Imagine a farm worker called Saul out looking for his father’s lost mules, and returning home anointed to be Israel’s first king (see 1 Samuel 9-10). And if He did that for Saul, there’s no telling what God will do with you! So, be faithful and nurture the dreams He puts in your heart, because when the time is right, He’ll set everything in place. The psalmist said, ‘Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart’ (Psalm 37:4 NIV). Don’t be impatient. If God put the desire into your heart, He’ll also provide everything that’s needed to make it happen. Jesus said, ‘Human effort accomplishes nothing…the…words I have spoken to you are spirit and life’ (John 6:63 NLT). So, water your vision with God’s Word, and spend time with Him in prayer. And if anyone tries to come between you and what God has called you to do, it’s fine to say, ‘Sorry, I have to go. I’m already fully booked. My calling is too important to miss.’ You don’t need to struggle with God’s call on your life; just surrender to Him, and He’ll help you with the rest. The Bible says, ‘Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound’ (Romans 5:20 KJV). You don’t need to worry that you're unqualified when He calls you. You can have confidence because you’re ‘called…by his marvellous grace’.

Do you find it difficult to understand God’s ways? We all struggle with that. Even though we can look back and see how His hand of blessing and guidance has been upon us, we still feel afraid and alone at times. Jesus Himself cried, ‘My God…why hast thou forsaken me?’ (Matthew 27:46 KJV). Those words could be interpreted, ‘I don’t understand what’s happening right now, but I know you’re still my God.’ Have you ever watched a child reach for a parent’s hand and say, ‘Slow down; you’re walking too fast’? The child is afraid of getting lost or left behind. Is that how you feel today? Like you can’t keep up? That life is moving far too fast? The Bible says, ‘As the deer longs for streams of water…I long for you, O God’ (Psalm 42:1 NLT). You don’t ‘long’ for something unless you value it and need it. Only raw need will cause you to turn away from every other visible means of support and pursue God, because you know that without Him, you won’t make it. The truth is, if you didn’t need Him so desperately, you could easily become satisfied with lesser things. Three things happen when you pursue God with all your heart. 1) You enter the realm where ‘all things are possible’ (Mark 10:27 KJV). 2) You grow more Christlike, because you become like the company you keep (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). 3) You learn that certain levels of blessing are only reached when you wholeheartedly seek God (see Hebrews 11:6). Are you fed up[ with human answers? Do you need more than just good advice? Shut yourself in with God today and let Him speak to you.

Have you ever experienced God speaking to you? Sometimes we can think that God speaking just happened in the Bible, that it doesn’t happen to people nowadays. But the problem isn’t that God no longer speaks to us; it’s that we don’t recognise His voice. God still speaks today, just not always in the ways we expect Him to. We expect a big sign or a loud voice, but while we’re waiting for those, we can miss what God’s saying to us right now. God said to Elijah: ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by’ (1 Kings 19:11 NIV). The Bible says: ‘Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”’ (1 Kings 19:11-13 NIV). God was in the whisper. A gentle whisper. And He can speak to us like that too. He can often speak through our thoughts, a family member, a friend, a pastor, a change in our circumstances, a verse in the Bible which we’ve read hundreds of times, a great book, or in the quietness where He simply fills our hearts with perfect peace. We just need to be listening for His gentle whisper in our lives.

In My Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers wrote: ‘Conscience is that ability within me that attaches itself to the highest standard I know, and…continually reminds me of what that standard demands…If I’m in the habit of always holding God’s standard in front of me, conscience will always direct me to God’s perfect law and indicate what I should do. The question is will I obey?…God always instructs us down to the last detail…He does not speak with a voice like thunder – His voice is so gentle it’s easy for us to ignore. And the only thing that keeps our conscience sensitive to Him is the habit of being open to God on the inside. When you begin to debate, stop immediately. Don’t ask, “Why can’t I do this?” You’re on the wrong track. There is no debating possible once your conscience speaks. Whatever it is – drop it and see that you keep your inner vision clear.’ Paul wrote: ‘We can say with confidence and a clear conscience that we have lived with a God-given holiness and sincerity in all our dealings. We have depended on God’s grace, not on our own human wisdom. That is how we have conducted ourselves before the world, and especially towards you’ (v. 12 NLT). But what if the Bible doesn’t offer a specific answer to your question and you’re wondering, ‘Should I, or shouldn’t I?’ Here's your gold standard: ‘If our consciences are clear, we can come to the Lord with perfect assurance and trust, and get whatever we ask for’ (1 John 3:21-22 TLB). There's no more important reason for maintaining a clear conscience!

Your lungs need oxygen to thrive, your body needs food to thrive, and your soul needs joy to thrive. How can you tell when someone is joy-deprived? By how they look and what they say. One Bible teacher said: ‘When I began to understand John 10:10…I realised the enemy had deceived me into thinking that enjoying things was not important…I had come to believe – falsely, of course – that if I was having fun, something was wrong…I must not be working hard enough! I never saw my father enjoy life and it seemed to aggravate him when others did, so I just grew up thinking something must be wrong with it. I can remember being told to be quiet when I laughed out loud…The seventeenth-century…[writer] Madame Guyon said that the highest call for every child of God is to enjoy God. I remember what a heavy load lifted off of me the first time I read that…I was working so hard trying to please God that the thought of simply enjoying Him had not occurred to me at all. I had never heard of such a thing!…I had been a committed church member for over twenty years before I learned that God wanted me to enjoy Him and the life He had given me.’ Can you relate to any of that? If so, it’s time to make some changes in your life. Take a break without feeling guilty; you'll be much more productive when you’re rested and refreshed. Recreation and down time aren’t wrong or ‘unspiritual’; they’re essential for staying in balance. We live in a driven, stressed-out society, but you can change; you can be joyful if you choose to.

What’s a good way to deal with loneliness? 1) Learn to be alone without feeling lonely. Jesus often left the crowd to be alone with His Father in prayer, because He knew that we need solitude and times of quiet reflection for our spiritual growth. And He came back from those times personally enriched and better equipped to deal with the challenges of life. The Bible says, ‘Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day’ (Genesis 32:24 NKJV). Out of that time alone with God came a man with a new name, a new nature, a new walk, and a new future. Plus, when people realise that we can enjoy our favourite meal, or film, or other activity alone, they’re often impressed by your strength, independence, and confidence. 2) Don’t get trapped into thinking you can’t live without a certain person in your life. God is the only person you must have, and He’s promised to always stay with you (see Hebrews 13:5). Sometimes when we get depressed after the breakdown of a relationship or the loss of a friend, it can be because we’ve not cultivated enough of an outside life by doing things without that other person being involved. But it’s never too late to get started. And God will help you. Paul wrote: ‘The first time I was brought before the judge, no one came with me. Everyone abandoned me. May it not be counted against them. But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear’ (2 Timothy 4:16-17 NLT). God will help you to stand strong and go on to what He has for you next.

Wolfgang Dircks, a divorced, bitter loner, was found deceased in his apartment in Bonn, Germany, in December 1998 – five years after he died. He was forty-three and died watching television. Neighbours noticed he hadn't been doing his chores, but none of them thought to check on him. His landlord came by after the bank account from which his rent was paid dried up. A TV schedule was still sitting on the lap of Dircks’s skeleton and was open to the page of 5 December 1993 – the apparent date of his death. The television had long since stopped in the on position, but the lights on his 1993 Christmas tree were still glowing. His story paints a sad and powerful picture of loneliness. When God created us, He said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him’ (Genesis 2:18 NKJV). You were created to be in relationship. You don’t have to accept loneliness as your destiny. Instead: 1) Find a need and meet it. Often loneliness is not the absence of people, but of purpose. Show a true interest in the difficulties of others. Resist making your own issues and worries the aim of every conversation. ‘Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others’ (Philippians 2:3-4 NIV). 2) Be generous to others with your time, talents, and treasure. Not everyone will accept what you offer, but someone will. Pray for guidance and keep reaching out. God says, ‘To me, you are very dear, and I love you…’ (Isaiah 43:4 CEV).

Sometimes you experience more problems after you become a Christian than you did before. ‘Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering’ (Hebrews 10:32 NLT). Think about the life of Christ. ‘After his baptism…the heavens…opened…And a voice…said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy”’ (Matthew 3:16-17 NLT). Then we read: ‘Jesus was led…into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil’ (Matthew 4:1 NLT). First the call, then the conflict. And that’s still how it works! When Paul was called into ministry, he was given ‘a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted’ (2 Corinthians 12:7 KJV). So when you say yes to God, prepare for attack. Satan attacks what he fears, and he fears God’s plan for your life. When a player starts scoring, the other team targets him because they know he is capable of winning. Before Jesus launched His ministry, Satan offered Him the kingdoms of the world, and he'll make you the same offer. So, the only safe place to be is in the centre of God’s will. When Noah was building the ark, he could withstand a hundred years of scorn, but when the job was done, he ended up drunk and disgraced. Paul wrote, ‘These things…were written down to warn us…If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall’ (1 Corinthians 10:11, 12 NLT). So today, be on your guard!

Do you ever wonder if God really loves you? If so, listen to these words: ‘If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.’ When your thoughts sink to gutter level and your actions are anything but Christlike, remind yourself: ‘He lives forever to intercede with God on [our] behalf’ (Hebrews 7:25 NLT). It works like this: when you’ve sinned according to God’s law, Jesus steps in and says, ‘Father, I have this person covered; they’re trusting in my shed blood, and My righteousness has been transferred to them.’ In the Old Testament tabernacle, the blood of a lamb was poured on top of the mercy seat, and the ark of the covenant that contained the broken law – the record of our guilt – was placed underneath it. So, the only way God could see the broken law was through the blood. And it’s the same today! If you’re wondering why and how God continues to love, accept, and bless you, it’s because Jesus is your lawyer! First, He is fully qualified to represent you. ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 3:17 KJV). Second, He has never lost a case. ‘He is…able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him’ (Hebrews 7:25 NKJV). And third, He offers His services freely. ‘Without money and without price’ (Isaiah 55:1 KJV). The Bible says, ‘Let us…approach God’s throne of grace with confidence…that we may receive mercy and…grace to help us in our time of need’ (Hebrews 4:16 NIV). Jesus is your lawyer, so you can come to God with confidence today.

There's a story of an old foreman who worked hard and expected a similar work ethic from his workers. One day one of them joked, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know!’ Smiling, he replied, ‘Yes - but I wasn’t the foreman on that job!’ No-limits people refuse to accept things as they are because they see them as they can be. Instead of saying, ‘It can’t be done,’ they rise up in faith and say, ‘All things are possible for the one who believes.’ No-limits people have faults and failures like everybody else. The difference is, they walk by faith to the edge of what seems possible to a human mind, believing that when they get there, God will fill them with His strength and make a way for them through the things that seem impossible. In other words, they plug into God’s unlimited power supply. The author of the book of Hebrews describes no-limits people like this: ‘Who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle’ (Hebrews 11:33-34 NIV). These people started out weak, but they became strong ‘through faith.’ They had the kind of faith that sees the odds, the obstacles, and the opposition as insignificant, and declares, ‘I am what God says I am, I have what God says I have, and I can do what God says I can.’ Today, ask God to help you rise above your fears and uncertainty, and make you a no-limits person.

To do your best at what God's called you to do, you must do these: 1) Remove distractions. This isn’t easy, as most people now get hundreds of emails, texts, and tweets every day. But it's important to try, by being disciplined and keeping your priorities in place. That might mean changing the way you normally work - not always doing the easy things first, or the hard things first, or the urgent things first. Sometimes it might look like focusing on the activities that provide you with the highest return. 2) Protect yourself from distractions. One leader wrote: ‘I need blocks of time to think without interruptions. I’ve mastered the art of making myself unavailable when necessary and going off to my “thinking place” so that I can work without interruptions…however, I am always aware of the tension between my need to remain accessible to others as a leader and my need to withdraw from them to think.’ Jesus often stepped back from activities and prayed (see Luke 5:16). To know people’s needs, He spent time with people. To meet people’s needs, He spent time with God in prayer. As a result, He was always in the right place, at the right time, with the right people, doing the right things. And you must do that too! If you’re naturally a quieter person, then use it to your advantage and be a good listener and observer when you're around others - you can learn a lot. If you’re inclined to be always ‘on the go’, then make a conscious effort to step back occasionally so that you can be refreshed and refocused on God’s calling for your life. ‘Look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked’ (Proverbs 4:25-27 NLT).

Here are three more things to keep in mind when you’re under attack: 1) You’re not alone. In a letter to persecuted believers, the apostle Peter said, ‘Be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers…is going through the same kind of suffering you are’ (1 Peter 5:9 NLT). We are all on the same battlefield, but the devil would love to convince you that you’re the only person who has ever experienced anything like this. That’s so you’ll feel like a failure and cut yourself off from the strength and support that comes from fellowship with other believers. Don’t let him do that to you.2) Remove any obstacles. The apostle John writes, ‘Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God’ (1 John 3:21 NIV). We all sin – but another mistake comes in trying to cover it up, because ‘whoever conceals their sins does not prosper’ (Proverbs 28:13 NIV). If you’re constantly struggling and being defeated, ask God to show you where the trouble spot is, draw on His grace, and deal with it. 3) Don’t give up. Anybody can begin a marathon, but it takes a champion to finish it. The apostle Paul wrote, ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith’ (2 Timothy 4:7 KJV). Every one of us experiences challenges. But it’s those who stay strong to the finish who get the reward. So, pace yourself, and resolve to go the distance. Study the lives of people like David, Esther, Deborah, and Paul. Remind yourself that their God is your God, and He has promised to bring you through victoriously.

Being born again creates a battle between your old nature and your new nature, and you must learn how to fight it. For the last handful of days, we've been looking at scriptural strategies for winning. Here are a few more: 1) Fill your mind with Scripture. David said, ‘If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction’ (Psalm 119:92 NIV). Your mind is like soil; it will grow any seed you plant, good or bad. When you plant words spoken by God, you’re sowing energy, life, and hope into your spirit. God’s Word is like a vaccination; it strips Satan of his power to infect you with fear and unbelief. The psalmist said, ‘The law of their God is in their hearts; their feet do not slip’ (Psalm 37:31 NIV). 2) Reach out to others. ‘When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before!’ (Job 42:10 NLT). Does that sound strange? It might be strange in the kingdom of people, but not in the kingdom of God. You'll be the solution to somebody else’s problem, and when you reach out to them, God will reach out to you (see Ephesians 6:8). 3) Remember that seasons change. David said, ‘Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning’ (Psalm 30:5 NLT). This attack won’t last forever – morning is coming! People change and circumstances change. So, start believing that God is going to change things on your behalf. He promised to do it, and He will.

For the last few days, we've talked about how to handle Satan’s attacks when they come. So, if you’re under attack today, do these: 1) Be tough. Life is a collection of battles, which means it can also be a collection of victories. ‘Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world’ (1 John 4:4 KJV). Reach within and draw on God’s strength. He longs to show you what He can do for you. ‘For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me’ (Hebrews 13:5-6 KJV). Focus on these words: ‘He hath said…so that we may boldly say’! There's power in His Word when you speak it, believe it, and act on it. 2) Depend on God’s wisdom. Jesus said,‘Don’t worry…about how to answer the charges against you, for I will give you the right words and such wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to reply’ (Luke 21:14-15 NLT). God has given you two things that always work: your mouth and His wisdom. When unexpected things happen, the Holy Spirit within you will rise to the occasion and speak through you, so start depending on Him. 3) Trust God to stop the attack. The Bible says, ‘He causes wars to end throughout the earth’ (Psalm 46:9 NLT). God is in control, He is bigger than whatever you’re dealing with, and you’re on His mind this very moment. Your tears, your fears, and your pain have been noticed by Him – and He will move on your behalf.

Satan can attack you anytime, anywhere. If you want to defeat him, here are some tried and true biblical principles you need to follow: 1) Guard your mind. You will never be defeated as long as you’re victorious in your mind; that’s the birthplace of everything you do. Satan knows that, so he'll try to get your thoughts so scattered you won’t be able to concentrate on what’s important. Don’t let him do it. Get back into focus. Isaiah said, ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee’ (Isaiah 26:3 KJV). 2) Love people, but trust God. Live by the Scripture:‘It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man’ (Psalm 118:8 KJV). When the devil wants to hurt you, he'll often use a person to do it. Your ‘enemy’ is anyone who attempts to stop the will of God in your life, so identify such people and avoid them. God never commanded us to trust people; He commanded us to love people – and trust Him. Remember that difference, because your victory depends on it. 3) Never give up. Jesus said, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God’ (Luke 9:62 NIVUK). Your dreams and goals are worth any fight, any price, and any waiting period. Your faith is what defeats Satan. Remember Joseph? Every day of adversity was just another stepping stone towards the throne. So, keep walking and believing, because there is victory ahead!

Adversity is often the Enemy’s attempt to rob you of the next season of God’s blessing in your life. If you’re under attack today, you need to do these three things: 1) Rise up and fight back. You’ll be tempted to step back or become timid and passive, especially if you’ve been hurt. Don’t do it. A wounded animal just invites attack. Satan loves fearfulness, but real fighters intimidate him. So, be bold and claim the promise, ‘Resist the devil, and he will flee from you’ (James 4:7 KJV). 2) Use all your weapons. The Bible says, ‘The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world…they have divine power to demolish strongholds’ (2 Corinthians 10:4 NIV). Prayer is a weapon – use it daily. And join in prayer with others. One person alone can’t multiply faith; increase begins when two people get together (see Matthew 18:19). Make sure you know who are the intercessors in your life, because they are often one of your best sources of support. Scripture is also a weapon, so use it. ‘Take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God’ (Ephesians 6:17 KJV). Find out what God’s Word says about your situation, and then use it like a sword to cut the Enemy’s head off. 3) Try to see the big picture. Few things are ever as they first appear, so look beyond the moment and see if something good is being created in you. After adversity comes blessing and favour, so get your eyes back on the big picture. Paul, who suffered relentless attack, said, ‘Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all’ (2 Corinthians 4:17 NIV). With God, you can win.

Our biggest mistakes cn often happen in the early stage of a trial or problem because it catches us off guard. Surprise is one of the devil’s favourite weapons, so here are four winning strategies we can use when we're under⁰ attack: 1) Don’t panic. Live by the Scripture, ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10 KJV). That means God is present, fully aware of the situation, and has a solution. Just be sensitive and responsive to the voice of His Spirit within you (see John 16:13). Remember, time is on your side. Patience is a weapon that forces truth and motives to the surface. 2) Analyse it. Solomon said, ‘In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider’ (Ecclesiastes 7:14 KJV). Sometimes what looks like a crisis is just concentrated information. And when you take time to analyse it, you benefit from it. 3) Seek advice. ‘Without good direction, people lose their way; the more wise counsel you follow, the better your chances’ (Proverbs 11:14 MSG). Ignorance is your enemy and instruction is your friend. Somebody somewhere knows something you need to know; something that can help you get through and even succeed during a painful chapter in your life. Reach out to them. 4) Expect God to move. ‘When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.’ Adversity is often the Enemy’s reaction to your progress. So be joyful; your heavenly Father’s eyes are on you today. He is pleased with you, and He is going to bring you through this victoriously.

The problem isn’t just that we sin; it’s that we can’t talk about it. We’re comfortable with stories of people who used to sin, because they have happy endings. Imagine going to see a mentor or counsellor and saying, ‘I only want to discuss problems I used to have. Please don’t ask me to confess any current ones. I would be embarrassed. I’m afraid you would reject me.’ Why would you go to an advisor and try to convince them that you don’t need advice? People are okay telling a doctor about their physical problem or a mechanic about a problem with their car. Shouldn’t we be okay telling each other when we have a problem? If you want God (or anyone else) to love the real you, you have to work at ‘getting real’. David was Israel’s best king, but he was a polygamist. He was also a bad father. He coveted another man’s wife, committing adultery with her, attempting to deceive her husband, ultimately having him murdered, and covering up his crime for a year; so, he was a coveter, an adulterer, a liar, and a murderer. Somebody once joked, ‘Nobody in those days was walking around wearing a “What Would David Do?” bracelet.’ But the Bible calls David ‘a man after [God’s] own heart’ (1 Samuel 13:14 NIV). It’s entrirely possible for someone to be struggling so intensely with sin and still yearn for God at the same time. And it’s also why the Bible says, ‘Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed’ (James 5:16 NLT).

Whatever happens, God will be faithful to you. But who else can you count on? Paul wrote: ‘Everyone looks out for their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel’ (vv. 21-22 NIV). Paul knew he could count on Timothy. So who do you know you can count on? Before you answer, think about these four questions: 1) When something goes wrong, do you have at least one friend you can easily talk to about it? ‘A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for…adversity’ (Proverbs 17:17 NIV). A relationship like that is priceless, and a real blessing. 2) Who in your life could accurately name your greatest fears and temptations? ‘Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble…A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken’ (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12 NLT). 3) Do you have one or more friends who you meet with regularly? ‘Then those who honoured the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened and heard them. The names of those who honoured the Lord and respected him were written in his presence in a book to be remembered.’ (Malachi 3:16 NCV). 4) Do you have a friend you know well enough to trust their confidentiality? ‘A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy person keeps a secret’ (Proverbs 11:13 NIV).

Have you ever got into an argument before church and felt like a hypocrite during the entire service? The enemy knows that God’s Word can only be ‘sown in peace’ (see James 3:18), so he’ll do everything he can to keep us from receiving it and being blessed by it. That’s why we must do whatever it takes to keep our peace. There’s power in peace! If the devil can’t get us upset he has no power over us. He only gains control when we ‘lose it.’ He plans to get us upset in order to steal our peace, confuse us and make us run in circles. We mustn't let him. James wrote, ‘The wisdom that is from above is…peaceable.’ In The Message, Eugene Peterson paraphrases this Scripture: ‘Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterised by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoys its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honour’ (v. 17-18 MSG). Getting along with others can be ‘hard work.’ So next time you get worked up about some issue, ask yourself, ‘What’s the Enemy trying to do here? If I give in to these emotions what will the result be?’ When we’re stressed out, we lose our joy, and when we lose our joy, we also lose our strength because ‘the joy of the Lord is [our] strength’ (see Nehemiah 8:10). So today, pray, use your self-control, and keep your peace.

Being part of a group can have a lot of benefits: it can combat loneliness; it helps us broaden our minds as we share opinions and hear the different views of other people; it’s an opportunity to build connections with diverse people who are united by a common interest; and the best groups can become a source of support, like another family. One of the characteristics of the early church was their faithfulness to connectedness, because they knew connectedness doesn’t just happen. They met together daily. They ate together. Over time, however, that happened less. So the writer of Hebrews said: ‘Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another’ (vv. 24-25 NIVUK). One author puts it this way: ‘In sports, the more an athlete needs encouragement from the fans, the less likely he or she is to get it. Rarely do fans of a losing team think when a slumping player comes up to bat, “Let’s consider how we can spur him on.” Too often, people who need cheers the most get them the least. Every day, everyone you know faces life with eternity on the line, and life has a way of beating people down. Every life needs a cheering section. Every life needs a shoulder to lean on once in a while. Every life needs a prayer to lift them up before God. Every life needs a hugger to wrap some arms around them sometimes. Every life needs to hear a voice saying, “Don’t give up.”’

Here are six ingredients which are always found in lasting success: 1) Information. If we don’t stay informed, we’ll get left behind. 2) Intuition. This partly comes with experience, but with God’s help, we can also develop discernment, a ‘feeling in our spirit’ about what to do for the best. 3) Initiative. This is when we’re willing to step out in faith and act on what we know intuitively. 4) Intentionality. This is when we’re willing to set specific goals, as well as timelines for reaching them. 5) Intensity. This calls for more than starting power. It also needs staying power. 6) Integrity. This is the glue that holds those last five things together. And it’s rooted in that private life we develop alone with God. We often hear architects, engineers, and builders say, ‘This building has structural integrity,’ which is another way of saying that the outer beauty of a tall, graceful skyscraper relies on its private, unseen foundations that have been solidly constructed deep in the earth. It’s that hidden life of a building that brings structural integrity. It’s also the hidden life of a fruit tree – the unseen root system that digs deep into the earth – that produces those juicy, delectable fruits. And it’s the same with us. Integrity must be rooted in our private lives. Talent might bring success and opportunities, but it takes character to protect and maintain our success in God’s eyes. The truth is that when our integrity is rooted in our private world, it’s reflected in our personal world, our professional world, and our public world.

What would you say is the most important characteristic that a person needs if they want to really make a difference in the world? Some people would say intelligence. After all, knowledge is power in lots of ways and circumstances. Other people might argue that it’s passion that makes the difference, drawing people into a project and inspiring them in a way that’s contagious. Another line of thought is that it’s insight - in other words, common sense that’s accompanied by the ability to see clearly into the depths of an issue. But the Bible says the most important quality in success is integrity: ‘People with integrity walk safely, but those who follow crooked paths will be exposed.’ We’ll eventually become known by our integrity, or the lack of it. At some point in life, we’ll meet people who have extraordinary intelligence but no integrity, but they won’t be the ones who succeed in God’s eyes. Others with great intensity and passion but little integrity also won’t reach their full potential. The same result is true of people with great insight but no integrity. The thesaurus equates integrity with words such as ‘honesty, completeness, and incorruptibility’. Integrity begins in your private world; the part of you that’s known only to God and yourself. Then it shows up in your personal world; the part of you that you reveal to a small circle of close family members and possibly a few friends. After that comes your professional world. Here people know you by the quality of your work, your skill set, or your work ethic. And they all ask the same question: ‘Can I trust you?’ Finally, your integrity shows up in your public world. So the questions to ask yourself, and God, today are: ‘Do I have integrity?’and ‘How can I have more?’

After being anointed king of Israel, instead of immediately going to Jerusalem and claiming his throne, David was forced to spend years living like a fugitive and hiding in caves because Saul was out to take his life. More than once he must have asked himself, ‘What about the promise God gave me?’ Then an interesting thing happened. One of David’s soldiers found Saul asleep; he came to David, saying, ‘God has delivered your enemy into your hand…let me strike him’ (1 Samuel 26:8 NKJV). What an opportunity! David could have got rid of the man who wanted to kill him, come out of hiding, and claimed his throne - after all, he was already anointed to be king! It all made sense. Except for one thing – it wasn’t God’s plan. As much as David wanted to rule Israel, he knew that he needed to do it God’s way. This story should make us think twice, and pray before acting. When Abishai offered to kill Saul, he had David’s welfare at heart. Well-meaning friends can give us advice that goes against God’s will, and it can be hard not to go along with it, But we must never let anyone persuade us to do what we know isn’t God’s will, no matter how good their intentions are. We need to test every bit of advice against what God’s already told us, and ask Him for wisdom on what to do.‘Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice…he’s the one who will keep you on track’ (Proverbs 3:5-6 MSG).

Here are some values based on Scripture: 1) God’s sovereignty. ‘You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed’ (Psalm 139:16 NLT). We can rest in knowing that God has the last word on everything that concerns us (see Psalm 138:8). We have an ordered destiny, a pre-planned route, but we first need to choose to take it. When we know that God’s already prepared a way, we don't have to try and manipulate people and circumstances to our advantage. All we have to do is walk through the doors God opens and be at peace with the doors He closes, knowing He always has our best interests at heart. 2) Integrity. ‘The integrity of the upright guides them.’ As we walk in integrity, we'll experience God’s peace because we know that we've done the right thing in His eyes. Integrity is not only being honest or telling the truth, but also ensuring what we say is the truth - in other words, we do what we promise. Psalm 15:4 says that one of the traits of a person who abides in God’s presence and does His will is that they ‘keep their promises even when it hurts’ (NLT). 3) Humility. ‘Humility precedes honour’ (Proverbs 15:33 NLT). Humility is not a sense of worthlessness; it's an acceptance of our God-given strengths and God-allowed limitations. We shouldn't be arrogant about our strengths, and we shouldn't be apprehensive about our limitations because God has promised, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:9 NKJV).

In the list of the fruits of the Spirit, patience comes right after peace. Why? Because when we have peace in our hearts, practically nothing can cause us to feel impatient. But these qualities are the fruit of the Spirit, not the effort of the flesh. We can’t psych ourselves up and say, ‘I’m going to be patient if it kills me.’ If it’s the genuine fruit of the Spirit, we’ll have genuine inner peace, and circumstances that used to irritate us won’t bother us as much (or even at all), because we’ve started to depend completely on God. Patience is a kind of faith. It says, ‘I trust God. I believe He is bigger than this problem. I believe He has His hand in these irritations and can use them in my life for good.’ Frustration says, ‘Why did this happen?’ Faith says, ‘God, what do you want me to learn here?’ Abraham was 100 years old when his second son, Isaac, was born. That’s a long time to be patient. The toughest kind of waiting happens when we’re in a rush and God isn’t. It’s hard to be patient when we’re waiting for an answer to prayer, but5 being patient is both the evidence of our faith and a test of our faith. It’s at times like that when God whispers, ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10 KJV). In other words, ‘I’m in control, I have a better plan, I’m working things out for your good!’

Here are two more things we need to do in order to develop patience: 1) Develop a sense of humour. The Bible says, ‘A relaxed attitude lengthens a man’s life’ (Proverbs 14:30 TLB). Scientific studies reveal that people who laugh, live longer. Humour is a stress dissolver. It’s an antidote to apprehension. It’s a tranquiliser without any troubling side effects. It’s a shock absorber for the potholes of life. Someone once asked President Abraham Lincoln how he handled the tensions of the American Civil War. He said, ‘If it hadn’t been for laughter, I could not have made it.’ When we can laugh at our problems, they lose some of their power over us. 2) Deepen your love. Paul wrote, ‘Love is very patient’ (1 Corinthians 13:4 TLB). That means when we’re impatient, we’re being unloving. When we love someone, we’re concerned about that person’s wishes, distresses, needs, and point of view – not just our own. When we’re filled with love, it’s much more difficult to stir us up to anger or impatience. On the other hand, when we’re filled with anger, almost anything can cause us to flare up. Under pressure, whatever is inside is going to come out. So, let’s deepen our love. ‘Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love’ (Ephesians 4:2 TLB). And one more thought: when we learn to love the people who irritate us, we actually take a weapon out of Satan’s hands that he could have used against us. Today pray, ‘Heavenly Father, make me a more patient person.’

Patience begins by changing the way we view something. When we’re impatient, we have a narrow perspective. All we can clearly see is ourselves: our needs, goals, schedule, desires, and the way other people are messing up our lives. Basically, the root of impatience is selfishness. Instead, let’s try to see things from the other person’s point of view. If we want to do our best in a relationship, we need to learn to see life from our loved one’s point of view. If we want to contribute to building a strong, unified family, it can be a good idea to try seeing things from our parents’ point of view. If we want to succeed in business, we should try to see things from our customer’s point of view. If we want to be successful employers, we need to learn to see life from our employees’ point of view. Try to discover why the other person feels like they do. If we went through life never having to deal with irritations and interruptions, we’d never have the chance to develop patience. So one of the first steps we should take is to accept the truth that God directs our steps, and that trusting Him means we don't need explanations from Him. The Bible says, ‘The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?’ (Proverbs 20:24 NLT). Patience is a sign of maturity. ‘Whoever is patient has great understanding, but one who is quick-tempered displays folly’ (Proverbs 14:29 NIV). A person with understanding and wisdom, who learns to see life from another’s (and God’s) point of view, is able to be patient. So today, why not ask God to give you a new perspective on things.

The Bible says that when we pray, God can answer instantly. But nowhere in the Bible are we promised ‘instant patience’. Patience is a quality of character, and character is built over a lifetime of walking with God through good times and bad times. One Bible teacher says, ‘Patience is just faith taking its time.’ Here’s how God develops patience in us: 1) Interruptions. You sit down to eat dinner and your phone starts ringing. You’re in the shower and someone comes to the door. You’re quickly working to meet a deadline and visitors arrive. It’s said that when Brahms was writing his famous ‘Lullaby’, he encountered so many interruptions, it took him seven years to compose the piece. Someone even joked, ‘When you’re writing a lullaby, you need all those interruptions to keep you from falling asleep at the piano.’ 2) Delays. We hate to wait. We have a microwave mindset – we want what we want – in seconds. We have fast food, quick-cook pasta, and instant coffee. We’re like the person who prayed, ‘Lord, give me patience, and give it to me right now!’ 3) Irritations. Long queues, lost keys, late buses, phone calls where we’re kept on hold, flat tyres, occupied bathrooms, traffic jams…the list is endless. The Bible says, ‘Impatience will get you into trouble’ (Proverbs 19:2 GNB). Instead, let’s think about the patience of Job, who said, ‘All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come’ (Job 14:14 NIV). Pray about it, exercise patience, and be confident in God!

When we look at Joseph, we might think how wonderful he must have felt to be chosen to be the earthly father of Jesus. It was a huge honour. He may well have thought that himself, but when he first found out, his mind would have been full of a lot of other thoughts. His reaction to finding out that Mary was pregnant was to try and get himself out of the engagement. The Bible tells us that ‘because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly’ (Matthew 1:19 NIV). From this we can see that Joseph was a fair and caring man. He didn’t want Mary to be shamed in the community. But God had other plans and told him, through a dream, to stay with Mary and raise Jesus as his own (you can read about it in Matthew 1:20-21 NIV). This wasn’t the only time God spoke to Joseph through a dream. He also told him to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to keep them safe from Herod, and told him when it was the right time to head back to Nazareth (take a look at Matthew 2:23-14; 20-21). Each time God spoke to him, Joseph was obedient. He followed God’s call on his life, even though it went against the norms of society. Having a father who listens to God is an incredible thing, but we’re not all in that position. Sometimes our fathers make decisions that don’t seem to be very godly at all. But whatever our experience, we have a perfect Father in God, who knows everything about us, knows how to look after us, and has the best in store for us.

We often think of love as something we feel, but it’s also something we show through our actions. Paul wrote, ‘You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love’ (v. 13 NIV). So how are we supposed to express our love for others? One author gives these examples: ‘A son drives for five hours to be with his mother on her birthday. A friend mentions a book he is interested in; his friend remembers and finds a copy to give to him for no visible reason. A middle-aged couple in a restaurant see a young husband and wife with little money and secretly pay their bill. A father knows how much his daughter likes having a clean car, so he sneaks over to wash it for her by surprise. People in a small group email each other throughout the week as a way of expressing their care. A wise man once said that just as the three laws of real estate are “location, location, location,” the three laws of relationship are “observation, observation, observation”. The people who give life to us are people who notice us. They know what we love and fear. When we work to truly notice someone else, love for them grows. When we work to truly observe another person, in that self-forgetfulness our own soul flourishes.’ Mother Teresa used to say: ‘If you can’t do great things, do little things with great love. And if you can’t do them with great love, do them with a little love. And if you can’t do them with a little love, do them anyway.’ Love grows when we serve people.

What’s your idea of God? When you pray, ‘Our Father,’ what do you see? Do you see a parent who abandoned you? Do you think of an angry father who punished but never encouraged you? In other words, do you see a God waiting to zap you each time you do wrong? But the reality is that God is completely the opposite, so if any of those things are what you see, listen to this verse from the Bible: ‘The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing’ (v. 17 NKJV). Let’s break this Scripture down: 1) ‘The Lord your God in your midst.’ He isn’t some distant deity, but an up-close-and-personal Father who loves His redeemed children so much, more than we could imagine. 2) ‘The Mighty One, will save.’ When you hear the word ‘mighty’, think of Hercules a billion times over - and you still won’t even be close to imagining God’s strength and power. Today you may be feeling weak, but He is strong. Your sins may be big, but His saving grace is bigger (see Romans 5:20). 3) ‘He will rejoice over you with gladness.’ Every time God looks at you, He smiles and rejoices. You make His heart glad. He’s delighted to call you His child 4) ‘He will quiet you with His love.’ IMagine a loving parent holding a crying baby and saying, ‘Shush, shush, it’s okay, I’m here, I love you.’ The baby is comforted, feels secure, and goes to sleep. That’s what God does for us. 5) ‘He will rejoice over you with singing.’ God sings about you! So next time you hear or speak the words ‘Our Father’, try imagining the picture of our perfect, loving God instead!

When Jesus visited the home of Mary and Martha, their individual responses to Him were very different. Martha’s focus was on the meal. Her aim was to please Jesus. But she made a common mistake; her work became more important than spending time with her Lord. What began as a serving experience became a self-serving one. She forgot the meal was to honour Jesus, not her. She said, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’ (v. 40 NIV). And what did Jesus say? ‘Martha, Martha…you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed…Mary has chosen what is better’ (vv. 41-42 NIV). Mary chose intimacy with Jesus! The hazard of religious activity is that sometimes it’s designed to make us feel good about ourselves and look good in front of others. So it’s important that we’re discerning, and examine our motives carefully. Choosing activity over intimacy also happens to people who love the Lord and aren’t necessarily involved in church work. So many people reach the point of burnout because they’ve neglected their relationship with God. They never intended to; it’s just that they have learned to make it on their own and haven’t been forced to rely on Him. Or they’ve been ‘compartmentalising’ God – treating Him as just another appointment on Sunday mornings rather than someone we should spend every minute with. The fact that Jesus chose intimacy over activity teaches us a very important lesson: we’ll struggle to find our true purpose, enjoy the results of our efforts, and experience God’s peace and joy until we put our relationship with God at the centre of our lives.

Let’s recap. As ambassadors, we must have the following qualifications and characteristics: 1) Be citizens of the country we represent. ‘Our citizenship is in heaven.’ 2) Our characters and conduct must reflect the highest values of our country. ‘That our God may make you worthy of his calling’ (2 Thessalonians 1:11 NIV). 3) We must be equipped for the job. ‘There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit’ (1 Corinthians 12:4 NIV). 4) We must be loyal to our country. Now, let’s look at two more qualifications:5) An ambassador must be an effective communicator. The best ambassadors are bilingual; they speak and understand the language of those around them. In order to give the right answer, we need to understand the question, the person asking it, and where they’re coming from. The Bible says, ‘If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way’ (1 Peter 3:15-16 NLT). Notice the words ‘always be ready’. We have to be constantly vigilant and prepared for opportunities to share God’s love. 6) An ambassador must be a good diplomat. Ambassadors are most effective when they’re engaging and pleasant as they go about their work. You wouldn’t want someone representing your country who was arrogant and abrasive when dealing with others. Jesus said, ‘By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another’ (John 13:35 NKJV). Our message is the gospel, and our strategy is love! ‘We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: be reconciled to God’ (2 Corinthians 5:20 NIVUK).

Being an ambassador isn’t an easy job, and it takes a special person to be an ambassador in a combat zone. And that’s what we’rein when we take on the role of ambassadors for Christ in today’s world. Paul wrote: ‘Let the mighty strength of the Lord make you strong. Put on all the armour that God gives, so you can defend yourself against the devil’s tricks. We are not fighting against humans. We are fighting against forces and authorities and against rulers of darkness and powers in the spiritual world. So put on all the armour that God gives. Then when that evil day comes, you will be able to defend yourself. And when the battle is over, you will still be standing firm. Be ready! Let the truth be like a belt around your waist and let God’s justice protect you like armour. Your desire to tell the good news about peace should be like shoes on your feet. Let your faith be like a shield, and you will be able to stop all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Let God’s saving power be like a helmet, and for a sword use God’s message that comes from the Spirit. Never stop praying, especially for others. Always pray by the power of the Spirit. Stay alert’ (vv. 10-18 CEV). As ambassadors of Christ, we must be loyal to Him in everything we do. It’s a high standard to live by, but God’s call is the highest and most precious call we can have (see Philippians 3:14). And it’s also the most rewarding life we can live.

One of our jobs in God’s kingdom is to be His ambassadors. What a privilege! And what a responsibility! Over the next few days, let’s look at some of the qualities of an ambassador. First, you must be a citizen of the country you represent. And ‘our citizenship is in heaven’ (Philippians 3:20 NIV). When John was in exile, he said, ‘I…was on the island of Patmos…On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit’ (Revelation 1:9-10 NIV). John knew it wasn’t where he was, but whose he was that counted the most as he represented his Lord. Our own lives are the only Bible many people will ever read. Our words might be the only gospel they ever hear. And our attitude might do more to win them to Christ than all the arguments we could make. Before Jesus was crucified, He prayed this prayer for His disciples: ‘I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world’ (John 17:15-18 NKJV). Before an ambassador is appointed, they go through the closest scrutiny imaginable. Their moral integrity, their financial dealings, their family life, their work record, their every word and action come under the microscope. Shouldn’t it be more so for ambassadors of the King of kings? So, never forget whose side you’re on. Never forget what kingdom you belong to. Never forget who you represent. You are Christ’s ambassador.

Even if we’re well educated, have plenty of experience, and are talented, we won’t fulfil God’s purpose for our lives until ‘the power from above comes down upon [us]’. Listen to these two Scriptures. First, something Jesus said before He was taken up to heaven: ‘I myself will send upon you what my Father has promised. But you must wait in the city until the power from above comes down upon you’ (v. 49 NKJV). Second, an account of what happened at the Day of Pentecost: ‘When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting…And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 2:1-2, 4 NKJV). The transformation was amazing! Peter, who had just denied Jesus, stood in front of the crowd and preached the gospel to them. And this was the result: ‘That day about three thousand souls were added to them’ (v. 41 NKJV). The power they had just received was also their source of strength when they faced hardship and persecution. ‘When they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness’ (Acts 4:31 NKJV). This wasn’t a one-time experience; they were continually filled with the Holy Spirit. We might think that God’s Spirit is for people with more faith than us, who are closer to perfection than us. But Jesus said, ‘As bad as you are, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more, then, will the Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’ (Luke 11:13 NKJV). Today, we can confidently ask God to fill us with His Spirit - and He will.

Sometimes we go through times when the dream God’s given us seems impossible and dead. But here’s some hope for those times: ‘And they told him, saying, “Joseph is still alive, and he is governor over all the land of Egypt.” And Jacob’s heart stood still, because he did not believe them. But…when he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived’ (vv. 26-27 NKJV). For years Jacob believed his son, the dreamer, was dead. But it was a lie. In his old age, wagons loaded with riches came to carry him back to see his son who was now the highest ranking officials of Egypt. When Jacob first heard it, ‘he did not believe them’ (v. 26 NKJV). When you’ve lived in defeat and discouragement for years, it’s hard to imagine victory. But that’s no problem to God, because He’s patient. He’ll keep working with you. He’ll show His grace and goodness in such a way that you’ll start to trust Him again: ‘When he saw the carts which Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of Jacob their father revived’ (v. 27 NKJV). Don’t believe your dream is dead and will never be fulfilled. And don’t believe those who tell you that you’re too young, too old, or too unqualified to fulfil the dream God gave you. His Word says, ‘Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams your young men will see visions.’ (Joel 2:28 NIV). God is the giver of dreams, and He doesn’t just give them, He resurrects them and empowers you to fulfil them. It’s not too late. Don’t give up hope. What God did for Jacob, He can do for you.

Here are two more areas in which God created us to flourish: 1) Our relationships. When it comes to relationships of any kind, our languishing self is often troubled. We might find we’re undisciplined and careless in what we say; we might revert to sarcasm, gossip and flattery. We isolate, dominate, attack., then back off. Whereas our flourishing self looks for opportunities to bless others. It energises us. We’re able to share thoughts and feelings in a way that invites others to be open with us. We’re quick to admit our mistakes and we freely forgive others. 2) Our experiences. God helps us grow because He wants to use us in His plans to redeem His world: that’s why we’ll find Him changing our experiences. Our flourishing self has a desire to contribute. We discover a sense of calling, even if we’re not quite sure what that calling is yet. Our inner longings to reach our potential, and embrace what we were created for, is a tiny echo of God’s own longing to begin His new creation. The rabbis described this as tikkun olam – to repair the world. If we focus only on ourselves, life is as small as a grain of wheat. But when we give our lives to God, it’s as if that grain is planted in rich soil, as it grows into part of a much bigger project. Jesus said: ‘Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces…many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life…as it is, destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal’ (vv. 24-25 MSG).

Inside us there’s a battle between our flourishing self – who we were created to be – and our languishing self. Our languishing self feels uneasy and discontent. It’s drawn to bad habits like mindlessly watching TV, drinking too much, misusing people and relationships, excessive spending, aimlessly scrolling through social media – these things temporarily anaesthetise pain. Our thoughts automatically drift in the direction of fear and anger. Learning doesn’t feel worthwhile. We think about ourselves most of the time. But flourishing (or in other words, thriving, blossoming, and prospering) takes place in these places: 1) In our spirit. We sense that we’re beginning to receive ideas and energy from an outside source. And it’s true - we are. We’re being empowered by God’s Spirit. We talk about being inspired, which literally means ‘God breathed’. God breathes into us, and we come alive and feel like we have a purpose for living. 2) In our mind. Our thoughts become marked by joy and peace. We have a desire to love and to learn. We’re literally being transformed by ‘the renewing of your mind’ (Romans 12:2 NIV). 3) In our time. We’ll wake each day with a sense of excitement. We’ll realise we’re never too young to flourish. Mozart was composing brilliant music when he was five. Paul told Timothy, ‘Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young’ (1 Timothy 4:12 NIV). We'll also realise we’re never too old to flourish. Grandma Moses was sixty-nine when she took up painting, and artist Marc Chagall did some of his best work in his nineties. It’s humbling to acknowledge we can’t be anything we want. But as soon as we accept that and choose to embrace what God created us to be, we can start flourishing.

Do you need motivation today? Let’s take a look at the palm tree. 1) You can cut it, but you can't kill it! The minerals and nutrients most trees need to survive are found on the surface, just below the bark, so, when you cut them, they die. But not the palm tree. Its life comes from within, so it flourishes, even under attack. Listen to this Scripture: 'We have this treasure in earthen vessels' (2 Corinthians 4:7 NASB). How wonderful is this: even though the earthen vessel on the outside can be damaged and wounded, the treasure inside is secure, and beyond the enemy's reach! 2) It will bend, but it won't break. Tropical winds can blow most trees away, but not the palm tree. The stronger the wind, the further it bends - sometimes all the way to the ground. But when the storm ceases, it straightens up again, and is actually stronger in the place where it bent. It’s a picture for us to keep in mind. We were made to bend, but not break, because God gives us 'strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy' (Colossians 1:11 MSG). 3) Its depth is always greater than its height! The roots of an average plant only go a few feet under the ground; but the palm tree's roots can go down hundreds of yards in search of water. David said, 'As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you' (Psalm 42:1 NIV). Go deep, work on your own connection to God and you'll never be uprooted, or spiritually thirsty, or blown away!

