Tuesday, January 23, 2024

Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Hebrews 12:11
For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Pain in the moment is hard to bear, and discipline seldom seems worth it while you’re experiencing it. Hard times in life can feel pointless, like misery for misery’s sake, but the Bible promises that there is much more to suffering than just pain. Suffering forces us to rely more than ever on the Lord and gives us the opportunity to see desperate prayers answered. It builds your character and strengthens your faith, so that next time life gets tough, you’ll be able to weather the storm and keep your eyes on Jesus. For the moment, the hard things God allows you to go through are far from pleasant, but they will yield fruit in the end, in this life or the next.

Monday, January 22, 2024

Monday, January 22, 2024
Deuteronomy 8:5-6
Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you. So you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God by walking in his ways and by fearing him.

Sometimes we want God to be all-loving, but not all just; we want Him to punish evil, but not our evil. But the Bible insists that God hates sin, and Jesus reassures us in the gospels that we are all more sinful in our hearts than we care to admit. But the parts of you that you wish you could change don’t stop God from loving you. Instead He sticks with you, and helps you to change, if you’ll let Him. He may allow you to experience tough things, and He may allow you to struggle, but like a good Father, He has a purpose for it all.

Friday, January 19, 2024

Friday, January 19, 2024
Matthew 7:24
Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Many claim to love Jesus, but don’t know what He said. If you love Jesus, and if you trust Him with your life both on earth and eternally, you’ll recognize that His teachings weren’t just suggestions or forgettable lectures. They were direct commandments to love your enemies, treat others the way you would want to be treated, and to love the Lord your God with all your heart. There’s a difference between hearing Jesus and following Jesus, and there’s a difference between knowing of Christ, and knowing Him personally.

Thursday, January 18, 2024

Thursday, January 18, 2024
James 5:11
Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Job was a loyal servant of the Lord, and a good steward of all that he was given. Satan challenged Job’s faith, declaring that Job only loved and followed God because his life was full of blessings. To prove there was more to Job’s faith, God allowed Satan to wreak havoc on his life, and though Job wrestled with his emotions, in the end he humbled himself and accepted the Lord’s will. Job recognized that regardless of his circumstances, God was still good, and the Lord rewarded him for that steadfastness. Let your faith be strong and unshakable, regardless of how life is going; life will have its trials and misfortunes, but the Almighty has a purpose for them all.

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Wednesday, January 17, 2024
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Jesus made it clear not only that He was a way to Heaven, but that He was the way to Heaven. Many believe in Heaven, but don’t believe in the one who told us about Heaven in the first place. Jesus insisted that His kingdom was worth giving up everything for, like a man who sold everything he owned to purchase a field with hidden treasure in it. There’s no material possession you can sell to earn Heaven; all Christ asks is that you give Him your heart. Trust Him with your life, and strive to live the way Jesus did, because no one comes to the Father except through Him.

Tuesday, January 16, 2024

Tuesday, January 16, 2024
Jeremiah 17:5
Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.”

If you are the strongest and most reliable thing in your life, you’re up the creek without a paddle. Pride tells us that we can make it on our own, but you and I are flawed people, and we will always be flawed. God didn’t design you to have flaws, but you were born into a broken world where sin nature infects everyone. You were created as a masterpiece, capable of amazing things, but you’ll never become all that you were meant to be without God’s help. Put your trust in Him and give Him permission to shape you into the “you” He envisioned: the best you there could ever be.