Patience and promise

Hebrews 6:12 (ESV)

So that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

A lot of the time we focus on the importance of faith and forget how much patience plays a role in obtaining the promises of God. We need faith because that’s what calls the promises of God into being. However, patience is what will keep you going when you haven’t seen the promise yet.

Patience is what keeps you going when you haven’t seen the promise yet.

The importance of patience is often overlooked. Patience is what kept Sarah going after she had a promise from God that said she would be a mother. And then year after year, she hadn’t conceived a child. Sarah had to be patient until she received the promise God gave her.

God has given us all promises. And yet we often want to give up on the promises of God when trials come. We think it would be easier to give up than to endure. However, you only learn from the trials you endure. Patience is what keeps us going in the middle, between the promise of God and seeing that promise come to pass in our lives.

So today, remember to practice patience. It isn’t easy waiting on the promises God gave you, but remember that God is faithful. If He’s given you a promise He will bring it to pass in your life.

You’ve got to just be patient until you see the promise come to pass in your life.

Dear Lord, we thank You for the promise You give each one of us.  We pray that we would be patient as we wait for the promise to come to us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

chosen by God

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

I don’t know if you realized this or not, but you are chosen by God. He’s not stuck with you; he loves you and chose you to be a part of His Kingdom. John 15:16 says ‘You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last.’

You’re chosen by God, and also given a task to further his kingdom. What is that task? In specifics, you need to be available for whatever that may be. However, whatever we’re doing, he’s appointed us to bear fruit for him. So not only are you chosen to be a child of God, but you’re also chosen to bear fruit in his name.

We often label ourselves better or worse than others, or perhaps worthless or useless. But God recognizes we’re broken and live in a fallen world, and still values us and has chosen us to be a part of his kingdom! From this day forward, don’t focus on what labels you have for yourself; focus on who God has labeled you, and bear fruit for him!

Dear Lord, thank You for choosing us.  What a blessing it is to be a part of Your kingdom. Help us know the tasks You have laid out for us, and to follow Your will every day. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

You have value

Ephesians 2:4-9 (ESV)

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Throughout our lives, there are days we simply don’t feel valued. Today, we’re going to look at how valued you really are.

When Jesus came to earth, He told us what love is. More than that, He showed us what love is. He brought the dead back to life, He healed diseases and healed hearts. Jesus gave hope to everyone who came to Him, and gave life to all who believed. He lived a perfect life. During that time, He knew there would be a day He was to be betrayed and nailed to the cruel cross.

Crucifixion is the most painful way to die known to man, because they have to die slowly and with extreme pain the entire time. The word ‘excruciating’ was invented to describe the pain on the cross. Yet Jesus, in all his perfect knowledge and wisdom. He left Heaven to be with us on earth, walk with us, teach us, and die for us; all while knowing He would die in the most painful way possible. He knew it was going to happen from the very beginning, and yet still He chose to die for us!

Why did He do that? Because our sin created separation between us and God; but we are loved and valued so much that Jesus wanted to REMOVE any separation between us and Him! You are loved and valued by God!

Dear Lord,  thank you for wanting to know us! We don’t deserve Your love, and yet You still love us. We pray that You help us to value You in our life too!  In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

He heals the brokenhearted

Psalm 147:3 (ESV)

He heals the brokenhearted

    and binds up their wounds.

Two brother often could be found outside ‘stick fighting’; they would each grab a stick and pretend to sword fight! They had a lot of fun. Then one day the 5 year old was backed up on top of a picnic table. He was warned not to back up any further or he would fall, but he made the choice not to listen. As a result, he backed up off the edge and had fallen on the concrete! One ER visit later, he was in a lot of pain with a lump the size of a goose-egg on the back of his head. OUCH! If only he had listened to his brother, that wouldn’t have happened.

God made clear to us His perfect and holy ways. Even in the very beginning, Adam and Eve were told not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge; and they ignored his commands. The whole world over, we’re all broken and sinful. Scripture says in Romans 3:23, ‘For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’. That means no one is good enough: we’re ALL broken. Just like I didn’t listen to my brother’s warning, God tells us not to sin and we so often don’t want to listen to him.