The Bible says: ‘While he was still speaking, a rooster crowed…The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly’ (vv. 60-62 NASB). Before God trusts us with a great assignment, He may permit Satan to test us. That's because it can reveal our weaknesses and help us become stronger in those areas. God might allow us to fail in a smaller sphere to keep us from messing up in a larger one where we could have the potential to hurt ourselves and others. One of the wonders of the Christian life is that Jesus can take rubble and build something beautiful out of it. Peter promised never to deny Jesus, but by the time the rooster crowed, he had already done it three times. Repeated failure! Many of us can relate to that! Maybe we said we wouldn’t lose our tempers, but we did. Cock-a-doodle-doo! We said we wouldn’t give in to temptation, but we did. Cock-a-doodle-doo! A rooster crows early in the morning to announce the beginning of a brand-new day. After his worst night of failure, the sun came up for Peter. And it’ll come up for us too. By God’s grace we can start life fresh any day we choose to. Today we can repent of our sins and go on to do great things for the Lord. Peter ended up winning multitudes to Christ and leading the church. So no matter how badly we think we’ve failed, God will forgive us, restore us, and redirect our steps.

God wants us to do His will, but we’ll never reach a place of spiritual maturity where we’re ‘Satan-free’. We can overcome him, but we can’t eliminate him. Look at Peter. His only gear was overdrive! He was always in the middle of everything that was going on, but he wasn’t always on top of things. Before he ended up leading the church, he even denied being a disciple of Jesus. That might shock us, but there’s nothing about any of us that surprises God. He doesn’t call someone and say, ‘I hope you’re the right person.’ Jesus told Peter, ‘Satan has demanded to sift you…like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail’ (vv. 31-32 NASB). Isn’t that an amazing revelation? Even when we don’t know how to pray for ourselves, Jesus is praying for us. ‘He ever liveth to make intercession for them’ (Hebrews 7:25 KJV). Jesus told Peter, ‘When you have turned back, strengthen your brothers’ (Luke 22:32 NASB). The mess we’re in today actually has the potential to become a ministry to others when God gets involved. Not only can He turn our lives around, He can use us to turn the lives of others around too. Here’s one more thing to think about: sifting is a method of purifying, a way of straining out the debris and refining whatever is left. That means there has to be something worth salvaging in us before the sifting even begins. So if we find that God’s letting the sifting happen to us, we mustn’t be discouraged - He can obviously see something that’s worth the effort of refining! Today God’s calling you. Don’t waste another moment; give your life to Him.

The word ‘sanctified’ means ‘to be set apart for exclusive use’. The word ‘ordained’ means ‘ordered according to a plan’. Here are two things we need to know: God doesn’t waste anything He created, and He doesn’t waste anything He can use. Before you were saved, both the good and bad experiences you had were equipping you for what He had in mind. That includes who your parents were, the places you’ve been, where you were educated, the number of years you spent in school, the subjects you studied, and the training you received. It also includes things God put inside you at the time of your birth, even though some of those things may have seemed to work against you while you were growing up. Do you hold on to ideas like a predator grips its prey? God can use that. Do you enjoy poring over books and research? God can use that. Are you quick to confront, excited to run right at the enemy? God can use that. Today you may feel like you’re in the wrong place, doing the wrong things, with the wrong people. You might be wondering how you’re going to dig yourself out of the hole or turn your life around. And truthfully, the answer may be that you can’t, but God can! He makes miracles out of mistakes. So, give Him the things in your life that aren’t so good, the things you’re not proud of, and say, ‘Heavenly Father, here they are. I wish my life was different, but it’s not. I wish I could change it, but I can’t.’ Then let God go to work.

God reached into a part of Paul’s background that had been formed before he became a Christian, and He found some very useful things there. And they weren’t all spiritual things. They were also academic and cultural. Even though Paul seemed unqualified because of his monumental hatred for Christians at one time, his background actually qualified him in a unique way. As a former Pharisee, he understood the Scriptures and the mindset of the people who would oppose him. And his old spiritual blindness gave him compassion for those who were lost. God used both the good and the bad experiences in Paul’s life. And He can do the same for us too! When God looked for a man to be an early leader in His church, to write down the theology of His church, to debate religious leaders who argued against His church, to advance the cause of Christ in academic and social arenas, to carry the message all the way from the lowest person on the street to the throne of Caesar, God found a man who already had the necessary qualifications – and that man was Paul. He’s an example of how God works. First God seeks you out, then He prepares you, then He positions you, then He empowers you to do what He knows you can do most effectively. And God’s calling is the only thing that’ll make us completely happy (although we don’t always know that in advance). So, is God calling you? Is He preparing you? Is He positioning you? Is He empowering you? Our highest level of joy and fulfilment will come when we let His will be ours and say yes to Him.

The Bible says: ‘God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation…So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God’ (vv. 8-9, 11 NLT). God loves and accepts you just as you are. And it gets better. He sees you as already righteous. ‘God made him [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). Notice the words ‘in him’. Imagine placing a letter in an envelope, then sealing it. You can’t see the letter or read its contents any longer because it’s ‘in’ the envelope. Jesus ‘envelops’ us in His love and righteousness. Another point to remember is that there’s a difference between our position and our condition. When you put your trust in Christ, you’re positioned before God as being ‘righteous’. But what about the condition part? We constantly fall short and make mistakes, so the job of the indwelling Holy Spirit is to bring our condition up to the level of our position in Christ. ‘The Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image’ (2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT). How does the Holy Spirit do this? He draws you back to the place of repentance where you are cleansed. Your position in Christ doesn’t change, but your condition is constantly changing as you become more like Christ.

Do you find it easy to memorise Bible verses, or to quote large chunks of Scripture off by heart? Many of us would find it difficult, so when we come across someone who seems to know the Bible down to every last comma, we’re often impressed and want that skill too. But before we get too carried away, we need to remember that God doesn’t bless us for just reading His Word, or memorising it, or even being able to repeat it word for word in the original languages. God promises to bless those who put His Word into action. ‘Don’t just listen to God’s word…do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it’ (James 1:22-25 NLT). When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, Satan proved that even he had learned the Scriptures off by heart, but Jesus defeated him by putting the Scriptures into practice (take a look at Matthew 4:1-11). The knowledge of God’s Word is vitally important to us, but knowing what the Bible says can only take us so far. It’s when we apply those Scriptures that real change and real blessing comes. So let’s resolve to be not just ‘hearers’, but also ‘doers’ of God’s Word.

Even after we’ve given our lives to God, we can still find ourselves carrying on with things we don;t want to do, having thoughts that lead us away from His path, and being overcome by the same temptations. The truth is, being born again into a new life with Christ doesn’t remove our old natures; it actually intensifies the struggle between our earthly natures and our spirit. But the good news is that we can be victorious. Here are some strategies to ensure we win the battle: 1) With prayer. Jesus told His disciples, ‘Stay awake and pray for strength against temptation. The spirit wants to do what is right, but the body is weak’ (Matthew 26:41 NCV). It can get tiring to always be praying for forgiveness when we’ve given in to temptation - so let’s pray before temptation even comes along. We can’t pray temptation away, but we can prepare ourselves in advance to overcome it. And we can always ask for help from a trusted friend who can stand with us in prayer. The Bible says, ‘Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labour’ (Ecclesiastes 4:9 NKJV). 2) By making up your mind. ‘But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself.’ We need to decide in advance that we’ll activate our willpower. When we do that, God empowers us by His Spirit. Daniel’s strength and willpower came from God. He prayed three times every day (see Daniel 6:10). Rather than setting ourselves up for failure by not having a strategy, we need to have an escape plan. When Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce Joseph, he ‘fled and ran outside’ (Genesis 39:12 NKJV). Both Joseph and Daniel had prayed and made up their mind what they’d do before temptation their way. And we must do that too.

In order to fight fear, we need to believe that God is with us. If we can keep focused on that, we’ll have much more confidence in obeying what He’s telling us to do, and our fears will get smaller and smaller, until we see them as insignificant compared to God’s power.. When David volunteered to fight Goliath, King Saul said to him, ‘You are not able to go against this Philistine…for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth’ (1 Samuel 17:33 NKJV). David replied, ‘The Lord…will deliver me from…this Philistine’ (v. 37 NKJV). We’re not in the battle alone; our heavenly Father is with us. When we’re certain of that in our minds, our fears will soon go away. We might not always know what God will do, but we can relax knowing that He’ll do what needs to be done at the right time. When we think about the future and all the unknowns it holds for us, it’s easy to feel afraid. But there are two ways we can look at it; we can either be pessimistic and fearful, or we can say, ‘The battle is God’s, and He’s never lost a battle!’ Even if we haven’t any idea what to do in a tense situation, God does. He knows everything before it happens, and He’s planned a way through for us. |We just need put one foot in front of the other, taking one step at a time, confident that He’s our guide. We don’t have to see God or feel Him in order to believe that He’s with us. Faith is a matter of the heart rather than the natural senses. God is with us and He loves us too much to leave us to deal with fear by ourselves! So let’s believe Him and refuse to live in fear.

When God says, ‘Fear not,’ He's basically telling us, ‘You’re going to have to deal with fear sometimes, but I'm with you and you can conquer it. You don't need to be frozen by it.’ The Bible says, ‘Perfect love casts out fear.’ Sometimes we mistakenly think that Scripture means if we love God perfectly enough, we won’t be afraid. But the only perfect love is God’s love for us, and it’s unconditional. Knowing that He always loves us, walks with us, defends us, supports us, and has promised never to leave us is what casts out our fear. And it does one more thing too: it strengthens our faith. ‘Without faith it is impossible to please [God]’ (Hebrews 11:6 KJV). When we know that God is pleased to call us His children, we can begin to rise above our fears. When fear knocks on the door and finds us full of faith, it can't enter. That’s why we need to regularly read and reflect on God’s Word and let our minds be filled with faith. Meditating on the Bible is a discipline that we have to learn.and it doesn’t always come easily if we’re inclined to lose focus. So it might require making a new habit, but we mustn't get discouraged if we find it difficult at first. The Bible says, ‘We walk by faith’ (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV), and we learnt to walk by getting up one more time than we fell down, one small step at a time, until we finally mastered it! If we set our minds on speaking fear-defying words of faith, the Holy Spirit will come to help and strengthen us. As one minister put it, ‘Courage is not the absence of fear, it is progress in its presence.’ So just keep progressing, and you’ll get there!

God created us to have lives filled with growth, adventure, and momentum. But that involves taking bold steps of faith, and we can’t do that if we’re satisfied with life in our comfort zones. Even when we feel afraid of stepping out of them, we should try not to let it stop us! Acknowledge the fear and do it anyway! Feeling fear is part of being alive. We'll experience fear when we try something for the first time, or when we're experiencing change, or when the obstacles we face seem too big, or when we feel like we're not up to the challenge. None of this means we're cowardly, failures, or worth less than braver people. It just means we're human. We're only cowardly when we let our fears control our actions and decisions. Feeling fear is just the temptation to flee from what we should confront. Feeling fear is not the same as being afraid, because being afraid means that fearful feelings have been able to take control of us. But we don’t have to put up with that. We can feel anger, but choose not to act on it, and instead respond with forgiveness and love. In the same way, we can feel fear and not let it make our decisions for us. ‘He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”’ (Hebrews 13:5-6 NKJV). Notice those two phrases: ‘He…has said’ and ‘we may boldly say’. So, stand on God’s Word today and declare, ‘I will not live in fear.’

Advice columnist Ann Landers received about ten thousand letters every month. When she was asked to name the most common problem in her readers’ lives, she said, ‘Fear! People are afraid of losing their health, their wealth, and their loved ones. People are afraid of life itself.’ If we allow it to, fear can and will control us. ‘Fear involves torment’, and until the power of fear is broken, it will keep tormenting us. When fear rules our lives, we can’t enjoy anything, or live a full life as God intended. And we can’t fully enjoy God’s blessings. Dr Caroline Leaf says that fear triggers ‘more than 1,400 known physical and chemical responses and activates more than thirty different hormones and neurotransmitters.’ It’s at the root of all our stress. When fear causes a stress reaction in us, it actually ‘marinates’ our body in chemicals that can be harmful in large amounts, which threatens our physical as well as our mental wellbeing. The fear of not being accepted by others can make us develop a fake personality, stifling our true selves and hiding who God made us to be. The fear of failure can prevent us from trying new things or stretching ourselves to step out of our comfort zones. The fear of the future can prevent us from discovering and experiencing moments of joy in life today. Fear doesn’t come from God. ‘For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind’ (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV). If you’re feeling fearful, reject that spirit. Draw on God’s power, focus on His unconditional love for you, and let His comforting arms surround you. It might take time to eliminate all those fearful feelings, but God’s perfect love can push out all fear (see 1 John 4:18).

Maybe you’ve constantly heard the words ‘You can’t’ throughout your life. Many people like to tell others what they can’t do. Even people you wouldn’t automatically consider to be against you – teachers, coaches, parents, family members, friends, and leaders of church groups or social events can all, at some point, fail to realise the power of their words over young lives. Many of us grew up thinking, ‘I can’t,’ when that wasn’t true at all! No matter how often you’ve heard someone say, ‘You can’t,’ stand on God’s Word and say, ‘Yes, I can!’ Miracles come in ‘cans’ – our belief that we can do everything we need to do through Christ who is our strength (see Philippians 4:13). God believes in you, and now is the time for you to believe in yourself. This is a new day! Put the past and all its discouraging remarks behind you. Words that speak of failure come from the Enemy, not God, so make the choice right now to reject the power of ‘you can’t’. In contrast to the Enemy, God’s Spirit encourages you and will do everything to urge you forwards. When Joshua was facing the challenges of the promised land, God told him three times, ‘Be…of good courage’ (Joshua 1:9 NKJV). Always remember that if you feel ‘dis-couraged’, it’s from the devil. And that if you feel ‘en-couraged’, it’s from God. Decide to agree with God and say to yourself, ‘I can!’ Today let the power of God’s Word overcome the power of every negative word that has ever been spoken to you or about you.

The key to being able to do what God’s tasked us with is realising that we can’t do it in our own strength. We can only do it through God’s empowering grace. God said to Paul, ‘My grace is sufficient for you,’ and the word ‘grace’ includes ‘all of God you will ever need for whatever you face in life’. That’s an amazing promise! Sometimes we think we have to do it all. We forget that the power of Christ works through us, so we end up discouraged and defeated before we even begin. ‘We are labourers together with God’ (1 Corinthians 3:9 KJV). We can’t do God’s part, and He won’t do our part. He wants us to follow His leading, but He insists that we depend on Him every step of the way. This is hard on our ego, which says, ‘I can do it myself!’ Sometimes we have to go through really tough times before we’ll let go of this kind of thinking. Knowing that we have certain gifts and talents, we make the mistake of assuming they’re all we need to succeed. But unless God’s grace is operating through our gifts, we won’t be up to the challenge. The Bible says, ‘We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us’ (Romans 12:6 NIV). Grace is like electricity; in order for it to flow and function effectively, we must stay plugged in to the power source. Jesus said: ‘No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me…apart from me you can do nothing’ (John 15:4-5 NIV). So, let’s depend more on God.

Paul wrote: ‘I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who infuses inner strength into me; I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]’ (v. 13 AMPC). Paul believed he could handle whatever life threw at him. Do you believe that too? What are the things that trigger your fear and cause you to say, ‘I could never handle that’? Failing an exam? Facing an unexpected illness? Suddenly losing a loved one? Having to care for an elderly relative or a young child? Being in debt? Having to cut back on some of the things you enjoy in life? Losing a job? Most people have some sort of situation that truly seems impossible to them, something they aren’t sure they could handle. The truth is, even though some situations might be extremely undesirable or challenging for you, God says you can do whatever you need to do in life. He doesn’t say everything will be easy; He doesn’t promise that you’ll enjoy every little thing you do; but with His help, it is possible to find joy in the middle of doing them. How? Through the power of the One ‘Who infuses inner strength into you’. When you need money, you make a withdrawal from your bank account. When your car is empty, you make a withdrawal from the petrol pump. So when life gets overwhelming, pray and make a withdrawal on God’s grace, love, strength, power, and guidance.

When Jesus washed the dirt from His disciples’ feet, He showed that He was willing to forgive their sins before they even committed them. That’s love at its highest level. Out of all the people in that room, only One was worthy of having His feet washed. And He was the One who was doing the washing. The amazing thing about Jesus’ example is that it’s completely the opposite to what we’d expect - the person doing most of the bridge-building is the one who’s right, not the wrong one. Jesus isn’t the one in the wrong; He’s completely innocent and guilt free, but He’s willing to take a massive step towards us so that we only need to take a small step to meet Him. We all make mistakes, but we also tend to believe that we’re in the right, so we need to be full of grace and mercy towards each other. Jesus’ mercy went ahead of His disciples’ mistakes, just as our mercy should go ahead of the mistakes of others too. The people in Jesus’ circle had no doubt of His love, and the people in our circles should have no doubt about ours either. Paul wrote, ‘Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ’ (Ephesians 4:32 NCV). Because Christ has forgiven us, we can forgive others. Because He has a forgiving heart, we can have a forgiving heart. When Christ truly lives within us, we have no better alternative. There’s incredible power in the words, ‘I forgive you; I love you; let’s move on’. Is there anyone who needs to hear those words from you today?

Sometimes people don’t make it easy to accept them. They can be bad tempered, selfish, critical, irritating, dismissive, aggressive and pompous. Sometimes we want to angrily tell them what we think of them; to give them what they deserve – anything but acceptance. Which makes Paul’s instruction to ‘accept one another’ inconvenient. If Paul had stopped there, we might try dodging the instruction by saying he obviously meant good, reasonable, acceptable people. But he goes on, ‘just as Christ accepted you’. Were you always good, reasonable and acceptable? No, none of us is. But He still accepted us – flaws and all – and He still does! We might want people to see the error of their ways, make changes for the better, and become easier to deal with before we accept them. But think about how Jesus accepted us - He didn’t wait for us to improve ourselves before opening His arms to us. Roman Christians had difficulty accepting their less experienced brothers and sisters in Christ, and Paul corrected them: ‘Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling…for God has accepted them’ (Romans 14:1-3 NIV). Straightening people out isn’t our department; accepting them is. God calls us to accept messed-up, unspiritual, irritating, obnoxious, and theologically misled people. We don’t have to approve of, like, or agree with them, but accepting them isn’t optional. There’s no elite, privileged, insider class. We ‘re all on level ground because of two realities: our sin and the cross! Jews and Gentiles despised each other, even after salvation. Each wanted the other to change and become like them. But Paul smashed down their arguments: ‘For Christ himself…reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death’ (Ephesians 2:14-16 NLT). Our job is to accept people – and let God adjust them.

The Bible says, ‘We must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away…how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?’ (vv. 1, 3 NKJV). The words ‘drift’ and ‘neglect’ in that verse should set off alarm bells! Samson’s decline was so gradual that he didn’t even realise it was happening. Like flipping a switch, he’d become used to drawing on the power of God and overcoming every enemy and obstacle. But sin and self-indulgence became his undoing. When Delilah said, ‘“The Philistines are upon you, Samson!”…he awoke from his sleep, and said, “I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!” But he did not know that the Lord had departed from him. Then the Philistines took him’ (Judges 16:20-21 NKJV). When we neglect God, we begin to ‘drift away’. We might not notice it at first, but gradually we find our prayers aren’t as effective, and we’re no longer a godly influence on those around us. We refuse to forgive people who’ve offended or hurt us and don’t try to make amends to people we’ve hurt. We hold on to attitudes of fear and resentment. We start doing what’s easy and comfortable instead of what’s right. We slip back into old habit patterns, feeding our old natures and neglecting our new, godly natures. These are all signs that it’s time for a spiritual check-up and a check-in with God. Today, ask Him to highlight those attitudes, activities and relationships that need to be dealt with and start weeding them out. The good news is that when we’re obedient to God’s Word and the Spirit’s leading, we claim back our spiritual vitality, and God can use us even more effectively.

A fascinating encounter took place between Jesus and Philip. When ‘Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father”…Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time?”’ (vv. 8-9 NIV). There’s a lesson here for all of us. We can go to church regularly, serve on committees and sing in the worship band, but still not really ‘know’ the Lord. If we want to truly get to know someone, we have to spend time with them, sharing and opening our hearts to them. Our relationship with God has to become a priority. Right now, you're listening to a ‘devotional’ - it's called that because its aim is to bring us to a place where we’re more devoted to Christ than anything else. That doesn’t mean we have to neglect other things. In fact, we'll find it’ll actually enhance every other area of life. The Bible says, ‘He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel’ (Psalm 103:7 NKJV). Israel knew God’s acts because they were observers, whereas Moses knew His ways because he was close to Him. Israel saw what God did; Moses was close enough to understand His thinking and why He did what He did. Three times Jesus asked Peter, ‘Do you love Me?’ (John 21:15 NKJV). The first two times Peter answered, ‘Yes.’ The third time, frustrated by the question, he answered, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You’ (v. 17 NKJV). Keep in mind the words, ‘Lord, You know.’ We can pretend to others, and even ourselves, but God knows the quality of our love for Him. Today, His desire is to draw you closer to Himself. Are you available to Him?

Author Ken Blanchard said, ‘None of us is as smart as all of us.’ As much as we would like to think that we know it all, if we’re honest, each of us is painfully aware that we have blind spots and areas of inexperience. You’ll have had experiences that others haven’t had; they have had experiences you haven’t had. When you get together, you can harness your joint experience and knowledge. Jesus sent the seventy disciples out in groups of two. Why? 1) For support. ‘Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.’ 2) For enlightenment. Playwright Ben Jonson said, ‘He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.’ 3) For accountability. The pastor of a megachurch introduced the man who travelled with him to his audience, saying, ‘I am vulnerable to temptation, and he is my safeguard.’ You could have heard a pin drop in the crowd! Sometimes we need comfort, and other times we need correction. It takes humility to acknowledge that, and emotional security to put it in place. If we try to do everything alone, without the support of trusted companions and mentors, we’re actually limiting our potential. And if our goal is to compete with and get ahead of others rather than work with them, our future won’t be as good as it could be. Good thinkers understand the power of shared thinking. They understand that when they treasure the thoughts and ideas of others as much as their own, they receive the benefits of shared thinking, and can achieve more together than they ever could on their own. God designed us to live in companionship. The truth is, we need others.

As we go through life and work towards fulfilling God’s plan, there are certain things we’ll have to come to terms with: 1) You can’t be friends with everybody. Jesus loved everybody, but He spent most of His time with twelve people, mentoring and guiding them. And He spent extra time with Peter, James, and John, His inner circle. At the end of His earthly life, He could say, ‘I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do’ (John 17:4 NIV). 2) You can’t do everything. Because of the fast pace of our world, people tend to multi-task. But shifting from task to task can actually make us less efficient. According to researchers, we’ll get more done focusing on one task at a time rather than switching constantly from one task to another. David said, ‘One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek.’ We need to learn to focus. 3) You can’t have and know everything. It’s a myth to believe that we can know everyone, do everything we want, go everywhere we’d like to, and have everything we desire. We don’t need to know everything in life; we just need to focus on the part that God’s entrusted us with. If we find we’re too easily distracted, we need to surround ourselves with trustworthy people who are empowered to call us out on it and help us get back on track. We need to understand what we should and shouldn’t be bothered about. In order to go higher and achieve greater things, we must be willing to lay aside certain things that take our focus off God’s plan for us. Even if they’re good things (see Hebrews 12:1-3).

A broken heart can’t be healed by throwing ourselves into our work, overindulging, or using mood-altering substances like alcohol and drugs. Those things might bring a temporary fix, but they don’t bring a lasting cure. After falling into sin and shame, David prayed, ‘Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.’ The good news is that God can restore what we’ve lost and teach us things about ourselves that we didn’t know, and that can help us grow. And one of the first lessons He teaches us is about forgiveness. You can’t hold the club of unforgiveness over somebody else’s head and expect to find healing yourself. Forgiveness is just a word until you extend it. Your peace of mind and confidence before God depend on how willing you are to extend grace to others (see Mark 11:25). The second lesson He teaches us is about relationships. And some of those relationships will bring you more pain than pleasure. Judas’ betrayal, painful as it was, was instrumental in bringing about history’s greatest event – the cross. Does that mean anybody and everybody can walk into your life and do what they want? No; their access to you is limited by the shield of God’s purpose. Some people bring comfort while others build character, and you need both. The third lesson He teaches us is about ‘the yes zone’. ‘What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open’ (Revelation 3:7 NIV). So whether God opens the door or shuts it, trust Him, follow Him, and say, ‘Yes, Lord,’ because He loves you and has only the best in mind for you.

David said, ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul’ (vv. 1-3 NKJV). A light on a car dashboard will let you know something’s wrong and that it’s time for a check-up. If you ignore it, your car could end up breaking down. Our souls have built-in warning systems too, but we have to pay attention to the signals. We mustn’t wait until we have a spiritual, moral, emotional or relational breakdown before we'll stop and pay attention. When our souls' thirst isn’t quenched and their needs aren’t met, they'll try to find relief some other way - and it might be something that will end up hurting us. We must learn when to say ‘enough'. We need to take breaks that enable us to ‘restore our souls’ - but most of us don’t. We feel trapped by guilt, as if stopping would be irresponsible. Or we fear losing ground because we took a minute for ourselves. One of the hardest things in life to achieve is a sense of balance. So in all our goal-setting and ‘go-getting’, we mustn’t forget our souls. Even God rested (see Genesis 2:2), and if He did, then we also need to - and we don't have to feel guilty about it. There's power in rest. It helps make the journey of life easier and more enjoyable. When God ‘makes you lie down in green pastures’, its okay to enjoy them. When He ‘leads you beside the still waters’, it’s to give us refreshment and restoration. So let's make soul care a habit!

The book of Proverbs begins: ‘These are the proverbs of Solomon…Their purpose is to teach people wisdom…to help them understand the insights of the wise…to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair. These proverbs will give insight to the simple, knowledge and discernment to the young. Let the wise listen to these proverbs and become even wiser. Let those with understanding receive guidance’ (Proverbs 1:1-5 NLT). Creative thinking is simply disciplined thinking. If you think you know all there is to know, then you already know everything you’re ever going to know. But if you want to think outside of the box, the best place to start is by asking the right questions. Sir Antony Jay said, ‘The uncreative mind can spot wrong answers, but it takes a creative mind to spot wrong questions.’ Wrong questions halt the process of creative thinking. They send you down the same old path. In order to bring about change, we must first change our thinking. That means we must be willing to ask these two questions: ‘Why must it always be done this way? Is there a better way?’ Whether your goal is to build a better life, or a better business, or a better church, or a better career, or a better ‘anything’, all change and progress must begin by honestly asking those two questions. So, if you want to be a creative thinker, you need to be willing to change your thinking first - then the ideas will start flowing!.

If you’re surrounded by negativity, look for a better environment. Lawyer Charlie Brower said, ‘A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man’s brow.’ Negative environments kill great ideas. But a creative environment is like a greenhouse where ideas are seeded, then sprout and thrive. In order to grow, you need to look for people who are committed to personal growth, and spend time with them. People like them: 1) Encourage creativity. We need a ‘safe place’ to be at our most creative - somewhere that encourages and welcomes creative thinking. When innovation and good thinking are openly encouraged and rewarded, we feel we have ‘permission’ to be creative. 2) Are willing to risk failure. Even when we’ve studied and prepared thoroughly, we’ll probably have to try several times before we succeed. So, we need to be in an environment where mistakes are viewed as part of the creative process. 3) Believe in the potential of a dream. A creative environment encourages us to think of a blank sheet of paper and answer the question, ‘If you could draw a picture of what you want to accomplish, what would it look like?’ A creative environment allowed Dr Martin Luther King Jr to speak with passion and declare, ‘I have a dream,’ not ‘I have a goal.’ Goals can give us a focus, but dreams have power. Dreams expand our world. And God is the giver of dreams and visions (see Joel 2:28).

When we think creatively, we’re thinking like God, our creator. But not everybody will welcome our creative ideas. Jesus wasn’t crucified because He worked miracles - He was loved and applauded for those. He was crucified for having ideas that challenged the status quo. God is the giver of amazing concepts, truths, and ideas. So when He gives you an idea, don’t let anybody talk you out of it. Have a think about these phrases: ‘I’m not a creative person. Follow the rules. Don’t ask questions. Don’t be different. Stay within the lines. There’s only one way to do it. Don’t be silly. What will others think of you?. That’s not logical. It’s not practical. It’s never been done. It can’t be done. It didn’t work for them. We tried that before. It’s too much work. We can’t afford to make a mistake. It’ll be too hard. We don’t have the time. We don’t have the money. Yes, but…’ We might hear these things from other people, or they might be thoughts that pop into our own minds whenever we get a God-given idea. But we mustn’t let the fear of rejection or failure kill it. After all, we can’t do something new and exciting if we’re not prepared to stand out and do things a bit (or even a lot) differently. Don’t just work harder at the same old thing; make a change. The first things we’ll need to work on changing is how we think, who we listen to, and what we believe. And we can do that by staying focused on God. Paul wrote, ‘Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect’ (v. 2 NLT). Today, if you have a brilliant idea from God, remember that changing your thinking can change your life.

When you ask a little child what they want to be when they grow up, they might say something like a firefighter, or a doctor, or a famous actor. The ability to dream is a gift that God has placed within each of us. If we want to fulfil our life’s potential, we need a vision. Joseph’s vision didn’t happen until he was thirty, but he received it from God when he was a teenager. And God will give you a vision, too: ‘Your young men [and women] shall see visions.’ Right now you might be thinking about all the different options for your life, and even experimenting with some. That’s okay, you’re still getting to know yourself - your strengths and weaknesses, what you’re drawn to, and what you have no interest in at all. If you focus your thinking on only one thing and your hopes change, then you’ve effectively wasted your best mental energy. But as you grow and mature, you need to narrow things down and become more selective. There’s an old saying that goes, ‘A man who chases two rabbits catches neither.’ When you receive a God-given vision, it has power. It’s like a fire burning within you. It might be a full-time vocation or a part-time hobby, but it’s the thing you’ll find the most fulfilling. Paul wrote, ‘This one thing I do’ (Philippians 3:13 KJV). As a result, he changed history, and today, churches and cathedrals are named after him. Today, pray this simple prayer: ‘Lord, give me a vision for my life!’

If your heart’s desire is to please God and fulfil His will for your life, here’s a prayer for you: ‘Lord, thank You that even though You know everything about me, You still love me. You know my thoughts, my mistakes, my sins - and yet You still call me your child. Your grace towards me is more than I can understand. More than anything else, I want to know You personally and sense Your presence in my life each day. If there’s any part of me that I’ve kept from You, show me so that I can invite You to rule and reign there. I pray that the Holy Spirit will come and refresh my soul with rivers of living water, then flow out through me into a dry and thirsty world (see John 7:38-39). Help me to keep my eyes fixed on You instead of others (see Hebrews 12:1-2). Lord, be my richest treasure always. Help me never to make an idol out of anyone or anything or allow possessions or the distractions of this world to get in front of You in any way. You’re my healer, my hope, and my strength. When I need freedom, You’re my strong deliverer. You’re my shield from the Enemy, my counsellor when I need guidance, and my stronghold in the day of trouble (see Psalm 32:7). You really are the God of miracles! Please work Your miracles of grace in my life and keep changing me from day to day into Your likeness (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.’

The Bible says: ‘True godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows’ (vv. 6-10 NLT). Here’s a prayer to help us be content with what we have: ‘Lord, heal me from the stress of worrying about what other people think of me. Give me the gift of satisfaction with what You want me to have. Thank You for teaching me to walk beside You, not in front of You. I’m sorry for all the times I got ahead of You. I also regret the times You were trying to bless me, and I was somewhere behind You, more concerned with old issues. From this day on, I will walk with You in peace and prosperity, knowing who I am, and whose I am. I’m preparing to be blessed with the practical steps I’m learning. But my focus is on You, and my relationship with You. Your Word says when I put You first, other things will happen as I prepare myself for what You have for me (see Matthew 6:33). Thank You for helping me grow in faith every day, and teaching me to live a life that has You firmly at the centre. Amen.’

Here are some more situations when God might send an angel to help you. 1) When doing the right thing gets you into trouble. Doing God’s will put Daniel in a lions’ den, but God brought him out and publicly freed him. The king declared, ‘Every part of my kingdom…must…reverence the God of Daniel. For…his dominion will never end’ (v. 26 NIV). 2) When you’re tired of battling temptation. When the urge to give in to whatever’s tempting you feels overwhelming, or you think the only way out is to lie, or fear and loneliness are driving you to make the wrong choices. After Jesus had battled temptation for forty days, the Bible says, ‘The devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him’ (Matthew 4:11 KJV). 3) When the load you have been called to carry feels too heavy. When Jessu was facing the indescribable agony of being crucified on a cross, He prayed the defining prayer of His life: ‘“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him’ (Luke 22:42-43 NIV). God will strengthen you through His Word and prayer. Sometimes He’ll send people you know to help you do it. Paul wrote, ‘We were harassed at every turn – conflicts on the outside, fears within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus’ (2 Corinthians 7:5-6 NIV). Other times, He’ll send an angel. But whatever method He uses, we can be sure that when we call on God for help, it’ll be on the way.

What are some other situations when God might send an angel to help you? 1) To get you out of trouble. Lot was living in Sodom, a city about to be destroyed because of its sin. That’s when God sent angels to rescue him and his family from impending doom. Lot listened, obeyed, and survived, but sadly his wife didn’t, and she perished (see Genesis 19). 2) To change the direction of your life. ‘Moses was tending the flock of Jethro…There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush’ (Exodus 3:1-2 NIV). Moses thought his life was over. He started out in a palace and ended up in a pasture. But every experience, good and bad, had equipped him to lead the greatest migration of people in history. 3) When you’re facing your biggest challenge. In order to enter the promised land, Israel first had to conquer its biggest city: Jericho. And Joshua hadn’t a clue as to how to do it. That’s when God sent an angel with a plan that would literally bring down the walls (see Joshua 5:14). 4) When you’ve given it your best, but things still aren;t working and you want to give up. After the prophet Elijah’s spectacular victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, Jezebel put out a death threat on him. How did it affect him? ‘“I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life”…Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up”’ (1 Kings 19:4-5 NIV). And today God still sends angels in disguise to help us.

In what situation might God send an angel to help you? 1) When those you love and trust have disappointed you. Imagine how Hagar felt. In a joint decision with his wife, Sarah, Abraham got Hagar pregnant in order to try and fulfil God’s promise. Then when Isaac was born a year later, he sent her away without child support. Crying and believing they would both die, Hagar left baby Ishmael under a tree and walked away. But God sent an angel to tell her that her son was a child of destiny who was part of His plan (see Genesis 21:18). 2) When you’re facing embarrassment and can’t defend yourself. Mary planned to get married first, then have a baby. But God had a different plan. Not only was she facing public humiliation, but according to the law, she should be put to death. But God sent an angel to tell her that she was in the centre of His will (see Luke 1:34-38). 3) When you’re grieving the death of someone you love and worrying about your future. Mary Magdalene loved Jesus more than life itself, so when He died and was buried, she was distraught and heartbroken. That’s when God sent an angel to announce: ‘He is not here: for he is risen’ (Matthew 28:6 KJV). The Bible says, ‘Some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it’ (Hebrews 13:2 NIV). The cynical world can make us doubt that God actually loves us enough to send an angel to help us. But it’s true, He can, and will.

God can reveal Himself to us and send us help in all kinds of ways. But we’re not always good at recognising them. When Jesus appeared to His disciples and calmed the storm, they thought He was a ghost. The Bible says angels are ‘ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation’. Have you ever seen an angel? You might not have recognised one - they aren’t necessarily dressed in white with dramatically arched wings. Sometimes they’re so ordinary that they’re overlooked. Hebrews 13:2 reminds us: ‘Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it’ (NIV). We might think that God doesn’t send angels because He’s given us His Holy Spirit to help, protect, and guide us. But remember that God sent an angel to deliver Peter from prison on the day before his execution. When Paul was making his way to Rome, he was on board a ship that would be destroyed by a ferocious storm. But God sent an angel to assure him he would survive it. So, Paul announced to the crew and passengers: ‘Take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, “Do not be afraid, Paul”…Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me’ (Acts 27:22-25 NKJV). We may not be able to see angels, but we can be certain that they see us; in fact, they never take their eyes off you! (See Matthew 18:10.)

The Bible says: ‘Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behaviour. Instead, be kind to each other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you’ (vv. 31-32 NLT). Are you struggling to forgive someone? Here's a prayer: ‘Lord, I praise You for forgiving me and washing my sins away. Please show me anything I need to confess to You today so that I can bring it to You and be cleansed and set free, especially any place in my heart where I haven't forgiven someone. I know how subtly resentment and bitterness can build up and affect my prayers. I see now that my lack of forgiveness towards others can keep me from experiencing Your forgiveness (see Mark 11:25). To say that I need Your help to forgive others the way You have always been forgiving towards me is a huge understatement. You forgave the unforgivable on the cross. I've realised that I can't forgive on my own. Remind me that I can't make my forgiveness conditional or only give it when I think people deserve it. Help me keep the focus of my heart on becoming more like You. Give me grace to forgive, and not hold forgiveness back until the other person says or does what I think they should. Take away any lingering anger, bitterness, or resentment in my heart. Pour out Your Spirit on me and cleanse me of everything that’s not from You. Help me to walk in the forgiveness You've given me and to extend it to others. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.’

The Bible says God ‘filled them with skill to do all manner of work of the engraver and the designer and the tapestry maker, in blue, purple, and scarlet thread, and fine linen, and of the weaver – those who do every work and those who design artistic works’ (v. 35 NKJV). When God calls you to do something, He’s already placed the ability to do it within you. Satan hopes you’ll never discover that. He wants you to be trapped in the status quo, believing that you’re not good enough to do what God asks, and that the way things are is how they’ll always be. But the Bible says ‘There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season’ (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NCV). As long as we’re content to stay as we are, we won’t begin to think creatively. But when we decide we want life to change for the better, we become teachable and open ourselves up to creativity. It doesn’t have to be intimidating or overwhelming - remember that creativity begins with just one idea. Then those ideas multiply and grow! And each creative idea we have helps us become creative thinkers. The poet Maya Angelou said: ‘You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have. Sadly, too often creativity is smothered rather than nurtured. There has to be a climate in which new ways of thinking, perceiving, and questioning are encouraged.’ If we cultivate creative thinking, there’s no telling what kind of ideas we’ll come up with or how far we’ll change things for the better. So, are you ready to start? Ask God for a creative idea, then step out in faith and act on it.

When you’re about to do something, but you’re not sure if you really should, ask yourself this question: ‘Will doing this glorify God?’ If you follow that rule and make it a habit in your daily life, you won’t stray very far off God’s path. Let’s look at this rule in action: we have free will, so we can spend our time however we like. Some of that time will be spent studying or working, and (hopefully) we’ll be devoting some to prayer, reading the Bible, and building a relationship with God. But we get to choose what to do with the rest. For example, should we give a couple of hours to help an elderly neighbour who we know is struggling with their garden, or spend the weekend watching films? The first option shares God’s love, while the second might lead people to assume we’re lazy or selfish. There’s nothing wrong with taking time for ourselves, but we must be careful that we’re not always choosing the easy, self-indulgent option. Sometimes, instead of asking, ‘What do I want to do?’, we need to ask, ‘Will it bring glory to God? Will He be pleased?’ As redeemed children of God, we’re different from the world. Jesus said we are in the world, but not of it. That means we live by a different set of rules - scriptural ones. Other people might not understand our decisions, and might even put pressure on us or turn away from us if they think we’re being over-cautious or too serious about life. In those situations, we need to go back to the question, ‘Will this glorify God? Will He be pleased?’ Pleasing God isn’t easy. It never has been. And the Bible doesn’t say it will be. But if we want to live with joy, self-respect, confidence, and integrity, we have to choose the right path. And that’s the path which always brings glory to God.

Solomon wrote: ‘I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is our lot in life. And no one can bring us back to see what happens after we die.’ No one knows what will happen next in their lives or in the world. So let’s try to enjoy each precious moment, if we can, and look for any drop of joy in the present. We’re alive now, so let’s learn to maximise the ‘now’, embrace it, and celebrate it whenever we can. There’ll be times when we won’t be able to find any joy, and times when celebration isn’t the appropriate thing; but that doesn't stop us from making the most of every other opportunity. Nobody was busier than Jesus, but He still knew how to celebrate! His first miracle was performed at a wedding reception. His schedule was hectic, but He didn't mind interrupting it to enjoy time with children. The needs He faced were endless, but He made sure to take time off to rest. These words are from an anonymous writer: ‘If I had my life to live over, I would take more chances…[and] more trips. I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones…I have been one of those people who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle…a raincoat, and a parachute. If I had it to do over again, I would go places and do things and travel lighter than I have.’ Don’t wait; enjoy your life now.

Some people make the mistake of thinking that the only place they can really enjoy God’s presence is in church. It’s not true - we can enjoy His presence everywhere! At home, at work, at school, at the shops, and even in times of suffering and adversity. Brother Lawrence, a Carmelite monk in a French monastery, wrote the best-selling book, The Practice of the Presence of God. He resented his daily routine in the kitchen. Then God showed him that everything he did each day could be done for God and with God. That truth transformed his life. We can cultivate our minds to be more productive, and we can also cultivate our spirits to be more sensitive to God. Eventually, we can get to a place where we sense His presence and His pleasure in everything we do. If we think God’s always upset, disapproving, or cross with us, believing He’s always with us won’t help much. But when we see ourselves as accepted in Christ (which is how God sees us), we’ll realise that, as well as being with us at all times, He also finds joy in being with us. That will radically change our thinking about God. There are so many things that make up everyday life, and we can enjoy all of them - even the boring ones - if we have joy at being with God and know that He’s pleased to be with us. After all, these are the things life is made up of. Joy doesn’t only come from being entertained, but also from a decision to be grateful for each moment, and treating it as a rare and valuable gift from God.

The Bible says, ‘Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring’ (Proverbs 27:1 NLT). Every morning when we wake up, we have no idea what will happen to us that day. Sometimes the day is filled with good things, other times unexpected bad things happen. We live in a real world with real problems. We’re not immune to bad situations happening in our lives. Satan wants to attack us, discourage us, and make us afraid of what’s going to happen. We’re told to: ‘Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour’ (1 Peter 5:8 NLT). It can be easy to start fearing the future, especially when lots of bad things seem to be happening to us and those we love. While we can’t avoid experiencing some of these things, we can avoid being fearful. In Psalm 91, it says: ‘Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday’ (v.5-6 NLT). So how can we stop being afraid? We can choose to believe that God is our protector, fortress, and hiding place. The psalmist wrote: ‘Be my rock of safety where I can always hide. Give the order to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.’ No matter what comes our way, we need to trust that when it arrives, God will give us the strength to cope. As long as we remain strong inwardly and keep trusting God, we can handle anything that comes against us outwardly, and keep moving forwards.

Before written languages were developed, memory was the only way to learn. We don’t really need to memorise things now, especially when we have phones in our pockets with a wealth of information just waiting for us. But memorising Scripture and truths about God has some special benefits. When we’ve stored wonderful words in our memory, we’ll have a much richer inner life than someone who doesn’t. Eva Hermann spent two years in a Nazi prison camp. She wrote how a young cellmate happened to recite the prayer of St Teresa: ‘Let naught trouble thee; let naught frighten thee; all things pass. God alone changeth not. Patience can do all things. Whoever has God, has everything. God alone sufficeth.’ When Eva saw how much this helped the girl, she began to repeat the prayer at the end of every day. Eva later wrote of how her time in prison was transformed by the words she had memorised. This illustrates that the words we carry in our minds are available to transform any given moment. So when there’s a verse of Scripture that speaks to you, stop and write it down. Put it on a mirror in your bathroom, or in your smartphone or on a calendar, or in your car. If you learn best by hearing, listen to the Scripture being read. If you’re a visual learner, try associating pictures and objects with Scripture verses; for example you could light a candle and read these words: ‘God is light; in him there is no darkness at all’ (1 John 1:5 NIV). When God’s Word is rehearsed, remembered, and repeated often, it’s like a stream of joy, peace, and strength that flows and carries our souls along with it.

Jesus said, ‘I have told you these things so that you can have the same joy I have and so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy.’ It’s a reminder to us that if we let it, life, and particularly stress, can drain us of our joy and leave us feeling empty, dull, and discontented. There are so many big stresses in life that we’ll need to deal with, but often we can let the small, insignificant things irritate us to the point of stress. Things like getting stuck in traffic, somebody giving us a wrong look, waiting in a slow-moving queue, overcooking a meal, waiting for a phone to charge up, discovering a spot, making an honest mistake… it’s so easy for us to lose perspective and overreact to these sorts of things. The real problem is we have unrealistic expectations. That’s not how God wants us to live! If we want to experience the joy Jesus promised, we need to do these two things: 1) Accept that sometimes we can get uptight because we have a fixed idea of how life should be. 2) Acknowledge that our expectations can cause a lot of our frustration. When we keep expecting things to always be a certain way and they’re not, we’ll always be upset. Why not give this idea a go: try approaching life today without all those expectations. For example, don’t expect everybody to be friendly – then when some are, you’ll be delighted! Don’t expect your day to be hassle-free; when trouble comes, look up and say, ‘Thank You, God, for giving me another chance to turn to You for strength and wisdom.’ Rather than swimming against the tide, let’s learn to flow with it. It’ll help life feel that bit more enjoyable. And not only that: other people will enjoy being around us more.

In the Bible the word ‘minister’ isn’t just a noun (which indicates a person, place, or thing); it’s also a verb (an action word). It’s what you do, not just what you claim to be. In Scripture, the word ‘servant’ sometimes referred to a third-level galley slave chained to the oar of a Roman ship. Day and night, they rowed to the beat of another, and whether in battle or in merchant service, they expected to die chained to that oar. The difference for us is that we have a kind and compassionate God as our master, who doesn’t force us to serve Him. Paul says, ‘Dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God…Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will find acceptable’ (Romans 12:1 NLT). Paul had no doubt about what God had called him to be. When he referred to himself as a ‘bond-servant’, he was describing a slave who served his master faithfully for six years. In the seventh year, the law of Moses required that the slave be set free. But if, when he was released, he came back and said, ‘Master, I’m not serving you because I have to; I’m serving you because I want to,’ his master would take him before a magistrate and pierce his ear, signifying that he belonged to him forever (see Exodus 21:6). Sometimes we need to look up and say: ‘Lord, I’m not serving you because I have to; I’m serving you because I love you. Mark me as yours. Bond me with you so I can never belong to anyone else.’

The Bible’s full of advice for parents and children – ‘Train up a child in the way he should go’ (Proverbs 22:6 NKJV); ‘Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.’ (Ephesians 6:4 NIV); ‘Honour your father and your mother’ (Exodus 20:12 NIV); ‘Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.’ (Proverbs 23:22 NIV). If we were brought up in Sunday school classes, we’ll have been told to honour our parents quite a few times. But something that we don’t often take time to acknowledge is that honouring them is a lot harder if they didn’t hold up their end of God’s instructions. Parents are just as human as their children, so sometimes they get it wrong and do things that go against God’s heart for family relationships. Whether we’ve experienced that in big ways, or on a small scale, we’ll know that it can cause varying degrees of hurt. It can be very painful to deal with these things, but it’s important that we take some time to ask God to help us understand the circumstances surrounding the way our family learned to function. If we need to work through some healing and forgiveness, let’s make today the day we start that process, for the sake of our own futures. Whether that means prayer over last week’s argument, or a bigger action like seeking the help of a professional counsellor, God will be with us, ready to restore our hearts and strengthen us.

Long before William James, the Father of American psychology, was attributed with saying, ‘The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes,’ God said, ‘As he thinks in his heart, so is he’ (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). It can often be our thoughts, not our circumstances, that determine our happiness. We keep thinking we’ll be happy when certain things happen. For example, someone might say, ‘When I get a job, I’ll be happy.’ And they are, for a while. Next, ‘When I have a new supervisor, I’ll be happy.’ And they are, at least until their new supervisor moves on. Next, the opportunity of a pay increase brings the same promise; so does a chance for promotion, and the prospect of retirement. But the problem is, the person hasn’t learned how to be content between the ‘happenings’. When our happiness is controlled by something outside ourselves, we’ll always be hostage to people, places, and things. That’s not how God wants us to live – a victim of circumstances beyond our control. The psalmist said, ‘I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth’ (Psalm 34:1 KJV). David chose the right attitude, and we have to do the same! We also must maintain it. That’s the hard part. It’s like the old farmer who said, ‘The hardest thing about milking cows is – they don’t stay milked!’ And it’s the same with attitudes; they don’t stay changed. wE have to work on them every day; it’s called ‘renewing…your mind’. And the way to do it is by getting into God’s Word and getting His Word into us. So, are you doing that regularly?

Self-pity can be dangerous. It tells us, ‘You’re not appreciated.’ It says to a worker, ‘Look how valuable you are, yet you’re never recognised or rewarded.’ It says to an unemployed person, ‘No chance!’ It says to a divorced person, ‘No place!’ To someone overcome with grief, it says, ‘No hope!’ And to the person struggling, it says, ‘No way!’ Look at the prophet Elijah. Twenty-four hours after his greatest victory, he is deeply depressed and wallowing in self-pity. ‘I have had enough…Take my life…I have zealously served…But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed…your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too’ (1 Kings 19:4, 10 NLT). There it is – self-pity in the raw! Generally speaking, there are two reasons behind self-pity. The first is emotional manipulation. We might use self-pity as a weapon to guilt-trip others and get our own way. That’s immaturity and we have to deal with it, whether it’s in ourselves or somebody else. On the other hand, self-pity can also stem from sheer exhaustion. In the Old Testament, God showed Elijah four things that were necessary to help him get himself back on track: 1) He needed more rest. 2) He hadn’t been eating properly. 3) He had taken his eyes off God and was trying to do everything in his own strength. 4) He was isolated and needed a friend. So, God gave him Elisha. That did the job, and the next time we see Elijah, he’s back on top. Take a moment today and think about how these four truths apply to your life.

There are events in all our lives that, looking back, had to be the hand of God at work. One author puts it like this: ‘Maybe you bumped into somebody who introduced you to your spouse…or a co-worker resigned and suddenly you were promoted…or a stranger said something that spoke to your heart. These are all signs of God’s favour, and when you’re tempted to get down, you need to remember how God opened the door for you…how he made a way…how he spared your life…how he healed your child. There is no such thing as coincidence…when something good happens, recognise that it’s God, and recall it often.’ In the Old Testament, ‘Jacob set up a memorial…to mark the place where God had spoken with him.’ Have you established any memorial stones lately? A great way to build your faith is to remember all the times God made a way when every door was locked and barred against you…days when you were lonely and God brought the right person into your life…nights when you felt so much fear that you dreaded the morning coming. Then suddenly, out of nowhere, God turned things around…gave you the oil of joy for mourning…lifted you out of the pit…gave you a new beginning…and today you’re happy, healthy, and whole. And best of all: if He did it before, He will do it again! He’s the same today as He was yesterday. When we take time to remember His goodness and faithfulness, it strengthens us to keep fighting the good fight of faith.

When the Israelites ‘cried to the Lord…he saved them…He brought them out of darkness…and broke…their chains’ (v.13-14 NIV). And He can set us free from whatever is holding us captive today. And not just temporary freedom, but long-term freedom: ‘If the Son sets you free, you are free through and through’ (John 8:36 MSG). Here are two steps we can take towards freedom: 1) Cry out to the Lord. God said, ‘You will…find me when you seek me with all your heart’ (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). Forget about dignity and decorum, and what other people might think of us – desperate situations call for desperate measures! Stop trying to handle it alone. If we could save ourselves, we wouldn’t need a Saviour. Give it to God, ‘casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you’ (1 Peter 5:7 NKJV). 2) Feed your soul spiritually. Freedom is a two-part process. The first iscommunion with Jesus. The Israelites fed on the Passover lamb in preparation for leaving slavery. And Jesus, the Lamb of God, declared, ‘I am the living bread…Whoever eats this bread will live forever’ (John 6:51 NIV). Sharing our feelings and needs with Him will lighten our burdens, relieve our loneliness, and nourish our souls. Jesus came to proclaim ‘freedom for the prisoners…to set the oppressed free’ (Luke 4:18 NIV). The second part is meditating on Scripture. Rejecting God’s Word caused the Israelites to become slaves: ‘Because they rebelled against the words of God, and despised the counsel of the Most High…they fell down, and there was none to help’ (Psalm 107:11-12 NKJV). To be set free and stay free, feed every day on God’s life-giving Word.

For four hundred years, Israel was enslaved by Egyptian taskmasters who oppressed them and ‘made their lives bitter’ (Exodus 1:14 KJV). And we can understand their feelings of helplessness when we consider the areas in our own lives where we struggle for freedom from old habits. Whether it’s anger, food, alcohol, drugs, sex, money, or unhealthy relationships, we experience a sense of powerlessness in our struggle. And if we keep trying and failing to escape, we come up against increased feelings of hopelessness that lead us to give up trying altogether. But the Israelites cried out to God, and He responded: ‘I have…seen the misery of my people…I have heard them crying out…and I am concerned about their suffering.’ Today God sees you, God hears you, and God is concerned about you. He said, ‘I have come down to rescue them…and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land…flowing with milk and honey’ (Exodus 3:8 NIV). Notice, He had ‘come down’ to ‘bring them up’. How did He do it? Their deliverance called for the death of the spotless Passover lamb. After applying its sacrificial blood to their doorposts, they cooked and ate the lamb while dressed in their travelling clothes, staff in hand, ready to leave captivity behind. Today, God wants us to prayerfully prepare for our journey to freedom; not by our own human efforts, but by faith in the shed blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away our sins. ‘Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch…For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed’ (1 Corinthians 5:7 NIV).

Dr Richard Swenson says, ‘You can go into the woods, select a ten-foot sapling, bend it over, and when you release it, it will return to its normal height. But if you keep bending it further and further, it will stay down. With stress, first you bend, and then you recover. With burnout, first you bend, and then you break – and you stay broken. When the writer of Proverbs says, “I am weary and worn out,” he is not referring to a figment of his imagination or a sensationalised diagnosis by psychologists. Exhaustion is real and it’s common and it’s dangerous; it leads to irritability, anger, paranoia, headaches, ulcers, depression….Burnout causes something inside you to break; you don’t care who sees or hears, you just want out. The good news is you can recover your passion, enthusiasm, productivity, and excellence, but it takes time and the healing is mostly by scar formation. Burnout is common among the spiritually minded who are sensitive…They see pain and internalise it. They want to help the wounded…they don’t realise they were never designed to carry the world on their backs.’ So what’s the solution? ‘Rest in the shadow of the Almighty’ (Psalm 91:1 NLT). But to receive Psalm 91’s benefits, we need to meet its conditions by making God our dwelling place, abiding in Him, and submitting to His authority. ‘I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress…in him will I trust’ (v.2 KJV). Notice the word ‘say’. What we say can mean life or death (see Proverbs 18:21). It can put us over the top or put us under. So today, read God’s Word, internalise and personalise and verbalise it, and things will start to look more positive with God involved.

Has everyone else written off your Saul? That person who seems to be so far away from God, but somehow you still see the glimmer of goodness in them, and, with God’s help, keep persevering with them. Joseph believed one day he would be reunited with the brothers who betrayed him, and it happened. The prophet Hosea’s wife deserted him and became a prostitute, but he kept the door open, and she came home. God believed in Saul of Tarsus, who would become Paul the apostle. And he believed in Saul through Ananias: ‘Brother Saul, the Lord – Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here – has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit’ (v.17 NIV). Max Lucado wrote: ‘My favourite Ananias-type story involves a couple of college roommates. The Ananias of the pair was a tolerant soul. He tolerated his friend’s late-night drunkenness, midnight throw-ups, and all-day sleep-ins. He didn’t complain when his friend disappeared for the weekend or smoked cigarettes in the car. He could have requested a roommate who went to church more or cursed less or cared about something other than impressing girls. But he hung with his personal Saul, seeming to think that something good could happen if the guy could pull his life together. So he kept cleaning up the mess, inviting his roommate to church, and covering his back. I don’t remember a bright light or a loud voice. I’ve never travelled a desert road to Damascus. But I distinctly remember Jesus knocking me off my perch and flipping on the light. It took four semesters, but Steve’s example and Jesus’ message finally got through [to me].’ So, no matter what, don’t give up on your Saul!

Did you know that around three-quarters of the world’s income ends up in the pockets of 20 per cent of its population? Think of it this way: ten dairy farmers live in the same valley, and among them they own ten cows. But the cows aren’t evenly distributed – it isn’t one cow to one farmer. It’s more like this: two farmers own four cows each, while the other eight farmers share two cows to produce dairy products to sell. Does that seem right? The two farmers who own eight cows might easily say, ‘I worked for my cows.’ But the real question is, what responsibility does God place on the people who have more to help the people who have next to nothing? First, He prompts us to feel concern and compassion. Second, He prompts us to get out of our comfort zones and do something about it. ‘Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble. The Lord protects and preserves them – they are…blessed in the land – he does not give them over to the desire of their foes. The Lord sustains them on their sick-bed and restores them’ (v.1-3 NIVUK). When we bless someone in need, God is delighted by our action! So, as one leader wrote, let’s make this our prayer: ‘Lord, You promised we would always have the poor among us. Help me to make sure that the reverse is also true: that I’m always among the poor – helping, encouraging, and lending a hand wherever I can. Enable me to love the invisible God by serving the very visible poor in my corner of the world. Help me to be creative without being condescending, encouraging without being egotistic, and fearless without being foolish. May the poor bless You because of me…amen.’

When writer Jim Wallis was a theology student, he and some of his classmates took scissors to a Bible and cut out every verse about poverty, wealth, justice, or oppression. By the time they had finished, there were about two thousand verses lying on the floor! The fact is, when we cut concern for the poor out of the Bible, we cut the heart right out of it! Here’s one important verse: ‘“He defended the cause of the poor and needy…so all went well. Is that not what it means to know me?” declares the Lord’ (v.16 NIV). Jesus often quoted Scripture, but only on one occasion do we find Him selecting and reading from it. And this is the portion He chose to read publicly: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor…to proclaim freedom for the prisoners…recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free’ (Luke 4:18 NIV). Here was His to-do list: help for body and soul, strength for the physical and spiritual, and therapy for now and for the eternal. A minority of people are poor because they’re lazy and need to be taught that God’s Word says, ‘Those unwilling to work will not get to eat’ (2 Thessalonians 3:10 NLT). But most who are poor are in that situation because illness has weakened their bodies, or they live under corrupt systems, or rising costs have priced them out of a decent standard of living, or they’re prey for people who enjoy cheating and using those who are vulnerable to attack. These are the people God has assigned us to care for!

In New Testament times, the government didn’t care for people in need like widows and orphans. So the church took on that responsibility. Unfortunately, biases soon started to show, and Jewish widows and orphans were given preferential treatment over Gentile widows and orphans. How did the church leaders respond? They could easily have dismissed or ignored it. They could have said, ‘We’re called to feed souls, not stomachs. Let’s not bother helping needy people anymore.’ Instead, here’s what they did. First, they called a meeting to resolve the problem (see Acts 6:2). They let every member know that their church took poverty seriously, and each one of them was personally responsible before God to do something about it. Second, they assigned the problem to their brightest and best. They selected seven men – well respected, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom – and gave them this responsibility (see Acts 6:3 NLT). When we look at what career we’d like to take up, we often dream about the ones that seem most prestigious, like politics, law, medicine, or government. But what if, instead of thinking ‘I want to be a doctor,’ ‘I want to be a barrister,’ ‘I want to be an MP,’ and so on, we started by thinking ‘I want to help people,’ and see what develops from there? Caring for those in need is one of God’s highest callings. We might look at the vast amounts of need and think we can’t make an impact. It’s true that no one can do everything, but God has called each of us to do something! ‘Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you’ (James 1:27 NLT).

We tend to be influenced by the people we spend the most time with. Paul explains it this way: ‘All of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit’ (v.18 NRSV). And J.B. Phillips’ translation of the Bible puts it this way: ‘Christians…reflect like mirrors.’ And the King James Bible translators say it like this: ‘Beholding as in a glass.’ So which translation is right? All three! The ancient Greek word Katoptris can be translated as ‘mirror’ or ‘glass’, but the idea is the same: the more we spend time in God’s presence, the more we’ll reflect His likeness and carry His presence with us. What does ‘beholding’ your face in a mirror mean? It’s more than just a quick glance; ‘behold’ means to study, stare at, and contemplate. The Bible tells us after Moses spent forty days on a mountain in God’s presence, the people of Israel couldn’t bear to look at his face because it was suffused with the glory of God (see Exodus 34:29). What Moses beheld was what Moses became! The Bible says that ‘whatever you do, do all to the glory of God’ (1 Corinthians 10:31 NKJV). Whatever we do, we should be reflectors of God! Jesus said, ‘Let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven’ (Matthew 5:16 NIV). In other words, people should be able to look at us and get a glimpse of the God who lives within us.

Ever been serving God and thought you shouldn’t have to do the task you’re doing? Ever got tired of serving when it doesn’t seem to be making any difference? Ever thought ‘why am I even bothering?’ It can be easy to have these thoughts. But when it comes to serving God, and others, we need to set our hearts on being faithful. Sometimes we can think too highly of ourselves and believe that certain tasks are beneath us. If we’re the worship leader, should we have to serve by putting out the chairs? If we’ve done big things for God before, why has He given us such a mundane task now?There was aman in the Old Testament who carried the tent pegs when they moved the tabernacle from place to place. This wasn’t much of a high-profile position, but it was important. Without the pegs, they couldn’t put up the tent. And the tent was where the people could meet with God. But whatever task God’s calling us to do, whether we feel over-equipped or under-equipped, we need to serve faithfully. The Bible says: ‘Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’ When we do everything for God, it changes our attitude towards it. We’re serving Him not people. And if we start to lose motivation, we can remember that our serving makes a difference to other people’s lives and other people’s faith. One day God will say to us, just as Jesus said in one of His parables, 'Well done, good and faithful servant’ (Matthew 25:23 NIV).

Princess Alice was Queen Victoria’s daughter. When her family contracted a dangerous disease called diphtheria, the doctors quarantined them and warned the princess to avoid contact so she didn’t get infected herself. But she couldn’t. When her youngest daughter Marie died, she tried to keep the news from her 10-year-old son Ernest, who was devoted to his younger sister, but eventually she had to tell him. He was so distraught at the news that Princess Alice broke the no contact rule and comforted him with hugs and kisses. But she caught the disease and within a few days, she died. What would compel a mother to risk her life for her child? Love! Now stand at the cross and ask what would lead Christ to do something even greater for us? Love! Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, ‘I want you to know…Christ’s love…is too wonderful to be measured.’ We can trace Jesus’ greatest action to His greatest attribute – love. Perhaps the people who should have loved us, didn’t; and those who could have loved us, wouldn’t. Regardless of the cause, we might have been left wondering, ‘Does anybody love me?’ And today Christ is answering, ‘I do!’ The truth is, His love for us ‘is too wonderful to be measured’. Hymn writer Charles Gabriel wrote: ‘I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene, And wonder how he could love me, a sinner, condemned, unclean. How marvellous! How wonderful! And my song shall ever be: How marvellous! How wonderful! Is my Saviour’s love for me!’ God couldn’t love you more than He does right now, and that will never change.

The Bible says, ‘When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him”’ (Exodus 32:1 NIV).Why did they make a golden calf? Because they wanted a god they could see. It’s so much harder to relate to an invisible God, and Moses, God’s representative, stayed on Mount Sinai so long that they felt helpless and abandoned. So they did what we do when we’re scared – resort to things that are familiar. Change, stepping out in faith and uncertainty in our lives can be draining. We pray for God to strengthen us and help us through but we can end up longing for things that we know and we can start to doubt God’s goodness. Mark D. Roberts writes: ‘How often do we find ourselves in a situation like the Israelites? We hear God’s call to something new, and boldly step out in faith. But when we don’t sense His presence and our prayers seem to bounce off the ceiling, we feel abandoned, scared, and helpless. We grasp for the familiar.’ But, however we’re feeling and however unsettled everything seems, the goodness of God is unchanging. The Bible says, ‘The LORD is good…He cares for those who trust in him.’ In Psalm 100, we’re told: ‘For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations’ (v.5 NIV). Whatever we’re facing and feeling, however much doubt is creeping in and we’re longing for the familiar, He’s good, loving and faithful. Always.

God divided time into days and nights; and we’ll have experiences of brightness and experiences of darkness. When we experience grief, confusion, sadness, uncertainty; when our hearts feel broken and the familiar life we knew seems to have tumbled down; all of these can be times of darkness. And because we can’t see clearly in the dark, it’s easy to wonder if God is really there with us. Without doubt, He is! The Israelites faced their greatest challenge with Pharaoh’s armies behind them and the Red Sea in front of them. But the Bible says, ‘All that night the Lord drove the sea back’ (Exodus 14:21 NIV). Be encouraged; God’s at work even when we can’t see Him. George Matheson, a composer of hymns, wrote: ‘Will I remain in God’s house at night…love Him for who He is…desire not the gift but the giver? When I can remain…during the darkness of night and worship…I’ve accepted Him for Himself alone.’ We shouldn't only turn to God when we need a miracle; instead,we should focus on our relationship with Him and we’ll get just what we need exactly when we need it. Jesus said, ‘If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you’ (John 15:7 NKJV). After Elihu lost everything near and dear to him, he said to his friend Job, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night, who teaches us…and makes us wiser?’ (Job 35:10-11 NKJV). Jesus said, ‘What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight’ (Matthew 10:27 NIV). In the darkness, God is still with us, stabilising, supporting, and strengthening us.

At the Last Supper, John’s gospel tells us that Jesus sat down and washed the disciples’ feet. It was a horrible task, after having walked the dusty streets all day in sandals, and it was usually done by the lowest servant of the household. The disciples must have been shocked to see their leader doing such a lowly, disgusting job. Peter even tried to protest (take a look at John 13:8). But Jesus told them, ‘Since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow’ (John 13:14-15 NLT). Think about those disciples – there wasPeter, who would deny knowing Jesus; Thomas, who would doubt Him; Judas, who would betray Him; and all the others, who would desert Him in His time of need. But that didn’t stop Jesus. He was encouraging them to treat others with the same grace, humility, and forgiveness that He was showing them by washing their feet. It didn’t mean He endorsed their sins. It didn’t make it okay for Peter to deny Him, or Judas to betray Him, and so on. When we receive God’s grace, it doesn’t mean He’s turning a blind eye to our mistakes. And when we follow Jesus’ example and show grace to others, it doesn’t mean we’re unaware of the damage and pain that their sins have caused. Instead, grace chooses to see God’s forgiveness even more. Where there’s no grace, bitterness grows. But where grace is abundant, forgiveness grows. So let’s work towards developing a Christlike character by showing grace to everyone we meet, whatever the circumstances.

When we accept Jesus as our Saviour and make Him the main focus of our lives, the fear of death can have no hold over us. We’ll still have to go through physical death, but it has no effect on our spiritual life. Jesus made this promise to us: ‘Because I live, you also will live’ (John 14:19 NIV). So we can be sure that when we commit our lives to Him, our spiritual life will carry on eternally with Him in heaven. Today, Easter Sunday, we celebrate Jesus’ victory over death. His resurrection proves that death has been beaten. When Charles Lindbergh, the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic, was dying, he wrote these words to be read at his burial service: ‘We commit the body of Charles A. Lindbergh to its final resting place; but his spirit we commit to Almighty God, knowing that death is but a new adventure in existence and remembering how Jesus said upon the cross, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”’ Death is just ‘a new adventure in existence’, so there’s no need for us to dread it or ignore it. Because of Jesus, we can face it with joy and confidence. His resurrection guarantees our new life in heaven. One day when Saint Francis of Assisi was hoeing his garden, a man asked him what he would do if he suddenly learned he was to die at sunset that day. He said, ‘I would finish hoeing my garden.’ He wasn't going to waste time and energy fearing death; instead, he was ready to put his trust in God and maximise every moment of life. That’s how we need to live too!

John wrote: ‘When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they…also took his robe, but it was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said, “Rather than tearing it apart, let’s throw dice for it”’ (v.23-24 NLT). Jewish mothers traditionally made these garments as gifts for their sons who were leaving home. So while we don’t know if Mary actually made Jesus’ robe, it was likely a cherished possession. It’s also significant because throughout the Bible, clothes symbolise behaviour and character. Peter talks about being ‘clothed with humility’ (1 Peter 5:5 NKJV). Paul says, ‘And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes’ (Galatians 3:27 NLT). Like His robe, Jesus’ character was seamless, integrated, and perfect. The words ‘woven…from top to bottom’ point to the fact that He had always been directed by the mind of God. In fact, He said, ‘The Son can do nothing…but only what he sees the Father doing’ (John 5:19 NRSV). However, when Jesus was crucified, He set aside His seamless robe, ‘changed places with us’ (Galatians 3:13 NCV) and put on the robes of sin that had our names on them. He died like a shamed criminal for sins He didn’t commit so that we could wear the garments of His righteousness, and so that people just like us, could come to the cross wearing heavy coats of sin, and leave wearing the ‘coat of his…love’ (Isaiah 59:17 NCV), the belt of ‘goodness and fairness’ (Isaiah 11:5 NCV), and the ‘garments of salvation’ (Isaiah 61:10 NIV). Jesus not only prepared a place in heaven for us; He made sure we would be properly dressed for the occasion.

The Bible says: ‘With one voice they cried out, ‘Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!’ (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder)’ (v.18-19 NIV). Barabbas was a ‘notorious prisoner’ (Matthew 27:16 ESV) but still the people chose for Him to be released. Imagine how he must have felt, sat in that prison having been found guilty, and now about to face his punishment. We may not be notorious criminals, but we all make mistakes and we all fall short of God’s best. We’re all tempted and we can all sin. Just like Barabbas, we don’t deserve freedom. But we have it. And that’s all because of the grace of God. The devil wants to make us think that our sin means we’re imprisoned and trapped. But God’s already overcome. We’ve been released, just like Barabbas, because Jesus took our place. He died instead of us. Christ took away all our sins. All of them. He took them to the top of a hill called Calvary. He died on the cross, and our sins died with Him. The Bible says: ‘Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear’ (Romans 3:24-25 MSG). So let’s never forget the incredible gift of freedom from God. Because of Jesus, we too have been released.

If we’re going to fulfil God’s will for our lives, at some point we’ll need to do these things: 1) Move to a higher level of faith (see Romans 1:17). David had to face a lion and a bear before he faced Goliath. Each took more faith than the last. And we’ll also face issues that’ll need greater trust in God than we’ve had before. 2) Seek God’s guidance about each situation that arises (see Proverbs 3:6). His promise is: ‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye’ (Psalm 32:8 NKJV). 3) Realise God’s will for your life. God doesn’t play hide-and-seek with His will. It’s only as we spend time with Him that we discover it (see Psalm 143:10). And when we do that, we begin to thrive and grow into our calling. 4) Fight using God’s Word. The God-breathed words found in Scripture are our strength in times of difficulty and testing. Jesus used Scripture to make Satan back off and leave Him (see Matthew 4), and the weapon of God’s Word still works today. 5) Don’t get too caught up in self-analysis. Self-reflection is a good thing to do, but it's important that we don’t spend too much time looking inwards and striving for perfection before we make a move. Only the Holy Spirit has the ability to search and know our hearts and minds (see John 16:8-15). And when God is ready to reveal areas to us that need correction, He will. Until then, keep moving forwards in faith and trust. 6) Guard your mind. Make it a walled city that refuses to let in negative thoughts and harmful influences (see Proverbs 4:23).

We’re bombarded each day with hundreds of messages via texts, tweets, email, and blogs. In fact, it’s entirely possible to become unwell through information overload. Some days it can feel like being trapped in a blizzard, with so many people and things constantly demanding our attention as we fight through the day. Technology makes things more convenient – and more difficult at the same time! That doesn’t mean technology is bad, but it can give new opportunities for us to get burnt out if we’re not careful. That’s no way to live, and it certainly isn’t God’s will for us. Today, Jesus is saying, ‘If you are tired from carrying heavy burdens, come to me and I will give you rest…learn from me’ (v.28-29 CEV). Leadership expert and Christian author Phil Cooke says: ‘The Lord can’t relieve the pressure while you’re in the wrong place, at the wrong time, doing the wrong thing, with the wrong people…When you’re in God’s will, you can work hard, but travel light! He’ll carry your burdens and take the weight. Simplifying your life may mean working fewer hours, scheduling “down time” and investing more in your loved ones. Markets, assignments, personalities and situations are all different, but these principles hold true for everyone.’ Is God saying it’s time to simplify things? It doesn’t have to involve anything difficult or call for a massive lifestyle change – maybe something like checking messages on the hour instead of as soon as they arrive, or setting yourself some time each day when you free yourself from distractions and people know you’re not going to respond during that time. Simplifying doesn’t have to be complicated!

Here are three areas where we’re particularly vulnerable: 1) Discouragement. In a moment of discouragement, Peter did what he swore he would never do: deny Jesus. Discouragement can make us say things we don’t mean, and do things that are out of character. That’s why Jude writes to ‘build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the…Spirit, staying right at the centre of God’s love’ (Jude v.20-21 MSG). 2) Enthusiasm. Herod became carried away by enthusiasm. When his step-daughter danced for him, he was so delighted by her performance that he threw caution to the wind, and made an offer that he lived to regret: ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you’ (Mark 6:23 NKJV). She asked for John the Baptist’s head, and since he was a king, Herod couldn’t go back on his promise. That single moment of indulgence cost him his kingdom and his life. We must be careful where we turn for entertainment and excitement, and how we react when we find it. ‘When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death. Do not be deceived’ (James 1:15-16 NKJV). 3) Weariness. In Old Testament times, a ‘birthright’ meant the oldest son inherited twice as much of his father’s estate. Normally, Esau wouldn’t have considered selling his birthright, but he did just that when he was in a state of exhaustion (see Genesis 25:29-34). Weariness can cause us to lose perspective and make decisions based on what feels right in the moment rather than what’s right for us long term. The Bible says: ‘All these things happened to them as examples…Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall’ (1 Corinthians 10:11-12 NKJV). So, guard these three areas of vulnerability.

The book of Job has forty-two chapters. In the first forty-one chapters, Job experienced the loss of his health, his wealth, and his family. He questioned God over and over again, but only got silence as an answer. But he kept walking with God, and said, ‘When he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold’ (Job 23:10 NIV). Notice these three things about gold-making: First, to become gold, we have to go through the fire. Second, the degree of heat and the amount of time needed is decided by the refiner. Third, if we try to rush the process, we end up with a less valuable substance, like tin. God told Joshua, ‘I will give you every place where you set your foot.’ In other words, ‘To get what I have promised, we must “walk out” the process.’ American poet C.V. White wrote: ‘The [person] who succeeds never waits for the crowd. [They] strike out for [themselves}. It takes nerve, it takes a lot of grit, but the [person] that succeeds has both…Success is the accomplishment of that which people think can’t be done.’ Complacency, fatigue, doubt, criticism, and discouragement are everyday hurdles we must constantly overcome. And to do that, we need to keep on walking. There’s a common thread throughout the Bible: when we really need Him, God shows up and does for us what we can’t do for ourselves. The rest of the time – which is most of the time – He strengthens us and says, ‘You have to “walk out” the process.’

Have you ever gone to a car boot sale hoping to find a bargain? To the untrained eye, a lot of the stuff looks like rubbish. It might even have been gathering dust and mildew in somebody’s loft. But the trained eye sees treasure in disguise: items that just need to be cleaned, polished, and restored in order to become valuable again. That’s what God does with us. When Satan tells you you’re worthless, God looks inside you and sees hidden treasure. When you make Jesus the Lord of your life, He enables you to overcome your past, resist temptation, conquer bad habits, rise above any limitations you’ve put on yourself, and realise that in God’s eyes, you have great worth. You actually start believing what He said: ‘You are precious…in my sight.’ The truth is, if you keep putting yourself down, you might tend to gravitate towards people who do the same. But once you begin to realise how much value God places on you, your entire outlook changes. With God, you can’t lose. Even when you stumble and go wrong, He’ll help you to get back up, become stronger and wiser, and move on to better things. When you see yourself only as somebody who makes mistakes and falls short, you’re looking in the wrong mirror. Once you start to see yourself in the mirror of God’s Word, you see someone who is being transformed day by day into the likeness of Jesus (see 2 Corinthians 3:18). And that’s how God sees you today.

The Bible says, ‘[David] thought to himself, “One of these days, Saul is going to kill me. The only way to escape from him is to go to Philistia”’ (v.1 CEV). At other times, David had ‘enquired of the Lord’ (see 23:2, 4 NIVUK). He had also looked for advice from experienced, proven counsellors. But this time, he was guided by his fears and ended up defecting to enemy territory. And it gave him a temporary sense of relief. Looking to the wrong source can do that – but it doesn’t last. Solomon said: ‘You may think you are on the right road and still end up dead. Sorrow may hide behind laughter, and happiness may end in sorrow. You harvest what you plant, whether good or bad…be smart and know where you are headed’ (Proverbs 14:12-15 CEV). Eventually, the Philistines rejected David because they couldn’t trust him. They said, ‘Send David back to the town you gave him. We won’t have him going into the battle with us. He could turn and fight against us!’ (1 Samuel 29:4 CEV). We need to be careful when we’re in a spiritual slump, because the decisions we make can have long-lasting consequences and impacts. David ended up being rejected by the Philistines, and had no country and no family to go home to. Here’s what we can learn from his story: 1) Instead of listening to your fears, listen to God. Standing among the ruins of his life, ‘David found strength in the Lord’ (1 Samuel 30:6 NIV), and we will, too. 2) Look for wise, trusted counsellors. It’s often the last thing we’ll feel like doing, but ‘the more wise counsel you follow, the better’ (Proverbs 11:14 MSG).

God built specific triggers into our bodies to let us know when it’s time to rest. And wise people listen to these clues. History’s most notable power nappers include Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, and Winston Churchill. There’s a reason why we start to lose energy around 2pm. The levator muscles, which constantly contract to keep our eyelids open, give out and beg for a break. And a chemical called adenosine, which collects in the brain when we’re awake, piles up and makes us feel drowsy. That means our body yearns for sleep to allow the adenosine to disperse, resulting in instant relief. A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine confirms that people who nap for at least thirty minutes daily, three times weekly, are one-third less likely to die from heart disease. And additional research suggests that taking a nap can improve creativity and memory. Cognitive neuroscientist William Fishbein says that often during a brief nap, our brains actually keep working to resolve problems and form new ideas. That helps explain why Mozart professed to have composed music in his dreams. Studies also show that a little extra sleep can help us to eat more healthily. Ghrelin, a hormone produced in our intestines, tells us we’re hungry and triggers cravings for sweets, salty foods, and starches – things that can be bad for us if we have too much. However, when we sleep more, our colon stores less ghrelin, and our craving for junk food reduces. In Scripture, Jesus not only took frequent rest breaks Himself; He encouraged His disciples to do the same. So, if you can, why not try a power nap.

As followers of Jesus Christ, our direction shouldn’t come from people and be confirmed by God, it should come from God and if necessary, be confirmed by people. The Bible says: ‘Mortals make elaborate plans, but God has the last word. Humans are satisfied with whatever looks good; God probes for what is good. If we put God in charge of everything we do, and ask for His wisdom and guidance at every stage, our plans can’t fail because they're really God’s plans. He made everything with a place and purpose’ (v.1-4 MSG). We might be able to do what someone else has done, and do it even better. But first we have to ask if God has called us to do that particular thing. Before following someone else’s guidance, do these: 1) Check the source of their wisdom. ‘The Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless…he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. Then you will understand what is right and just and fair – every good path’ (Proverbs 2:6-9 NIV1984). 2) Check their motives. John wrote, ‘I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened’ (Revelation 20:12 NKJV). If one of those books were ‘the book of motives’, would our actions and accomplishments stand up under God’s scrutiny or would we be ashamed of some of the motives behind our successes? 3) Check the outcome they’re pursuing. If we chase success only because we want the power and admiration that goes with it, or we chase money just to ensure our own comfort, we’re going against one of the core principles of God’s Word: we’re blessed in order that we can be a blessing to others.

Everybody gets angry at some point. And it’s not necessarily a sin. Like a fast-flowing river, it can generate constructive energy or destructive energy, and be unleashed negatively or harnessed positively. We often misunderstand anger as something that’s done to us by others or by circumstances. We say things like, ‘I couldn’t help it; they pushed my buttons!’ ‘What could I do; they made me mad!’ That sounds like what Adam said when he was in Eden: ‘The woman you gave me made me do it!’ Since the fall of Adam and Eve, we’ve claimed to be victims of people, the devil, and circumstances beyond our control – a belief that causes us to feel helpless and at the mercy of external forces. What does God’s Word say about our anger? ‘Sensible people control their temper.’ That means when sensible people get angry, they control their emotions. No matter what the external trigger is, the answer is always an internal response. ‘The fruit of the Spirit is…self-control’ (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV). Staying filled with God’s Spirit is the key to anger management. The Bible says, ‘The grace of God…teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age’ (Titus 2:11-12 NIV). Instead of feeding anger by thinking to ourselves, ‘You can’t get away with treating me like that,’ we can hold on to the Holy Spirit within us, and try thinking, ‘No matter what you say or do, God’s Spirit lives in me, He’ll help me keep my self-control!’

Sometimes we describe dying as ‘crossing the Jordan’. That’s because the Jordan River runs into the Dead Sea. The story is told of an elderly Christian lady who was dying. For most of her life, illness had confined her to bed or a wheelchair. The family gathered to say farewell. Holding her hand, one of her grandchildren asked, ‘Are you afraid to die?’ With tears of joy, she replied, ‘No, I’m not afraid of death because my Father owns the land on both sides of the river.’ God is with us whether we’re still on earth or over in heaven. In heaven there’ll be no sickness, or depression, or pain, or loneliness, or fear, or grief, or any of the things that make life on earth so difficult. God’s Word says, ‘For you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings’ (Malachi 4:2 NRSV). Isaiah writes: ‘The ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away’ (Isaiah 35:10 NKJV). When we lose a loved one in death, the question arises, ‘Will I see them in heaven; will I know them?’ Yes! We wouldn’t know less in heaven than you knew on earth. Paul answers, ‘For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known’ (1 Corinthians 13:12 NKJV). Heaven will be the greatest family reunion of all time. And here’s the best part of all: we will never be separated again.

Do you ever wonder if there’ll be room for you in heaven? There’s no need to worry, because God has made sure there’s enough space: ‘The city was built in a square, and its length was equal to its width. The angel measured the city with the rod. The city was 1,500 miles long, 1,500 miles wide, and 1,500 miles high’ (v.16 NCV). That’s an area of over two million square miles – making the new Jerusalem bigger than most countries in the world. In fact, it’s almost twenty-four times larger than the United Kingdom, and over half the size of the entire continent of Europe! A city that big would be anything but crowded and uncomfortable. And here is something even more incredible: it’s fifteen hundred miles high! There will be no space limitations. And that confirms what Jesus said about heaven: ‘In my Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you’ (John 14:2 KJV). Do you wonder what heaven will look like? The same God who created the earth also designed heaven, and Paul said that heaven will be ‘far better’ (Philippians 1:23 NKJV). So try thinking of the most beautiful place you have ever visited and multiply that scene by infinity. That’s how beautiful heaven is. John the Revelator described it in these words: ‘The City shimmered like a precious gem, light-filled, pulsing light’ (Revelation 21:12 MSG). There is such beauty in our world – think of a beautiful mountain scene, a countryside walk, stars filling the night sky, as just a few examples – but heaven will be even better. Jesus died so that we could go to heaven. But we don’t go by chance; we go by choice. So, have you placed your trust in Christ to be your Saviour? If so, see you there!

Here are three more steps to forgiveness: 1) Accept people as they are and don’t try to change them. We might be tempted to say, ‘I’ll only forgive them if they change.’ That just keeps us tied to them, obsessing over what they did and demanding they act in ways that we approve of. Nothing makes people less willing to change than when we try to control them and demand that they meet our requirements. Changing people isn’t our job – it’s God’s job! Our job is to choose to forgive, then leave the rest in God’s hands. The formula for healing is this: forgive, let go, and let God. 2) See if you can turn the hurt to good or use it for growth. For example, when we’ve been betrayed, it puts us in a great position to use our experiences to help someone else who’s experiencing betrayal. The life of Joseph demonstrates how we can use our experiences for growth. The path that led him from the pit to the palace was paved by injustice, disappointment, and betrayal. But God used each painful circumstance to get him to his destiny. And God can do the same for us. 3) If you can, try reconciling with your offender. This isn’t always possible, and depending on the type of hurt we've been through, it might end up causing more pain. But if it’s appropriate, we should try to reconcile. Reconciliation is God’s nature. ‘When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son’ (Romans 5:10 KJV). And what God did for us, He wants us to do for whoever we’ve been in conflict with. Jesus made reconciliation a top priority by saying, ‘Leave your gift there before the altar…First be reconciled…then come and offer your gift’ (Matthew 5:24 NKJV). It takes selflessness and humility, but it is worth it.

The misery of living with unforgiveness in our hearts always lasts longer than the pain of the offence. Whenever we hold on to resentment, we open the door to bitterness that eats away at us. Forgiving brings healing to our wounds and restores our joy. Here are two steps to help with forgiveness: 1) Remember that you’ve been unconditionally forgiven. We need to remember God’s grace towards us, and the price Jesus paid for our forgiveness. If we refuse to show mercy, we become like the man Jesus said was forgiven an enormous debt, but was unwilling to forgive another man’s much smaller debt to him (you can read about this in Matthew 18:23-34). The grace God extends to us leaves us with no grounds to refuse the same grace to a person who has hurt us. Forgiveness can take time, and it doesn’t mean we forget the offence, just that we refuse to carry the bitterness any longer. 2) Release the offender from the debt they owe you. We could be totally justified in saying, ‘They owe me for what they did!’ Friends may agree, and even the law may agree. We might also think that the only way our offender will ‘learn to do what’s right’ is if they’re made to pay for the wrong they did. But as long as we hold on to that attitude, we’re chained to the past. It can hold us in its grip, so our future is being held hostage by the past’s control. Our offender’s sin was paid for by the same sacrificial love that cancelled our own sin debt, so they have the same need and right to forgiveness that each one of us has. Forgiveness isn't just for their benefit, but for ours too: ‘Forgive, and you will be forgiven’ (Luke 6:37 NIV).

Going through difficult times can teach us to do these two things: 1) Trust God more because we've experienced His faithfulness; or 2) Worry, think, and incessantly talk about the ‘what ifs’ in life. And there are lots of them to think about, because the future rests in God’s hands and not ours. It’s possible for a thing to seem much bigger to us than it really is. That’s the essence of worry. It’s like a snowball; it starts small, but as you roll it over and over in your mind, it becomes bigger and bigger until it has the potential to bury you. The answer is to ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding’ (Proverbs 3:5 NKJV). First we need to fill our hearts with God’s Word. Then develop the habit of letting what’s in our hearts be more real to us than what we see, think, or feel. We can choose to think about what God can do instead of what we cannot do. If we obsess about the difficulty of a situation, we’ll end up in despair and feel trapped by it. When that happens, it’s easy to panic and begin to do things that can make the problem worse. Instead, ‘Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.’ The word ‘sustain’ means to strengthen, support, and hold us up. God might not take us out of a difficult situation immediately, but His sustaining grace will bring us through it. So today, give your problem to God.

The Christian life can sound so straightforward sometimes, can’t it? For example, Luke 6:38 assures us, ‘Give, and you will receive. You will be given much. Pressed down, shaken together, and running over, it will spill into your lap. The way you give to others is the way God will give to you’ (NCV). But what about when we’ve given it our best shot, tried to do the right thing, trusted, been generous, and prayed – but life’s still a struggle? It’s discouraging and sometimes makes us feel like giving up. The disciples went through this feeling. They were experienced fishermen, but they had fished all night and caught nothing, so now they were discouraged. That’s when Jesus turned up! When they thought there was nothing more that could be done, He stepped into their boat. And He still works that way. As long as we think we can handle a situation ourselves, Jesus knows we’ll keep trying to. So, sometimes He waits until we’ve tried everything we can do and acknowledged that we’re out of options, before He gets involved. ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch,’ He instructed (Luke 5:4 NIV). Peter replied, ‘We have already tried that and the fish just aren’t biting.’ Maybe Peter was thinking, ‘Lord, you’re the preacher, but I’m a professional fisherman. If there was anything out there, I would have caught it.’ Jesus was saying, ‘This time, try it my way!’ Peter replied, ‘Master…becauseyousayso, I will.’ And that’s when the miracle happened. Whatever Peter thought or felt, he obeyedJesus anyway. That’s when a situation begins to change. When we’re clueless and helpless, thinking there’s no way out, just sit quietly and listen, and Jesus will tell us what to do. And when He does, even if we have questions, let’s say like Peter, ‘Master, because you say so, I will obey.’ Then, prepare for results only God can give.

If you were in charge of recruiting people for a job, what would you look for? Skill, dedication, punctuality, reliability, patience, kindness, and consistency? Jesus said, ‘Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much’ (Luke 16:10 NIV). Life is mostly made up of little things, so if someone is unfaithful in little things, they’ll probably be unfaithful in most of life. We might have a ‘guilt pile’ – a stack of tasks and items that we keep meaning to sort out, but haven’t got round to yet. Faithfulness includes how we handle it. It might not matter much to us that someone has sent a message that we’ve read and not replied to yet, but that person might be waiting for an answer. Their peace of mind might be counting on it. So how do you manage the little things in life? Jesus said, ‘If you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?’ (v.12 NIV). Imagine you owned the university you attend, or the company you work for, or the supermarket you shop at. Would your respect for the resources and objects there change at all? Would you treat things better? How we handle things that aren’t ours is a test of faithfulness to God. Faithfulness is important in all areas of life. God says we’ll be rewarded for our faithfulness, so we need to do our best wherever we are and whatever we’re doing. ‘Work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters’ (Colossians 3:23 NIV). As followers of Jesus, we should have reputations for being the most dependable, reliable, and trustworthy people – because we know who our true boss is!

Here are three truths from Scripture that can help strengthen our faith: First, believe that God is real. The New King James Version of the Bible translates Hebrews 11:6 as ‘believe that He is.’ It’s forceful language that’s much more than a vague acknowledgment of God’s existence. There’s no room for doubt in a statement like that. Many different religions claim there are lots of gods, but the God of the Bible isn’t one of them – or even the best of them. He’s the only true God! And this Scripture says He is uniquely, genuinely, permanently present and active. Second, believe that God is able. When two blind men came to Jesus for healing, He asked, ‘“Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”’ (Matthew 9:28-29 NIV). Immediately, they could see. Jesus knew He was able to heal them, but He wanted them to know He was able. Until we truly believe in God’s ability to meet our needs, our prayers will lack confidence and we’ll find it difficult to trust Him. Third, believe that God is willing. After knowing He is able, we must take a step of belief. A leper approached Jesus saying, ‘“Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus…touched him, saying, “I am willing;be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed’ (Matthew 8:2-3 NASB). God is willing to help us – His Word even says, ‘he rewards those who truly want to find him.’ That leaves no room for doubt. Today, let’s be thankful to our true, real God, who is able and willing to love and help us.

Can you remember who first introduced you to God and encouraged your faith to grow? Maybe it’s something that’s only happened recently. Or maybe you can’t remember a time when you didn’t know about Him. Timothy probably fell into the second group. In the Bible, Paul the apostle wrote to Timothy, advising him in his work as a missionary. In Paul’s second letter, he writes: ‘I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you’ (2 Timothy 1:5 NLT). Later on, he says: ‘You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus’ (2 Timothy 3:14-15 NLT). Timothy’s mother and grandmother were instrumental in teaching Timothy about God, setting him a good example, and nurturing his faith, which led to him being open to the salvation Jesus offers and realising his calling. Today is Mothering Sunday – a reminder to us that we should honour our mothers, as God has commanded us (take a look at Exodus 20:12). For many of us, our mothers and fathers were the people who had the biggest influence on us as we grew physically, mentally, and spiritually. But not all of us had parents who believed. So today, as well as honouring your mother, why not think about the person (or people) who’s nurtured your faith and helped you grow spiritually? Who’s set you a great example of living as a Christian? Who’s been as concerned for your spiritual health as a mother would be for her child’s physical health? Why not say thank you to them today, too?

The psalmist doesn’t start off with words like ‘maybe’, or ‘perhaps’, or ‘possibly’, or ‘hopefully’. He says, ‘Surely’, which is a term of certainty. ‘Surely’ means absolutely; without a doubt! There are a lot of things in life we can’t be sure of. You’re sure you’ll pass an exam, but then on the day you’re not feeling your best, and things don’t go as well as you expected. The car that you saved up for and are proud of could suddenly be written off when a careless driver crashes into it as it’s parked by the side of the road. You could work for the same company for years believing your job is secure, but then they downsize and you’re unexpectedly made redundant. As redeemed children of God, here are two things we can be sure of: God’s ‘goodness and mercy’. What’s your concept of God? That’s an important question, so think about it before you answer. How you perceive and think of God will determine your confidence in Him. David was far from perfect. If he'd been alive today, some of his actions would have made sensational headlines in the tabloid newspapers. But he never doubted God’s goodness and mercy towards him: ‘This I know, that God is for me’ (Psalm 56:9 NASB). Jesus said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ (Hebrews 13:5 NKJV). God’s goodness guarantees every need we have can be met, and His mercy guarantees that every sin we commit can be forgiven. Just as sheepdogs drive strays back into the fold, God’s goodness and mercy will drive us back into His loving arms every time.

The Bible says: ‘God has given each of you a gift from his great variety…Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God’ (v.10-11 NLT). You might not be fortunate enough to work at a job that makes use of your particular gifts, but it’s a good idea to try and keep moving towards one that does. So if you know you’re a creative person with aptitude for design and visual arts, and you find yourself exasperated by an admin job, it might be time to rethink your career goals. If you love to solve the problem when your computer crashes, but you’re working as a pastry chef, maybe it’s time to step back and reassess. We might not immediately be able to make a living doing something that involves our strongest passions, so we might have to start out by working in an area that’s very different from it. And that’s okay. It’s important to be practical and realistic. Paul worked as a tentmaker to fund his calling as a preacher. But our sights must stay set on following God’s calling. Moses spent two-thirds of his life getting ready for his real assignment leading the children of Israel into the promised land. God never wastes experience. Often the wisdom we gain from a job we don’t really want can actually equip us to succeed in the one we do want; the one God has chosen. So let’s keep growing and keep trusting God. Then, when He opens the right door, we’ll be ready to walk through it.

‘The scribes and Pharisees brought to Him a woman caught in adultery…they said to Him, “Teacher,…Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned. But what do You say?”…Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”…When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, “Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more”’ (v.3-7, 10-11 NKJV). That day Jesus demonstrated three things: 1) The hypocrisy of a double standard. The woman had been ‘caught in the very act’, so surely they knew who the man was, too. But only the woman was accused of sin. There are still lots of double standards today that look down on one group of people for their behaviour, while excusing, or even praising, another group for exactly the same actions. The Pharisees used stones, we use words, but whatever the weapon, the victim ends up wounded. 2) Who alone is qualified to judge. ‘He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.’ Who was the only sinless one among them that day? Jesus! So He alone is qualified to judge. 3) You can rise above your past. ‘Go and sin no more.’ Those words could be rephrased, ‘Go, and because you have had an encounter with Jesus, you can rise above your past.’

The words ‘Your word is a lamp to my feet’ mean that we’re supposed to walk according to God’s will and not our own thoughts, wishes, or impulses. The words ‘and a light to my path’ mean that we can’t go in any direction we choose; we need to follow the path that God has planned for us. We’ll never go wrong by reading the Bible for guidance, wisdom, and direction, but it’s important that we keep the Scriptures in context. Don’t use the ‘open-window method’, allowing the wind to blow across the pages of your Bible, then shutting your eyes, pointing to a verse and saying, ‘This is where God’s leading me on this.’ If we do that, we could end up with the verse, ‘Judas went away and hanged himself,’ as the verse to guide our day! God can and sometimes does guide us to a particular chapter or verse, but we can’t just open the Bible at random and expect the page we land on to have the answer. Imagine this scene: Someone goes to their doctor with a problem, but instead of asking questions or doing an examination, the doctor immediately says, ‘It’s a problem with your liver.’ The patient asks, ‘How do you know?’ The doctor replies, ‘Well, I sat by the window a few moments ago and trusted God to blow the pages of my anatomy book to your problem – and the topic on the page was “liver”’. We wouldn’t accept that method to determine our health, so we shouldn’t be willing to accept it when it comes to God’s Word. Some people practise this kind of theological ’superstition’, then get into trouble and say, ‘Well, God led me,’ when God had nothing to do with their choices. But whenever we read the scriptural phrase, ‘This is the will of God,’ we can be sure that it really is His will.

In the fourteenth century, there wasn’t a single copy of the Bible in English! It was available only in Latin, the language of the clergy. The valuable Bibles were chained to the podiums of churches and cathedrals. Then John Wycliffe, a prominent professor of divinity at Oxford University said, ‘This isn’t right. People should be able to read the Bible in their own language.’ Church leaders called him a heretic and an instrument of the devil. Like Noah who pounded the nails into the ark while people ridiculed and scorned him, Wycliffe began work on translating the Scriptures as a flood of persecution emerged around him. When the translation was finally finished, he wrote this in the flyleaf of the first copy of the English Scriptures: ‘This Bible is translated and shall make possible a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.’ Thirty years after Wycliffe died, he was again proclaimed a heretic, and his body was dug up, his bones were burned to dust, and his ashes were thrown into the River Swift, a tributary of the River Avon. A historian of that time describes the scene like this: ‘Thus this brook hath conveyed his ashes into (the river) Avon, Avon into Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, they into the ocean. And thus ashes…are the emblem of his doctrine…now…dispersed the world over.’ Peter wrote, ‘“The word of the Lord endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.’ It’s a privilege that God shared His Word with us, and it’s also a privilege that we can read it in our own language. So, treasure your Bible.

When God gives us visions of what He wants us to do, we’ll often have to go against the flow of the world to achieve them. Society is often resistant to change, not because people can’t see the benefit, but because the status quo is familiar, and it takes more energy to change than to stay the same. They want what was, not what can be. They look for safety and simple answers. So, we need to give ourselves permission to go a different way, to break new ground. Paul said, ‘I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision.’ It was his consuming passion and the central focus of his life. He got up every morning thinking about it and went to bed every night thinking about it. And at the end of his life, he could say, ‘I have finished the race…Finally, there is laid up for me the crown’ (2 Timothy 4:7-8 NKJV). No one achieves greatness by being unfocused and general about their vision. Whatever our vision, whether it’s to build a great church, or a great business, or a great ‘anything’, we’ll need focus to get there. Author Harry A. Overstreet observed: ‘The immature mind hops from one thing to another; the mature mind seeks to follow through.’ Not every area of life needs deliberately focused thinking time. We can be selective, asking ourselves questions like these: What has God called me to do? What’s my role in it? What skill sets do I need to sharpen? What knowledge do I need to get or grow? What relationships and connections do I need to build? The first question Paul asked when God gave him his vision was, ‘What do You want me to do?’ (Acts 9:6 NKJV). And today that’s the question we need to ask God, too.

Job lost his wealth, his health, and his children. The book he wrote is a conversation between himself and God. At the beginning of it, Job says, ‘Hear now my argument’ (Job 13:6 NIV). He’s asking, ‘Why has all this happened to me?’ At this point he’s totally self-focused. But by the middle of his book, Job has grown spiritually and now he takes a different approach. Instead of reasoning, he decides to stand on God’s Word: ‘But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread’ (Job 23:10-12 NIVUK). By the last chapter in his book, Job has decided to trust God completely: ‘I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted…My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you’ (Job 42:2, 5 NIV). Job has finally arrived at the place where he can say, ‘I trust God; there is no need to worry!’ After nine months of worrying, questioning, and reasoning, he decides he doesn’t need answers to all his questions, he only needs to know that God cares for him. And his story ends in these words: ‘The Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before’ (v.10 NIV). So whenever we have worries, let’s remember Job’s example, and keep our minds fixed on God and His love for us.

David said: ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over’ (v.4-5 NKJV). God didn’t promise that we wouldn’t have to deal with death, or fear, or evil, or enemies. He simply said that in spite of them, and sometimes in the midst of them, He'll still pour His abundant blessings over us. Next time you pour a cup of tea or coffee and it laps over onto the saucer, you have an ‘overflowing’ or a ‘surplus’. Our God is a God of surplus, of plenty. Paul wrote, ‘God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others’ (2 Corinthians 9:8 NLT). He saturates us with joy and peace ‘so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit’ (Romans 15:13 NIV). He generously gives a surplus of joy – He causes us to ‘rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory’ (1 Peter 1:8 NKJV). He also provides a surplus of peace – He gives ‘the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding’ (Philippians 4:7 NKJV). So whenever we’re struggling, or fearing the future, we can gain some confidence back by saying out loud, ‘God is my source; I have more than enough, my cup overflows.’ We don’t even have to wait until we’re in times of need or crisis; we can make it a habit every day.

Jesus said, ‘If you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?’ (Luke 16:11 NIV). If we aren’t faithful to God when it comes to small amounts of money, we're unlikely to be able to handle greater financial blessings in a way that honours Him. What does it mean to be faithful in our finances? Paul wrote: ‘On every Lord’s Day each of you should put aside something from what you have earned during the week, and use it for this offering. The amount depends on how much the Lord has helped you earn.’ That means three things: 1) Regular giving. Note the words ‘every Lord’s Day’. There's a system to it, not just on and off. It’s not, ‘I feel good today, so I’m going to give to God.’ If we tried that strategy with repaying a bank loan or credit card bill, we wouldn't get very far. Regular giving involves commitment. 2) Planned giving. ‘You should put aside something from what you have earned.’ When we're in a position to give, we should spend time talking to God so we can discern the amount He wants us to give. If we don’t plan ahead, it’s more difficult to give consistently. 3) Proportional giving. ‘The amount depends on how much the Lord has helped you earn.’ If God blesses us financially, we should prayerfully think about increasing our giving. God is the One who enables us to earn money, and it's only right that we give something back into His kingdom when He asks us to. He'll be delighted by our faith, and He promises that we can trust Him to meet our own needs.

Even when we’re living right and doing all the right things, life can still be draining. We don’t have to be doing anything wrong – just the whole experience of being alive on this planet can wear us down. The combination of the world, the flesh, and the devil can suck the spiritual vitality right out of us. Does any of the following sound relatable? You try to pray, but no words come. You know you ought to read your Bible, but when you try, the letters on the page all run together and none of it makes any sense, and you lose concentration easily. And you just don’t want to listen to spiritual people, especially when you suspect they might be faking their positive viewpoints in order to sound more ‘holy’. You’re just going through the spiritual motions, nodding and saying amen; but in your soul, you’re running on empty. If any of that sounds familiar, it’s time to turn to God who can give us rest. David, who had been a shepherd, said that God ‘makes’ us lie down. That’s because just like sheep, we’d keep on wandering all over the place and wearing ourselves out. Note two things David says: 1) ‘He makes me to lie down in green pastures.’ The word ‘green’ means ‘fresh’. Each day we need a fresh encounter with God through prayer and a fresh intake of His Word. Our spiritual life can actually go stale if we don’t make the effort to keep it fresh. 2) ‘He leads me beside the still waters’ (v.2 NKJV). The word ‘still’ means we need times of quietness and reflection. ‘Be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10 KJV). The only way to know God intimately, sense His leading, and draw on His strength is to ‘be still’.

Here are two important prayer principles: 1) When troubles are surrounding us, we should talk to God. During good times, we have a tendency to trust in ourselves instead of God. It’s the troubled times that drive us to prayer – a worrying health issue, a failed exam, conflict in the family, or fears about the future are just some examples. God can use times of trouble to help us realise that we need Him. Hosea the prophet said, ‘In their misery they will earnestly seek [God]’ (Hosea 5:15 NIV). God’s fatherly heart wants above all that we abide and confide in Him. And sometimes it takes trouble to convince us to trust Him. But when we turn to Him in our troubles, we discover that He is ‘our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble’ (Psalm 46:1 NLT). 2) Talk to God at all times. In his widely-read classic, The Practice of the Presence of God, Brother Lawrence speaks of prayer as a continual conversation with God – a practice for all times, places, and circumstances. While cooking and washing dishes, he found talking to God as satisfying as in his allotted prayer times. He counsels us: ‘That we may accustom ourselves to a continual conversation with Him…in simplicity. That we need only to recognise God intimately present with us, and to address ourselves to Him every moment.’ That sounds like Paul’s instructions on the subject: ‘Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests…always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people’ (Ephesians 6:18 NIV).

A few years ago, there were very few 24-hour shops or restaurants. If we wanted something, we had to stick to the shop’s opening time. Not anymore: now we have supermarkets that are open round the clock, drive-throughs whenever we feel hungry or thirsty, and instant access to many services online. But that’s how God has always operated; He’s available 24/7. And although praying isn’t limited to set times, there are certain times when it’s vital that we talk to God. Here are two: 1) When we’ve sinned. Our emotions of guilt and shame, plus Satan ‘the accuser’, will try to convince us to avoid God. But turning to Him is the only solution to sin. David was burdened by adultery, deception, and murder, when he realised he needed to confess his sin to God. ‘Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow…Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me’ (v.7, 10 NIVUK). John said God is ‘faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9 NIV). When we’ve sinned, a fresh new beginning is only a prayer away. 2) When we’re worried and afraid. We don’t have to look too far to find things to worry about; they’re all around us. Money worries, employment problems, health issues, and family concerns can make us stressed-out and anxious. Where can we turn? To God. Prayer is God’s answer to fear and anxiety. ‘Don’t worry over anything whatever; tell God every detail of your needs in…thankful prayer, and the peace of God which transcends human understanding, will keep constant guard over your hearts and minds’ (Philippians 4:6-7 PHPS).

Here are two more ways to know God’s will for our lives: 1) Favourable circumstances. When God is leading, the way will open up for us. When He sends us, He goes before us first (see John 10:4). His Word says, ‘When I open a door, no one can close it. And when I close a door, no one can open it.’ God opens the right doors and closes the wrong doors. The right doors lead to blessing, but the wrong doors lead to confusion, pain, or loss. Only unbelief can keep a door closed once God has commanded it to open. Just as Moses said, all we need to do is this: ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today.’ (Exodus 14:13 NIV). 2) Inner ‘traffic lights’. Sone people might talk about ‘checks’ in their spirit – moments where they get a sense that they need to stop wait, or go. When we first accept God into our lives, we become new people with new spiritual natures that are ‘alive to God’ (Romans 6:11 NIV), and that means we’re equipped to sense God moving within us. It’s helpful to get advice from wise and mature Christians, but God should have the word in our hearts. ‘It is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfil his good purpose’ (Philippians 2:13 NIVUK). If we’re completely open to God’s leading, He’ll be at work within us, directing our will and behaviours. He will give us the ‘red light’ when He wants us to stop, the ‘amber light’ when He wants us to pause for a moment, and the ‘green light’ when He wants you to go. Don’t go on red! Don’t ignore the amber! Don’t stop on green!

Always try to do these two things: First, recognise God’s Word as the final authority for deciding God’s will (see Isaiah 8:20). The Bible speaks clearly on life’s important issues. Every other source of guidance we accept needs to agree with it. We don’t need theological training, we just need to let God speak through His Word before we look for anybody else’s opinion. For example, to tell a lie is unacceptable because God insists, ‘You shall not…lie’ (Leviticus 19:11 NKJV). End of discussion. No other opinion is needed when God’s Word is clear. But here’s a word of warning: the Bible is a book of principles, not a multiple-choice do-it-yourself manual. If we pick isolated Scriptures without reading them in context and asking God for wisdom about them, we’ll end up in confusion, not clarity. For instance, ‘all things are yours’ (1 Corinthians 3:21 NKJV) isn’t permission to choose whatever we want! But what if we search the Bible without finding anything that settles the issue we’re facing? Then it’s time for this next step: Recognise the inner nudges of the Holy Spirit. But how can we know they’re from the Holy Spirit? It takes some experience and practice to learn, but the first stage is to be sure we’ve fully submitted our will to God. Our ‘impressions’ on a topic mustn’t contradict other biblical principles. If they do, they’re not from God. Here is the Holy Spirit’s assignment: ‘When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth…he will shew you things to come’ (John 16:13 KJV). Don’t be in a hurry. If it’s from God’s Spirit, it will become stronger and clearer with time and prayer. If not, it will gradually fade. So wait prayerfully!

Monday 6 March

‘When I open a door, no one can close it.’ Revelation 3:7 CEV

Remember the party game Pin the Tail on the Donkey? Winning in that game was ‘a-stab-in-the-dark’ process. And many of us resort to a similar method for working out God’s will and purpose for our lives. But it doesn’t have to be like that. Here are some scriptural strategies that take the guesswork out of it. 1) Commit yourself to obeying God’s will. We won’t be able to understand God’s will until we wholeheartedly commit ourselves to doing it. If we hold on to a desire to go our own way, it’ll blind us to His way. We often want all the details, but we don’t actually need them to get started – it’s a journey of faith. We can be confident that God loves us and wants only the best for us. When we submit ourselves to Him, we will ‘be able to decide what God wants for you; you will know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect’ (Romans 12:2 NCV). 2) Listen for the Shepherd’s voice and trust it. Jesus doesn’t leave us alone to figure out His will for our lives. He’s our Good Shepherd, and His ‘sheep recognise his voice…He…leads them…and they follow him because they know his voice’ (John 10:3-4 NLT). Pay attention to the words, ‘recognise his voice’. With time and experience, we’ll learn to know when God is speaking to us. Just like Abraham, who submitted to God’s will without knowing where it would take him, we’re called to surrender our will without knowing where He’ll lead us. It takes faith, but it’s worth it. God promises wisdom, insight, and understanding to any person who lacks them (see James 1:5-6). So let’s believe and trust Him when He calls us.

When Samuel went to present Saul to the people of Israel as their first king, Saul was nowhere to be seen. Eventually, God revealed that he was ‘hiding behind the baggage’. How many of us feel like doing the same when God calls us to do something? We often put limitations on ourselves that prevent us from tackling the job God’s given us – limitations like these: 1) Feeling like we’re not good enough. Saul’s first response when he learned he had been chosen as king was, ‘Am I not…from the smallest tribe of Israel,…the least of all?’ (1 Samuel 9:21 NIV). When we exclude God from the equation, we’ll always feel ‘less than’. Instead of focusing on our own weaknesses and inabilities, we should try to concentrate on ‘the incredible greatness of God’s power’ (Ephesians 1:19 NLT). 2) Fear of what others might think. The writer of Proverbs tells us ‘fearing people is a dangerous trap’ (Proverbs 29:25 NLT). And Saul fell headfirst into it! When Samuel confronted him for failing to destroy the Amalekites, he replied, ‘I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded’ (1 Samuel 15:24 NLT). God’s Word assures us, ‘“I will never leave you; I will never abandon you.” So we can be sure when we say, “I will not be afraid because the Lord is my helper. People can’t do anything to me”’ (Hebrews 13:5-6 NCV). As soon as we claim that truth, we’ll discover that there’s nothing to be afraid of. 3) Being overly pragmatic. When he didn’t hear from God, Saul took matters into his own hands and got advice from a psychic. And after promising not to harm David, he repeatedly hunted him down. Adaptability is a good thing, but God also requires consistency and commitment from us. Even when we’re waiting for Him to answer, we can still trust that He’s in control.

Here are some of the reasons we might give up on something: 1) We fear failure. Past hurts and mistakes haunt us, and we think it’s better not to try than to risk failing. We all have mistakes and regrets in our past we would rather forget, but we need to put them behind us and refuse to be held back by them, especially when it's God who's telling us it's time to move forwards. Paul wrote, ‘Forgetting those things which are behind…[reach] forward to those things which are ahead’ (Philippians 3:13 NKJV). 2) We worry what people will say. ‘Fear of human opinion disables’ (Proverbs 29:25 MSG). One of the most important choices we'll ever make is how we choose to respond to criticism. There'll always be people who won’t like or understand us and what we do. But the only opinion that really matters is God's. 3) We listen to the wrong voices. Satan is the Father of Lies, and he'll do everything he can to discourage us. Paul said, ‘Demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God,…take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV). When a thought comes, examine it. If it’s from God, let it in; if it’s from Satan, ‘demolish’ it. 4) We lose focus. As believers, we should walk by faith, not by sight (see 2 Corinthians 5:7). That means making every decision based on what God says and not what we see with our natural eyes. 5) We lose touch with other believers. When the apostles got out of jail, they went back to ‘their own company’ (Acts 4:23 KJV). We need fellowship with other Christians to stay strong. One of the hardest parts of a project or a spiritual or emotional journey is often the moment just before a breakthrough. So many people give up when they're actually on the verge of a lightbulb moment or amazing discovery; so keep going, and don’t even think of giving up!

You overslept, you dropped your phone and the screen cracked, the car wouldn’t start, you arrived late, and your laptop crashed and lost your latest assignment! Things like these can make us lose our tempers, but only if we let them. Solomon said, ‘A quick-tempered person does foolish things,’ so if we tend to fly into a rage, we need to expect the fallout that follows. The Bible says, ‘Patience is better than strength. Controlling your temper is better than capturing a city’ (Proverbs 16:32 NCV). Anger always comes back to bite us eventually, and can even end up doing more damage than the thing that triggered it. David said, ‘Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on your altar’ (Psalm 5:3 MSG). Start by offering your day to God, then you’ll be less likely to react in anger when things go wrong. One pastor wrote: ‘Our time here is short. What a shame to let something that happened – twenty years or twenty minutes ago – ruin your day. I’ve made up my mind to enjoy every single one. I may make mistakes; things may not go my way. I may be disappointed, but I’m going to live my life happy. I’m not going to let what does or doesn’t happen steal my joy. Every morning I say, “Father, this is going to be a great day. I thank you that I have discipline, self-control; that I make good decisions. I may not have done what I could have yesterday, but that day is gone. I’m going to do better today.”’ A good visual reminder is to think of a car's windscreen and its rear-view mirror. The windscreen is big and the mirror small – in other words, what’s behind us isn’t anywhere near as important as what’s ahead. So keep looking forwards, and no matter what happens today, don’t lose your peace.

Most insurance companies are trustworthy. They’ll cover us through many of the seasons and incidents of life. But not all insurance companies are like that. In some cases, the moment you make a claim, they either hike up the renewal payments, make it awkward to follow through on the claim or find a sneaky way to cancel the policy or void the insurance. But the insurance policy we have with God is awesome. The premiums were paid by Jesus’ blood when He spoke these words: ‘It is finished’ (John 19:30) – which means ‘paid in full’. There are different kinds of insurance that cover things like fire, property, theft, health, vehicles, and death. But the only insurance policy that can cover us beyond death is the one God offers. And we don’t even have to worry about reading the ‘small print’, because He will never cancel it. Paul lays the facts out clearly for us: ‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?…in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Romans 8:35, 37-39 NKJV). If you've repented of your sins and placed your trust in Christ to be your Saviour, then you’re covered for time and eternity. In the words of the song 'Amazing grace', ‘Through many dangers, toils, and snares, I have already come; ’tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.’

How else can we support someone who’s experiencing grief, perhaps for the first time in their life? Here’s some advice: 1) Be honest. If you’ve been through grief yourself, let them know that it’s a process, not something that’ll just suddenly disappear one day and they’ll wake up feeling back to normal. If it’s appropriate, share something of your own experience so they know they’re not alone in how they feel. 2) Accept how they’re feeling. ‘There is a time to weep…to mourn…to lose’ (v.4, 6 NKJV). Don’t try to make light of their pain or expect them to get over it quickly. (We might try to do this because we’re uncomfortable with witnessing someone else’s grief, but it’s really a privilege to be trusted so much that they feel safe to share their raw feelings of loss.) Give them the space and safety to feel sadness, anger, confusion, and any other emotion that can come with grief. 3) Be a sensitive listener. Ask how they’re feeling. Everyone’s grieving process is different, so don’t assume you know what their emotions are at that moment. If they need to talk, give them the space to talk; if they want to sit in silence, simply sit with them and let your presence be a comfort to them. If they want to pray, pray with them. 4) Let them be honest. Sometimes a grieving person needs to relieve pressure by expressing negative emotions like anger and resentment. If their loved one was suffering, they may feel a sense of relief, as well as guilt for having that feeling. They may be angry at God. Thank them for being honest, and ask them if they want to talk more about how they’re feeling. A true friend in a time of grief is such a blessing. Let’s not be afraid of helping someone through loss.

Jesus was never too busy to show compassion to hurting people. One of the best ways to recover from our own loss is to take our memories and turn them into motivators, then reach out in love to others who are hurting. When someone is mourning the loss of a loved one, we might feel awkward and unsure what to say or do. But often it’s not our words or actions that make the difference – it’s simply our presence and love. When two teenagers died in a car accident, their parents decided to have a joint wake. Over a thousand people attended, with some of them waiting up to three hours to comfort the bereaved families. When one man who’d stood by himself in line finally reached the front, he said, ‘I don’t know your children and I’ve never met you. But I came here tonight because I had a son who died two years ago. I know how it feels. In the days ahead you’ll go through every emotion you can imagine. I just want you to know that I’m here for you if you ever need to talk.’ Then he pressed his business card into their hand and walked away. A stranger gave three hours of his time to people he didn’t know, because he wanted to help them through the most tragic experience of their lives. If we’ve been through the grieving process ourselves, we’re in a great position to help a friend find their way through it. It’s in reaching out to others that we become more like Jesus, and we ourselves are made whole.

Researchers at the Colorado Institute of Grief give us this helpful four-stage path to recovery after a painful loss. Stage one – Shock. Our initial response is one of denial and disbelief. ‘I can’t believe this is happening…it’s not real!’ There is a numbing of our senses, a God-designed natural ’anaesthesia’ that buffers the early blow and allows us time to gather our coping mechanisms. Stage two – Protest. We feel anger and resentment against God, but at the same time, we feel guilty for blaming Him. We might blame ourselves, the doctors, the patient, and question God’s love and faithfulness. We might even start bargaining with Him: ‘If You’ll just do a miracle and bring them back, I will do this…’ Stage three – Disorganisation. Everything comes apart at the seams. The lifestyle we knew and loved unravels. The dreams we treasured suddenly evaporate. We feel hopeless, powerless, lost in a strange, empty universe. Secondary losses might start to hit us: financial insecurity, social upheaval, depression, loss of concentration, and so on. We become convinced that life will never be normal again. We survive moment to moment, afraid to look at what’s ahead. Stage four – Reorganisation. Unrelenting grief gives way to waves of sadness that vary in frequency and intensity. We begin to accept and accommodate our loss. The energy we spent on grief slowly becomes available again, enabling us to adjust to the demands and opportunities of our new lifestyle. Slowly we re-emerge and take hold of the reins again. The process can take many months, and full recovery can even take years. But God promises it will come! There will be ‘a time to heal…to build up…to laugh…to dance’ and ‘to gain!’ (Ecclesiastes 3:3-4, 6 NKJV).

God’s Word doesn’t ignore or trivialise the painful realities of life. Inevitably, we and our loved ones will experience life’s losses. Things like illness, ageing, death, divorce, disability, loss of independence, unemployment, money worries, and so on. Today’s culture tends to prepare us for gain, but not for loss. It equips us for ‘a time to dance’, but not ‘a time to mourn’ (Ecclesiastes 3:4 NIV). Major losses throw us into unknown territory, so we need to understand the dynamics of loss in order to help us through it and begin the process of regaining our joy. The most life-changing loss is bereavement – the agony of feeling that something or someone indispensable to us has been ripped away. It can leave us feeling cheated. Then comes grief – painful, raw emotions of overwhelming sorrow that often come with anger, distress, confusion, and helplessness. Next, we move into the mourning stage – where we begin to express our grief and loss. This is the ‘hard work’ stage of tears, memories, and heartrending cries that shake us to our core. We feel guilt and remorse over what we have said or done, or not said and done. Our heartache gives those around us an opportunity to offer the comfort and reassurance we need to begin healing. This is God’s system for healing broken hearts. The Israelites’ beloved leader died at the age of 120, leaving behind him a grief-stricken nation (see Deuteronomy 34). And God gave them thirty days to mourn their loss and to comfort one another before getting back to day-to-day life. So take the time you need to do the work of mourning your losses, because Jesus said, ‘Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted’ (Matthew 5:4 KJV).

Jon Walker wrote, ‘When Jesus told Peter, “Satan has asked to sift…you as wheat”…it raises the question in our minds, Lord, did you have to say yes? A good sifting brings glory to God, such as when Job continued to praise his Maker when things seemed lost and even his wife was telling him to give up on God. It probes your weaknesses. Where you’re still thinking, “I can,” a good, swift sift will push you to say, “I can’t, but God can.” It allows God to scrape away the distractions that could hinder you from fulfilling His purpose in your life. Peter’s sifting…would scrape away all his stomp-and-snort bluster, revealing a heart that’s teachable and willing to welcome Cornelius and his Gentile clan into the family of God. Notice, Jesus didn’t say, “Get ready for a whirlwind of hurt, Peter. I know you’re going to let me down!” Instead He pointed to the future. Peter would survive the sifting; he would return humbled, but stronger, and with purpose to strengthen his brothers and sisters. The Lord said yes to the sifting to transform Peter from a leader who serves to a servant who leads. And that’s a significant shift from the thinking of men to the thinking of God. You may have days when you wonder if God is letting Satan sift you. You can take a God-view of it, knowing He is always in control. And “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4 KJV).’

Life is full of choices, decisions, and options. It’s also full of people with strong opinions who love to try and tell us which way they think we should go. If we could go back in time, nearly all of us would alter some of our past choices because they have caused us to find ourselves in the path of ‘wrongness’ rather than ‘righteousness’. Sheep will gravitate towards whatever appeals to their instincts, such as a juicy berry bush, even though it takes them away from the flock and the shepherd’s protective care. They think they know the best path, when they really have no idea! So, have you been following your appetites and instincts rather than your Shepherd? We often rely on our own intelligence to make the right decision – after all, God blessed us with it, and He encourages us to develop it. But that’s only part of the story. We also need to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit within us if we want to make the best possible decision. ‘The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them’ (Romans 8:14 NCV). God leads us through His Word and through His Spirit. As we read His Word, we hear His voice, and He speaks to our hearts about what He wants us to do. If we wander onto the wrong path, all we need to do is turn back to God and He’ll guide us back to the safety of the right path. ‘He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out…he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice’ (John 10:3-4 NKJV). So today, let God lead you!

Psalm 127 compares children with arrows. And the same comparison could apply to any of us, whatever our age. That’s because we have to aim in the right direction to hit the target of a close walk with God. We need to be focused on Him, whatever’s happening around us. When we’re aiming in the wrong direction, we’re much more likely to fall and become involved in harmful habits or destructive lifestyles that don’t honour God and cause pain to ourselves. Broken arrows come in all forms. Pain isn’t prejudiced; it doesn’t spare any age group, cultural background, or social position. Just as we all have potential to do great things with God, we also have the potential to fall. So it’s vital to have support, and to be supportive of others in their journey. Romans 15:1 tells us, ‘We who are strong in faith should help the weak with their weaknesses’ (NCV). Whatever someone's particular weakness is, we should be compassionate. When the disciples thought they would die in the storm, they didn’t challenge Jesus’ power, they challenged His compassion, saying, ‘don’t you care that we are drowning?’ (Mark 4:38 NCV). Without compassion, there would be no miracles, no healing, and no ministry. One author wrote: ‘Church is not a club for the well-heeled, but a hospital for those needing to be healed and set free. You don’t have to like everything about the people you’re called to minister to, but you do have to love them because God does.’ We’ve been called to gather up all the broken arrows, those people that the world has thrown away, because every single person matter to God: ‘“They shall be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on the day that I make them My jewels”’ (Malachi 3:17 NKJV).Tuesday 21 February

The Samaritan woman in John 4 tried to fill the emptiness in her life with one relationship after another. But it didn’t work. If we try to find in anyone else what can only be found in Christ, we end up placing so much stress on the relationship that it breaks under the weight. Nobody else can take Jesus' place. Nobody else is qualified or equipped to step into His place. No relationship will ever be the same as the one we could have with Him. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, ‘You have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband’ (v.18 NIV). One of the first things we need to do if we're hurting is to break the pattern of using other people to dull the pain of the God-shaped void in our lives. The only thing that will work is to allow God to treat the cause. When we're hurting, we might also find we're becoming more and more dependent on others to create a feeling of wholeness in life, rather than depending on God. Clinging to people is very different from loving them. It’s not a declaration of love for them, it's more like a crying out of our need for them. It can make the other person feel guilty. It’s taking, instead of giving. Jesus quenched the Samaritan woman’s thirst with His Word, saying, ‘Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life’ (v.14 NIV). And she went back home totally changed. That's what Jesus does. Listen to her testimony: ‘Come, see a man who told me everything’ (v.29 NIV). And what Jesus did for her, He'll do for us too.

The Bible says: ‘There was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity”’ (v.11-12 NKJV). Notice four things in this story: the person, the problem, the Great Physician, and the prescription. For every person, there'll be a problem. But more importantly, for every problem we face, the Great Physician has a prescription. Jesus’ opening statement to the problem in this woman’s life wasn't a recommendation for counselling – it was a challenging affirmation: ‘You are loosed!’ Christian counsellors are a gift from God, but sometimes it takes more than just talking about problems. There comes a time when, with God’s help, we need to take action too. Jesus knew it was time for the woman to claim her freedom. After we've realised the problem and understood its cause and where it came from, it will then take the powerful authority of God’s Word to put the past behind us. This woman was suffering as the result of something that had attacked her eighteen years before, but her pain was as fresh that day as it was on the day it started. But while her problem was rooted in the past, her prescription could only be found in a present word from God. Jesus, who is the Living Word, is ‘the same yesterday, today, and forever’ (Hebrews 13:8 NKJV). The word from God that we’re hearing today is able to heal our problems of yesterday! Jesus said, ‘you are loosed from your infirmity.’ And that promise applies to all of us.

Sorrow comes to us in many forms. We might lose a job, or a home, or our health. But nothing hurts more than when we lose a loved one. Waves of grief will come at us like the ocean throwing waves onto the beach. It’s powerful and it can be relentless. So we mustn’t dwell there and allow its current to pull us under. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t grieve. It’s a natural process that even Jesus experienced (see John 11:32-36). We should allow ourselves to feel it, and let its weight help us to work through our thoughts, fears, and tears. Grieving relieves the soul, like exhaling carbon dioxide relieves the body. But there comes a point when we must get up and go on, and that point can be different for everyone. The stages of grief we go through are shock, denial, bargaining, sorrow, and acceptance. Often the stages come in that order, although we might find we switch between two of them for a while, or jump back to one we experienced a while ago. Everybody’s grieving process is different. David said, ‘Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff [of protection] they comfort me’ (Psalm 23:4 KJV). When we get through this valley, we’ll be able to look back with more gratitude and less grief. Instead of focusing on the raw feeling of loss, we’ll be thankful for the experience of knowing the person we’ve lost, and treasure the memories we hold. And don’t be afraid of rare moments of laughter that come even in the face of heartbreak. Laughter soothes the soul and alleviates the tension of those times.

When we first accept Jesus into our lives and begin our Christian journey, it kick-starts a transforming process in how we think about ourselves. But that process must be continued each day by renewing our minds: ‘Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect’ (Romans 12:2 NLT). When our thinking is changed by God’s Word, two things happen: a) we begin to know His will for us, and b) we realise that He loves us and delights in us. When those two things happen, our self-perception is changed and we’re no longer reliant on other people’s opinions of us for our security and self-esteem. Our opinion of ourselves is deeply affected by the opinions of the authority figures we came across in our early years. If members of our family, teachers, or even people in our church tended to neglect or ignore us, our perception was that we weren’t worth their time, attention, or love, and it tore at our self-worth. But as we grow in God’s Word, we learn to walk in the light of our new self-image and we gain new self-worth. No matter what we’ve been through in life or the mistakes we’ve made, God will help us to realise who we really are and what He’s equipped us to do. Before Paul met Jesus, he killed Christians; that’s as bad as it gets. But after he met Jesus, he wrote, ‘By the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.’ When we understand God’s grace – His unearned, undeserved, unfailing favour towards us – it will deeply and powerfully change how we feel about ourselves.

Paul wrote: ‘Don’t worry about anything, but pray about everything. With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God. Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel’ (v.6-7 CEV). When we're worrying for a long time with no relief, it can wear us out. Worry keeps our minds constantly fidgeting and busy, but all that effort and energy never actually gets us anywhere – except to more worries. One medical expert says that we create about thirty thousand thoughts per day, and an uncontrolled thought life can create a perfect environment for needless worry to thrive. That’s why we must learn to ‘take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV). There are countless things that can spark off worry, but the very basic cause of worry is a reluctance to trust God to take care of the various situations in our lives. Most of us try to be independent, relying on our own strength and strategies, so it takes time – lots of it – to learn how to trust God instead. And the only way we can learn that is by doing it. Every time we pray and turn the problem over to God, we experience His faithfulness. That makes it easier to trust Him next time. And when it comes to life’s problems, there'll always be a ‘next time’. So whenever you feel yourself starting to worry about something, say, ‘I trust God completely; there's no need to worry because He's in control!’ The more we focus on this truth, the easier we'll find it to fix our minds on trust rather than worry.

In World War II, Viktor Frankl was sentenced to a Nazi concentration camp. The guards deprived him of everything. They took his wife, his family, and his clothes. They even stole his wedding ring. But he had one thing no one could take from him. In a classic book, he wrote, ‘The last of human freedoms is the ability to choose one’s attitude in a given set of circumstances.’ The guards could not take Frankl's freedom to choose his attitude. We don’t know what's going to happen tomorrow, or even today, and we can't control all our circumstances. But we can control how we respond to them. We can control whether an experience makes us stronger or weaker, increases our faith or our fear, makes us a better person or a bitter person. There's a saying that goes: ‘The same sunshine that melts the butter hardens the clay.’ God wants our struggles to strengthen us. Paul wrote: ‘We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation [deliverance]. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love’ (v.3-5 NLT). Here's one more point to think about: the tests and trials we go through in this life are what qualify us to reign with Christ in the next life. Knowing that will help us to respond to them in the right way!

Everybody wants peace of mind. Whether you’re a student facing the pressure of coursework deadlines and exams, a parent trying to do your best for your young child, or a new employee wanting to make a good impression at your first job, everyone wants to feel at peace. But most of us experience more stress than peace. How well do you know stress? One author writes: ‘Here is a little quiz. Complete each of these sentences with the appropriate word: “I am ready to throw in the…I am at the end of my…I am just a bundle of…My life is falling…I am at my wits’…I feel like resigning from the human…” How did you do? If you answered, “towel, rope, nerves, apart, end, and race,” give yourself an A+.’ Many of us have said or thought phrases like these so often that they’re almost an automatic response in our minds. Sadly, stress is a fact of life in our contemporary world. Things seem more complicated, faster paced, and more pressured, while modern life brings new challenges, concerns, and risks. We're warned that too much stress is unhealthy. But the Bible has known that for centuries. Thousands of years ago, Solomon wrote, ‘A heart at peace gives life to the body’ (Proverbs 14:30 NIV). We know about stress, but where can we go to find peace? There's one certain, unfailing answer: to God! Take a moment to read these two promises: 1) ‘The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.’ 2) ‘Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace’ (Philippians 4:6-7 NLT).

God uses problems, pressures, and people to prune us for even greater fruitfulness. Are you aware of Him using any of those three things in your life today? God can use all kinds of situations in our lives to help us grow; we just need to have the right attitude. He can use a major frustration, a change in our circumstances, a sudden illness, a broken relationship, a conflict with a loved one, or even a problem with money to get our attention. We might feel hurt at the time, because pruning can be painful. Sometimes a gardener will prune a tree until it looks like a telegraph pole or a giant toothpick. It’s not a pretty sight. But overall, the pruning process is positive. God is not angry at us. ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Romans 8:1 NKJV). God doesn't punish His genuine children. Jesus took our punishment on the cross. God’s pruning is for our best, for more fruitfulness in our lives. God’s pruning can fail to produce good results, but only if we don’t cooperate. So how does God produce ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control’ in our lives? (Galatians 5:22-23 NLT). He produces these qualities by allowing us to face situations and people with exactly the opposite qualities. He teaches us to love by putting us around difficult people. He teaches us patience by letting things frustrate us. It's difficult, but the Bible gives us a strategy to help us cope: ‘Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus’ (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NLT).

Did you know that some gardeners actually talk to their plants? They do it because it seems to help the plants grow! Imagine yourself saying, ‘You’re such a good plant. You really are looking beautiful today! I’m so proud of you!’ Now picture yourself talking to a plant you’re pruning and saying, ‘This hurts me more than it hurts you.’ ’Whack! ‘You'll thank me for this afterwards!’ Whack! ‘It’s for your own good!’ Whack! Now picture the plant talking back: ‘You don’t have a heart. You hate me. I’ve worked long and hard to make those stems, leaves, and flowers you just cut off.’ Isn’t that what we say to God while He prunes us? ‘Don’t you love me? Don’t you care about me? Don’t you see what’s going on in my life right now?’ We think God is angry with us. But He isn't angry. One of the big mistakes we make is confusing pruning with punishment. They're not the same. God sees you as someone who can bear more fruit, someone with potential for greatness, someone He wants to use in a unique and significant way. He wants you to be as fruitful as you can possibly be, so He prunes you, even trimming off some of the things He's been blessing in your life. Have you lost a job you loved, or a relationship you loved? God might have something much better in mind. His Word says, ‘God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished’ (Philippians 1:6 NLT). You can trust Him and believe that He's at work in your life.

The Bible says, ‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.’ Two ways to get an egg out of an eggshell are to 1) crack it open, or 2) put it in a warm, sage environment and allow it to incubate and hatch. The second way preserves the chick, while the first destroys it. Similarly, two ways to get the good news of the gospel across to people are to 1) hammer it into them, or 2) love them into God’s family. Have you ever noticed that some people do evangelism as a series of thinly-veiled insults? The Message you come away with is, ‘You need what I have because you’re so awful.’ People do need the good news, but the way we present it can prevent them from receiving it. We should respect unbelievers; we mustn’t make them feel humiliated. That’s not God’s way, and it shouldn’t be ours. Respecting means accepting them. That doesn’t mean we have to approve of everything they do. Acceptance and approval are different. But everybody has the right to be treated in a respectful way. The best way to share the gospel with unbelievers is to surround them with love and acceptance as we share it with them. Be respectful, sensitive, and caring. Theologian D.T. Niles said, ‘Evangelism is just one beggar telling another where to find bread.’ Share God’s Word! We do the sharing, and God will do the saving. Once we sow the seed of God’s Word into someone’s heart, we can trust God to do His part.

The Bible often describes the Christian life in war terms: fight, conquer, strive, battle, overcome, victory. It might seem strange to talk about it in those terms when we’re told the God is love, and we’re instructed to be peacemakers and share joy. But the truth is, we’re in a spiritual battle – our new, Christ-like natures in conflict with our old, sinful natures – and we need support and backup. When we became Christians, we became members of God’s army. Imagine someone goes to a recruiting office to join the Army. The recruiting officer says, ‘Wonderful, sign here,’ when the person pauses: ‘Wait! Before I join up, I have one condition. I don’t want to be committed to any particular squadron. I want to be able to float around. I’ll be part of the Army, but I don’t want to be committed to a certain group of soldiers. If the battle gets too fierce in one area, I’ll move to another area and join another squadron. And if I don’t like my regiment’s leadership, I’ll just join another.’ You wouldn’t have much confidence in a person like that. But that’s how many people today relate to God’s army. They float around from church to church, never settling, with very little commitment to any particular group of Christians – so while others are involved in spiritual battles and needing extra support, they’re nowhere to be seen. The Greek word for fellowship is koinonia, which means being committed to one another. It’s easy to be committed when things are going well and everything’s nice. But true commitment may mean that we need to fight alongside others, even if it makes us feel uncomfortable. Jesus said, ‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another’ (John 13:35 NIV). So, be committed and connected.

Faithfulness can turn the most boring, routine job into a vitally important one. To get an idea of what faithfulness can look like, think about how dependent we are on something as small as a postage stamp. It has only one purpose - to show that the postage cost on an item has been paid for - but it serves its purpose well. It’s always ready for service. It goes wherever it’s sent. It does whatever it’s asked to do. It sticks to the task until it’s done. And it finds no job too small. What if we could all be as reliable as a stamp? We weren’t all born with equal talents; some of us are more gifted in certain areas than others. But every one of us was born with an equal responsibility to use our abilities at full capacity. That’s the most any of us can do – and it’s what God, who gave us our talents, expects us to do. Two hundred years ago when the U.S. Marine Corps was first formed, officials devoted a lot of time and consideration to choosing a motto. They finally chose the Latin phrase semper fidelis, which means, ‘Always faithful’! Both are important words, but the most important is the first one: always. That’s because a Marine can’t afford to be faithful only when it’s comfortable or convenient, or when they feel like it, or when it will make them happy. Semper fidelis means you must always be faithful, whatever the cost or the circumstances. God wants to be able to say the same thing about each one of us as is said about Him: ‘Great is your faithfulness.’ So whatever your purpose in life, be dependable, trustworthy, and above all, faithful.

One of the things that really makes a difference in life is faithfulness in little things; it’s how dependability begins, grows, and matures. Longfellow wrote, ‘Most people would succeed in small things if they weren’t troubled with great ambition.’ Sometimes we think we’re too big for small things; we would rather get on with what we see as bigger, more important matters. But here’s how Jesus sees it: ‘Anyone who can be trusted in little matters can also be trusted in important matters. But anyone who is dishonest in little matters will be dishonest in important matters. If you cannot be trusted with this wicked wealth, who will trust you with true wealth? And if you cannot be trusted with what belongs to someone else, who will give you something that will be your own?’ (vv. 10-12 CEV). Here are some practical ways that we can demonstrate our faithfulness in the little things 1) Start a task at the right time, without procrastinating and leaving it to the last minute. 2) Stick with the task until it’s finished. 3) When you see something that needs to be done (and you’re capable and qualified to do it), get it done – even if it’s not your ‘job’ to do it. 4) If you’re being paid to do a task or a job, give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. 5) Support the people around you, and encourage them to do their best. The Bible says, ‘Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might’ (Ecclesiastes 9:10 NIV). That’s the kind of faithfulness God loves.

True faithfulness requires giving 100 per cent of effort 100 per cent of the time. The American magazine Insight once published an article by Gary Sheer called ‘Strive for Perfection…or Else!’ It contained some interesting, and possibly alarming facts! The article said that if 99.9 per cent were good enough, 103,260 income tax returns would be processed incorrectly that year…22,000 cheques would be deducted from the wrong bank accounts within that next sixty minutes…12 babies would be given to the wrong parents each day…2 plane landings daily at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago would be unsafe…18,322 pieces of post would be mishandled within that next hour…291 pacemaker operations would be performed incorrectly that year…880,000 credit cards in circulation would turn out to have incorrect cardholder information on their magnetic strips…20,000 incorrect medicine prescriptions would be written within that next twelve months…and 107 incorrect medical procedures would be performed by the end of that day. Those statistics make for quite difficult listening, but they highlight how important it is for us to always give our best in any situation. Of course, we’ll make genuine mistakes, and that’s only natural as we’re not perfect people. But even if we make a mistake, we can draw comfort from knowing that we’ve tried our best, and that God has seen our effort too. There’ll also be times when we’re tired, unwell, or overloaded, so we can’t give 100 per cent effort. And God understands. If we can’t postpone or delegate a task, the best thing to do at those times is to ask God to fill us with His strength and help us find a solution. The Bible says, ‘It is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.’ So let’s show the world that we’re are people of integrity, reliability, and faithfulness.

People who are faithful and dependable are in demand. Employers want workers who have integrity and can be relied on to do a good job. Citizens of a country long for politicians who will faithfully carry out all of their election promises. In a wedding ceremony, newlyweds are asked to be faithful to the vows they make to each other. The truth is, without faithfulness, our influence and reputation will be restricted – or even wiped out. Without faithfulness, the joy and impact of all our other wonderful talents are diluted. Faithfulness can turn the mundane into the miraculous and transforms ordinary individuals into dependable achievers. The author of Proverbs noted: ‘Many people claim to be loyal, but it is hard to find a trustworthy person.’ The world wants people who are faithful. There are more than 300 geysers in Yellowstone National Park (that’s around half the known geysers in the world). But one stands out above the others. It’s not the largest, and its waters don’t reach the greatest height, but it’s by far the most popular. And its popularity is due to just one thing – its reliability. People stand in long lines under the hot sun to see it, because according to a precise schedule, it shoots a stream of boiling water more than 120 feet into the air. You can nearly set your watch by it. That’s why it’s called Old Faithful. People are attracted to our faithfulness. God is glorified by our faithfulness. So in everything you do today, practise faithfulness.

Next time you sit down at your table to eat a meal, stop and think about all the people it took to make it possible. A farmer grew or raised the ingredients needed to make it; a food processing company prepared and packaged it; a transport company shipped it; a supermarket sold it; then someone paid the price to buy it, cook it, and put it in front of you to eat. There are many links in this chain, but the first link is God. He made the soil, the seeds, and the livestock. Without Him, we would have nothing. That’s why each time we have something to eat, it’s right to ‘say grace’, or give thanks to Him. When someone sets food for our enjoyment and nourishment in front of us, it’s good manners to respond by saying, ‘Thank you.’ Here’s a reminder from the Bible: ‘Every good action and every perfect gift is from God’ (James 1:17 NCV). We might be thinking that we’ve worked hard for the things we have. God is pleased with our effort, commitment, and good work ethic – but that’s not the whole story. Here’s the rest: ‘Command those who are rich with things of this world not to be proud. Tell them to hope in God, not in their uncertain riches. God richly gives us everything to enjoy. Tell the rich people to do good, to be rich in doing good deeds, to be generous and ready to share.’ (1 Timothy 6:17-18 NKJV). When God says ‘be generous and ready to share,’ He’s simply saying, ‘I’ve been the provider of all your blessings – now you go out and share those blessings with others.’

Spiritual growth isn’t something that happens automatically. First we must want to grow; then we need to decide to grow, discipline ourselves, and find joy in our spiritual growth. Some people can stay stuck in spiritual infancy because they doubt their ability to grow, drift wherever the current takes them, or delay their growth, thinking, ‘I’ll get round to it when things get easier and I have more time to focus on it’. But if we wait for the ‘right time’, it’ll never happen. We might put off our spiritual growth because life seems difficult at the moment and there’s so much more to think about, but God will help us find opportunities for growth in all circumstances. Growth always begins with a decision. Jesus said to Matthew, ‘Follow me and be my disciple…So Matthew got up and followed him’ (Matthew 9:9 NLT). Matthew didn’t understand all the implications of his decision; he simply made the decision to follow Jesus. And a decision’s all we need to get started. We’re shaped by the decisions we make and the commitments and priorities that govern our lives. But sometimes we can be afraid of making the wrong decision, so we only half-heartedly commit to something, or try to commit to too many things in the hope that we’re keeping our options open. Both of those strategies can lead to us missing out on God’s best. Every choice we make has consequences, so let’s choose wisely by involving God before we commit. Christlikeness is the result of making Christ-like choices, and every decision is a new opportunity to draw closer to Him.

In Luke 15, we find the parable of the prodigal son. How would you expect the father to react when his son returns? How would you react if you were the parent? We might expect the son to receive a punishment, or for the father to turn the young man away. But what actually happens is this: when the father saw his son, ‘his heart went out to him’. In fact, he runs out to welcome his child! It’s a snapshot of God’s love for us. Max Lucado sums up the story this way: ‘The tale involves a wealthy father and a wilful son [who]…takes his inheritance [to] Las Vegas and…wastes [it] on slot machines and call girls…Broke [and] too proud to go home, he gets a job sweeping…stables at the racetrack. When he finds himself…[eating]…their oats, he realises enough is enough…Off he goes, rehearsing his repentance speech…But…“When he was…a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion” [v. 20 NKJV]…We expect crossed arms…a furrowed brow…a guarded handshake…a stern lecture…Instead [the father said], “Bring out the best robe…a ring…sandals…and…the fatted calf” [vv. 22-23 NKJV].’ The ring symbolised delegated authority – the one who wore it acted in the name of the one who gave it. It’s like a business trusting an employee with the company credit card. When we come to God, we’re given authority to act in His name. Whenever we speak the truth, we’re His ambassadors (see 2 Corinthians 5:20). Whenever we’re wise with the resources He gives, we’re His good stewards. Whenever we promote peace and forgiveness, we’re His ministers. We have the privilege to represent our heavenly Father, so let’s bless others with encouragement and affirmation, and speak words that strengthen them, just as God encourages, affirms, and strengthens us!

Life can be challenging; we're going to experience times when we're under pressure, struggling, or weighed down by the tasks ahead. It's important that we learn to recognise times when we need to ask for support; but as well as that, the Bible has some advice for helping us cope when life gets difficult, and get us closer to the abundant life Jesus promised us in John 10:10. Paul tells us, ‘Always be joyful. Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens’ (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NCV). We need to try and rejoice in the things that never change, can’t fail, and won’t let us down (like God’s promises!). When we feel like we can’t cope, one of the best things we can do is pray. And another great strategy is to try and live every day with a prayerful heart! With every breath, say, ‘I trust You, Lord; I'm handing this moment over to You, because I know You have everything under control.’ And don’t forget to give thanks. Whenever we start getting pulled into a cycle of complaining, let's redirect our focus to thanking God for everything He's already blessed us with. And He has so many more blessings still to come! There'll be times when we think we're going to fail, we're never going to make it, and we'll want to give up on the goal we've been aiming at for so long. But keep trusting and leaning on God’s strength – one day we'll look back and be amazed at how far we've come and what we've achieved. On the other side of the Red Sea, looking back, the Israelites declared that the Lord was their strength, their song, and their salvation (see Exodus 15:2). And that's what He is to every one of us!

When we’re in a high state of emotion, it isn’t the best time to make important decisions. When Elijah found out that Queen Jezebel was after him, he was so scared that he was ready to give up his role as a prophet. So God gave him forty days of rest, prayer, and recovery, before he decided what his next steps would be. He was now ready to make a decision that was based on his faith and trust in God, and not his fear of Jezebel. And his decision was very different at the end of forty days of rest than it would have been before he rested. You’ve probably seen people make terrible decisions when they were drained, tired, discouraged, and afraid, that they would never have made otherwise. In general, we’re less likely to choose the right course of action when we’re in the wrong frame of mind. So next time you have an important decision to make, the most sensible things you can do are to wait until you’ve rested, and then talk to God about it. An anxious mind in an exhausted body can lead to a wrong decision. The Bible says: ‘Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus’ (v.6-7 NKJV). Notice what ‘the peace of God’ does for us – it ‘guards’ our minds from things like impulsiveness, selfishness, retaliation, and taking any course of action that results in loss rather than gain, and regret rather than joy.

Jon Walker said: ‘It’s hard to…confront…it’s easier to stay superficial…to demonise one another when we don’t agree…and to cut and run at the first sign of trouble…But the Bible says, “An honest answer is like a kiss of friendship” (Proverbs 24:26 NLT); it deepens relationships…and keeps our fellowship open and authentic, freeing us to speak the truth in love”…No more lies or pretence. Tell your brother the truth. Remember, “In Christ’s body we’re all connected…When you lie to others, you end up lying to yourself”’ (Ephesians 4:25 MSG). Author Annette Smith wrote: ‘Touchy topics are difficult for even close friends. Yet relationships involve flawed people who make mistakes and get into messes. Friends need to be able to count on each other, not just for fun and affirmation, but for instruction and correction. Committing ourselves to a friendship means because we care on a deep, intimate level, we have the courage to speak up when a friend needs to hear tough words…True friendship comes with joy and responsibility…To avoid talking truthfully about a situation that’s hurtful, dangerous, or out of God’s will, is to dishonour the friendship and the friend. When we’ve been trusted with the blessing of friends, we must love them enough to be willing to experience hurt, rejection, even anger. In the end, truth heals. Before addressing a difficult situation, if there’s any self-righteousness or the tiniest desire to get even, we should keep silent. Honesty…when it comes to touchy subjects must be accompanied by pure, loving motives.’ The Bible says, ‘Speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ.’ If our words aren’t bathed in love, they’ll hurt rather than heal.

American trucker Doug Coldiron shared this testimony of answered prayer: ‘My Jack Russell Terrier, Dee Dee, rides shotgun on my road trips. We were playing fetch outside Atlanta when something caught her eye and she shot into the woods. I paced the perimeter calling her name. I alerted other truckers and searched until it was pitch black. Nothing. Eventually the others left; some said, “I’ll pray for you.” I wasn’t so sure God was listening. I’d already been praying for hours. Next morning, I had to get on the road, and when I opened my laptop and pulled up my Facebook page, it was filled with postings: “We’re praying for you.” “Hang in there.” “Trust God.” I felt comforted; someone besides me was worried about my dog. If only I could get back to Atlanta soon! I thought about praying, “Lord, get me an assignment in Atlanta…NOW!” I knew that could take weeks, but when I clicked on my company website to check the destination for my next job…it was Atlanta! Could prayer be working? Next morning my cell phone woke me. It was Russ, the maintenance supervisor. “I saw your dog on my way to work.” I couldn’t believe my ears. I had to get to Atlanta! From the truck centre, Russ drove me to where he had seen Dee Dee. After searching for hours, I glanced over my shoulder…and there she sat on the doorstep of a house. She bolted over, and as I picked her up, I prayed, “Thank you, God.”’ The Bible says, ‘Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you’ (v.7 NLT). Coldiron adds, ‘One thing I know is we’re never alone. God always answers prayer.’

When we build the habit of starting each day with God, we’ll have a source of strength to draw on all day long. Psychologists say it takes up to three weeks to become familiar with a new habit, and another three before it takes root. That means we need to persevere beyond the six-week barrier. So, do these: 1) Make a strong resolution. If we begin half-heartedly, we’ll never get there. The Bible says, ‘Encourage one another daily’ (Hebrews 3:13 NIV). If it helps, become accountable to someone. Ask them to encourage you and remind you of the promise you made to God. 2) Never allow an exception. A habit is like a ball of twine: every time you drop it, some of the strands unwind. So don’t allow ‘just this once’ thinking to creep in. Every time we give in and say ‘just this once’, our will weakens and we lose a bit more ground. 3) Take every opportunity to practise your new habit. Whenever you get the slightest urge to read your Bible and pray, do it. Don’t wait; use that moment to reinforce it. It doesn’t hurt to overdo a new habit when you’re first starting. 4) Rely on the power of God. We’re in a spiritual battle, and we need God’s help to come out victoriously. We can depend on Him to help us develop a habit for His glory. So, write down the following words, sign your name at the bottom, and keep them with you: ‘Father, I commit myself to beginning each day with You, and I’m depending on You to help me be consistent.’ That’s a prayer He’ll be delighted to answer.

We live in troubled times. Over the past few years, the news has been filled with stories that have the potential to fill us with fear and despair for the future. But when we keep our eyes fixed on God, who says, ‘Don't worry, because I am with you. Don’t be afraid, because I am your God,’ we can get through. Admiral James Stockdale spent eight gruelling years in a Vietnam prisoner-of-war camp, but his faith sustained him throughout the ordeal. He said: ‘I never lost faith in the end of the story. I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.’ When asked, ‘Who didn’t make it out?’ Stockdale replied: ‘Oh, that’s easy…they were the ones who said, “We’re going to be out by Christmas.” And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, “We’re going to be out by Easter.” And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.’ We don’t always have an end date for the difficulties and challenging situations that we go through, but even when we can’t see the finish line, Jesus can. So, ‘let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect. He suffered death on the cross. But he accepted the same as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before him’ (Hebrews 12:2 NCV). The God who gave us our start can steer us to a glorious finish.

When someone hurts you, you have three options: 1) hurt them back; 2) avoid them altogether; 3) pray for them and look for ways to bless them. (Take a look at Matthew 5:44-45 to see what Jesus thought.) Paul said: ‘as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people’ (Galatians 6:10 NIV). We get so caught up with how others have treated us that we sometimes forget about how we treat them. We’re afraid of being taken advantage of, especially if our past experience with someone has been painful. Not only do fear and dread make us super-sensitive to everything they say and do, we may misinterpret their motives and see them in a negative light. If someone’s hurt you in the past, it’s easy to get defensive and worried that it’ll happen again. That’s why it’s so important not to think about it at all (see Philippians 3:13 and Isaiah 43:18). Does this mean the person gets away with the way they’ve treated you? No. The Bible says, ‘Each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another’ (Romans 14:12-13 NIV). Hand the situation over to God and, importantly, refuse to take it back. Ask Him to show you how you can be helpful and bless the other person. That way, you won’t dwell on the negatives. Plus, it gives God an opportunity to work on them – and you.

There’s no test that can predict how a date will work out, but here are five questions we should ask ourselves whenever we go on a date with someone new: 1) What’s my first impression of this person? For example, what kind of things do they enjoy? Who are they friends with? Do they lie? Swear? Take drugs? Do they seem kind and considerate towards others? Being aware of this kind of information can save a lot of heartache later on. First impressions count, and until we really get to know someone, it’s all we have to go by. 2) How well do I know them? It’s best to get to know someone first before agreeing to date them, or even to be introduced by a mutual friend. (But if you do date a stranger, make sure you’re safe and have a way to get out if necessary.) 3) Are they gracious towards others? Do they constantly criticise friends, family, or other people they’ve dated? Would you feel comfortable trusting them with your heart? 4) Do we share the same values? The Bible says, ‘Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?’ Opposites may attract, but that’s not a good rule when it comes to values. What kind of standards do they have about things like money, morals, and faith? Does their lifestyle support the values they say they hold? 5) Can I trust them to keep their word? Have they been known to flirt or cheat in previous relationships, or did they remain loyal? A promise breaker will inevitably become a heartbreaker. Above all, the best advice comes from the Bible: ‘Seek [God’s] will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take’ (Proverbs 3:6 NLT).

When your phone drops its signal in the middle of a call, you know it straight away. When you’re scrolling through social media or playing an online game, and the internet goes down, what’s your immediate reaction? Annoyance? Frustration? Anger? We can have similar feelings when we’re trying to connect with people. We tend to realise pretty quickly if we’re not getting through to them or they’re not interested in what we have to say. And that can lead to the same feelings of frustration and anger, especially if we’re putting a lot of effort into reaching them. In Everyone Communicates, Few Connect, Dr John Maxwell writes: ‘When I interact with people…I know I’ve connected when I sense extra effort – people go the extra mile; unsolicited appreciation – they say positive things; unguarded openness – they demonstrate trust; increased communication – they express themselves more readily; enjoyable experiences – they feel good about what they’re doing; emotional bondedness – they display a connection on an emotional level; positive energy – their emotional “batteries” are charged by being together;…unconditional love – they are accepting without reservation. Anytime…I see evidence of these signals, I know I’m connecting…How are you doing when it comes to connecting? When you interact one-on-one with someone important in your life, do you receive these signals?…Even if connecting with others isn’t something you’re good at today, you can learn how to do it and become better tomorrow.’ But first, we must genuinely care about the people we’re trying to connect with. That’s why Paul wrote, ‘May the Lord make your love increase and overflow.’

When change happens in a familiar situation or environment, we often feel threatened. We get used to the way things are, and we want everything to remain in place and stay the same. Change is hard work. We don’t want the extra effort of adapting to it on top of everything else we have to do! Our desire is for stability, security, and predictability. We don’t want to face the fact that change happens, which can make us bad at preparing for instability, uncertainty, and surprises. If we were willing to adjust our expectations and be more realistic, we wouldn’t be quite so shaken when change comes. It’s the only constant in life - ever heard the saying ’Change is here to stay’? The Bible says, ‘To everything there is a season.’ The truth is, God is our only secure anchor in life, so the best thing we can do is build a strong relationship with Him. Ultimately, He will never allow us to depend on anything but Him. Here’s Elijah’s story: ‘The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning…and he drank from the brook. And it happened after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land’ (1 Kings 17:6-7 NKJV). Elijah might have panicked, but God didn’t. ‘The word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Arise, go to Zarephath…and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you”’ (v.8-9 NKJV). So if you like where you are now, enjoy it and make the most of your time there, but depend only on God!

What does taking communion mean for you? Does it feel a bit meaningless, like a ritual that you’re expected to go through to look like a good Christian, or do you see it as time spent close to Jesus? Read the story of Cleopas and his companion in Luke 24. They were travelling home to Emmaus when Jesus suddenly appeared and walked along with them. First He opened their eyes to see that the crucifixion wasn’t the tragedy they thought, but the fulfilment of a prophecy and God’s way to redeem a lost world; something to celebrate, not be sad about! Later, as He sat in their home and ate supper with them, ‘he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognised him’ (v.30-31 NIVUK). Are you battling fear and doubt today? Are you wondering if God will keep His promise to you? He will! Earlier that day, Cleopas and his companion met some women who had just been to the empty tomb and reported that Jesus was alive. But try as they might, they couldn’t believe it. This story proves that Jesus loves doubters enough to walk with them, take away their fears, and strengthen their faith. And guess when He did it? As they broke bread with Him. So next time you’re taking communion, stop and pray, ‘Lord, speak to me. Show me Your will and Your way.’ He’ll be delighted to answer that prayer. We might be feeling anxious or confused about the way to go, but if we’re spiritually hungry, He’ll show up and meet us at the point of our need.

When Joseph was thrown into prison, it was hard for him to see how this road would lead to the fulfilment of his dream. But it did. That’s because God had a plan for his life. And He has one for yours too! The circumstances you’re in now might not be where you’d like to be, but they might just be preparation for the task God really has in mind for you. If you stay faithful, a time will come when you can look back and realise how God directed your steps (see Psalm 37:23). If you’re in a situation that’s harming your mental, physical, or emotional wellbeing, it’s important to get help and get out if necessary. But if it’s just that you’re uncomfortable or you’d simply prefer to be somewhere else, try to keep in mind that God puts us in places for a reason – and for a season. So look for what you can learn, complete the tasks He’s given you to do right now, accept His tests, grow in confidence and knowledge, and then move on to what God’s lined up next. There’ll be qualities you’ve picked up that need to be taken into your new assignment – things like skill building and character development. You might have learned some new IT or programming skills – plus patience and gratitude. Maybe you learned how to manage a team – plus how to manage your moods. When you’re led by God, no experience is ever wasted because ‘God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them’ (Romans 8:28 NLT). God knows what He’s doing, so trust Him; He uses every experience to bring about His will and fulfil our joy.

When we’ve gone through a breakup or we’re recovering from a bad relationship, we need to give ourselves time to heal. We should be careful not to let the pain of rejection or loneliness prompt us to rush into another one. Some wounds take longer to heal than others, but we can rely on this promise: ‘He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.’ Often after a breakup, we start doubting our self-worth, and might even think we’re unlovable. If any of this is lining up with how you’re feeling today, all God asks is that you give Him a chance. A good way to start the healing process with Him is to take time to search His Word to find out how He feels about you. His opinion is the only reliable foundation on which to build your self-worth. If a perfect God with full knowledge of your struggles and failings can love you, you can be sure that you have value, no matter what anyone else may lead you to believe about yourself. When we’re ready to begin a new relationship, we need to check that we’re not acting out of the worry of being alone and jumping in too quickly. Refusing to rush might mean people walk away, but if they can’t take our caution seriously and be supportive, they’re probably not the person God had in mind for us anyway. There’s no pressure for us to be in a relationship (and we mustn’t let others pressurise us), so we can take our time, pray about it, and get God’s wisdom on it before making a decision.

When Jesus sent His disciples out to preach, He told them to go into each city, find a suitable house in which to stay, and say, ‘Peace be unto you.’ If they were accepted they were to stay there and minister. If not, they were to leave and shake the dust of that place off their feet (see Matthew 10:11-15). Why did Jesus say that? Because instead of staying where you’re tolerated, you need to go where you’re appreciated. You shouldn’t waste your time on people who don’t want to be helped. If you remain where there is strife you can’t be effective. Strife grieves the Holy Spirit. When peace leaves, the Holy Spirit leaves, and He’s the one who does the real work. Question: when you picture Jesus ministering to others, how do you see Him? Certainly not with the stressed-out, hurry-up attitude we often have. Don’t you get an image of Him ministering in a quiet, tranquil peace? That’s a trait you need to develop too. As ambassadors of Christ we need to become more like our Master in dealing with others. Paul wrote, ‘Live in peace, and [then] the God of love [Who is the Source of affection, goodwill, love, and benevolence toward men] and the Author and Promoter of peace will be with you.’ When you resort to force, argument, intimidation, anger, and coercion, you’re on your own. But when you demonstrate affection, softness, love, and kindness towards people, God has promised to be with you. So today, choose to ‘live in peace’.

Here’s some more advice about handling temptation: 1) Temptation comes when you’re alone without support. Just as a wolf looks for the sheep that wanders away from the safety of the flock, Satan is delighted when we neglect fellowship with other believers. Here’s how the Bible teaches us to overcome temptation: ‘A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken’ (Ecclesiastes 4:12 NLT). We are born, and born again, to walk this journey with others. Paul wrote, ‘The body is not made up of one part but of many….The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”’ (1 Corinthians 12:14, 21 NIV). There’s safety in numbers, so walking in step with other believers increases our protection against Satan. 2) Your greatest weapon against temptation is knowing God’s Word. Jesus resisted Satan’s attacks by quoting it. Satan is powerless when he’s confronted by a believer who trusts and declares God’s Word and truth. We must first decide to stand against temptation, which halts Satan, but it’s our stance on God’s Word that makes him back off. When Satan approached, Jesus didn’t go looking for a Bible; He quoted the Word He knew by heart. Getting Scripture stored up within us is the key to victory. John said, ‘I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one’ (1 John 2:14 NLT).

Here’s some practical advice from Jesus for handling temptation: 1) Your temptations are like the ones He faced. ‘Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are’ (Hebrews 4:15 CEV). Other people might not understand how bad our temptations are, but Jesus does. The fact that ‘He was tempted in every way’ means that He’s been there, felt the urge, and understands our vulnerability first-hand. We can turn to Him when temptation hits, confident that He’s walked the same path and He’ll help us. 2) Temptation often comes after spiritual victory. Jesus had just been baptised, the Holy Spirit descended on Him, and God declared His pleasure in His Son – then Satan struck with full force (see Matthew 3:16-17; 4:1-11). Great spiritual moments can leave us with our guard down, so we’re vulnerable to attack. Paul said, ‘If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!’ (1 Corinthians 10:12 NIV). People often crash and burn after big accomplishments. For example, a minister can be more vulnerable to temptation after giving a great sermon. 3) Temptation comes when you’re exhausted. Forty days without eating had left Jesus physically depleted. When our resources are drained, we’re a prime target for attack. Lack of sleep, an unhealthy diet, taking on too much, anxiety, and discouragement can all open the door to temptation. When we feel down, our focus blurs, our awareness is dulled, our spiritual edge blunts, and we’re not on guard against the Enemy’s schemes. The Bible says, ‘Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up’ (1 Peter 5:8 MSG).

Have you ever looked down on someone because they didn’t share or have the advantages that you have in life? Do you feel superior to others in any aspect of your life? Do you believe that being part of a particular church denomination puts you in a special class? Maybe the way you look and dress makes you feel superior to others. Do you ever feel that somehow, you’re entitled to better treatment or deserve more rewards than others? Whenever we feel any of these things, it’s time to submit our attitude to the Holy Spirit. But when it comes to elitism, there’s another side to the coin. It’s possible to label a person or a group as elitist solely because they enjoy a particular advantage that we find intimidating and alienating due to our own self-doubt, or to try to improve our image in other people’s eyes. Politicians do this. A candidate might accuse their opponent of elitism simply because of access to family wealth, or a diploma from a prominent university, or a high profile, or influential friends. As a result, that opponent accuses the other of reaching out to blue-collar workers and being dishonest about how regular and down to earth they are. The truth is, it’s not what we do but what we believe that establishes whether we have an elitist attitude. It’s easy to spot pride in others and hard to see it in ourselves. That’s why Peter wrote, ‘Humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honour.’

Whenever we think less of someone because they’re not a member of our church denomination, gender, or social group, we’re displaying an elitist attitude. Elitism is rooted in pride, and ‘God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble’ (James 4:6 NIVUK). Here are two Bible examples of the elitist ‘they’re not one of us’ attitude: 1) When God poured out His Spirit upon the seventy elders who led Israel, they all prophesied. Two of them were not present when it happened. Later, Joshua saw them prophesying and reported it to Moses. ‘“My lord, forbid them!” Then Moses said to him, “Are you zealous for my sake? Oh, that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!”’ (Numbers 11:28-29 NKJV). Joshua believed that only a select group were qualified. 2) ‘John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he wasn’t in our group.” “Don’t stop him!” Jesus said. “No one who performs a miracle in my name will soon be able to speak evil of me. Anyone who is not against us is for us”’ (Mark 9:38-40 NLT). If we exclude others or feel superior to them in any aspect of life, read these words from Paul: ‘But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favour on me – and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace.’

Paul wrote: ‘Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well’ (v.3-6 NLT). Paul is teaching us this important principle: ‘Don’t have an elitist attitude.’ If we’re inclined to be elitist, to combat this attitude we need to remember the truth that every advantage or favour that we enjoy is a gift from God (see 1 Corinthians 4:7). Whatever God has given us or allowed us to accomplish must never be used for our own glory. Even if we think we achieved things on our own, with our own skills and effort, read these words and take them to heart: ‘Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being…he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honour and gave him the name above all other names’ (Philippians 2:3-9 NLT).

‘Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer: “I thank you, God, that I am not like other people – cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.” But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, “O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.” I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted’ (Luke 18:10-14 NLT). The lesson in this story is: God has more tolerance for an honest sinner than a self-righteous Christian. When the Pharisee was congratulating himself for the sins he didn’t commit – cheating, adultery, etc. – he was guilty of the sin of spiritual pride. He saw himself as a model of perfection, with no flaws, but in reality, we know that nobody except God is perfect. So, what good behaviour is a source of pride to you? Do you measure others by your standard? Do you measure yourself against God’s standard? The truth is that the only thing that makes any of us acceptable to God is Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. ‘God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ’ (2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT). The righteousness that saves us is a gift – it isn’t something we’ve earned. So don’t be like the Pharisee!

‘The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes…More to be desired are they than gold…sweeter also than honey…by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer’ (v.7-8, 10-14 NKJV). This prayer shows that the psalmist thought of meditation as an absolute necessity to his spiritual life. That was true for him in his day, and it’s just as vital for us today. We need to bathe our minds each day in the waters of God’s Word so that our words and our thoughts are pleasing to Him. We can use any scrap of time we have – the start of the day, at break time, during lunch, travelling home, before falling asleep at night – to reflect on the truth of God’s Word. The process of meditating on the Scriptures – just letting the Word of God filter and percolate through our minds and into our lives – can bring about immense changes within us. The most effective Bible reading doesn't call for snapshots, but for long exposures.

Bible meditation is different from meditation as we know it in other areas of society and the world. Some non-Christian philosophies would describe meditation as an emptying of your mind, which is the exact opposite of what the Bible teaches us. Bible meditation means filling your mind with the truth that God has revealed. Imagine the pressures and problems, demands and decisions that David, as a king, faced each day. But he said, ‘Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.’ We spend a lot of time doing mundane things like queueing in a shop, waiting for our computers to finish an update, waiting on hold when we have to call a company or a busy office, or travelling. That's not to say these tasks aren't necessary - all of them need to be done. But try this: make an estimate of how much time you spent yesterday on activities like these. Multiply that number by seven for a weekly total. Now multiply that by 52 to get an idea of how much time you spend on them in a whole year. It's probably a surprising amount! Is there a way we could use that time more efficiently? All of those tasks listed above (and you can probably think of more like them) actually give us a great opportunity to grow spiritually and mentally. All we need to do is to choose a Scripture to think about while we’re waiting! The Bible says, ‘For as he thinks in his heart, so is he’ (Proverbs 23:7 NKJV). So let’s seize every opportunity to turn our minds to God’s Word!

Bible meditation can be difficult for us to start, because we live in an instantaneous society, and a preoccupied society. We have so much stuff coming at us from TV, our phones, emails, texts, social media, 24-hour news feeds, and podcasts that it can feel like we hardly have a moment to reflect. But spiritual maturity doesn’t come instantly. We need to take time with God’s Word. That’s why the Scriptures speak so often about meditation. God, the author of the Bible, gave Joshua the formula for true, godly success: ‘This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth [speak the Scriptures every chance you get], but you shall meditate on it [when?] day and night, so that you may be careful to do [not just know, but do!] according to all [you can’t pick and choose] that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will achieve success’ (v.8 NASB). Notice the words ‘you will make’. That means it won’t just happen, we need to actively do something. And that’s to meditate on God’s Word every day! When was the last time you consciously reflected on aBible truth or principle? If you can’t remember, start making some changes straight away. Get a portion of Scripture in your mind in the morning as you start your day. Think about it when you take a break. And reflect on it as you’re winding down for bedtime. Paul told Timothy: ‘Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all’ (1 Timothy 4:15 NKJV). And that’s still a great rule to follow!

Let’s take this meditate-percolate idea a step further. (If you’re a tea drinker, you can substitute the word ‘brew’ if you prefer!) Rather than feeling overwhelmed by the thought that we don’t have the time or the discipline, there’s nothing wrong with easing yourself into meditation. It’s not a case of ‘give it your all or do nothing at all’. Take small steps. If you only have ten minutes to spare, make every one of them count. You don’t have to read ten chapters of your Bible – it’s not like doing a book report for school, and you’re not going to be tested. Read this verse and it will help you: ‘But the word of the Lord was to them, “precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little”’ (v.13 NKJV). Whether you have ten minutes or ten hours, God’s Word is so rich with detail and truth that you can take one phrase, or even one idea, and let it percolate and brew in your mind. Instead of watching TV or constantly scrolling through social media, just sit still with your favourite comforting hot drink, and let God’s Spirit within you interpret, enlarge, and enrich His Word as you turn it over in your mind. Think about it during your journey home, or over lunch, or during a break. Some days you’ll feel like you’ve hit the jackpot spiritually; other days you’ll just feel like you’ve added a little more to your basic Bible knowledge. Sometimes you’ll feel like you're coming away with nothing particularly new, but an idea that you may have forgotten has been reaffirmed. The key is consistency – do this for one year, and you’ll end up with 365 scriptural insights to draw on. Just imagine the difference that could make!

Meditating in Scripture is one of the best ways we can grow spiritually. In Psalm 1, David wrote, ‘In His law he meditates day and night’ (Psalm 1:2 NKJV). But meditation can seem a daunting task. We might imagine super-religious people spending hours on end sitting perfectly still with serious faces as they think serious thoughts. Or we might think of incredibly clever people who come up with some brilliant new insight every time they take a moment to reflect. Neither of those pictures is particularly inviting – how on earth could we compare? We admire the people who can do it, but we come to the conclusion that He certainly hasn’t called us or given us the skills to do it. Or we think meditation is a discipline that needs hours of uninterrupted time, and time is the one thing we don’t have to spare. So we end up living busy but spiritually barren lives. Some people might think that meditation is a fine thing, but there are too many other areas of spiritual growth and character development to work on first. The main problem is that we don’t understand what it means to meditate, or the rich benefits it will give us. A spoon of instant coffee is okay if you just want the basic taste of coffee. But if you want more – if you want to enjoy the flavours of the coffee in all their richness – you have to let it percolate. So, we could paraphrase the Scripture this way: ‘In His law he percolates day and night.’ That’s the idea Paul was trying to get across: ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom.’ Today, enjoy the aroma, taste the flavour, and experience the strength.

We might think that criticising others is no big deal, it’s just showing people where they’re going wrong. But if we do it with the wrong heart and motives, it can lead to harm. Think about these four things: 1) God saw it as a sin when Aaron and Miriam criticised Moses for marrying an Ethiopian woman. Miriam came down with leprosy, and Aaron was quick to repent: ‘We have done foolishly…we have sinned.’ God healed Miriam, but not before she had been publicly embarrassed. 2) A critical attitude will hurt our relationships with others. ‘Then the Lord said to Moses, “…Let her be shut out of the camp seven days, and afterward she may be received again”’ (v.14 NKJV). Leprosy was contagious, and those who had it were isolated from others. There’s an important lesson here. If we become known for having a critical attitude, people will distance themselves from us and avoid us. It’s a trust issue; they know that if we’ll talk to them about others, we’ll talk to others about them. 3) A critical attitude holds everyone back. ‘So Miriam was shut out of the camp seven days, and the people did not journey till Miriam was brought in again’ (v.15 NKJV). One fault-finding person can destroy the effectiveness and hold back the progress of the entire group. 4) A critical attitude hurts our relationship with God. ‘Who may worship in your sanctuary, Lord? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbours or speak evil of their friends…Such people will stand firm forever’ (Psalm 15:1-3, 5 NLT).

Have a read of Joseph’s story in Genesis 37, and 39 to 50. He had every reason to be angry, bitter, and vindictive for the despicable way in which his brothers treated him. But what does he do? He doesn’t get enraged and he doesn’t even get even. He helps Egypt, the land that enslaved and falsely imprisoned him, to survive famine. He feeds his family when they come begging for food. He forgives, and in doing so, he is freed from his negative emotions. He resolves the issues of the past, doesn’t allow them to deter his destiny, and stays in the favour of God. As second-in-command in Egypt, Joseph held the power of life and death over those who had hurt him. But he told them: ‘“You meant to hurt me, but God turned your evil into good to save the lives of many people, which is being done. So don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” So Joseph comforted his brothers and spoke kind words to them.’ (v.20-21). We all have emotional reactions in our relationships; the problem isn’t the anger or the disappointment – unless we’re being controlled by our emotions. Whenever anger causes us to damage the things God has given, our emotions are being mismanaged. When we don’t manage our anger, we give the devil an open door. ‘“Don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil’ (Ephesians 4:26-27 NLT). So let’s learn to manage our emotions.

Joseph had two dreams, and the second was bigger than the first. His first dream was a field of sheaves; the second dream was a sky full of stars. So the word for today is – dream one size bigger! Henry Curtis said: ‘Make your plans as fantastic as you like, because twenty-five years from now they will seem mediocre. Make your plans ten times as great as you first planned, and twenty-five years from now you will wonder why you did not make them fifty times as great.’ The way to ensure we keep growing is to make our goal a step beyond what’s comfortable for us. If we do that, we’ll find we have to keep growing! And it’ll also set us up to trust God for greater things. Most people want their lives to keep improving, but they value peace and stability at the same time. They forget that you can’t improve and stay the same. Growth means change, and that means challenging the status quo. Thinking ‘possible’ means we won’t settle for what we have now. There’ll always be people around us who want us to give up our dreams and embrace the status quo. We can love them, but we mustn’t be led by them. As we begin to trust God for greater things and others try to dissuade us, remember that right now, as you’re reading this, other people around the world are thinking about curing cancer, developing new energy sources, feeding the hungry, improving the quality of life, and winning whole nations for Christ. They’re beating the odds and challenging the status quo – and we must, too, in whatever ways we can.

The Bible says, ‘Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him’ (v.6 NKJV). Here is something God can’t do: be pleased without faith! Twelve spies entered the promised land, but only two came back and said, ‘We are well able to overcome it’ (Numbers 13:30 NKJV). God had promised it to them, but the majority thought it couldn’t be done. People who think ‘possible’ create forward-looking, optimistic pictures of the future in their own minds, as well as in the minds of others. And the opposite is true. Sam Ewing said, ‘Nothing is so embarrassing as watching someone do something that you said couldn’t be done.’ Believing we can doesn’t necessarily guarantee that we will. But believing we can’t guarantees we won’t! So how’s your approach to life? When you face the unknown, the undone, or the untried, do you focus on all the things that can go wrong or all the things that can go right? Ballistic rocket pioneer Wernher von Braun said, ‘I have learned to use the word “impossible” with the greatest caution.’ He was the scientist who made it possible for the first person to walk on the moon! John Andrew Holmes said: ‘Never tell a young person that something cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for somebody ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.’ If we want to achieve something, let’s give ourselves permission to believe it’s possible, and trust God for the rest.

We need to try and live each day of our lives to the full for Christ’s sake, because He paid a very high price for us to be able to. He said, ‘I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows)’ (John 10:10 AMPC). He said: ‘I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing’ (John 15:11 AMPC). He said, ‘Ask and keep on asking and you will receive, so that your joy (gladness, delight) may be full and complete’ (John 16:24 AMPC). Jesus actually prayed that we’d have joy: ‘Now I am coming to You; I say these things while I am still in the world, so that My joy may be made full and complete and perfect in them [that they may experience My delight fulfilled in them, that My enjoyment may be perfected in their own souls, that they may have My gladness within them, filling their hearts]’ (John 17:13 AMPC). If Jesus Himself prayed such powerful words about His desire for us to have joy, we can have no doubts that God wants us to be happy and fulfilled. As redeemed children of God, we’re all adverts for Christianity! Some people go around looking severe, stern, strict, sour, and sensorial, thinking that they’re being more ‘spiritual’. But non-Christians won’t find that attitude very appealing. Instead, we need a scriptural mindset that enables us to find joy in even the mundane things of life, and makes us more enjoyable to be around!

Each day is a gift from God. Next to our salvation, today is the most valuable gift we’ll ever receive. When we receive a gift, we thank the giver, unwrap it, and enjoy it. Let’s try to apply that same idea to each day of our lives. One Bible teacher wrote: ‘I make an effort to focus on and enjoy every moment of my life, but doing so has been a long and difficult journey for me…I am a planner, and if I am not careful, I find myself planning the next thing while doing the current thing, which of course steals the present moment from me. Although being focused is a good thing, I can also easily get so focused on my work that I fail to enjoy the magic of the moment. For example, I was usually working while my children were little and found it difficult to even take a moment to stop and enjoy the cute things they said or did. I missed many of those moments and will never get them back. We should celebrate life and the people God has placed in our path. Life is to be enjoyed, not dreaded or regretted.’ Solomon wrote: ‘There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and make himself enjoy good in his labour. Even this, I have seen, is from the hand of God’ (Ecclesiastes 2:24 AMPC). Remember these two phrases: 1) ‘From the hand of God.’ That means it’s God’s will for us to enjoy every day. 2) ‘Make himself enjoy good.’ That means we must look for things to celebrate each day. And we can start doing this today!

The author Susan Alexander Yates suggests some resolutions for us to work on in the New Year. ‘1) Reach someone who doesn’t know Christ. God commands us to be salt and light (see Matthew 5:13-16); that won’t happen if we spend all our time with believers….While reaching out feels scary, when you take the risk, you’ll see God work through you. 2) Be more grateful. I used to wake…thinking about all the things I had to do and…the people who needed me. I got depressed before I… got out of bed!…So I started meditating on…God’s character traits…thinking about how awesome God is. My perspective…changed. 3) Say “no” to something. Maturing means you postpone something you’d like to do to focus on something more important. In 10 years, what will matter most? 4) Pursue Christ with fresh vigour. [David prayed], “Restore to me the joy of your salvation” (Psalm 51:12 NIV). Vary [your routine]…[Pick] a new topic for Bible study. Begin a fresh journal. If you…still feel stale, ask God to show you the reason.’ The New Year is a great marker point for us to use when we want to make significant changes, give up a bad habit, take on a new, good habit, or simply refresh our relationship with God. What are your resolutions for the year ahead? What would you like to change? Where in your life would you like to see new growth? Whatever our goals, ‘let us throw off everything that hinders and…run with perseverance the race marked out for us’ (Hebrews 12:1 NIV).

Author Ellen Vaughn continues: ‘We must also forget our successes. That doesn’t necessarily mean we must forget the great projects we have completed. We are to work and live with excellence unto God, and He takes pleasure in our successes as they are offered to His glory. But we should forget past successes if they have defined our identity or caused us to be complacent, smug and self-congratulatory. We’re not to fondle the past, dwelling on past glories. (Similarly, we must make sure our stories of God’s work and grace in our lives are not all old. If we can only point to instances of God’s faithfulness from five years ago but none from this week, our connection with Christ isn’t very current.) Paul warns the Philippians against those who would put their confidence in human criteria and accomplishment: “If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more” (Philippians 3:4 NIV), he said, citing his power résumé that many in his day would have coveted. But his focus wasn’t on his past: “Whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ…But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:7, 13-14 NIVUK).’ The good news is, God doesn’t analyse our past in order to determine our future. He says, ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!’ Learn from the past, leave it, and don’t look back!

Ever tried walking while looking backwards? When we try it, we can’t move ahead as quickly, and we tend to wander off our path very easily. It’s the same with our spiritual life. Paul said: ‘I focus on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead’ (Philippians 3:13 NLT). Author Ellen Vaughn wrote: ‘Before our spiritual vitality can really flow… 1) We must forget our sins. Obviously we must remember our sins in order to confess them. But having done so, we must let them go. The fact that God forgets is like calling heaven and hearing, “There is no record of any offence.” They’re expunged, as if they never existed. Satan would lure us to live in guilt and fear. He pulls us into the shadowboxes of memory in which our worst sins replay on the walls of our minds…We need to be very clear here, or we’ll miss the liberating point. It’s not as if forgiveness is real only if we experience some kind of holy amnesia. It’s not up to us. It’s up to God. And the Scriptures say that God forgets our sins (see Hebrews 8:12). 2) We must forget our shame. Paul could have been a prime candidate for shame. He had presided over the harassment, imprisonment, torture, and murder of innocent human beings. But God’s grace is stronger than our shame. It was defanged when Jesus died and rose again. We can forget our slithering shame, for Jesus took it. He scorned it, beat it, broke it. We need not take it back.’ So today focus on these words: ‘Do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing.’

Our lives will eventually show what we continually keep in the front of our minds. Paul says, ‘We have the mind of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 2:16 NIV), and creativity and vision are part of the package. A blind man asked St Anthony, ‘What could be worse than losing your sight?’ He replied, ‘Losing your vision.’ And a respected author added, ‘Maybe you’re not experiencing God’s best because your vision needs to be improved. You say, “I have problems…I’m in debt…I’m lonely.” Don’t let that image take root. Paint a new picture…See yourself stronger and healthier…rising higher…accomplishing your dreams…let the image of victory take hold. Get it on the inside…[Remind yourself] of these scriptural truths: “I can do all things through Christ” (Philippians 4:13 KJV); “This is the day the Lord has made” (Psalm 118:24 NKJV); “We are more than conquerors through [Christ]” (Romans 8:37 KJV); “God…always causes us to triumph in Christ” (see 2 Corinthians 2:14); “You bless the righteous; you surround them with your favour” (Psalm 5:12 NIVUK); “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life” (Psalm 23:6 NKJV).’ In Bible times wine was stored in leather wineskins, but as they aged, they lost their flexibility. New wine always needed new wineskins. And just like, ‘You can’t pour new wine into old wineskins’ (see Matthew 9:17), God can’t give us a new vision until we change the old images and attitudes we’re carrying around in our minds. God says, ‘I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?’ He’s ready to do something new in your life today. Are you ready to have a flexible mind that makes room for it?

Vision is the God-given ability to see the invisible. Without it, ‘people…stumble all over themselves’ (Proverbs 29:18 MSG). When God told Abraham he’d be the father of many nations, he and Sarah were old and childless. Naturally speaking, it looked impossible. So God ‘took Abram outside and said to him, ”Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!”’ It wasn’t enough to hear what God said: Abraham needed to see it in his mind’s eye. And although the promise wasn’t fulfilled for twenty years, every night when Abraham looked up to the sky, the stars were a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness. Woodrow Wilson said, ‘No man that does not see visions will ever realise any high hope or undertake any high enterprise.’ To create something, we must first have a vision of it by seeing it through the eyes of faith and burning the image onto the canvas of the mind so it won’t be lost or forgotten. Jesus said, ‘If your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness’ (Matthew 6:22-23 NASB). There's a story that as Michelangelo looked at a chunk of marble that the owner had insisted was worthless, Michelangelo said, ‘It’s priceless to me. There is an angel locked inside, and I must set it free.’ What we ‘see’ can change the direction of our lives. It can inspire us to do great things and be excited for God’s plan. And the good news is, no matter how dark things look today, God can still give us a fresh vision and a new future.

What groups are you part of? Chances are there are quite a few – friendship groups, Bible study groups, church committees, sports teams, shared interest groups on social media…the list could go on. They can be great places of support, love, and encouragement – ‘As iron sharpens iron, so people can improve each other.’ But if we’re not careful, they can become cliquey and exclusive, where, instead of being built up, we’re torn down by criticism. So it’s a good idea to do a ‘health check’ on the groups we’re involved with. Here are some questions to ask: 1) Do we welcome outsiders? We get comfortable with familiar people and patterns. Bringing in someone new can upset the balance, so we close the doors and (often without realising), make newcomers feel unwelcome. But we might be missing out on some valuable fresh perspectives. 2) Is it a place of encouragement? Do you come away from the group feeling refreshed and uplifted, or disheartened? Constructive criticism can be so valuable if it’s given with the right heart and motives, but some groups, especially those online, can turn into places of harsh condemnation. So give words of encouragement: ‘Do not say harmful things, but say what people need – words that will help others become stronger’ (Ephesians 4:29 NCV). 3) Am I comfortable sharing things? Some groups can become places of gossip. For our groups to thrive, we need to create an atmosphere where people are confident that they can share opinions, ideas, and feelings safely (and confidentially when necessary). Even if it’s not a church or a Christian group, let’s bring God’s heart into every group we’re part of, and keep them healthy.

Paul says that the gift God gave each of us that first Christmas is ‘indescribable’. The Living Bible says it’s ‘too wonderful for words’. Consider this: Isaiah says, ‘Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given’ (Isaiah 9:6 KJV). Jesus was both God and man. As a child He was born, but as the Son of God He could only be given, because He always existed. So He is the perfect solution to our sin problem because He understands both sides: the claims of divinity and the struggles of humanity. Today let’s take a look at this ‘indescribable gift’. First, He is our ‘daysman’! We see this word in the King James translation of the Bible, when Job said, ‘Neither is there any daysman betwixt us, that might lay his hand upon us both’ (Job 9:33 KJV). It could also be translated as umpire, mediator, or middleman. ‘Daysman’ is an old English word for someone who was more than just an umpire; they could actually join the game and bring both sides together. So when we mess up, Jesus keeps one hand on us and the other on God so that the connection is never broken. ‘Indescribable’! Second, He is our intercessor! The Bible says, ‘He is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them’ (Hebrews 7:25 NIV). If we had to remember and confess all the sins of omission and commission you commit each day, we’d never sleep; we’d live constantly in a state of confession. But Christ’s death covers all the wrong we’ve done (commission), and His life covers all the good we’ve left undone (omission). He’s fully qualified to represent us before God, and there is only one word that fits a Christmas gift like this: ‘indescribable’.

The Bible tells us: ‘When Jesus was born in Bethlehem…[astrologers] from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is He Who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east…and have come to worship Him.”…and behold, the star…went before them until it came and stood over the place where the young Child was…And on going into the house, they saw the Child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshipped Him. Then opening their treasure bags, they presented to him gifts – gold and frankincense and myrrh’ (v.1-2, 9, 11 AMPC). One Bible teacher says: ‘We all remember the Christmas story: how…Wise Men came from the east following a star which led them to the Holy Child, how they came in and worshipped Him, laying before Him precious gifts…Mary and Joseph didn’t go out seeking gifts. Although they were forced to spend the night in a cold, dark stable, they didn’t send out messages asking for gifts. But because they were in the middle of God’s will, He sent them Wise Men…on camels, loaded down with provisions…If we are in the will of God, He will…bring our provision to us. We don’t have to try to chase it down; it will seek us out. We don’t have to try to make things happen; God will bring them to us…The camels will come for each of us if we will stay in the will of God. The only way we can expect this kind of provision is by being faithful…where God has placed us…When we begin to believe this, we are free to cast our care upon Him. We don’t have to stay up all night fretting and worrying.’

At this time of year, it’s tempting to think that everybody is enjoying a perfect Christmas. The truth is, there are thousands of people out there whose lives have been changed forever by death, divorce, sickness, and financial problems, and who may be struggling at this time of year. Tammy Hanson Maltby wrote: ‘It was December 20. There was no hint of Christmas around our house…Most years, our tree was up the day after Thanksgiving…Christmas music…and luscious aromas filled the air…Our house had been Christmas central. Not this year…My 20-year marriage had just dissolved…My budget was stretched…and my spirit was strained even further. Some days I could barely manage to get out of bed…All four of my kids were home on Christmas break. And there was still no tree. “This is really depressing,” I heard one of them grumble, and my heart broke again. “I’ll get a tree tomorrow,” I repeated. Even I didn’t believe my words. That evening…I heard voices…in the…basement…There, near the piano, stood the scruffy little artificial conifer…I’d bought…years before, and I used it to hang [the kids’] school ornaments…creations that just didn’t look right on my majestic, fragrant, decorated, upstairs tree…The kids had…set it up, draped it with lights, and hung their childhood ornaments…It was still scruffy, but it was beautiful…I was happy…And overcome with gratitude that they had gotten together to make it happen for me.’ If you’re having a tough Christmas for whatever reason, don’t beat yourself up. Jesus understands. He came to ‘heal the heartbroken’, so turn to Him this Christmas and ask Him to restore your peace and joy.

One afternoon a little girl stood outside Pete Richardson’s antique shop studying the treasures in the window. Then she went in and asked to see a string of blue beads. When Pete set them on the counter, she said: ‘They’re perfect. Will you gift wrap them, please? They’re for my sister. She takes care of me. This will be our first Christmas since Mum died, and I’ve been looking for the perfect present.’ ‘How much do you have?’ asked Pete cautiously. Pouring a stack of coins on the counter, she said, ‘I emptied my bank.’ Pete picked up the necklace, the price tag visible to him and not her. ‘What’s your name?’ he asked, walking into the back room. ‘Jean Grace,’ she replied. Pete returned with a beautifully wrapped package, and the little girl thanked him and left. On Christmas Eve when the last customer had left and he was locking up, a young woman rushed into the store and handed him a familiar package. ‘Do you remember who you sold this to?’ she asked. ‘A girl called Jean bought them for her big sister,’ he replied. ‘How much are they worth?’ she inquired. ‘The price,’ Pete replied, ‘is always confidential between the seller and his customer.’ Her sister asked, ‘But how could she pay for them?’ Carefully rewrapping the present, Pete handed it back to her and said, ‘She paid the biggest price anyone can ever pay. She gave everything she had.’ When ‘God sent his Son’ (Galatians 4:4 NCV) to redeem us, He gave everything He had. ‘Thank God for his gift that is too wonderful for words!’

In his book War on the Saints, Jessie Penn-Lewis wrote, ‘The chief condition…for the working of evil spirits in human beings, apart from sin, is passivity.’ A lot of evil comes from us simply doing nothing or sitting back and letting things happen. That’s why the apostle Peter urged us to ‘Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour’ (1 Peter 5:8 NLT). Satan will use things like pleasure, power, pressures, possessions, passions, and people to take hold of us and tear us to pieces.Paul tells us to be on guard ‘so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes’ (2 Corinthians 2:11 NLT). How can we defend ourselves against Satan? Author Neil Anderson said, ‘Our defence against direct attacks by the evil one is to speak aloud God’s truth.’ We need to speak aloud to Satan because, while God knows the thoughts and intents of our hearts, Satan doesn’t (see Jeremiah 17:9-10 and Psalm 139:1, 23-24). When we’re in Satan’s sights, let’s keep James 4:7 in mind: ‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you’ (KJV). Take these two powerful steps: First, talk to God. ‘Call to me in times of trouble: I will save you’ (Psalm 50:15 NCV). Second, talk to Satan. Keep itshort and full of authority: ‘Satan, in the name of Jesus, stop everything you’re doing against me right now. Back off! Go away and don’t come back!’ When we resist him in Jesus’ name, he’ll have no option but to leave.

When someone has betrayed or hurt us, our first instinct is often to look for ways to get revenge. And it can be hard to resist those feelings, especially if we can see an easy opportunity for payback, or if people around us encourage us to even things up. But before deciding to retaliate, let’s stop and think about the story in 1 Samuel 24. Consumed by jealousy, King Saul took every opportunity to try and destroy his God-ordained successor, David. Saul was driven by a desire to eliminate him, so he took three thousand soldiers to find David and kill him. On the journey, Saul stopped to rest in a large cave where David and his men were hiding. David’s men said, ‘Now is a perfect opportunity to kill him and take the throne.’ Instead, David just cut off a corner of Saul’s robe and showed it to Saul later as evidence that he had spared the king’s life. David’s men probably thought his strategy was ridiculous, but David lived by a different code – God’s Word! He told his men, ‘Don’t kill him. For who can remain innocent after attacking the Lord’s anointed one?’ (1 Samuel 26:9 NLT). And God hasn’t changed His mind. The Bible says don’t take revenge, because justice is in God’s hands (see Romans 12:17-21). So what should we do instead? We need to set our instincts aside and show kindness. The Bible says, ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink…overcome evil with good’ (Romans 12:20-21 NIV). It might not necessarily change the attitude of the person who’s hurt us, but it will change our attitude, and God will be pleased.

Do you like to collect Bible promises for challenging times? When your collection doesn’t seem to be enough, do you add to it, thinking, ‘I just haven’t found the right promise yet’? Claiming the promise without really understanding the Promiser can leave us feeling disappointed. There’s no lack in God, so He’s all we need. And He is all we’ll ever need, for any situation! The Bible says, He can do ‘immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine’ (Ephesians 3:20 NIV). Author Hannah Whitall Smith was going through a difficult time in life, so to look for some relief, she visited a respected Bible teacher in the hope that she’d find an answer. After listening attentively, the teacher told her, ‘Yes, all you say may be very true, but then, in spite of it all, there is God.’ Frustrated, Hannah responded, ‘Surely you did not understand how very serious…my difficulties are.’ ‘Oh yes, I did, but then, as I tell you, there is God.’ Several disappointing visits later, after hearing the same response, ‘There is God,’the light dawned. She realised she had received the answer she needed; God alone was enough for all her needs! Hannah wrote: ‘The all-sufficiency of God ought to be…[to us], as the all-sufficiency of a good mother is to [her] child…[Her] presence and…love…make all fears…disappear. [She doesn’t need] to make any promises and…explanations, [shealone] is all that the child needs.’ All God’s blessings come in one package – Himself! Paul reminds you, ‘Everything belongs to you, [because] you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God’ (1 Corinthians 3:22-23 CEV). We’re His redeemed children, and He’ll provide everything we need.

Life can feel overwhelming when we’re responsible for paying our bills, keeping ourselves fed, clothed, and healthy (and others if we have a family), juggling our expenses, keeping track of assignment deadlines, revising for exams, plus the reality of planning for the future. Where can we turn when life feels too much? As he was surrounded by enemies, David turned to God: ‘My soul, wait thou onlyupon God; for myexpectationisfromhim. He only is my rock and my salvation…I shall not be moved’ (v.5-6 KJV). Where does your ‘expectation’ lie? In the hope that things will just get easier ‘one day’? In a change to the culture or the world’s economy? David’s hope was more certain: he expected the answer to be found in God’s faithfulness and unchanging character. When anxiety arises, we sometimes resort to our BGWI list – ’But God, what if?’ We focus on our fears, feel inadequate, and give in to despair. Being aware of our needs is being responsible but being overwhelmed by them can mean that we’re looking to the wrong source for answers. George MacDonald said, ‘We look upon God as our last and feeblest resource. We only go to Him when we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven.’ Remember David? ‘My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectationisfrom him.’ By Himself, plus nothing, God is your adequate source. Since He gave us His Son, you have all the evidence you need that He will also ‘freely give us all things’ (Romans 8:32 GNT).

A good adviser does three things: they observe, instruct, and motivate. At first, the thought of having someone evaluating us might be intimidating. But people are going to be watching and evaluating us anyway, so why not have a good, trusted adviser among the crowd? Here are some areas where it’s worth inviting an adviser to see how we’re getting on: spiritual development, personal discipline, family relationships, decision making, handling money, conflict resolution, friendships, breaking bad habits and establishing good ones, goal setting, and planning for the future. If we really want to succeed and grow in what we’re doing, we need to look for an environment where we’ll be mentored. Think about it like this: in paid work, initially what we learn is more important than what we earn, because what we learn early has an impact on what we earn later. If we’re not prepared to learn, we’ll never be as good as we could be. And we shouldn’t let it stop there. We can pass on the knowledge and advice we’ve been given to somebody else. Jesus said, ‘Freely you have received, freely give’ (Matthew 10:8 NIV). We might think, ‘I’m too young, nobody is going to take me seriously.’ But Paul told Timothy, ‘Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example’ (1 Timothy 4:12 NIV). We’re not responsible for knowing everything; we’re just responsible for sharing what we know with others. And as we pour into them what God and others have poured into us, they’ll go further and faster too! So, first, ask God for a good adviser, and then become one to somebody else.

To keep growing in life, we have to become lifelong learners. And learning requires submission; a quality of character we sometimes think doesn’t apply to us. We think submission is ‘just for those other people who need to be led’. This is particularly true in our early years when we’re sure that we know it all and use every opportunity to prove it. Reaching for a good adviser takes real humility of heart. The truth is, if we’re not teachable, we'll never reach our full potential. The more we think we know, the less likely we are to place ourselves under the influence of someone who really knows and can help us grow. This is especially true when we view ourselves as more capable, passionate, and talented than others around us. Wise people are always willing to acknowledge their limitations and ask for help from someone with more knowledge or experience. Only naive people would work under the assumption that they can make all the right decisions without good input from others who've been in similar situations. But they can’t. Here are three Scriptures from the book of Proverbs that we need to stop and consider today: 1) ‘The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice’ (Proverbs 12:15 NIV). 2) ‘Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed’ (Proverbs 15:22 NIV). 3) ‘Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise’ (Proverbs 19:20 NIV). It’s not just what our advisers know, it’s what they see that makes them valuable to us. They're an extra pair of eyes and ears. And in a complex world full of changing situations, that's always useful!

Peter asked, ‘“How many times should I forgive someone who does something wrong to me? Is seven times enough?” Jesus answered: “Not just seven times, but seventy-seven times!”’ (Matthew 18:21-22 CEV). But we shouldn’t stop there. If God only gave us seventy-seven ‘forgiveness passes’, we’d be in trouble! We can’t bankrupt our ‘forgiveness account’ with God. But when we refuse to forgive others, we’re forgetting the fact that ‘You might be needing forgiveness before the day’s out’ (Galatians 6:1 MSG). The Message paraphrases Jesus’ words: ‘Forgive – only then will your heavenly Father be inclined to also wipe your slate clean’ (Mark 11:25 MSG). We’re all human, and when somebody hurts us, it’s natural that we’d want justice. But God wants us to forgive the person who’s hurt us before they ask for it or show any signs of remorse. That doesn’t mean they’ll escape the consequences of their actions, though. It just means we’re not responsible for making it happen – God is. Holding on to grudges is spiritually, emotionally and physically draining; forgiveness energises and frees us to move on. Remember that we’ve been forgiven ‘in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us’ (Ephesians 1:7-8 NIV). But it comes with the requirement that we forgive others, too! God forgives us for so many sins and wrongs. Let’s do the best we can to extend that grace to others. Annie Johnson Flint wrote: ‘His love has no limit, His grace has no measure, His power no boundary known unto men; For out of His infinite riches in Jesus, He giveth and giveth and giveth again.’ That really is lavish grace!

‘Make sure they are…gifted with knowledge…and are suited to serve.’ Daniel 1:4 NLT

When Daniel arrived in Babylon, he was a slave. But he rose to the top because of these qualifications: ‘Make sure they are well versed in every branch of learning, are gifted with knowledge and good judgment, and are suited to serve.’ To be promoted in anything, we must first prove ourselves worthy and capable. The Bible says, ‘Do you see someone skilled in their work? They will serve before kings’ (Proverbs 22:29 NIV). Unless we believe in what we’re doing, we won’t give ourselves fully to it, and we can’t expect to truly succeed and reach our potential. Have you ever walked into a room and felt love, energy, and excitement? Our thoughts have a presence; they’re like currents moving through the air, capable of drawing people to us or driving them away. Our attitude is always sensed. That’s why it’s so important to believe in what we’re doing. Do you? If you don’t – pray and ask God to relocate you to somewhere that you can put your whole heart into. Jesus totally believed in His product. He told the woman at the well, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst’ (John 4:13-14 NIV). We must take the time and make the effort to know everything about the work we’re doing and the tasks given to us. We might just want to get it over and done with so we can get on with life. But we’ll never reach our full potential that way. Jesus spent time praying in order to renew His understanding of His purpose. So today, pray and believe in what you do!

‘The lips of the godly speak helpful words.’ Proverbs 10:32 NLT

It’s a horrible feeling when people try to put us down, so, bearing that in mind, let’s refuse to do it to others. ‘Kind words bring life, but cruel words crush your spirit’ (Proverbs 15:4 GNT). We can crush someone with our words, so we need to be careful of how we use them. ‘Righteous people know the kind thing to say, but the wicked are always saying things that hurt’ (Proverbs 10:32 GNT). Don’t be the kind of person who pounces on a weakness in someone. It might be something we do in a joking way, but that can be just as harmful if the object of our words doesn't also see it as a joke. ‘When you talk, do not say harmful things, but say what people need – words that will help others become stronger. Then what you say will do good to those who listen to you’ (Ephesians 4:29 NCV). How supportive are you? Try this thought exercise: imagine that God gave you a pound for each kind word you said in the past week, and took away a pound for each unkind word you said. Would you be wealthy or poor? In debt, or making a profit? When the brothers who betrayed Joseph knelt before him in Pharaoh’s palace, he held the power of life and death over them. But he forgave them, was gracious towards them, and promised to take care of them. Supportive words can build a bridge in a strained relationship, and some of the people we meet each day need an emotional lift. So today, look for opportunities to encourage and build people up.

Often in a relationship or friendship (especially one that’s long-standing), we’re unaware of the other person’s needs. We stop listening. We become apathetic. We’re oblivious to the pressure they’re under. We don’t mean to be, but we stop putting as much effort into the relationship. The root of many of these problems is insensitivity. Everyone we meet needs kindness. The people who sit around us in church have major hurts, but we’re unaware of them. We find a great example of sensitivity in the life of King David. David’s friend, Jonathan – Saul’s son – had been killed. Now, safely enthroned for several years, David made a rare request. He asked if anyone was left in Saul’s family that he could help. He discovered Saul’s grandson – Jonathan’s son – Mephibosheth, who was injured in both feet. When David sent for him, Mephibosheth almost certainly thought, ‘I’m going to be killed because I am a member of the enemy’s family, the old dynasty.’ But notice David’s words: ‘Don’t be afraid…for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table’ (2 Samuel 9:7 NIV). Mephibosheth’s reaction is interesting: ‘What is your servant, that you should notice a dead dog like me?’ (v.8 NIV). He felt like a dog and expected to be treated like one. But the point to notice is this: David took time, made the effort, and was sensitive to his needs. Let’s do the same, and put the effort in to be kind and sensitive towards our friends and family.

When we get up each morning, we mustn’t only clothe ourselves physically, but spiritually and emotionally too. We need to ask ourselves, ‘What sort of attitude am I going to wear today? Will I be controlling or cooperative? Positive or negative? Complimentary or critical? Selfish or serving?’ We might avoid being too kind because we’re worried that people will take advantage of our kindness – and it’s true that some people will try to do that. But although it’s a good idea to be aware of that, it shouldn't stop us trying to take every opportunity to show kindness. Here are three reasons to be kind: 1) ‘Because of [God’s] kindness you have been saved’ (Ephesians 2:8 TLB). Grace and kindness go together. The poet Robert Burns said that the kind heart most resembles God. 2) Because you want people to be kind to you and treat you right. Jesus said, ‘Do to others what you would have them do to you’ (Matthew 7:12 NIV). If we’re rude, people are going to be rude to us. If we’re critical, others are going to start pointing out our mistakes. But if we’re kind, most people will want to respond the same way. ‘Be kind and honest and you will live a long life; others will respect you and treat you fairly’ (Proverbs 21:21 GNT). 3) ‘Your own soul is nourished when you are kind; it is destroyed when you are cruel’ (Proverbs 11:17 TLB). So when we’re kind to others, we’re also being kind to ourselves! Let’s read it again: ‘As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience’ (Colossians 3:12 NIV).

We don’t turn to God as soon or as often as we should. We forget, or we only turn to Him as a last resort. This can be because at some basic and unconscious level, we’re not ‘fully convinced’ that He’s able and willing to move on our behalf. Being able to admit that is humbling; it’s also the point when we can begin to build up our faith in God. Nothing in our lives will change until we pray, ‘Father, help me. I say things that I don’t follow through in my behaviour.’ When we start to pray that way, we can start walking through our Bible, rediscovering the fact that ‘God is able’. He’s able to provide for us when we’re in a spiritual or emotional wilderness. He’s able to defeat the giants that stand in our way. He’s able to go through fiery trials with us and bring us out unharmed. He’s able to lift us up when we’ve been overlooked or opposed. ‘Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us’ (Ephesians 3:20 NKJV). Whatever it takes to own the words, ‘God is able,’ do it; otherwise we won’t be able to pray with confidence. We’ll make a few wishes, but we won’t be able to persevere in prayer until we know, deep down in our hearts, that God is able – and that He’s willing! Nothing is too difficult for Him. He’s just waiting for us to recognise that, and come to Him in faith asking for help.

We’re told that God will protect us, provide for us, and guide us, but that doesn’t mean we can just sit back and do nothing, hoping that God will hand everything to us with no effort on our part. Paul said God gives each of us ‘a measure of faith’. Jude said we develop spiritually by ‘building [ourselves] up on [our] most holy faith’ (Jude v.20 NIV). Faith under attack is just faith under construction. The battles of life that we’ll have to face will be the times when it really shows whether we’ve nurtured faith or neglected faith. In Bible times, many Roman soldiers used a scutum, a shield that protected them from head to toe. It was made of wood and upholstered with thick layers of canvas and leather. Its curved shape meant the flaming arrows of the enemy would glance off and fizzle out before they could harm the soldier. That sheds some light on what Paul meant when he said: ‘Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one’ (Ephesians 6:16 NIV). Satan’s arrows can’t penetrate our hearts when they’re pure, saturated in Scripture, and fortified by faith. That’s why Jesus told Peter, ‘Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail’ (Luke 22:31-32 NKJV). It’s our faith that’s under attack! It’s our faith that needs to be fed! It’s our faith that sustains us during life’s battles and challenges! Jesus told us to ‘have faith in God’ (Mark 11:22 KJV). It’s the time we spend with God in prayer and reading His Word that strengthens our faith to win life’s battles.

Jeremiah said, ‘I awoke and looked around, and my sleep was sweet to me.’ Sometimes the most helpful thing we can do for our spiritual lives is get to bed earlier and wake up refreshed, so we’re ready for the tasks God wants us to do that day. When we constantly run on low battery power, it shows in our attitudes, our relationships, our performance, and our health. That’s why the Bible talks about the importance of sleep: 1) ‘It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to his loved ones’ (Psalm 127:2 NLT). 2) ‘In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe’ (Psalm 4:8 NLT). Sleep is an act of trust: when we go to sleep, we acknowledge that the world’s in God’s hands, not ours. And it’ll get along very well, even if we’re not awake to control things. And when we wake up the next morning, God will give us exactly what we need for the day ahead, just like He gave the Israelites fresh manna each day when they were in the desert. It’s also hard to pray when we’re lacking sleep. Before Elijah was able to spend extended time in prayer, the angel of the Lord made him take not one, but two long naps. Contrast that with the disciples in Gethsemane who couldn’t pray because they kept falling asleep. It’s hard to think, feel, and act like Jesus when we lack sleep. That’s why the Bible says, ‘God gives rest to his loved ones’ (Psalm 127:2 NLT).

Here are seven Scriptures that we should try to keep in mind every day. 1) ‘In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and the Lord answered me’ (Psalm 118:5 NLT). Whether you're battling a bad habit, a crippling fear, a feeling of hopelessness, or something else, God wants to set you free. 2) ‘The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear’ (v.6 NLT). Your future doesn’t rest in the hands of people. It's in the hands of a good God who has good plans for you. 3) ‘He will help me. I will look in triumph at those who hate me’ (v.7 NLT). When people try to put you down, God will raise you up. When they take from you, He will supply all your needs. 4) ‘I will not die; instead, I will live to tell what the Lord has done’ (v.17 NLT). Part of your assignment from God is to tell people about Him. So whenever you can, share your story of the good things God's done for you. 5) ‘The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not let me die’ (v.18 NLT). Is God correcting you? It might seem hard at the time, but His correction isn't rejection. It’s protection against future mistakes. 6) ‘This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it’ (v.24 NLT). Whether yesterday was a triumph or a tragedy, God is giving you a new day. Seize it. Rejoice in it! 7) ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever’ (v.29 NLT). There may be days when you experience a lack of something, but you’ll never have a day without God’s love and mercy. These seven Scriptures are for you, so stand on them today.

Paul often acknowledged those who helped him. ‘Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God…for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News’ (v.3-5 NLT). ‘You Philippians were the only ones who gave me financial help…No other church did this. Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. I don’t say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness’ (Philippians 4:15-17 NLT). He writes to the believers in Thessalonica: ‘We can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering’ (2 Thessalonians 1:3-4 NLT). Author Barbara Glanz tells about a gentleman who remembered his high school literature teacher. He wrote to her and received this reply: ‘You will never know how much your letter meant. I’m 83 years old, and…living all alone. My friends are all gone. My family’s gone. I taught school 50 years and yours is the first “thank you” letter I have ever [had] from a student. Sometimes I wonder what I did with my life. I will read and reread your letter until the day I die.’ Ironically, she was the teacher students talked most about at class reunions, but nobody ever told her. Showing appreciation costs so little in terms of time and money, but it can mean the world to somebody. So today, who do you need to say thank you to?

We all have something that we regularly struggle with, something that, despite our efforts to remove it from our life, seems to keep recurring. It might be something like addiction, anger, anxiety, lust, or fear. After battling it for so long, we might try to justify ourselves by saying, ‘It’s just the way I'm made. I can’t do anything about it.’ But yes, we can! With God’s grace and help, we can change. The Bible says, ‘If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new’ (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV). Note the words ‘in Christ’. By ourselves, we don't have the power to make big, lasting changes. But ‘in Christ’ we receive the power we need to go in a new direction. Just like a computer can be reprogrammed, our minds can too. ‘Be transformed by the renewing of your mind’ (Romans 12:2 NKJV). And we can renew our minds by saturating them in Scripture! Just like soaking a dish in soapy water removes grease and stains, soaking our minds in God’s Word cleanses and corrects our thinking. There’s an old saying that goes: ‘Watch your thoughts for they become your words. Watch your words for they become your deeds. Watch your deeds because they become your habits. Watch your habits because they become your character. Watch your character because it becomes your destiny.’ By programming our minds with God’s Word, we can tear down old thought patterns and destroy old habits, and rebuild something wonderful that glorifies Him in their place!

How would you describe yourself? Are you naturally positive, or negative? Are your decisions driven by faith in God, or by the fear of failure, rejection, or lack? Do you feel good about yourself, or do you put yourself down and feel you’re not good enough? Whatever our answers might be, this is certain: the patterns and attitudes that rule our lives and thoughts weren’t formed overnight, so if we’re looking to change in any area, it won’t happen overnight. It’ll take time. But we can make a start by following this Scripture: ‘Set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things)’ (Colossians 3:2 AMPC). The Bible refers to the Christian life as a ‘walk’. ‘Walk worthy of the calling with which you were called’ (Ephesians 4:1 NKJV). ‘We walk by faith, not by sight’ (2 Corinthians 5:7 NKJV). ‘Let us also walk in the Spirit’ (Galatians 5:25 KJV). ‘Walk in love’ (Ephesians 5:2 KJV). Walking is the slowest way of getting from place to place. God doesn’t invite us to fly with Him, or run with Him, but to walk with Him. Just take one step at a time and keep walking day by day. When are we most likely to slip and fall? 1) When we’re learning to walk. 2) When we’re in circumstances we didn’t create and have no control over, such as ice and snow. 3) When we feel drained, tired, and weak. 4) When we get careless and don’t keep our eyes open and stay focused. Our challenge has two parts: adopting the right mindset and maintaining it. If we faithfully keep our focus on God, He’ll help with both.

What’s your biggest challenge right now? Maybe you’re trying to break a bad habit, or bringing a new routine into your life. Starting something new, or turning an old situation around. Getting out of depression, or trying not to fall into it? Paul gives us two powerful keys to help us face challenges: 1) Set your mind in the right direction. 2) Keep your mind set in the right direction. Setting our mind is the easy part; keeping it set needs a daily commitment. Anybody can make a start, but we need perseverance to see it to the end. ‘Let us look only to Jesus, the One who began our faith and who makes it perfect. He suffered death on the cross. But he accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put before him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne. Think about Jesus’ example. He held on while wicked people were doing evil things to him. So do not get tired and stop trying.’ (Hebrews 12:2-3 NCV). Tiredness can be enough to make us stop trying to reach our goal, and if we’re not focused and determined on finishing, we might not restart where we left off. Here are two Scriptures that help us to set our minds and stay focused: a) ‘We take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ’ (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV). b) ‘Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.…And the God of peace will be with you’ (Philippians 4:8-9 NIV).

When God gives us a vision, we must be prepared for the possibility that we'll shed some tears over it, because every vision comes with a price. The road to fulfilling our vision is full of tests and trials. There's no easy shortcut. But God has promised that there will be a harvest: ‘Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest’ (Psalm 126:5-6 NLT). That Scripture teaches us two things: 1) There's a season for weeping. This isn’t an excuse for doing nothing, or a posture of weakness that brings us to tears because life isn't fair and things are tough. Nehemiah was moved to tears over Jerusalem’s ruins. Then he developed a plan, put together a team, and rebuilt it. So what moves you? What do you feel passionate about? 2) There's a season for reaping. Everything in life has a reason and a season (see Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). When we understand the reason and make the most of the season, we become ‘like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season’ (Psalm 1:3 NIV). Note the words ‘in season’. Fruit won’t grow before its time. That’s why we must be aware of the changing seasons of our lives and adjust to them. That’s particularly true when it’s harvest time. We must try to recognise when it’s time to stop weeping and start reaping; otherwise, we'll miss our harvest. Tears are for the sower, but joy is for the reaper. So, when our season changes, let's harvest our fields with joy. We'll have already paid the price, so harvest time is the season to enjoy what God's promised us.

Are you self-controlled, or are you inclined to be a controller? Let’s find out. Controllers blame things like the devil, people, or circumstances for their problems and respond by blaming, resenting, or projecting frustration. They manipulate people and circumstances to their own advantage. But it doesn’t work; their attempts intensify their pain and turn their relationships into power struggles. The more they try to control, the worse they feel; and the worse they feel, the more they try to control. God doesn’t want us to live that way. Self-controlled people understand that the devil can’t have an impact on them if they refuse to play his games and let him have a foothold (see Luke 10:17). They understand that people and circumstances aren’t the problem either – how we deal with them is. So, they respond by reminding themselves of three things: 1) The person I need to control is myself. 2) Sometimes I must turn people and circumstances over to God and allow Him to deal with them. 3) I must draw daily on the Holy Spirit’s power in order to control my reactions and follow the ‘sound mind’ principles of Scripture for staying in charge of my life (see 2 Timothy 1:7). As a result, the self-controlled avoid engaging in blame games, self-inflicted pain, and turning relationships into battle zones. Knowing that ‘the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives…self-control,’ they understand that the Spirit won’t control them, or help them to control others, but He will empower them to control themselves. Spirit-empowered people are freed from being part of the problem and instead become part of the solution.

‘Ten men with leprosy stood at a distance, crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy. One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!”’ (v.12-15 NLT). There’s a spiritual parallel between leprosy and the problems of life; both can end up overwhelming us. Is that what’s happening to you today? If it is, here’s some Bible-based advice: 1) Take your problem to Jesus. He can work miracles of restoration and give you back your peace and joy. Cry out to Him if you have to. Don’t worry about how you sound; God responds to desperate prayers from an overwhelmed heart: ‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart’ (Jeremiah 29:13 NIV). 2) Whatever He tells you, do it! Don’t set conditions or boundaries for God, and don’t look for an identical experience to somebody else – we’re all on unique journeys. Jesus told these ten lepers to go and show themselves to the priests. So they did! They had enough faith in Jesus to immediately follow His instructions without needing to ask why. 3) Be prepared to walk it out. ‘And as they went, they were cleansed.’ Sometimes when God gives you the answer, you have to walk it out in faith, each step bringing you closer to restoration. But nothing happens until you take that first step. 4) Don’t forget to thank Him. Only one of the ten lepers returned to say thank you, and Jesus noticed it. He still does! You can go to Him with confidence for your next answer when you remember to give Him thanks for your last one.

The Message paraphrases Solomon’s words about wisdom like this: ‘Sell everything and buy Wisdom! Forage for Understanding! Don’t forget one word! Don’t deviate an inch! Never walk away from Wisdom – she guards your life; love her – she keeps her eye on you. Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom! Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding! Throw your arms around her – believe me, you won’t regret it’ (Proverbs 4:5-8 MSG). There are lots of ways to gain wisdom: 1) Gathering from the knowledge shared by others. ‘Pride only leads to arguments, but those who take advice are wise’ (Proverbs 13:10 NCV). 2) Thinking outside the box. Statements like, ‘This is the way we’ve always done things,’ aren’t particularly helpful; it’s a good idea to regularly check if there’s a better way. 3) Writing down and reflecting on what you’ve learned recently through your experiences. 4) Not rushing to finish a task too quickly. Growth is always a work in progress. Creativity is untidy and can be unnerving. The ability to stay focused and faith filled in the midst of change is a sign of growth and maturity. But the ultimate source of wisdom is God’s Word! ‘For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding’ (Proverbs 2:6 NKJV). ‘The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy’ (James 3:17 NKJV). ‘I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you’ (Psalm 32:8 NKJV). Refuse to live an unexamined life. Refuse to live an uncommitted life. Refuse to live an unguided life. Today, ask God for wisdom.

We must constantly reaffirm our scriptural foundations, the basic truths that Jesus' church is built on. Things like: The infallibility of the Bible; Christ’s virgin birth; His sinless life; His atoning death; His resurrection and His work as a mediator on our behalf; our need to be saved and filled with the Holy Spirit; and the assignment to carry the gospel to every part of the earth and announce that one day, Christ will return to rule and reign. These truths are non-negotiable! We might think that refusing to compromise on these points makes us narrow minded. But think about it this way: the law of gravity is narrow minded! The laws of mathematics and physics are narrow minded! Paul was narrow minded: ‘But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed’ (Galatians 1:8 NKJV). It only takes one tiny crack in our resolve, and suddenly we find we're compromising on everything. That’s why Jude wrote: ‘defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people. I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvellous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ’ (Jude v.3-4 NLT). Pay attention to the words ‘the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints’. Our methods of reaching the world can and will change, but our message must never change. We must never compromise on God’s Word.

Many of us will at some point be the victim of a false friend. Someone who we thought was a nice person that we could trust suddenly turns against us, or shows their true, unpleasant colours. It's a painful experience. If you've been hurt by someone you thought was a friend, what should you do? 1) Pray for them. Jesus said, ‘Do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you’ (Luke 6:27-28 NIV). Often, people who look to deliberately upset others are reacting out of their own unhealed wounds and issues. This doesn't excuse them for inflicting pain, but it does give us some insight into how we can pray for them. We can pray for God to heal their wounds and ask that they'd become the person He intended them to be. ‘They will call to me, and I will answer them. I willbe with them in trouble; I will rescue them and honour him’ (Psalm 91:15 NCV). 2) End the friendship if you need to. It’s not our job to change the person. And we haven’t failed if they don’t change when they're confronted with God’s love.3) Get help. Solomon said, ‘A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken’ (Ecclesiastes 4:12 NLT). (Whatever the situation, if you're being bullied, you should get support from a tutor, a work colleague, or someone else you trust. Don’t suffer in silence.)God promises us: ‘“I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me?”’ (Hebrews 13:5-6 NLT).

If we're going to slay giants like addiction, resentment, fear, lust, pride, envy, or anger, we need to keep three Scriptures in mind: 1) ‘The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience’ (1 Corinthians 10:13 NLT). Goliath was born a baby, but he grew into a giant. Our giants are often little sins we overlooked and indulged until they assumed a life of their own and came back to haunt us. So as we begin to say no to small impulses and temptations, we'll gradually grow the strength to say no to bigger ones. 2) ‘As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him’ (1 Samuel 17:48 NLT).David faced Goliath head-on. We need to pull our giants out into the light, and not let them back into our lives by setting boundaries. This might mean we need to find a trusted friend who can strengthen and encourage us, and hold us accountable. It's tough, but sometimes we need backup when facing an especially stubborn and strong giant. Above all, we shouldn't view God in the light of our problem; we should view our problem in the light of God. 3) ‘This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!’ We’re not in the fight alone. God wants to help us overcome old, unhelpful habits and replace them with new, good behaviours. His will for us is that we would ‘live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be his own’ (Ephesians 4:1 CEV). When we repent (which means to do a 180-degree turn, and resolve to walk with God), He'll give us the strength and resources to conquer the giant we’re facing. God has never lost a battle yet, and when we invite Him to join in our battles, we'll win.

We all go through times when we need to rekindle our love for Jesus. Here's some advice if that's where you are today. Jesus told the church at Ephesus three things: 1) Remember. ‘Remember…from what heights you have fallen’ (v.5 AMPC). Instead of focusing on how far you've drifted away from God, think about how close you used to be. Not the worst of times, but the best. Can you remember when spending time praying, reading the Bible, and connecting with Him through worship were highlights of your day? What were you doing then that you’re not doing now? 2) Repent. This word means to change your mind, your direction, and your actions. You can’t solve a problem with the same thinking and behaviours that caused it; it takes new thinking and actions. When the Prodigal Son reached the pigpen, he realised he had hit the bottom. That’s when he said, ‘I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you”’ (Luke 15:18 NKJV). And his father forgave and restored him. He exchanged his rags for a robe that indicated his status as a beloved son, and took his place at the family table. And that can happen for you too. 3) Repeat. ‘Do the things you did at first’ (Revelation 2:5 NIV). Make a list of the things you did when your relationship with God was going well, then prayerfully commit to doing them again each day. Don’t wait until you feel like it – do it until the joy of your love reignites. God won't turn away from you: ‘You are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful…rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them’ (Nehemiah 9:17 NLT).

When God called Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt, Moses tried to do it his own way at first. After killing an Egyptian to save an Israelite’s life, he ended up being a fugitive for forty years. But living in the wilderness all that time taught him a few lessons, and he returned to do God’s will, God’s way. We're all called to do God’s will, God’s way. If you're unsure of what God is calling you to do, make a start by answering these questions: 1) What are your spiritual gifts? ‘God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts’ (1 Peter 4:10 NLT). Let God show you, through your deepest desires and core skills, where you’re best suited to serve Him. 2) Are you willing to work with someone who can mentor and train you? Part of that is your pastor’s job: ‘Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ’ (Ephesians 4:12 NLT). You need help; you can’t get there by yourself, so be willing and open to receiving advice. 3) Are you involved in your local church? ‘Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other’ (Romans 12:4-5 NLT). 4) Are you willing to serve wherever there is a need? ‘Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others’ (1 Peter 4:10 NIV). Knowing your calling often starts with simply serving God wherever you are; eventually He'll reveal it to you.

God has a plan for your life. To help you see what’s truly important, He gives you a ‘vision’. Having a vision is like being an athlete whose focus is winning. They need to eliminate distractions, train hard, and keep their minds clearly fixed on their goal Eugene Peterson describes ‘vision’ this way: ‘If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed’ (v.18 MSG). When God gives you a vision, you begin to see things as He sees them. Moses ‘saw’ the promised land while everybody around him saw only wilderness and wanted to give up and return to Egypt (see Hebrews 11:24-27). And he understood that he’d get there in God’s timing, according to God’s plan, one step at a time. If your vision feels overwhelming, break it down into small, manageable steps. You'll be surprised at the progress you can make when you go steadily. But until you take the first step, a vision is just a daydream. A British clergyman named Frederick Langbridge wrote, ‘Two men looked out from prison bars. One saw mud, the other stars.’ So what do you see in your future? It's important to remember that God won't usually just hand us success with no effort. We need to energise our visions with faith and give them momentum through hard work. After the disciples had worked all night and caught no fish, Jesus told them to ‘launch out into the deep’ (Luke 5:4 KJV). When they obeyed, they got their biggest catch ever! Don't give up on you vision – keep pushing towards it, and watch what amazing things God will do.

Mark wrote: ‘A woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume…She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head. Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, ‘Why this waste of perfume? It could have been sold…and the money given to the poor.’ And they rebuked her harshly. ‘Leave her alone,’ said Jesus…‘She has done a beautiful thing …The poor you will always have with you…But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. I tell you… wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her’’ (Mark 14:3-9 NIV). Joseph of Arimathea brought a hundred pounds of ointment to embalm Jesus after He was dead, but there isn't a single word of praise about it in the Bible. This woman brought one pound of ointment and poured it on Him while He was still living, and Jesus pointed out two things: a) ‘She did what she could.’ Acts of kindness are usually not about doing great things, but about doing small things with great love b) ‘What she has done will also be told, in memory of her.’ What will you be remembered for, a life of service or self-centredness? If you think good things about someone, tell them. Go out of your way to fill their lives with joy while there’s still time. Those expressions of appreciation, those words of forgiveness, that special gift you’ve had in mind, give it while you can. Don’t keep your love in a jar!

God will give us the grace to do whatever He’s commanded us to do. But that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. The king of Babylon ordered Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to be burned alive for refusing to worship his golden image. Here’s their faith confession: 1) ‘Our God…is able to deliver us’ (Daniel 3:17 KJV). They never doubted God’s ability. 2) ‘And he will deliver us’ (v.17). They never doubted God’s willingness. 3) ‘But if not,…we will not…worship the golden image’ (v.18). They never considered an alternative to obedience! How did their story turn out? ‘Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished…saying…“Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God”’ (v.24-25 NKJV). What happened next? ‘Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon’ (v.30 NIV). We might have doubts because we’re facing the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do. But when God asks us to do something we don’t want to do, or feel we can’t do, He has our best interests in mind. He’s thinking long-term, and He knows if we can get through this next challenge, we’ll come out the other side with new skills, a fresh attitude in what we’re capable of with His help, and renewed faith in Him. He says, ‘I wish their hearts would always respect me and that they would always obey my commands so that things would go well for them and their children forever!’ (Deuteronomy 5:29 NCV).

Job describes the rewards of obedience: ‘If they obey and serve Him, they shall spend their days in prosperity’ (Job 36:11 NKJV). John adds, ‘Whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight’ (1 John 3:22 NKJV). But Paul describes the cost of obedience: ‘We think you ought to know…about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us’ (2 Corinthians 1:8-10 NLT). Notice the words ‘He did rescue us…He will rescue us again…He will continue to rescue us’. God didn’t lift Paul out of his trouble, He walked with him in it and brought him through it. We might have been asking God to help us understand the situation we’re in, but He hasn’t yet. God doesn’t promise us an explanation, but He promises us an exit strategy. ‘No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it’ (1 Corinthians 10:13 MSG). So today, focus on this thought: no matter what, obey God.

The rewards of obedience are awesome, but sometimes the process is agonising. ‘Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. In this way, God qualified him’ (v.8-9 NLT). Before God promotes us to a position of usefulness in His service, He qualifies us. We admire Abraham’s faith when he took his son Isaac up Mount Moriah and laid him on the altar, trusting God even though his heart was breaking. But the story doesn’t make sense until we read the first verse in the chapter: ‘Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham’ (Genesis 22:1 NKJV). God tested Abraham’s faith and obedience. And when he passed the test, God told him, ‘I will surely bless you and give you many descendants’ (Genesis 22:17 NCV). When we pray and ask God for success, we’re inviting Him to test our faith and obedience, so He knows we’re ready for that level of success. God probably won’t test us at the same level He tested Jesus or Abraham. But it’s the smaller tests that prepare us to handle the bigger assignments in God’s kingdom. In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis’ senior devil talks to his nephew Wormwood about their mutual enemy, the Lord. ‘Do not be deceived, Wormwood. Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.’ The obedience God wants from us today is obedience that rises above our feelings and circumstances and says, ‘Yes, Lord!’

Just before Jesus went to the cross, He began what’s known as ‘The Lord’s Supper’, or Holy Communion. He said that the cup represented His shed blood and the bread represented His broken body. Then He ended by saying: ‘Do this in remembrance of Me’ (Luke 22:19 NKJV). Now fast-forward to the house of Cleopas and his companion, following the resurrection. Jesus had walked and talked with them on the Emmaus road, explaining to them that everything that had happened was a fulfilment of prophecy. ‘They constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them. Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him’ (Luke 24:29-31 NKJV). In a way, this was also a communion service. But notice what happened to the people who were there: 1) Jesus met with them there. 2) Their eyes were opened and they recognised Him in a way they never had before. 3) They were deeply moved. ‘Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us’ (v.32 NKJV). 4) Then they went out and told others. ‘They rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed”’ (v.33-34 NKJV). If you ever feel a bit awkward or unsure when taking communion, think about how these two disciples felt when they met with Jesus, and embrace the experience of being close to Him.

Here are three more things we learn from the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead: 1) Whatever we’ve lost, God can restore. One of the great promises in Scripture is that God can ‘restore to you the years’ that life has stolen (see Joel 2:25). Claim that promise, and ask God to replace, restore, and renew what’s been lost. He has the power to do it. 2) Whatever we’re bound by, God can set you free. ‘He cried…“Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes…Jesus said…“Loose him, and let him go”’ (John 11:43-44 NKJV). Today God’s power is greater than any habit, hang-up, or circumstance that has us ‘bound’. Even if we can’t fully understand how it works, let’s allow our faith to respond to Him. Pray with the psalmist: ‘Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; indeed, I shall observe it with my whole heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it’ (Psalm 119:34-35 NKJV). When we pray that prayer, our faith will grow and circumstances that seem impossible to us right now can be changed by God’s power. 3) No matter how bad we feel, God understands. At Lazarus’ funeral, ‘Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”’ (John 11:35-36 NKJV). This story proves we serve a God who can give us back what we’ve lost, and also a God who cares about what we’re going through (see Hebrews 4:15). So if you’re hurting today, turn to Him and let Him help you.

There are many things we can learn from Lazarus’ story: 1) God has a plan in mind that we don’t see. Why did Jesus wait four days after hearing Lazarus had died before going to visit the family? God waits for two reasons: a) So our faith can be strengthened. Jesus said, ‘I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe’ (v.15 NKJV). In life, crises come and go. The next crisis will be different from the last one, but the thing that must remain strong is our faith. b) So God can be glorified. The Pharisees believed your spirit left your body on the fourth day. If Jesus had intervened earlier, they might have said, ‘He wasn’t really dead.’ That’s why Jesus said, ‘This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God.’ When we look back, we see God’s wisdom and will at work in the situation. 2) God will make us deal with issues we’ve tried to bury. ‘Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha…said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days”’ (v.39 NKJV). We might be praying for an answer in one area, while God is saying ‘take away the stone’ and deal with an issue we’ve buried in another area. When our hearts are aligned with God, our prayers will be answered (see 1 John 3:21-22). 3) God will make us examples of His grace. Picture Lazarus after his resurrection. Without even speaking a word, his life declared to everyone that Jesus is Lord. And the same can be true for us. God has redeemed and raised us up to be living testimonies of His grace.

There might be times when everything we do seems to go wrong, we keep failing, or no matter how hard we try to improve something, we just stay in the same place. In those times, it’s easy to get discouraged and start putting ourselves down by saying or thinking things like, ‘I’m hopeless,’ ‘I’m no good,’ ‘What’s the point in trying? I never get anywhere.’ But the problem with this sort of thinking, aside from the fact that it’s absolutely not how God sees us, is that it keeps us focusing on our imperfections rather than all the things we’re good at and all the great qualities we possess. Everyone has aspects of themselves they’d like to improve, but we’re all works in progress, and change takes time. But how does God see us? The Bible says, ‘He forever made perfect those who are being made holy.’ Max Lucado wrote: ‘Underline the word perfect. Note, the word isn’t better. Not improving. Not on the upswing. God doesn’t improve; He perfects. He doesn’t enhance, He completes…I realise there’s a sense in which we’re imperfect. We still err. We still stumble. We still do exactly what we don’t want to do…that part of us is “being made holy”. But when it comes to our position before God, we’re perfect. When He sees each of us [who have placed our trust in Christ to save us], He sees someone who has been made perfect through the One who is perfect – Jesus Christ.’ We should continue to work on improving ourselves, but we should also be sympathetic to ourselves too; and that might mean stopping often to remember that we’re ‘being made new and are becoming like the One who made you’ (Colossians 3:10 NCV).

Have you lost your sense of peace? Is your mind overcome with worry? If that's how you're feeling today, these Bible promises are for you – write them down, carry them with you, and read them regularly: 1) ‘The Lord himself watches over you…stands beside you…keeps you from all harm…watches over your life…keeps watch over you as you come and go’ (Psalm 121:5-8 NLT). 2) ‘Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you’ (Psalm 9:10 NIV). 3) ‘Our fears for today…worries about tomorrow…even the powers of hell…nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God’ (Romans 8:38-39 NLT). 4) ‘They will fight against you, but…not prevail…for I am with you to save you and deliver you’ (Jeremiah 15:20 NKJV). 5) ‘You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety’ (Job 11:18 NIV). 6) ‘I will lie down in peace and sleep, for though I am alone, O Lord, you will keep me safe’ (Psalm 4:8 TLB). 7) ‘In the world you have…distress and frustration; but…[take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]!…I have…[deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you]’ (John 16:33 AMPC). 8) ‘Be not afraid or dismayed…for the battle is not yours, but God’s’ (2 Chronicles 20:15 AMPC). 9) ‘Fear not…When you pass through the waters…they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned’ (Isaiah 43:1-2 NKJV). 10) ‘I will rescue you…declares the Lord; you will not be given into the hands of those you fear’ (Jeremiah 39:17 NIV).

When the printing press was invented, one of the first books to be printed was the Bible. And it’s still the best-selling book of all time. An anonymous author wrote: ‘It contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the fate of sinners, and the happiness of believers. It is a light to direct you, food to nourish you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveller’s road map, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s weapon, and the player’s game plan. It’s a mine of incredible wealth, and a river of genuine joy. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Christ is its grand subject, your good its design, and the glory of God its end. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be spiritually healthy. Read it slowly, frequently and prayerfully. Let it fill your memory, rule your heart, and guide your steps. It is given to you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered for ever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labour, and judge those who trifle with its sacred contents.’ The Bible is ‘The word of our God which shall stand forever’ (see 1 Peter 1:25). Most of us respect the Bible, but we’re not always so good at reading it regularly and putting it into practice. We have a great opportunity to ‘translate’ the Bible into everyday life for those who don’t know it by letting its wisdom guide our actions, thoughts, and conversations – showing the difference God’s Word makes. So let’s be enthusiastic about reading and sharing the Bible!

We're part of the most high-tech and connected generation in history, but it hasn't necessarily made us the most content generation. The Bible predicted the busyness and hurry we feel. God told Daniel that ‘many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase’ (Daniel 12:4 NKJV). We consume so much, but does it really broaden our minds effectively? One researcher says we've trained our brains ‘to constantly flit around the universe of messages and information seeking brief hits of excitement. Grazing ceaselessly, we never dig too deeply before moving on to the next distraction…and it ratchets up our stress levels in ways we are only starting to understand.’ We all need a bit of downtime where we disconnect from interruptions and the unending stream of information coming to our phones. We need to take time to reflect and recharge, so we don’t reach information overload. Avoiding burnout needs these: 1) Recognising the signs. If you feel you need to check your phone every few minutes, it might be worth taking a step back. 2) Doing something about it. Try making yourself unavailable for short times and see what happens. The world won’t come to an end, honest! 3) Realising you have a choice. There are very few circumstances where we need to be available twenty-four hours a day. Don’t feel pressured by others to be constantly available if it’s not necessary. 4) Establishing boundaries. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, avoid sending or replying to messages before and after a certain time each day. Jesus said, ‘Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.’ Let’s make sure we take time to unplug and unwind.

When we go through a tough time, we can pray and pray for God to lift us out of it, but sometimes He doesn't. So we need to walk through it, and our prayer becomes, 'How do I get through this?’ The Bible tells us that Jesus endured ‘the shame of being nailed to a cross, because he knew later on he would be glad’ (Hebrews 12:2 CEV). Then it adds this: ‘Keep your mind on Jesus…then you won’t get discouraged and give up’ (v.3 CEV). The reason Jesus could endure His ordeal was that He focused on what would happen ‘later on’; the joy of pleasing His Father, building the church, and reaching the world. Here's how David got through his hard times: ‘I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety’ (Psalm 16:8-9 NLT). So instead of denying the reality of what we're facing, or trying to battle through it alone, getting horribly battered and bruised in the process, we need to hold on to the fact that God is with us, and we can draw strength from Him. It’s difficult enough to endure hardship, but when we don’t understand why it's happening to us, it can be frustrating. God doesn’t give us lengthy explanations about how He works. So, when we can’t find an answer in His Word, or through prayer, or the advice of others, we’re left wondering. And we're not the first ones to feel this way. David repeatedly asks why in the Psalms, and God still called him ‘a man after My own heart, who will do all My will’ (Acts 13:22 NKJV). So be encouraged; you will get through this!

When we study the New Testament church, we often focus on its power and growth. In Acts 2, Peter preaches, and three thousand people come to Christ. In Acts 3, a paralysed man who sat begging at the temple gate was healed through the ministry of Peter and John. In Acts 4, we read this: ‘Many of the people who heard their message believed it, so the number of men who believed now totalled about 5,000’ (v.4 NLT). Preaching, soul winning, miracles, and growth are exciting things! But we mustn’t miss this part of the story: ‘All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles’ (v.32-37 NLT). Introducing people to Jesus and helping them grow spiritually is a priority. But if we really want to follow in the footsteps of the New Testament church, we mustn’t forget that we’re called to take care of each other as well.

If we want to build good relationships, we need to become good listeners. And in order to be a good listener, we must do these things: 1) Listen without interrupting. And that holdseven when we know more than the person who's talking to us. Respect them enough to value their opinion (which doesn't mean we have to agree with them), and listen attentively until they’re finished. 2) Try to understand their point of view, feelings, thinking, and needs. In other words, listen to understand. Good listening is hearing what people actually think, mean, or feel, not what we imagine they should think, mean, or feel. Instead of guessing, politely ask, ‘Am I understanding you correctly? Do you mean…? Are you feeling…?’ Don’t assume – always check. 3) Avoid rushing to conclusions. Listen without judging. If what they say doesn’t quite add up, keep listening. ‘To answer before listening – that is folly and shame’ (Proverbs 18:13 NIV). When more of the story comes out, it might start to make sense. 4) Avoid putting them on the defensive. Listen without correcting, jumping in, or devaluing. Saying, ‘That’s not what happened,’ or ‘What did you expect?’ or ‘You’re just being silly and too sensitive’ kills real communication. 5) Accept their perceptions and feelings as valid expressions of a valued person. Validate the speaker, saying, ‘If I understand correctly, you’re thinking or feeling this way…is that right?’ Ask them to help you get on the same page with them. Saying, ‘From what you’ve told me, I can see why you'd feel that way’ will increase their willingness to consider our thoughts and accept any advice or solutions we might offer. Listening is a great gift, so let's get better at listening.

The letter E stands for experience. How can you know God’s will for your life? Paul answers, ‘Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you’ (v.2 NLT). The word ‘transform’ means ‘to change in shape’. Your life's experiences will gradually transform you and point you towards your life’s purpose. Even the bad experiences can have value. A diamond is created through unrelenting pressure over a long period of time, which transforms it into something beautiful. The psalmist said, ‘I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word.…My suffering was good for me, for it taught me to pay attention to your decrees’ (Psalm 119:67, 71 NLT). Sometimes, the pain of doing wrong can teach us a lot about the way to do things right. And when people try to put us down, we can use the experience to declare God’s truth even stronger. Paul wrote, ‘My imprisonment here has had the opposite of its intended effect. Instead of being squelched, the Message has actually prospered’ (Philippians 1:12 MSG). Then he added: ‘Everything happening to me in this jail only serves to make Christ more accurately known, regardless of whether I live or die. They didn’t shut me up; they gave me a platform! Alive, I’m Christ’s messenger; dead, I’m his prize. Life versus even more life! I can’t lose’ (Philippians 1:20-21 MSG). The back of a tapestry looks like a chaotic, tangled mess of threads. But that’s what it takes to produce a picture of beauty, order, and value.

The letter P stands for personality. Before a company employs someone, they might do a personality profile to identify their strengths and weaknesses. Have a think about your own personality for a moment: are you compassionate towards people, or competitive with them? Are you a hard-driving, succeed-at-all-costs type of personality, or do you have a more nurturing temperament? Whatever your answers, don't envy someone else’s personality type and say, ‘I wish I was just like them.’ That’s like saying to God, ‘You made a mistake when you made me.’ God will help us to change our behaviour and strengthen our characters, but however hard we pray, He won’t change our personalities. Instead, He'll help us to recognise it and maximise its strengths. The old saying ‘Birds of a feather flock together’ is true. Eagles don’t want to hang around with ducks. They don’t want to live on a farm or swim in a pond. They have the potential to soar high on warm air currents. Eagles are loners. Ducks, on the other hand, are team players. Some migrate thousands of miles from the UK to warmer climates, flying in a perfect V formation without breaking rank. They know how to work together and care for others in their flock. Before God gives you an assignment, He designs you. He gives you the right personality to fulfil His plan for your life. So instead of putting yourself down or wishing you had a different temperament, say with the psalmist, ‘You…knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvellous – how well I know it’ (Psalm 139:13-14 NLT).

The letter A stands for abilities. The Bible says, ‘God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well’ (Romans 12:6 NLT). What’s your dominant gift? It might be undiscovered, undeveloped, unused, underused, or even misused, but you do have one. There’s a saying, ‘There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come.’ When you put together the right opportunity with the right gift at the right time, the results can be unbelievably mind-blowing. Life can seem like you’re just spending it surviving, when suddenly a crisis happens, a situation arises, or a door of opportunity opens, and you suddenly discover abilities that have been hidden within you, maybe even for years. You might feel locked into a situation with no way out, but God is ‘a way maker’ (see 1 Corinthians 10:13 NKJV), and He’ll help you discover new abilities you didn't know you had! Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were Jews who were taken as slaves to Babylon, but the Bible says: ‘God gave these four young men an unusual aptitude for understanding every aspect of literature and wisdom.…Whenever the king consulted them in any matter…he found them ten times more capable than any of the magicians and enchanters in his entire kingdom’ (Daniel 1:17, 20 NLT). That doesn't mean we can just sit around and wait for success and opportunity to be handed to us on a plate. We need to actively search for them, try different things, and look in places we’d least expect. It might take a while, but with God’s help, we’ll discover our gifts and how to use them.

The letter H represents your heart. What do you have a ‘heart for’ or feel passionate about? As a Jew, Paul was passionate about reaching the Jewish people: ‘The longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God’ (Romans 10:1-4 NLT). You don’t even have to be involved in ministry or in a Christian job to know and do God’s will. In fact, God’s will might lead you to the last place you’d expect. When your heart begins to ask, ‘What can I do to change this situation?’ you might be discovering God’s will for your life. The people who have made this world a better place all asked that question. Thomas Edison answered it by giving the world the light bulb. Henry Ford answered it by giving the world the car. Hospice nurses answer it by treating people who are dying with care and dignity. First, Nehemiah wept over the ruins of Jerusalem, then he rebuilt its walls. What moves you? What are you passionate about? What’s in your heart? As you try to answer those questions, you might just discover God’s will for your life.

Understanding God’s will can be really difficult, so for the next few days, let’s use the word S.H.A.P.E.as an acrostic to help us. S represents your spirit. Your regenerated spirit is the part of you that’s capable of connecting with God and responding to Him. The Bible says: ‘People who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things’ (1 Corinthians 2:14-15 NLT). You can know something in your spirit without understanding it in your brain. It sounds strange, but it isn’t really, because ‘you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things’ (1 John 2:20 NKJV). Sometimes when you’re reading the Bible, a Scripture leaps off the page and you ‘know’ it’s God speaking to you and giving you direction. At the time it might not make sense to you, but it resonates in your spirit as being right. We use different words to describe this experience, such as ‘a leading’ or ‘a prompting’. We won’t always get it right – even the most mature Christians get it wrong sometimes. God spoke to Samuel the prophet four different times before Samuel finally recognised His voice. Just as we exercise to make our muscles stronger, we must also exercise our spirits to make them sharper and more sensitive to God: ‘Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognise the difference between right and wrong’ (Hebrews 5:14 NLT).

The Bible says, ‘The accuser of our brothers and sisters…has been hurled down. They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony’ (Revelation 12:10-11 NIV). ‘The accuser’ is Satan, and he accuses us because of our sins. God is ready to forgive us, but first we need to acknowledge our sin, then ask for and accept forgiveness. If we refuse to admit it and repent of it, we give Satan an opportunity to condemn us for it. It gives him power over us. But Jesus said: ‘The ruler of this world [that’s Satan] is coming. He has no power over me.’ Satan couldn’t point to a single sin in Jesus’ life, so he had absolutely no power over Him. The good news for us is that when we’re ‘in Christ’, Satan loses his power to condemn us too. ‘There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit’ (Romans 8:1 NKJV). We’ll still sin from time to time because we’re not perfect. But when we repent, God will cleanse us, work with us, and give us victory over our weaknesses. As long as we’re positioned securely ‘in Christ’, who has no sin, we’ll live with the joy of knowing that we’re fully accepted by God, and Satan’s accusations will just bounce off us. So if Satan whispers, ‘You sinned – you’re not a real Christian,’ don’t believe him. As long as you’re ‘in Christ’, you’re simply a Christian under construction. And knowing that takes a powerful weapon out of Satan’s hands.

When it comes to Jesus being part of our life, we have three choices. 1) Reject Him. That’s what the Pharisees did. ‘Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”’ (v.22 NKJV). His grace and power exposed the Pharisees' lack of them. His truth exposed their mistakes. And when you don’t like the message, you reject the messenger. 2) Avoid Him. That’s what Pilate’s wife did: ‘His wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him”’ (Matthew 27:19 NKJV). We can wonder why people avoid a loving, compassionate Jesus. It's because He forces a reaction in our hearts. He calls us to make a choice between living for ourselves and living for Him. The chief priests said, ‘He stirs up the people’ (Luke 23:5 NKJV). We can't help but have a response to Jesus because He disturbs the status quo in our hearts. And we don't always want to be disturbed! 3) Accept Him. That’s what Paul did: ‘Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me’ (Galatians 2:20 NKJV). Pilate tried to wash his hands of the whole thing and avoid making a decision about Jesus. But it can’t be done. Jesus said, ‘He who is not with Me is against Me’ (Matthew 12:30 NKJV). If you haven’t accepted Christ as your Saviour, here's the question you need to answer honestly: ‘What's my response to Jesus?

God has a plan for your life – that's His ‘will’ for you. One of the things that should matter most to us is doing God’s will. So how can we get to know God’s will? Try imagining these two things: 1) A jigsaw puzzle. You tip the pieces onto the table, and at first, it's nothing more than a jumble of shapes and colours that don't seem to make any sense. But as you begin to work piece by piece and see more and more connections, the picture gradually becomes clearer. That’s like God’s will. ‘The way of the good person is like the light of dawn, growing brighter and brighter until full daylight. But the wicked walk around in the dark; they can’t even see what makes them stumble. My child, pay attention to my words; listen closely to what I say. Don’t ever forget my words; keep them always in mind. They are the key to life for those who find them; they bring health to the whole body’ (Proverbs 4:18-22 NCV). 2) A scroll. We'd love to know every detail of God’s plan. But if He showed us His entire will for our lives in one go, we'd be overwhelmed. So, like He's unravelling an old-fashioned scroll, God reveals His will little by little as we mature and grow and are better equipped to handle the next part. It’s God’s will, so we'll need His power to fulfil it, along with the assurance of His presence. He promises this in His Word: ‘God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns’ (Philippians 1:6 CEV).

In order to have a clique, you must exclude certain people. And to feel excluded hurts deeply. David experienced it: ‘The one who shared my food, has turned against me’ (Psalm 41:9 NLT). Cliques are often made up of weak people who are afraid to be different, and who think that as long as they’re with others who think and act like they do, they won’t have to change. It’s human nature to crave this kind of consistency, but it can be harmful. By definition, cliques are exclusive, not inclusive. They create friction, a miserable atmosphere for others, and become centres for gossip, rumours, backstabbing, bullying, and many more messy situations. People aren’t thought of as individuals but as being ‘on this person’s side’ or ‘in that person’s corner’. Satan is pleased when we’re part of a clique. He tempts us with the security of the group to prevent us from doing something different and discovering our individual gifts and purposes, and from doing God’s will. Peer pressure can make us do things we never thought we’d do – from lowering our principles to remaining quiet while the group bullies someone. We might even fear group members turning against us if we stand up for what’s right. At worst, cliques can open doors for racism and sexism, age discrimination, and all kinds of biases. They gain their strength from excluding those who are different. If you’re in a clique, break free as quickly as you can! Reject the pressure to conform to groupthink. And if you’re struggling to leave, tell God – He’ll give you the strength to break away and do the right thing.

Have a read of these Scriptures: ‘Pursue peace with all people’ (Hebrews 12:14 NKJV). ‘The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield…the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace’ (James 3:17-18 NKJV). ‘A person must do these things to enjoy life and have many happy days. He must not say evil things, and he must not tell lies. He must stop doing evil and do good. He must look for peace and work for it’ (1 Peter 3:10-11 NCV). Healthy compromise doesn’t mean giving up what we truly believe or who we truly are. It doesn’t mean resigning ourselves to second- or third-best, or taking shortcuts because we’re impatient or fearful of pushing back. Healthy compromise is about discovering how to negotiate a position where both sides win. It calls for trying to see things through the eyes of the other person involved in the situation or problem. And healthy compromise is a characteristic of healthy relationships. It’s tempting to label someone as ‘wrong’ or ‘selfish’, and refuse to see any other perspective except our own. But this is when it’s critical to throw off our pride and try to understand where the other person is coming from. It’s the difference between using a meat cleaver and a fine surgical scalpel. Both will cut, both can be used to remove what needs to be trimmed, but one takes bigger, more clumsy cuts, while the other can be used for precision work and ensure healthy parts aren't damaged in the process. We all need patience, love, and understanding at times, so we should be willing to extend the same grace to others.

Imagine two people of equal education and ability. But one of them sets goals for their life, while the other doesn’t. The person who planned is far more likely to achieve more. With that in mind, try building these eight principles into your life. 1) Decide what you want. But first check with God. 'Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails' (Proverbs 19:21 NIV). 2) Think on paper. Writing your goals down gives them a sense of permanency, plus it energises you. 'Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity.' Unclear, vague objectives won't get you where you want to go. 3) Set a deadline. Without a definite beginning and ending it's easy to procrastinate and get nowhere. 4) Make a list of what you need to do. Keep it with you – it'll give you a track to run on. 5) Convert your list into a plan. Decide what you need to do first and what you can do later. An organised plan is always better than trying to carry stuff around in your head. 6) Act immediately. 'Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity' (Ephesians 5:15-16 NIV). Even if it’s not a perfect plan, do it. A mediocre plan that's implemented will always beat a brilliant one that's not. 7) Do something every day to move you forwards. Build it into your day. For example, read systematically through your Bible, write a certain number of blog posts, practise an activity for a certain amount of time. 8) Have a goal you're willing to devote your life to. And keep your eye on that goal at all times. 'Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom' (Psalm 90:12 NIV).

John says, ‘I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name’ (v.12 NIV). When we’re born again, the only thing we know is that our sins are forgiven and we’re on the right footing with God. But there’s so much more to learn. The Greek word for ‘children’ refers to toddlers. Until toddlers learn to walk, they keep tripping and falling, so they need someone to pick them up, comfort them, and reassure them that they're loved and that falling down is just a temporary setback on the way to success. In spiritual childhood, we need to understand two things: the difference between our stage of growth and our status in God’s eyes. We mustn’t get them mixed up. When we trust in Jesus’ work at the cross, we gain the status of a fully accepted and redeemed child of God. If we forget that, the devil will make us doubt our salvation every time we fall. When we sin, it doesn’t mean that our status before God changes; it means our stage of spiritual growth needs work. The forgiveness we receive when we’re born again is a judicial act that makes us members of God’s family. But the forgiveness we receive on a daily basis is a relational act. For example, when you enter some wrong numbers into your calculator, what do you do? You press the ‘clear entry’ button, deleting your mistake so you can start again. That’s what the blood of Jesus does. Repentance overrides sin by triggering God’s forgiveness, and the flow of His grace continues. And when grace flows, growth follows.

For a relationship to be successful, we need to have good communication. If we don’t share our thoughts and feelings with the other person, we won’t get very far. In fact, we might end up resentful and bitter because the other person didn’t do what we expected them to. But we can’t expect them to know what we need if we don’t tell them. And if we don’t tell someone when they’ve hurt us, we can’t expect them to apologise or change their behaviour. In today’s culture, communication has reached new levels. We can talk to hundreds of people online and through social media. We need to be careful what we’re saying about our relationships when we’re online. Let’s not post about what’s going wrong in a relationship or what’s annoying us about a friend. That’s not helpful for the situation or honouring towards them. We need to make sure we’re discussing problems within our relationships, and doing it in the right way. The Bible says: ‘If your brother or sister sins,go and point out their fault, just between the two of you’ (Matthew 18:15 NIV). Sometimes we need to ask for advice outside the relationship, but let’s be wise about when we do this and who we talk to. Once we’ve raised an issue, we then need to be willing to forgive. The Bible says: ‘Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other’ (Ephesians 4:32 NIV). No one is perfect and no relationship is perfect. People will make mistakes. If we’re going to make a relationship work, and this applies to friendships too, then we need to be prepared to communicate and forgive others.

When we’re in a relationship, we’re one half of a team. And that team, through commitment, love and communication, can be really strong. We’re not two individuals competing with each other, but a team working together. We bring our own individuality, and we shouldn’t lose who we are, but we become part of a team which is all about support, comfort and encouragement. And that doesn’t only apply to our day-to-day lives and stresses. This also applies to our faith. In Hebrews it says: ‘Let us think about each other and help each other to show love and do good deeds’ (10:24 NCV). So how can we help each other to grow in our relationships with God? There’s the obvious answers like pray together, read the Bible together and go to church together. But we can also be honest and accountable about our faith, pray for each other and share what God tells us, lovingly point out where something is not quite God’s best and help them to look to God for answers to the things they’re struggling with. But we must remember that we’re not responsible for the spiritual growth of our friend or partner; we’re only responsible for our own. God can use us to help them on their journey, but there should be no pressure and no judgement. The Bible tells us to ‘encourage one another and build each other up.’ So in our relationships, let’s be people who encourage and help people to grow in their relationship with God. But let’s also not forget that our relationship with God comes above everything else. Our relationships shouldn’t be preventing our own individual spiritual growth.

Paul wrote, ‘Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand’ (v.4 MSG). That means do these five things: 1) Be genuinely interested in others. ‘Laugh…when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down’ (Romans 12:15 MSG). We can only do that when we take the time to find out what’s going on in someone else’s world. 2) Try to be upbeat as much as you can. ‘A cheerful heart brings a smile…a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day’ (Proverbs 15:13 MSG). We can take any problem to God in prayer, and trust that He’s working on the solution. Even if nothing changes straight away, it will. 3) Be careful what you say, and always say less than you think. ‘Fools vent their anger, but the wise quietly hold it back’ (Proverbs 29:11 NLT). We should always be kind and courteous. 4) Be reliable. The Bible says, ‘Good people will be guided by honesty’ (Proverbs 11:3 NCV). When we say we’ll do something, we should do it. Character is measured by actions, not words. So let’s try to be people who can be relied on to keep a promise. 5) Be an encourager. Barnabas was known as a motivator because he ‘encouraged the believers’ (Acts 11:23 NLT). Sometimes people just need a gentle nudge in the right direction, a little help to get going or to keep going. Job said, ‘When they were discouraged, I smiled at them. My look of approval was precious to them’ (Job 29:24 NLT). Even a smile can work wonders!

When God blesses you, get ready for the complainers who think He should have either not blessed you at all, blessed them just as much, or blessed them even more than you. When an argument started about which of the twelve tribes should lead Israel, God told Moses to get each tribal leader to write his name on his staff and place it overnight in the tabernacle. Then God said, ‘The man I have chosen…buds will grow on his rod! Then at last this murmuring and complaining against you will stop!’ (Numbers 17:5 TLB). Imagine an old stick with no roots or sap blossoming in the dark! It sounds impossible, but God made it happen. The truth is, our faith can’t grow without being stretched by difficulties; it has to incubate in the darkness of adversity. There’s a stage when we don’t even know we’ve been chosen by God; only He knows. He told Jeremiah, ‘Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you.’ Before you even existed, God had plans for you. God has had His protecting hand on you and has rescued you more times than you know. He didn’t choose you because you’re virtuous and wonderful. ‘He chose what the world thinks is unimportant…so that no one can brag’ (1 Corinthians 1:28-29 NCV). When God created the heavens and the earth, the Bible says, ‘Darkness covered the face of the deep’ (Genesis 1:2 NRSV). Then God spoke and said, ‘Let there be lights…And it was so’ (Genesis 1:14-15 NIV). And today God can bring light to push away your darkness and hope to destroy your despair. He isn’t intimidated by the dark – it’s where He does some of His best work!

The earth is continually revolving, which means when it’s light in one hemisphere, it’s dark in the other. While one person is experiencing midnight, someone else is rejoicing because light has finally appeared on the horizon for them. Both people live on the same planet, but they’re in very different places. So when you’re having a night-time experience, if you can just hold on a little longer, things will change. God guarantees it. The same way you rotated into the darkness, you’ll rotate out of it again. God works the night shift, and He’ll turn your darkness into light. You just have to keep trusting Him. Some significant events in the Bible happened at night. While Adam was sleeping, God reached in, performed surgery, and made Eve from his rib. At midnight, while the other prisoners slept, Paul and Silas sang praises to God and He rescued them. When Peter was locked in the inner prison, at midnight God sent an angel to free him. When Jesus was crucified, the earth was plunged into darkness, but on Easter morning the light came on forever. Night-time experiences are a part of life, and God’s ‘darkroom’ is where He develops you into the image of Christ. Going through the darkness isn’t an easy experience, and we’ll need endurance. But it’s an amazing feeling to step into the light after trusting Him in the dark. This kind of faith is tenacious, radical, and relentless. When it’s backed into a corner, it stands its ground and declares, ‘I’ve lost things I care about, life is terrible at the moment, and I can’t see a way out. But it won’t stop me believing in God.’ Don’t give up hope. Morning is coming.

Regardless of what anyone else thinks of you, you matter to God. He thinks you’re important, and His opinion is the one that counts the most. Before David became king, he had to overcome two obstacles. The first obstacle was his family’s inability to see his potential. When Samuel the prophet came looking for a king among Jesse’s sons, he didn’t even consider David. Maybe that’s because he was the youngest, or his brothers seemed more qualified, or his father wanted to impress the prophet. The second obstacle was Samuel’s inability to recognise God’s call on David’s life. When Samuel the prophet saw the oldest brother, Eliab, who was a general in the king’s army, he said, ‘Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here’ (1 Samuel 16:6 NIV). But God corrected Samuel – and gave the rest of us something to think about – with these words: ‘People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’ (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV). David’s problem is a common one. Many of us don’t believe in ourselves because we haven’t had much recognition or encouragement in the past. Maybe you have the potential to be a great musician, but because your parents guided you towards a different path, you’ve given up on yourself. Or maybe you’ve always been ‘the quiet one’, and been overlooked if there were other people around who were more confident or forgot to include you. If that’s the case, it’s time to stand up and reclaim who you are; time to ask God to help you be who you’re created to be, and place encouragers around you who will validate and ‘fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you’.

George Müller was a man of great faith who rescued thousands of homeless children in England. Sometimes there was nothing to eat when they gathered around the table for supper, so he would pray and thank God for supernatural provision. No sooner had he said, ‘Amen’, than a baker would show up at his door with bread, or a greengrocer with vegetables, or a farmer with milk. Here’s an entry from his journal, dated May 9, 1841: ‘I saw more clearly than ever that the first great primary business to which I ought to attend every day was…not how much I might serve the Lord…but…how my inner man might be nourished. For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers…and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit. Before this time my practice had been…to give myself to prayer after having dressed myself in the morning. Now, I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God, and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that this, by means of the Word of God, whilst meditating on it, my heart might be brought into experimental communion with the Lord.’ For over forty years, George Müller walked in the power of God and saw miracles, because he took time each day to meditate in God’s Word. Let’s follow his example and make God and His Word the centre of each day.

If we want to change a habit, we need to take on new behaviours, thoughts, relationships, and a willingness to do battle with old ways of thinking. Continuing with the same old habit is easy. A long-standing habit won’t give up without a fight, so change is hard work. We need a strong relationship with God to see it through. When God’s people entered the Promised Land, He told them to ‘utterly destroy’ their enemies; otherwise, their enemies would eventually destroy them. So when God tells us it’s time to declare war on our bad habits, we mustn’t try to justify them by saying, ‘Everybody does it,’ or ‘It’s not a big problem really.’ Anything that keeps us trapped and stops us enjoying the freedom Jesus bought for us at the cross is a very big problem. So instead of resisting or making excuses, let’s pray, ‘Lord, show me the root of this problem and how to deal with it. I’m ready for positive change in my life today.’ ’Have you ever noticed that when you’ve had a mountaintop experience with God, the devil is waiting for you at the bottom of the mountain? After their experience on the Mount of Transfiguration, Jesus’ disciples were approached by a man whose son was caught in a harmful cycle where ‘frequently he [fell] into the fire and…water’ (Matthew 17:15 AMPC). Whenever we find ourselves falling into the same traps, making the same mistakes, jumping into the same hurtful relationships, getting hooked on the same habits, it’s time to take our problem to Jesus and ask for His help to conquer it. And He definitely will!

Jesus had some strong words to say about the disciples’ lack of faith: ‘“You unbelieving and perverse generation,”...“how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?”’(Matthew 17:17 NIV). The disciples hadn’t been able to cast out a demon from a suffering boy, so Jesus took matters into His own hands: ‘Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment’ (v.18 NIV). We don’t know why the disciples lacked faith. They had seen what Jesus could do, and He had already given them the authority to heal and to cast out demons (see Matthew 10:1). But they still struggled. This story shows us how easy it can be to lose faith, and how important it is to keep feeding our faith so it grows stronger. We must constantly fight the negative things and attitudes that surround us in our culture, on TV, on social media, and sometimes from our own friends. Over time, they can wear us down by diluting our faith. To combat this, we need to feed our faith every day with God’s Word. Jesus said, ‘If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move”…and it will’ (Matthew 17:20 NKJV). Jesus isn’t referring to a mountain from years ago. He said, ‘Say to this mountain.’ He wants us to use our faith today! He said, ‘If you have faith as a mustard seed…nothing will be impossible for you’ (v.20 NKJV). A mustard seed is tiny, but a tiny amount of faith is all God needs to work with. We might think we have no faith, but Paul said, ‘God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.’ And when it’s activated, miracles happen. Even if we have only an ounce of faith left, we have what we need to get started.

In the Bible, the idea of tithing was to give a certain amount of your income (the Old Testament usually said ten per cent) to God. In Leviticus the priests are told: ‘A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord’ (27:30 NIV). Everything we have comes from God, and by giving something back it’s like we’re expressing gratitude and showing that we trust Him rather than our possessions and finances. God said: ‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.’ He was saying this to people who had robbed God of His tithes and offerings (take a look at Malachi 3:8). But we can fail to sacrifice things to God too. We may hold on to our money, our possessions, our time, our gifts, or our relationships. We forget that every good thing we have is a gift from God. ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above’ (James 1:17 NIV). We hold on to things rather than use them to glorify and praise God. We worry that giving things away will mean that we go without. But God told the people to bring the whole tithe. All of it, rather than withholding some just in case they needed it. And He promised to bless them, provide for them, and look out for them. God knows all our needs. We just need enough faith to hand our whole offering (whether that’s money, time or something else) over to Him.

If you could go back a year, or several years, what advice would you like to give your younger self? The experience of living can teach us so much, and it’s great to hear advice and wisdom from those who are older than we are. Here are some points shared by an elderly lady who wanted to bless others with wisdom she’d learned over the course of her life: 1) ‘Time is precious; don’t waste it.’ Make every minute count. That doesn’t mean we have to be busy and productive all the time. Rest and relaxation is a vital part of life too. But we can get weighed down by things like arguments that seem important at the time, but in reality are over trivial things. Let's ask God to help us discern when to let something go with grace. 2) ‘You’re making memories; try to make them good ones.’ Take every opportunity to show love, follow God’s will, and look for His hand in everything. Try to approach every situation with grace, so we can create memories rather than regrets, and look for the treasure in every experience. Looking back, the best memories aren’t necessarily the ones we’d expect. 3) ‘It’s not what happens, but how you respond that counts.’ Every day has new challenges that will test our love and resolve, and life is full of seemingly unpleasant events. But through Christ, we have the power to make each test an opportunity for growth. Let’s try to handle them in a way that enables us to look back and say to God, ‘That experience wasn’t pleasant to go through, but thank You for helping me grow through it.’

Jesus said: ‘I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world’ (John 16:33 MSG). Life keeps handing us problems that test and stretch our faith. Daniel’s success made him a target. Knowing he prayed regularly, his enemies persuaded King Darius that all prayers should be made to him as the king. But Daniel kept praying each day – in front of an open window. When the king heard about it, he threw Daniel into a lions’ den. But God turned things around. Next morning Daniel came out, his enemies went in, and the king announced, ‘Daniel’s God…is the living God’ (Daniel 6:26 MSG). Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to worship the king’s idols. Even when they were warned to bow or burn, they said, ‘God…is able to deliver us…But if not…we will not serve thy gods’ (Daniel 3:17-18 KJV). And because they walked by faith, God delivered and promoted them. Facing Goliath, David refused to wear the king’s armour. He said, ‘I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them’ (1 Samuel 17:39 KJV). So what did he go with? ‘The name of the Lord’ (1 Samuel 17:45 KJV), and the rest is history. Chances are you will never find yourself in a lions’ den, a fiery furnace, or facing a giant – although some days it will feel like it. But when you’re under attack, 1) pray and claim God’s power, 2) walk by faith, and 3) go ‘in the name of the Lord.’

Author John Maxwell wrote: ‘When you come face-to-face with a problem, how do you react? Do you ignore it and hope it will go away? Do you feel powerless to solve it? Have you had such bad experiences trying to solve problems in the past that you’ve just given up? Or do you tackle them willingly? The ability to solve problems effectively comes from experience facing and overcoming obstacles. Each time you solve another problem, you get a little better at the process. But if you never try, fail, and try again, you’ll never be good at it.’ And another author, George Matthew Adams, stated: ‘What you think means more than anything else in your life. More than what you earn, more than where you live, more than your social position, and more than what anyone else may think about you.’ Most of King David’s problems were enemies who wanted to defeat him. But he had confidence in God: ‘For by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall’ (v.29 NKJV). To improve our problem-solving abilities, we should try these things: 1) Find the right strategy. Sometimes we have a hard time solving the problem because we don’t know how to tackle it. Try using the acronym T.E.A.C.H.: Time – take the time required to discover the real issue. Exposure – find out how others have solved similar problems. Assistance – don’t try to do it all alone, let others help you. Creativity – brainstorm numerous solutions. Hit it – execute the best solution. 2) Surround yourself with problem solvers. ‘Spend time with the wise and you will become wise’ (Proverbs 13:20 NCV).

Every problem you face in life introduces you to yourself in a new way. It shows you how you think and what you’re made of. People basically respond to problems in three ways: 1) they refuse to accept them, 2) they accept them and then endure them, or 3) they accept them and try to improve things. Which of the three people do you tend to be? Paul was a problem solver. He knew that with God on his side, he’d win through in the end. ‘We are like clay jars in which this treasure is stored. The real power comes from God and not from us. We often suffer, but we are never crushed. Even when we don’t know what to do, we never give up. In times of trouble, God is with us, and when we are knocked down, we get up again’ (v.7-9 CEV). So when it comes to having problems, what should we do? 1) Anticipate them. Problems are unavoidable, but we can prepare for them spiritually, mentally, and emotionally. If we pray for God’s best and anticipate Satan’s worst, we'll be in a strong position to solve the problems that come our way. 2) See the big picture. Problems will raise certain emotions, but we must try not to be overcome by those feelings, or get weighed down in tiny details and lose sight of what’s really important. 3) Handle one thing at a time. Richard Sloma said, ‘Never try to solve all the problems at once – make them line up for you one-by-one.’ If we’re facing lots of problems, let’s make sure we actually solve the one we’re working on before moving on to the next one.

When we’re more focused on what we have to offer, instead of the needs of others, they discern it and quickly lose interest. Even when we’re doing something good and positive, like sharing our faith, we can become so engrossed in giving a great presentation and in ‘getting results’ that the other person switches off, and our real message can’t get through. In his book Presenting to Win, Jerry Weissman points out that when people communicate, they focus too much on the features of their product or service instead of answering the question, ‘Can you help me?’ The key is to focus on the benefits, not the features. He writes: ‘A feature is a fact or quality about you or your company, the products you sell, or the idea you’re advocating. By contrast, a benefit is how that fact or quality will help your audience. When you seek to persuade, it’s never enough to present the features of what you’re selling; every feature must be translated into a benefit. Whereas a feature may be irrelevant to the needs or interests of your audience, a benefit, by definition, is always relevant.’ Caring about other people must always be our motive and starting point. Paul wrote: ‘If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate…If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love’ (v.1, 3 MSG). Let’s get into the habit of checking our motives regularly, ensuring that care and compassion is our first thought.

There's a theory that the Titanic sank because of cheap rivets and poor planning. The shipbuilders were faced with a shortage of quality bolts, so they used cheaper substandard ones that popped when the ship hit the iceberg. So, how sturdy are the bolts of your faith? Reinforce them daily with God’s Word, seasons of in-depth prayer, and strengthening fellowship. Describing signs of the end times, Jesus said, ‘All these are the beginning of birth pains’ (Matthew 24:8 NIV). Change from one season to another can be difficult and painful, but Jesus gives us the assurance that this is often part of the process, and things will get better. John said: ‘I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and…the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be…their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”’ (Revelation 21:1-5 NIV). People everywhere are searching for answers. So, we who know the truth of God’s love need to engage with them, reassure them, and let them know about the hope that Jesus has provided. Our goal should be to take as many people as we can along with us on our walk with God and journey towards heaven.

Whatever our situation in life, we have an influence on the people around us, even if we don't realise it. That means we're all leaders. We may never be heads of companies, managers of teams, or any other obvious type of leader, but we are all called to set good examples for others to follow. And that's a form of leadership! Here are six thoughts on good leadership which can also help us use our influence well: 1) Trust connects people to our vision; without trust, they'll be disconnected. With it, they’ll get on board. 2) Leadership isn’t just about what we do; it’s about inspiring and encouraging others. Good leaders bring out the best in people by sharing the best in themselves. 3) Influence comes with the responsibility to serve, develop, and empower others. By helping them grow, we also grow. 4) Rules without relationship leads to resistance. If we're in a position to set rules, but we don’t invest in building relationships with the people who need to follow them, they’ll rebel against our rules. 5) Paul said, ‘If a bugle call isn’t clear, how would you know to get ready for battle?’ So try to be optimistic, enthusiastic, and positive. Focus on solutions, not complaints. Philosopher Nicholas Murray Butler said, ‘Optimism is essential to achievement, and it is also the foundation of courage and true progress.’ ’6) Good leaders don’t have all the answers, but they build a network that has them, or knows how to get them. Having a good influence and leading by example is a process, not the end result. To succeed, we need to put our focus on the people and the process, not the outcome.

Setting your mind is like setting a thermostat; it determines the climate you live in. So, let's set our minds on God’s Word. We could try to stop thinking wrong thoughts, but that immediately brings to mind the thoughts we're supposed to stop thinking! Instead, we should fill our minds with God’s Word, so wrong thoughts don't have space to enter. Jesus told His disciples that the Holy Spirit would remind them of what He had taught them (see John 14:26). So when we file the Scriptures in our memory, God’s Spirit will access those files whenever we need them. Imagine an amateur pilot flying through their first storm. The plane is in fog, so the pilot can’t see any landmarks to use for navigation. But then a voice comes from the control tower saying, ‘Just listen to me. I’ll guide you safely home.’ Jesus said, ‘I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world’ (John 16:33 NIV). Paul wrote: ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV). Here are a couple of examples: 1) When we hear unsettling news reports, let's try to remember that our true security is found in God. 2) When someone criticises us, let's take what’s valid and let nobody except God determine our worth. By setting our minds on God’s Word, we can have peace in any situation.

To have a good relationship with someone, we must have good communication. And good communication is based on two things: talking, and listening. Have a think about some of your recent conflicts – can you spot any behaviours and attitudes that might have contributed to them? Things like: Fears. Insecurity. Jealousy. Stubbornness. Arrogance. Greed. Sin. Rebellion. Unexpressed or unmet expectations. Unrealistic expectations. Differing standards, beliefs, philosophies, or views. Competing desires. Power struggles. Goals and intentions that don’t match. Boundaries (spoken or unspoken) that aren’t being respected. Lack of resources (time, money, space). Lack of information. Not understanding the needs of different personalities. Poor relational skills. James wrote, ‘My dear brothers and sisters, always be willing to listen and slow to speak.’ This Bible verse is crucial to good communication. When we listen, we create an atmosphere where people feel they’ve been understood and their views and feelings have been validated. This is half the battle in settling any conflict. And listening is not passive! It takes a lot of effort to discern what’s really being expressed, or even unexpressed. But there’s good news: if we’re serious about it, God will help us become better listeners! Isaiah wrote: ‘The Lord God has given Me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning. He awakens My ear to hear as the learned’ (Isaiah 50:4 NKJV). Remember the words ‘tongue’ and ‘ear’, and ask God to help you with both.

God sent the prophet Nathan to confront King David over his affair with Bathsheba. As king, David had the power to have Nathan put to death. But he didn’t. He humbled himself, received correction, repented, and was restored to his throne and God’s favour. Are you open to correction? If you are, your future is bright and your potential is great. But you must be discerning and get God’s opinion too, because not all correction is constructive; if it isn’t, you don't necessarily have to accept it. Someone might want to tear you down, lower your self-esteem, or manipulate you into going along with their way of thinking. So you must make it a habit to analyse the motives of the person who is correcting you. Ask yourself these questions: 1) In the past, has this person shown any genuine concern for my wellbeing and growth? 2) What do they personally gain if I start behaving in the way they're suggesting, or doing the things they recommend? What do I gain? What do I lose? 3) Is their attitude one of kindness, or am I feeling attacked and demeaned? (But be careful here; we mustn’t automatically assume someone’s irritation at our behaviour is a personal attack.) 4) After they criticise me, do I feel like a hopeless failure, or do they have faith in my capacity to change? 5) Are they dedicated to sticking with me through the change? The Bible says, ‘Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful’ (Proverbs 27:6 KJV). God loves us enough to send people into our lives to correct us; we need to learn to accept fair, constructive criticism, and discern when someone has motives that are not from God.

How are your sleep habits? Do you go to bed at a certain time and get up at a certain time? Or do you allow events, people, deadlines, or other circumstances to dictate your sleep schedule? We can put a lot of effort into making sure our time with God is protected (or at least have the best intentions to protect it), but how often do we think about protecting our sleep time as well? God invented sleep so we could experience rest, refreshment, and recovery; He can also speak to us through dreams. A healthy amount of sleep is a good thing, and we're created with a need for it. So why do we sometimes neglect it? One reason might be that we feel there just aren't enough hours in the day to fit in everything we want or need to do, so we carve into our sleep time. But since sleep is designed by God, He wouldn't want us to take on so much that we can't get the rest we need. So we need to ask Him to show us ways to be more efficient, or direct us to prioritise and drop some things. His solution might be to put people in our lives who we can delegate tasks to. Another reason for lacking sleep might be stress and worry. David said, ‘I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety’ (Psalm 4:8 NKJV). It’s hard to sleep when our thoughts can't 'switch off', so we need to tell God about our worries, and let Him take care of them. He'll help us find peace.

Fear and faith are both powerful forces. And the one we surrender to will control us. So here are some Scriptures to help us fight fear: ‘Be strong and brave, and do the work. Don’t be afraid or discouraged, because the Lord God, my God, is with you’ (1 Chronicles 28:20 NCV). ‘The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust’ (Psalm 18:2 NKJV). ‘I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?’ (Psalm 56:11 NLT). ‘They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord’ (Psalm 112:7 NIV). ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me’ (Psalm 23:4 ESV). ‘I leave you peace; my peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don’t let your hearts be troubled or afraid’ (John 14:27 NCV). ‘Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 4:6-7 NLT). ‘Nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love’ (Romans 8:38 NLT). Today, fight your fears with God’s Word!

The Bible teaches us a lot about giving. Here are some of the things it tells us: 1) You should give whenever God nudges you to. It’s easy for us to avoid giving by saying, ‘If I get more, I’ll give more.’ Anyone can give when they won’t miss the thing they’re sharing, but God sometimes calls us to give sacrificially, having faith that He’ll meet our needs. So what we should say is, ‘Father, You’re asking me to give, so I’m going to trust You.’ 2) You often get back more than you give. ‘He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness’ (v.10 NIV). We normally think of the ‘seed’ as being money, but it could also apply to other resources we have, or even God’s Word. Some of the things God gives us are to be used for our own needs, and some are to create ‘a harvest of righteousness’. What does that mean? Paul explains: ‘They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor; their righteousness endures forever’ (v.9 NIV). In other words, we must show compassion towards those who are hurting and give generously to those who are unable to provide for themselves. The Bible says that when we give to those who are lacking something, we’re actually lending to God, and He will repay us (see Proverbs 19:17). Jesus said: ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you’ (Luke 6:38 NIV).

What does the word meditate mean? We might think it's a complicated, super-spiritual ritual, but really it just means to focus our thoughts on something, to reflect on it, and think deeply about it. We can meditate on anything; a chapter of a university textbook, the film we've just watched, even the back of the cornflake box during breakfast. But the one thing we really should make an effort to meditate on every day is God’s Word. David said, ‘I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.’ God’s Word changes lives, so we need to let it into our minds and allow it to do its work. Here are ten benefits of meditating on God’s Word: 1) It cultivates a love for God and His Word within us. 2) It gives us new insights and spiritual understanding. 3) It’s a source of reassurance and strength. 4) It empowers us to be genuine witnesses for Jesus Christ. 5) It renews our minds. 6) It protects us from sin. 7) It restores our souls and our emotions. 8) It enables us to trust in the Lord wholeheartedly. 9) It causes our spirits to come alive. 10) It helps us in understanding God, others, and ourselves. There's great power in God’s Word, and Bible meditation gives us access to that power. ‘Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you – your tickets to participation in the life of God’ (2 Peter 1:3-4 MSG).

Paul wrote: ‘We are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvellously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be…If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them’ (v.4-8 MSG). Real connection isn't found in having a mobile phone full of numbers or having hundreds of followers on social media. Those things might be nice to have, but real, powerful, transforming connection is found in sharing our lives with others. So where can we start making connections that enrich us, stretch us, and maybe even challenge us to grow? By visiting a lonely, forgotten person in a nursing home. By volunteering to work in a food bank once a week. By saying to our pastor, ‘Please give me a job that involves helping others.’ These might seem like small things, but we'll be amazed how much they can enrich life.

When we read the story of the New Testament Church, we might get caught up in the excitement of its explosive growth and amazing miracles. But here’s a part of the story we shouldn’t miss: ‘No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had…There were no needy persons among them…those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money…and it was distributed to anyone who had need’ (v.32-35 NIV). It’s easy to think we’d be happier if we had more money. It’s true that money can give us security, and having plenty of money would probably kill off quite a number of worries too. But it wouldn't necessarily make us feel happier. In the Journal of Happiness Studies, researchers looked at what made quite happy people different from less happy people. They found that there was one thing that consistently separated those two groups: meaningful connections with other people. It’s not about how much money we have; it’s not about our health, security, attractiveness, IQ, career, or success. What seems to distinguish consistently happy people from less happy people is having rich, deep, joy-producing, life-changing relationships in their lives. That doesn't mean we have to have lots of friends to be happy. We can know a lot of people and still be lonely because we're not connecting with any of them in any really meaningful way. But the people in the New Testament Church got it right: it’s in sharing with each other spiritually, emotionally, financially, and relationally that we discover high levels of joy.

At creation, God looked at everything He had made and said, ‘That’s good.’ But He soon realised that Adam, the man He’d created, felt lonely, unfulfilled, and incomplete. That’s when He said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone,’ and He made Eve, the first woman. The fact is, none of us can develop to our highest potential unless we’re plugged in to nurturing, life-giving relationships. Here’s an example: in some recovery and rehabilitation groups, the counsellor only does 10 per cent of the work by offering guidance. The rest of the recovery process happens because people in the group challenge, comfort, and strengthen one another. The truth is, we’re influenced by people. The right people help you to become the best version of yourself, and you get to do the same for them. They see a ‘you’ that you can’t see at times, they cheer you on as you move towards it, and they turn you round when you move away from it. In the Bible, the highest and best form of this relationship is called ‘fellowship of the Spirit’ (see Philippians 2:1; 2 Corinthians 13:14 and 1 John 1:6). It’s not just a social, relational, or intellectual connection, but a deep spiritual link that helps us thrive. It’s like the difference between bees and butterflies. Butterflies cover more ground, but bees gather more honey because they don’t just land on a flower for a few moments, they stay there and extract every drop of the life-giving nectar. God gave David the gift of a Jonathan, and Naomi the gift of a Ruth. And He has people He’d like you to meet. So today, talk to Him about the connection He’d like you to make.

Christian author John Ortberg wrote: ‘Sometimes people are afraid that if they don’t change fast enough, God will get impatient with them. They don’t generally use these words, but they wonder, “How much sin can there be in my life before I need to start worrying? Is there a level of sin that is acceptable for a Christian, and if you go beyond it, you’re in danger – like with the level of mercury in Lake Michigan? Is there a limit to impurity, such as the Food and Drug Administration has? Is the standard high like that for homogenised milk, or is it like the standard of purity required for hot dogs, with lots of room for junk? Is it possible to be a Christian and just never grow?” The issue is not whether God will get tired of forgiving our sins. Forgiving is always the right response to sincere repentance. God is not worried that He might be taken advantage of.’ The danger isn’t that God won’t respond to our honest repentance. The danger is that we might become so trapped in the dangerous thoughts produced by sin that we become callous, complacent, and feel unable to repent. Sin must be taken seriously, and not seen as something minor. Even the sins that seem small and unimportant to us can start off a chain reaction to bigger sin. So let’s get into the habit of repentance as soon as we're aware that we’ve done something wrong. God will always be willing to listen to us. He’d much rather hear us repent a hundred times than see us struggle alone under the weight of sin. No matter what your sin is, don't ever be afraid to go to Him for help.

When we find ourselves on the wrong road, repentance allows us to make a U-turn and head back in the right direction. Isn’t that an amazing blessing! But to be clear, repenting doesn’t increase God’s desire to be with us; it just increases our capacity to be with Him. Sometimes we think we need to repent because God’s angry with us and wants to see us grovel, or we think of repenting as a way of punishing ourselves so that God will be less severe with us. But that’s not repentance, it’s low self-esteem! Low self-esteem causes us to believe we have so little worth that our response doesn’t matter. But with repentance, we understand that because we’re worth so much to God, our response is important. Paul said, ‘The kindness of God leads you to repentance.’ When we love God, our greatest concern isn’t that God will hurt us, but that our actions will hurt Him. When David murdered Uriah after sleeping with his wife, he went a year without repenting. He had to force his mind not to think about it. It was a miserable way to live. In his remorseful prayer, he said, ‘My sin is always before me’ (Psalm 51:3 NIV). Then he cried, ‘Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow…Create in me a pure heart, O God…Restore to me the joy of your salvation’ (v.7, 10, 12 NIV). So God forgave him and wiped his slate clean, and David went on to become Israel’s greatest king. Repentance isn’t for God’s benefit – it’s for ours!

Wherever you live and whatever you do, you’ll have to deal with these three kinds of people at some point: 1) The critic. Let’s be honest, most people are comfortable with the status quo. Not only do they fear change, they’ll often attack it. So if you dare to be different, prepare to sail through some rough seas. The apostle Paul’s critics described him as a madman, a fool, and a babbler. If he received that treatment, we mustn't expect them to treat us any better. We need to be prepared to face harsh words if we want to change things. 2) The calculating. These people won’t point an accusing finger, but they probably won’t extend a helping hand either – unless it benefits them. When you get into trouble, they might distance themselves from you, scared that they could be tainted by association. Basically, they’ll wait to see if you make it through the tunnel and come out the other side. Then they’ll wait to see who else accepts you and if you can be of benefit to them. Then they might reconnect with you. These people are users. They’re not bad; they’re just self-serving. So love them, but don’t lean on them. 3) The committed. ‘A friend loves at all times, and is born, as is a brother, for adversity.’ Even when they hear the worst about you, the committed person still believes the best about you. They value you for your strengths and show grace in handling your weaknesses. These people are priceless because they’ll love you ‘at all times’. So when God puts a person like that into your life, learn to protect, value, and nurture them, and thank God for their friendship.

As we grow and our sense of taste matures, foods we hated when we were little can become foods we enjoy. Instead of always preferring processed foods full of fat and sugar (as nice as they are), we can begin to appreciate the delicious flavours of vegetables and develop a taste for more nourishing foods. And since the Bible is soul food, we can cultivate a taste for that too. Eugene Peterson wrote: ‘Christians feed on Scripture. Holy Scripture nurtures the holy community as food nurtures the human body. Christians don’t simply learn or study or use Scripture; we assimilate it, take it into our lives in…a way that it gets metabolised into acts of love.’ Research suggests the average Bible owner has nine Bibles and is looking for more. That statistic paints a picture of people who know God’s Word is good for them, who have good intentions to start getting into it, but never actually get as far as taking that first step. It’s similar to someone who wants to start eating more healthily, so with the best of intentions they buy a load of vegetables. But preparing a meal from scratch is hard work. It’s much easier to pop a ready meal in the microwave, and the vegetables end up going off at the back of the fridge. In both cooking and Bible reading, we need willpower and discipline to get started, because there are too many tempting alternatives. Becoming a faithful Bible reader begins as a discipline, continues as a duty, and finally becomes a delight. ‘How sweet are your words…sweeter than honey to my mouth!’ And that can be our experience too when it comes to reading God’s Word. We just need to get serious about it.

Paul wrote these instructions to help us feed our minds well: ‘Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.’ John Ortberg wrote: ‘The striking word in that command is whatever. Our minds are being shaped all the time, but we have great freedom to pursue minds that flourish. As a bee that can find nectar in all kinds of flowers, we are now free – even commanded – to feed our mind on noble thoughts wherever we find them. The Bible itself commands us to look beyond just the Bible to feed our minds. Let us meditate for a moment on that phrase “whatever is lovely”. Think of something that is “lovely” to you. A sunset. A favourite novel…The face of someone you love. Music that makes you dance. Let your mind dwell there for a moment. Give it directed mental focus. You just obeyed the Bible. That “counts”. You just opened your mind a bit to the flow of the Holy Spirit…The Holy Spirit’s goal is not to get you really good at suppressing angry behaviour. It is for you to have a mind characterised by an ever-increasing flow of Spirit-guided, truth-based, life-producing thoughts and feelings. When we read about what is noble, when we see something praiseworthy, we experience what psychologist Jonathan Haidt called “elevation”. We actually feel a slight expansion in our chest; we feel lighter in our bodies. Our emotions are inspired, and we want to become more excellent ourselves. That counts as obedience to Scripture. That is spiritual.’

Satan knows a lot about you. He understands your strengths and weaknesses and knows how to push you to your limits. But the Bible says, ‘When people are tempted and still continue strong, they should be happy. After they have proved their faith, God will reward them with life forever.’ (James 1:12 NCV). Temptation tests your character and tenacity, and it’s hard. But when you keep standing, keep believing, and keep fighting, you can feel secure knowing that you're doing the God-approved thing, and that He notices your faith. When you face temptation, be prepared for it to be an endurance race rather than a quick sprint. Goliath defied Israel’s armies for forty days (see 1 Samuel 17:16). Satan obstructed Daniel’s prayers for twenty-one days (see Daniel 10:13). Satan is relentless, and you must be too. When it comes to prayer, your persistence overcomes his resistance. ‘Do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord…Patient endurance is what you need now…Then you will receive all that he has promised’ (Hebrews 10:35-36 NLT). Keep fighting, and God will come to your rescue. He did it for Joshua. When Joshua needed extra time to defeat his enemies, God made the sun stand still and time stop (see Joshua 10:12). It seemed God was saying to him, ‘As long as the sun doesn’t go down, you won’t either, for the same power that’s holding it up is holding you up!’ When Jesus healed ten lepers, the Bible says, ‘As they went, they were cleansed’ (Luke 17:14 KJV). They were probably wondering, ‘When will it happen, and how will it happen?’ Faith doesn’t demand details and explanations; it just keeps moving forwards, believing God for the right result.

Israel had become steeped in idolatry and ungodliness. So when Josiah became king, he decided to cleanse Israel of pagan influences and began rebuilding the temple. That's when a priest discovered some long-lost scrolls containing God’s Word. As Josiah heard what they said, he realised just how far his people had drifted from God. So he asked the prophetess Huldah what would become of the people. She told him that as he had repented when he heard God’s Word, his nation would be spared while he lived (see v.14-27). An entire generation received grace because of one man's faith and integrity. And Josiah had a lot to overcome. His grandfather, Manasseh, had filled Jerusalem ‘from one end to the other with innocent blood’ (2 Kings 21:16 NLT). And Josiah’s father died at the hands of his own officers. ‘He did what was wrong’, is most likely what his epitaph says. Josiah was only eight years old when he became king. Immediately he chose righteousness and didn’t stop doing what was right all his life. So what can we learn from his story? First, you can’t pick your family, but you can pick your role models. ‘Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children’ (Ephesians 5:1 NIV).Second, you can’t change your past, but you can rise above it. You have a say in your life, you have a voice in your destiny, and you have a choice in the path you take. Third, one person can make a huge difference when they have God behind them. Your path is uniquely yours. Don't try to follow anyone else's. Choose the path God shows you, and be ready for some amazing things to spring up as a result of your obedience.

David said: ‘I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart’ (v.13-14 NKJV). The word ‘wait’ originates from a Hebrew word used in making rope. Every rope starts as a thread, and every strand that's added increases its strength. So each time you wait on the Lord, you add another thread to your rope; you become a little stronger and a little more able to cope. Are you hanging on by a thread? Spend more time with God and watch Him turn the thread into a rope. Waiting isn't always passive; sometimes it’s active, like waiting on a customer and seeing that their needs are met. In this case, waiting is more of a focus than a position. The Bible says, ‘You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you’ (Isaiah 26:3 NIV). Whether it’s sitting prayerfully in God’s presence or actively serving Him, you'll have the assurance that your strength will be renewed. If you're feeling like you're at the end of your rope today, grab hold of and cling to these promises: ‘Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint’ (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV). ‘As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters…so our eyes look to the Lord our God’ (Psalm 123:2 NKJV).

If we want to help someone with their unresolved issues, we must first deal with our own. If the medicine we’re offering hasn’t made us whole, we’ll have very little credibility when we try to use it to help someone else. Does that mean if we have unresolved issues, God won’t use us? No, it’s the broken who become masters at mending. But first we must take time to be healed. It’s hard to talk about victory to someone else when we’re experiencing defeat. When we’re bleeding spiritually and emotionally, we can’t treat people’s problems with the same kind of aggressive faith we would have if we’d already worked through our problem. Is it wrong to have a broken heart? No, because God ‘heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.’ Let’s allow God to make us whole so He can use us. In Old Testament times, you couldn’t serve as a priest if you had a scab, which is an unhealed wound. This is why: 1) You wouldn’t be up to par spiritually. 2) You couldn’t get close to others in case they bumped into you and knocked the protective cover off your scab. 3) You couldn’t be at your best because the pain was sapping your strength. 4) You’d be afraid to talk about your scab in case people rejected you, so you’d live on two levels, and become insecure, hypocritical, or controlling. 5) Worst of all, you’d be so busy working for God and taking care of others, you wouldn’t have time to stop and take care of yourself. So today’s reminder is: take any unresolved issues to God, and let Him help you deal with them.

God told Joshua, ‘Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand’ (Joshua 8:18 NKJV). It’s amazing how courageous you feel when you know God is backing you up. When you realise He's on your side, you can say, ‘No weapon that is formed against me will prevail’ (see Isaiah 54:17). But overconfidence, which is self-confidence that’s not based on God-confidence, can be a problem. We might plan, say, and do things without checking first to find out if God is supporting our strategy. Remember what the evil spirit said to those trying to mimic Paul’s ministry when they weren’t empowered by God’s Spirit? They said, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?’ (Acts 19:15 NKJV). When you’re under attack, you need to know that 1) you’re in the right place with God (see 2 Corinthians 5:19), 2) it’s God’s fight as well as yours (see 2 Chronicles 20:15), and 3) ‘whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven’ (Matthew 18:18 NIV). There must be agreement in both realms. If it’s not approved where God is, it shouldn’t be approved where you are. Your confidence comes from knowing you’re operating in His will. The Bible calls us ‘labourers together with God’ (1 Corinthians 3:9 KJV), so you can’t go off and do your own thing. Don’t try moving any mountain that God doesn’t want moved or stirring up battles that He doesn't want fought just yet. On earth, we should only do what He's declared to be His will in heaven. And then He'll back us up!

At times we can reject or ignore advice and wisdom that might actually help us. Sometimes it’s to protect our ego against a painful truth. But we need to learn to accept it with grace. When we hold a fixed opinion about something, we can sometimes be dismissive towards other people's different opinions. We might get frustrated that they can't see things the way we do. And not only do we hurt them, we hurt ourselves. ‘Better a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more’ (Ecclesiastes 4:13 NKJV). We all have our own areas of expertise. But we also have areas where we need advice. And even when we know a lot about something, it doesn't hurt to get a different perspective on it. The day we stop listening is the day we stop growing. Even if what we learn is negative or a lesson in what not to do, it’s still valuable information that can protect and enrich us. Dr John Maxwell puts it in a workplace context, saying: ‘What is the one thing – more than any other – that will determine the growth of an organisation? The growth of the people in the organisation. And what determines the people’s growth? The growth of the leader! As long as people are following you, they will be able to go only as far as you go. If you’re not growing, they won’t be growing – either that, or they will go somewhere else where they can grow.’ If we want to grow, we need to have the right attitude, listen well and with discernment, be open to new ideas and perspectives, and be prepared to at least consider fair criticism and advice. And most importantly, accept God's wisdom about every situation.

David had seven brothers. When it came time to pick a king to replace Saul, Samuel thought any of them would make a better king than David. But God rejected all seven, because: 1) They had the looks but not the spiritual core. God explained to Samuel, ‘People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’ (v.7 NLT). David’s spiritual core was formed by years spent with God. His heart’s cry was, ‘As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God’ (Psalm 42:1 NKJV). 2) They had no personal experiences with God to fall back on. The lion and the bear were big, and Goliath was even bigger. But David wasn’t intimidated. ‘The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine’ (1 Samuel 17:37 NKJV). There are no insignificant battles. The little ones equip us for the big ones that shape our destiny, so we must stand on our ‘God experiences’. How we respond in a crisis is determined by the experiences we've had with God. 3) They were easily influenced by others. David’s brothers allowed the fears of those around them to wear away their faith. Fear is catching; if we listen to it long enough, we'll get infected by it. That doesn't mean we should isolate ourselves from the world, but we must be insulated against its negative influences. David’s brothers were frightened when they listened to Goliath, but his words didn’t frighten David. Who are you listening to today? Get God’s opinion and build your life on it; let His Word settle every issue.

We might think it just takes the right person in someone's life to bring change within them. There might be times when we think we're the right person. But the truth is that only God can change people. The power to change must come from within the person themselves. When we try to change someone and it doesn't work, we can lose hope and feel hopeless. It's a task that we need to leave to God. In The Message, Eugene Peterson paraphrases Solomon’s words: ‘Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick.’ When we keep longing for and envisioning something that never materialises, we get heartsick. Then we start making excuses for what’s not working in the relationship, even as it becomes obvious to those around us. Sound relationship decisions are not based on hope. And add to this the fact that people of faith often try to spiritualise every issue. In the name of ‘faith’, they downplay their instincts and ignore their senses. That’s not having faith in God! Faith in God should be just that – faith in God. We must not place our faith in fallible men and women, because they will fail us. God gives each of us a will, but He doesn’t force us to change. Change must come from within each of us as we accept the grace that God extends to us each day. ‘The Lord opened [Lydia’s] heart to heed the things spoken by Paul’ (Acts 16:14 NKJV). Here’s a better option: pray for them, and let God change them!

One of Paul’s letters was to the church at Ephesus. They were spiritual, doctrinally sound, and exemplary in their love for Christ. Then Jesus says to that same church years later, ‘You don’t love me or each other as you did at first! Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first’ (v.4-5 NLT). Has your own love for God grown cold? If it has, think back to where you first met Him and seek Him again like you did before pressures of life, worries, and uncertainty had worn you down. We might be so busy doing the work He's assigned us that we neglect our personal time with Him. Three times Jesus asked Peter, ‘Do you love Me?’ Finally, Peter said, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know [the extent to which] I love You’ (John 21:17 NKJV). Bible teacher Oswald Chambers said, ‘Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him.’ When Peter decided to go fishing that night, he might have been making a decision to get away from everything and go back to where he first met God. That’s a good move! When we get discouraged, we have two choices: we'll either go back to the One who can save, keep, and satisfy us; or we'll go back to whatever was going on in our lives before we met Him. That’s not a good move! The Bible says Peter fished all night and caught nothing. Once we step on that path with Him, our old lives won't fulfil us the way a life with God will.

Abraham was known as ‘the Friend of God’ (James 2:23 KJV), which is an amazing honour! But the secret of his greatness is easy to overlook: ‘Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord.’ He started his day with God. Do you? The way you get up in the morning can set the tone for your whole day. So try this: first thing tomorrow, get alone with God for a few minutes and go over your plans for the day. As you’re going over them, you’ll probably have some concerns. Just hand them over to Him. You might have a particular problem you’re worried about. Ask Him for wisdom. The Bible says He'll give it to you gladly (see James 1:5). If He doesn’t give you an immediate answer, don't be distressed. It’s often because He wants you to trust Him. But you can be certain that He has something in mind, something that you haven’t thought of yet. So many of us start our day anxious, hurried, fearful, or rushed. But you don’t have to. You’re going to start your day anyway; why not start it with God? You’re going to have a first thought anyhow, so why not let it belong to God before whom all our anxieties flee? When you’re having a bad day, pause and ask yourself, ‘Did I start this day with God, or did I forget to include Him?’ ’Here are two Scriptures you need to consider: ‘In the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly’ (Psalm 5:3 NIV). ‘Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days’ (Psalm 90:14 NIV).

Jesus was the perfect mentor. He told His disciples, ‘He who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also.’ If we want to reach our God-given potential, we should ask God for the right mentors. We'll always go further with a good mentor coaching, pushing, and encouraging us. Some mentors are given to us for a short season, while others are given for a lifetime, and we must learn to know the difference. The 'manifesto' of a true, good mentor would sound something like this: 1) I am willing to spend the time it takes to build a close relationship with the learner; 2) I commit myself to believing in the potential of the learner, to telling them the exciting future I see ahead for him or her; to visualising and verbalising the possibilities for their life; 3) I am willing to be vulnerable and transparent in front of the learner; I’m willing to share not only my strengths and successes, but also my weaknesses, failures, brokenness, and sins; 4) I am willing to be honest but affirming in confronting the learner’s errors, faults, and areas of immaturity; 5) I am committed to standing by the learner through trials – even trials that are self-inflicted through ignorance or error; 6) I am committed to helping the learner set goals for their spiritual life, career, or ministry, and to helping the learner dream their dream; 7) I am willing to fairly and objectively evaluate the learner’s progress towards their goal; 8) Above all, I am committed to faithfully living out everything I teach.

Seventy-one times in the book of Psalms we read the word ‘Selah’ at the end of a Scripture. What does it mean? To ‘pause and calmly think about it’. We can’t rush into Bible revelation. We can’t just skim the surface and still discover the treasure hidden deep within it. That’s why David wrote, ‘With all my heart I try to obey you. Don’t let me break your commands.I have taken your words to heart so I would not sin against you’ (Psalm 119:10-11 NCV). When we hide God’s Word in our hearts through meditation and memorisation, we’re able to recall it and stand on it when we have a particular need. Meditation involves taking time to reflect; to ‘pause and calmly think about it’. It’s a tried and tested strategy that God’s put in place for us. He wants us to learn to pray the Scriptures and meditate on them because these habits will help us experience all He has for us. The most important thing we can ask ourselves when life throws us challenges is, ‘What does God say about this in His Word?’ Why is this such an important question to ask? Because: ‘[God’s] word is settled in heaven’ (Psalm 119:89 NKJV), and ‘The word of our God stands forever’ (Isaiah 40:8 NKJV). God’s Word is His will. It's unchanging, eternal truthful, full of the best wisdom, and won't let us down. When God called Jeremiah to leadership, Jeremiah was unsure of his ability, so God said, ‘I have put My words in your mouth’ (Jeremiah 1:9 NKJV). Then He told Jeremiah, ‘I am ready to perform My word’ (v.12 NKJV). The only thing we can rely on and be absolutely certain of is that God will keep His Word. Selah!

Here are two more ways to increase the level of your joy: 1) Start serving others. If we live with a sense of entitlement, believing that others should serve us, our joy measure will be reading ‘empty’. Jesus said it’s in giving away your life to others that you find abundant life (see Mark 8:35). Paul reminds us: ‘Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do’ (Ephesians 6:7-8 NIV). Some of the happiest people are those who are busy helping others. Find a cause that sets off sparks of passion in your heart, that's greater than your own self-interest, and pour your life into it. 2) Share your faith with someone. ‘There is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents’ (Luke 15:10 NLT). Your greatest joy in life will come from trusting in Christ as your Saviour. And your second-greatest joy will come from introducing others to Him. Imagine sharing your faith with someone. They might not respond at the time, but you’ve still been the one to sow the seed of God’s Word. Later, they commit their lives to Christ. Perhaps you didn’t know about it. But imagine them meeting you in heaven and saying, ‘I want to thank you for taking the time. I’m here because you cared enough to tell me about Jesus.’ When was the last time you shared your faith with someone or helped lead them to Christ? If it's been a while, maybe now is the time to try again!

Joy is like a muscle; the more we develop it, the stronger it becomes. Here are two exercises to help you develop inner joy: 1) Try to show more gratitude. ‘Give thanks in all circumstances’ (1 Thessalonians 5:18 NIV). Notice that it doesn’t say be thankful for all circumstances, but in them. Hans Seyle, a researcher who has studied stress, says that gratitude produces more emotional energy than any other attitude. So look for more ways to express gratitude. Send a text or male a call to someone to tell them how much they mean to you and how much you value having them in your life. And don't forget to express gratitude to God. The psalmist says, ‘With my song I praise him’ (Psalm 28:7 NIV). If you’re not usually a joyful person, start singing praises to God and watch your attitude change! 2) Look for ways to give. ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’ (Acts 20:35 NIV). Someone once joked ‘When it comes to giving, many people will stop at nothing.’ Let's reject that attitude and be generous when we can. The Bible tells us that ‘God loves a cheerful giver’ (2 Corinthians 9:7 NIV). That's because we're most like God when we give, and He doesn’t give grudgingly or half-heartedly. He's filled with generosity. The Bible says that God can ‘throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it’ (Malachi 3:10 NIV). It's impossible to outgive God. As an old farmer said, ‘I shovel it into God’s storehouse, and He shovels it into mine – but God has a bigger shovel.’

Whatever we're doing, we must always practise this: honesty. We mustn’t cheat, lie, or steal, even if we’re never going to be caught. ‘Ill-gotten gains do not profit.’ We might get away with dishonesty, but we won’t benefit from it. ‘Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles’ (Proverbs 13:11 NASB 1995 Edition). We can’t do the wrong thing and finish up with the right result. Not only will we have trouble, we'll also bring trouble on those who love us, trust us, and rely on us: ‘Try to make a profit dishonestly, and you get your family in trouble’ (Proverbs 15:27 GNB). Dishonesty could cause us to lose a job, damage our reputation, be humiliated, face costs and consequences, and end up in shame; plus, God will disapprove. Is it really worth the risk? A survey of American workers revealed that 40 per cent of them admitted to stealing on the job, and 25 per cent of them felt justified in doing so. They rationalised it to themselves by saying things like: ‘Everybody’s doing it, why shouldn’t I…The boss can afford it, they won’t miss it…It’s only small stuff, it won’t make any difference…The company owes me, and I’m just taking what’s mine…I deserve it, I’ve worked hard and never been acknowledged.’ What does God have to say about this? ‘The wicked earns deceptive wages’ (Proverbs 11:18 NASB 1995 Edition). When someone intentionally deceives people, the Bible says they are ‘wicked’. But followers of Christ should be trustworthy, honest, diligent, fair, and provide quality service. Whatever task we're doing, let's make sure we really reflect today through our attitude, care, and attention to detail.

Here's another important key to being blessed through our work: thoughtfulness. It doesn’t matter what position we hold – a CEO, a manager, an IT tech, a cleaner or an admin person – thoughtfulness is necessary in building a character that reflects God. You might have a flashy job title that invites respect, but you actually earn respect through your work ethic and attitude. In the Old Testament, many people earned their living by farming and raising cattle, so Solomon gave this advice: ‘Know well the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds’ (Proverbs 27:23 NASB). Good leaders make sure they know the needs, strengths, weaknesses, potential, and motivational levels of the people who work with them. And that also applies in our families, sports teams, and in group projects at school, to name a few. When a team member is struggling, sometimes our thoughtfulness, understanding, and interest in them can be a powerful motivator. Putting people down or taking them for granted only guarantees resentment. When we really care about others, we'll try to bring out the best in them. And if you’re an employee, God promises, ‘Whoever protects their master will be honoured’ (v.18 NIVUK). If we keep criticising those in authority, we lose trust and credibility. If we resent our position as followers, we'll never become qualified to be leaders. The Bible says we’re supposed to speak well of those in authority over us (see Titus 3:1-2). (But remember, if there's a genuine problem, it's important to speak out honestly.) If you struggle with people having authority over you, talk to God about your feelings. He'll help you change your perspective.

Here's another key to succeeding in our work in God’s eyes: hard work. ‘Hard work will reward you with more than enough.’ It’s easy to be lazy, cut corners, and put a minimum amount of care and effort into a task. But that won't please God, and it won't help us build a reputation that we can be proud of. The Bible says, ‘diligent hands bring wealth’ (Proverbs 10:4 NIV). Diligence means being self-disciplined, motivated, alert, dependable, and following through on something when you start it. And it's priceless because it can be hard to find (see Proverbs 12:27 NKJV). The Bible teaches that a boss is responsible for paying their workers a fair day’s wage, and the worker is responsible for giving them a fair day’s work. Hard work, fairness and integrity are the way forward in God’s eyes. (That doesn’t mean we have to work till we're burnt out. God wants us to have a healthy balance of work and rest.) ‘Work hard, and you will be a leader; be lazy, and you will end up a slave’ (Proverbs 12:24 CEV). Instead of looking for ways to improve themselves, a lazy person might try to find fault with their bosses or tutor, with the systems they have to use, and with their more diligent co-workers. They want all the benefits that others get to enjoy when hard work pays off, but they’re not willing to work for them. The Bible says that ‘the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied’ (Proverbs 13:4 NIV). They get it all; the satisfaction of a job well done, a sense of self-worth, a reputation for integrity, the trust of others, and best of all, God saying, 'Well done!'

Solomon wrote, ‘Skilled workers are always in demand and admired; they don’t take a backseat to anyone’ (v.29 MSG). But skilfulness is something we have to work at. Sometimes that means stretching ourselves and refusing to settle for ‘good enough’. It’s well worth watching someone who’s totally mastered their craft, whatever that might be. As you watch them at work, your respect for them increases. You might notice their attention to detail, their refusal to cut corners, their patience, dedication, and pride in their work. When they talk about what they’re doing, their love for the task pours out with every word. They’re inspiring. And we should try to capture that same attitude in our own work, and whenever we share our faith. When someone who’s passionate about God speaks, people listen. It’s very difficult to share our faith with people who have seen us being careless, reckless, or behaving with anything less than integrity. The Bible says that whatever work we’re doing, ‘do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him’ (Colossians 3:17 NIV). We should set the standard for excellence because we represent Christ. People should have confidence that we’ll give our best. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego started out as slaves in Babylon. But they ended up as the king’s closest advisers, because ‘Whenever the king asked for advice, he found their wisdom was ten times better than that of any of his other advisors’ (Daniel 1:20 CEV). A skilful worker can’t lose because even if they start at the bottom, God promises that their work will attract the attention of people who can promote and reward them (see Proverbs 22:29).

Just like we can learn a new skill, we can also learn mental, emotional, and spiritual resilience. Here’s some advice on how to do it: 1) Think of setbacks as gateways to something greater. God can use them to teach you something. 2) Tune out the critics, listen to God, and focus on doing your best. 3) Try to start your day with prayer, praise, and gratitude – they create a fruitful environment for faith. 4) When you’re fearful or worried, try to switch your focus to God and what His Word says. 5) Learn from failure, and remember all the times you’ve succeeded. Failure doesn’t define you. 6) Today is where you have the most control, so try not to let your mind dwell on the past or worry about the future. God’s with you every minute. 7) Look for a solution to a problem instead of complaining about it. 8) Replace self-doubt with faith-talk. 9) When things look hopeless, remember ‘with God all things are possible’ (Mark 10:27 KJV). 10) Pray for guidance when you’re in at the deep end and can’t see a way out (see James 1:5). 11) Rest when you’re tired, but don’t give up. Finish strong in everything you do. 12) Remember you ‘can do all things through Christ’ when you think you can’t (Philippians 4:13 KJV). 13) Recognise what you can’t control, focus on what you can, and give the rest to God. 14) Laugh often. Don’t let anyone tell you that Christians have to be serious all the time to please God. There are even jokes and humorous stories in the Bible! 15) Above all, keep God as the focus and centre of your life.

The Bible says: ‘God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God’ (v.10-11 NLT). Some people think that you need to have a Damascus Road experience like Paul had, a sudden vision, or a flash of brilliant inspiration in order to know you’re ‘called’. Sometimes it might happen like that, but for the most part, the knowledge comes a lot more slowly and quietly. The gifts God has given you are the keys to knowing what He wants you to do. You can’t always be what you want to be, but you can be what God calls you to be. What do you love doing, and do well? Is music your forte? Crunching numbers? Working with kids? ‘The Spirit has given each of us a special way of serving’ (1 Corinthians 12:7 CEV). That means some of the things other people find boring will actually energise and enrich you. The Bible says that God is building a ‘spiritual house’ (1 Peter 2:5 KJV). And there’s a place for you in it. So don’t ever think you’re not valuable because you don’t have the same skills and talents that other people have. And don’t ever think that you're supposed to do everything, or that God expects you to be good at everything. Your goal is to stay within the boundaries of God’s plan for you (see 1 Corinthians 12:27 TLB). So today, instead of apologising for skills you don’t have, unpack the gifts God’s given you and put them to work.

Prayer changes things. And when we use the Bible and Scripture as the starting point for our prayers, powerful things happen. God moves into action, and our prayers actually begin to change us! When you pray God’s Word, this is what happens: 1) Your faith increases and enables you to receive more of what God has promised. 2) Your mind is renewed, which helps you to see things differently, from God’s perspective. 3) You begin to know God’s perfect will. 4) You walk in the truth of God’s Word. 5) You grow in spiritual maturity. 6) You draw nearer to God and develop a closer, stronger relationship with Him. 7) You learn God’s ways, and eventually they become your ways. 8) You understand God’s answers to your prayers. 9) You change in positive ways. 10) You see who is the centre of the Bible – Jesus. Here are some examples of Scriptures you can pray: ‘Open my eyes to see the miracles of your teachings’ (v.18 NCV). ‘Teach me your demands. Help me understand your orders. Then I will think about your miracles’ (v.26-27 NCV). ‘Make me strong as you have promised’ (v.28 NCV). ‘How I love your teachings! I think about them all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, because they are mine forever.’ (v.97-98 NCV). ‘Get away from me, you who do evil, so I can keep my God’s commands. Support me as you promised so I can live. Don’t let me be embarrassed because of my hopes’ (v.115-116 NCV). ‘Help me understand so I can live’ (v.144 NCV). Today, try praying God’s Word.

If you’re worried about what the future has in store, this verse is for you: ‘When people’s steps follow the Lord, God is pleased with their ways. If they stumble, they will not fall, because the Lord holds their hand. I was young, and now I am old, but I have never seen good people left helpless or their children begging for food’ (v.23-25 NCV). Even when we feel like we’ve reached our absolute limit, God won’t let us break. But even if we did, He’d be there to mend and restore us. ‘You will have plenty to eat…and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you’ (Joel 2:26 NIV). We don’t need to have everything figured out. We just need to lean on God. ‘Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you’ (Psalm 37:3-5 NLT). God might not give us everything we want, but He will give us everything we need: ‘Don’t worry about these things, saying, “What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?” These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need’ (Matthew 6:31-33 NLT). ‘Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you’ (Psalm 55:22 NLT). Don’t worry. God will take care of you.

Fourth: when you’re disappointed in people you work with. You won’t get far in life without the right people. But when the people you rely on fail you, it’s painful. Imagine Moses’ disappointment. He leaves his brother Aaron in charge while he spends forty days on Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments. When he returns, he finds Israel worshipping a golden calf – made by Aaron. When Moses needs him most, Aaron fails miserably. But watch Moses: true leadership shines in disappointment. He confronts Aaron, takes the mess to God, and prays for the forgiveness of Israel. God responds, then reminds Moses of his assignment. ‘Go, lead the people…my angel will go before you’ (Exodus 32:34 NIV). Disappointment doesn’t cancel your assignment, or God’s presence. So do what God has told you to do! Fifth: when you’re disappointed in those you have poured your life into. Let’s check in again with Moses, founding pastor of the church in the wilderness. His congregation is made up of former slaves who have been delivered, blessed, and who are en route to the Promised Land, but without a shred of loyalty or gratitude for the man who put everything on the line to make it possible. Fresh out of Egypt, they turn on Moses, accusing, blaming, and berating him (see Exodus 14). Was Moses disappointed and hurt? Yes, of course. But each time he wanted to give up, he would discuss it with God, pray for his complaining flock, get fresh orders, and return to work. That’s what people called by God will do when they’re disappointed and feel like giving up. And it’s what you must do, too.

Second in our series about different types of disappointment is: when you’re disappointed in leaders. As the high priest in Israel, Eli is someone you'd assume could be trusted. That’s what Samuel’s mother thought when she entrusted her son to him. She was confident that Eli would mentor him for God’s service. But Eli had a serious character flaw. He was a weak parent. He did nothing to check his sons when they abused their priestly privileges, took bribes, and got involved with prostitutes. Nobody would have blamed young Samuel for stumbling, when the man he looked up to failed so badly. But that didn't happen. Instead, Samuel kept his eyes on God: ‘Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him’ (1 Samuel 3:19 KJV). And he became one of Israel’s greatest prophets. The way to handle disappointment in your leader is to keep your eyes fixed on God. Third, when you’re disappointed in your family. When God gave Joseph a vision of future success, he thought his brothers would be happy and celebrate with him. Instead they responded with resentment, and sold him into slavery. Far from friends and home, he languished in prison for years for a crime he didn’t commit. In the same circumstances, we might treat it as an invitation to bitterness, going over the wrongs that had been done to us while plotting our revenge. But Joseph allowed God to restore him and bring him justice. And God will do the same for us. ‘No weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the Lord; their vindication will come from me. I, the Lord, have spoken!’ (Isaiah 54:17 NLT).

For the next few days, let’s look at five different types of disappointment and how best to handle them. First, disappointment in yourself. This is the most debilitating type. Peter experienced it. He swore loyalty to Christ saying, ‘Everyone else may abandon you but not me. I’m yours until death!’ (See Matthew 26:33.) But he still denied Jesus three times. Later he remembered Jesus’ words: ‘Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times’ (Matthew 26:34 NIV). Peter was heartbroken by his failure, and ‘went outside and wept bitterly’ (Luke 22:62 NIV). Is that how you feel today? Are you asking God, 'How could You possibly use someone like me?’ Jesus wasn’t shocked by Peter. He was well aware of Peter’s flaws when He called him. But He also knew this outspoken disciple had a tender heart, so He held out the hand of grace to Peter. After His resurrection, when Jesus gave the order to ‘tell his disciples and Peter’ to meet Him in Galilee, He reaffirmed His choice of His failed disciple (see Mark 16:7). The rest of Peter’s story is one of victory. So when you sin, or fail and disappoint yourself, what should you do? 1) Confess and repent. Don't excuse, rationalise, or blame the circumstances or other people. God already knows everything about you, so He won't be shocked. 2) Receive God’s grace and forgiveness. Don’t let Satan convince you that you’re beyond God’s reach. Because you’re not, and you never will be. 3) Don’t let feelings of disappointment drag you into hopelessness and despair. God doesn't see you as hopeless, and He won't give up on you. 4) Get whatever help you need to get back on track – sooner, rather than later.

God’s Word says there are two things we should do with our money. 1) Sow some. The Bible says, ‘Whoever sows generously will also reap generously’ (2 Corinthians 9:6 NIV). We shouldn't let any fears of not having enough stop us giving when He prompts us, because when we give God a seed to work with, He'll turn it into a harvest when we need it. His ability to provide isn't limited by anything. This is what Isaac did: ‘There was a famine in the land…Then Isaac sowed in that land, and reaped in the same year a hundredfold; and the Lord blessed him’ (Genesis 26:1, 12 NKJV). We can be confident that at the right time, in the right way, and in the right places, God will meet our needs. Knowing that we can trust Him gives us freedom to be generous when He asks us to give. 2) Save some. ‘There is desirable treasure, and oil in the dwelling of the wise. But a foolish man squanders it’ (Proverbs 21:20 NKJV). We're bombarded by adverts that imply we need the latest product to have a great life. But we can live happily without most of the stuff we see. So before buying something that's not actually a necessity, pray. Just because we can afford something doesn’t mean God approves. Joseph instructed Pharaoh: ‘Gather all the food of those good years that are coming…Then that food shall be as a reserve for…seven years of famine’ (Genesis 41:35-36 NKJV). Joseph saved when he had something to spare, so there would be provision for the leaner times. And we should try to do that too. That doesn't mean we can't treat ourselves occasionally, but let's make sure God’s involved in every penny we give, save, and spend.

‘The Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act’ (v.23-25 NLT). The Israelites were forced to make bricks, and straw was a vital ingredient in the process. But just when the Israelites thought life couldn’t get any worse, Pharaoh took away their straw and ordered them to not only fetch their own straw, but also to produce the same daily quota of bricks as before. That’s when they reached their breaking point. If that’s where you are today, here are three things you need to know: 1) Sometimes it helps to share your feelings. Especially when you do it at the right time, in the right way, to the appropriate people. It can be therapeutic and healing. But the help you need can’t always be found in people, so 2) There comes a time when you must cry out to God. The Israelites struggled and struggled, but never thought to turn to God and tell Him. Don’t be like them. Make prayer your first option, not a last resort. David said, ‘I called on the Lord in distress; the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place’ (Psalm 118:5-6 NKJV). David’s prayers got him out of a tight spot and into God’s spot. 3) God will always keep His promise. ‘He remembered his covenant promise…and knew it was time to act’ (Exodus 2:24-25 NLT). God works according to His plan, not ours. He has a set schedule for answering your prayer, so keep praying and believing.

So many things are allowed to rule us: our impulses, our thoughts, the opinions of others. But the one thing that should be directing our lives is God’s Word. God doesn’t give us the Bible in an attempt to offer interesting insights or good advice to consider; it’s His fixed opinion. Jesus said, ‘Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock’ (Matthew 7:24 NKJV). This builder’s foundation withstood life’s storms. On the other hand, Jesus said, ‘Everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them’ is foolish and the storms of life will sweep them away (see v.26-27 NKJV). Jesus didn’t condemn the second man for building an inadequate structure or failing to hear, understand, and believe His words. He condemned the man for failing to act on them. James wrote, ‘Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it…God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget’ (James 1:22, 25 CEV). Just reading, knowing, and even believing God’s Word isn’t enough. There’s one more step. Because it is God’s Word, His instructions must be obeyed. That means not just believing it, but behaving according toit. James didn’t say we’d be blessed because of what we believe, but because of our obedience to what God’s said. When Moses read God’s Word to the Israelites, they said, ‘All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient’ (Exodus 24:7 NKJV). Let’s make that our rule for life, too.

Heaven is the highest court, and when it rules on something, it’s settled once and for all. God’s Word is a settled issue in heaven. Jesus said, ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away’ (Mark 13:31 NKJV). The Bible never needs updating; it’s perfect and can’t be improved on. That’s why Jesus says to let His ‘words remain in you’ (John 15:7 NIV). In other words, program your mind with the Scriptures. So, how can we do that? 1) Give it a permanent home in your heart and mind, not just visitor status. ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly’ (Colossians 3:16 KJV). Take it in richly – in other words, plentifully and abundantly. Let it saturate you. Read the Bible, meditate on it, speak it out loud, sing its words; the Bible tells us, ‘Teach them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs’ (v.16 TLB). 2) Keep it with you all the time. ‘Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night…do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful’ (Joshua 1:8 NIV). Talk it out, think it out, walk it out! We’re blessed to be able to easily carry the Bible with us at all times on our phones. Let’s use that advantage and read it regularly. When God reminds you of a verse or a story, look it up straight away and think about what He’s trying to say to you. The more we meditate on God’s Word, the more the Holy Spirit will reveal about it.

‘When you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God’ (v.13 NKJV). Here are four things to remember as you read the Bible: 1) It's life changing. In the parable of the sower, Jesus said, ‘The seed is the word’ (Luke 8:11 KJV). We might not understand the power that's at work in a seed, but we do know that when it's sown in receptive soil, it'll spring to life; it won’t just sit there doing nothing, it'll produce fruit. In the same way, your Bible is ‘the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe’ (1 Thessalonians 2:13 NKJV). 2) It works. ‘My word…will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it’ (Isaiah 55:11 NIV). Notice the word ‘sent’? Every word God speaks is on a mission and is guaranteed to fulfil it according to His will, His strategy, and His timing. 3) It’s creative. ‘By God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed’ (2 Peter 3:5 NIV). God’s Word was powerful enough to create everything that exists. He didn’t strive or sweat, He just spoke, and it happened. So speak God’s Word! 4) It has authority. ‘They were astonished at His teaching, for His word was with authority…they were all amazed…saying, “What a word this is! For with authority and power He commands the unclean spirits, and they come out”’ (Luke 4:32, 36 NKJV). Any forces of darkness that surround you today will recognise and submit to God’s Word – so make it your foundation and declare it with confidence!

‘About the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea… And when they saw Him…they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out…But immediately He…said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased’ (v.48-51 NKJV). These verses show us that darkness isn't always a weapon of evil that can oy mean harm. Sometimes it’s one of God’s best teaching tools. We get to know Him best by going through storms with Him; by reaching the place where we think, ‘If God doesn’t come through for me, I've had it.’ Then He comes, ‘walking on the sea’. Jesus said to His disciples, ‘What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight’ (Matthew 10:27 NIV). It’s in our darkest moments that God gives us some of the greatest insights into Himself and ourselves. The psalmist said, ‘To you the night shines as bright as day’ (Psalm 139:12 NLT). So instead of running from our problems, let's ask God to develop our night vision and show us ‘treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places’ (Isaiah 45:3 NRSV). And here's one final thing to think about: When we're walking through a time of darkness, we must rely on God’s light and not try to create our own. ‘If you are walking in darkness, without a ray of light, trust in the Lord and rely on your God. But watch out, you who live in your own light…you will soon fall down in great torment’ (Isaiah 50:10-11 NLT). Relying on our own abilities and judgement can keep us in the dark longer than we need to be. But trusting completely in God's means we don’t have to be afraid; He's promised to bring us through.