Praise Jesus that he came to save us from our brokenness! God does see us as broken, and that’s certainly a label we deserve. But the Good News is that just because we’re broken, doesn’t mean He stops loving us. Psalms 147:3 says ‘He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds’.

Dear Lord, we are broken, but thank You for giving us hope for salvation! Thank you for Your unfailing love. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

What's my purpose?

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Some things are clearly mysteries. Who left the almost empty milk carton in the fridge? Where’s the TV remote? What did I do with my phone?! What’s that weird smell? And, what on earth am I here for – no really, like what’s my purpose? That’s a heavy question.

It’s easy to get stuck in a circle of crazy questions centered on your purpose.

How do I know my purpose? Why can’t “his” or “her” purpose be my purpose? What if my life doesn’t have a purpose? A few questions turn into a tornado of self inquires, and before long you’re wandering down a lonely road filled with potholes of doubt and hopelessness. You’re tripped up and trapped by your thoughts, sometimes momentarily believing these thoughts are true… “Your life really doesn’t have meaning.” “You’re pretty much useless.” “You have no purpose.”

Those are all lies.

God asks us to trust Him. When the milk carton is empty, the remote is MIA, you don’t even want to know where the stink came from, and yes, even when you can’t find your phone – God says, you can trust Him. But seriously - when you aren’t even sure what your purpose or point on the planet is, God says, “Trust Me.”

God knows the plan and purpose for your life. He knows the questions and doubts you have about who you are and who you’re supposed be. And what your Creator keeps telling you through all the questions, fears, and doubts – “Trust Me.”

He knows the plans laid out for you better than anyone else – even you - and those plans are great! It doesn’t mean everything always turns out like a fairy tale or you’ll be rich, but it does mean, as a child of God, you know God is always with you and one day you will be with Him, face-to-face. Think on that! In that moment, that face-to-face Jesus moment, all things will be right. Just, wow.

Your purpose is found through trusting God and faithfully believing He always knows your plan and purpose. When doubt sneaks in, replace it with truth, like that found in Proverbs 3:5-6 reminding us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight “.

Dear Lord, Thank you, for creating us with a plan and purpose. Help us to trust You in all we do. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

To be honest, some days just stink.

Genesis 1:27 (ESV)

So God created man in his own image,

    in the image of God he created him;

    male and female he created them.

You didn’t even want to crawl out of bed this morning and now you’ve slept through four snooze alarms. Super. How many “Good morning, Sunshine’s”, “Did you just wake up?”, and “Nice hair” comments will you endure today?

The day moves on, and no matter what you say or do, people take you all wrong. Feelings hurt, people become angry and nothing you do helps the situation. You finish the day feeling ignored. Friends, family and even your faithful pet pass by as if you’re some diseased stranger they’d rather not look at.

Days like this can be draining, especially when they hit you one after the next. Difficult situations often leave a person with not-so-great feelings about who they are or who they’re not. Thoughts of being insignificant, no-good or even worthless creep in and try to make themselves a part of our identity. Good news: Our Heavenly Father has much to say about our identity and value.

Our identity is found in Christ. You were created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). That’s good to know, right?! While it doesn’t mean you physically look like Christ, it does mean He equipped you to be Christ-like. He created you in His likeness, to be like Him; that is pretty significant!

Our value is found in Christ. Christ loved you so much He was willing to die for you (Romans 5:8). The awesome thing about Christ’s love – you don’t have to do anything to earn it. He is there in the middle of bad days, unthinkable situations and tragedies. He extends His sacrificial love, letting you know, your value is not found in day-to-day feelings or thoughts. Your value is found in the never-ending love Christ gave for you on the cross.

Remind yourself every day, “My value and identity are found in Christ.” In the book of Matthew, Jesus reminded His disciples not to worry about their value or worth because if He was able to keep up with the life of a small sparrow He was definitely able to keep up with their life – even down to how many hairs were on their head.

And guess what? The message Jesus shared with His disciples is true for you today: you are always valuable – no matter what kind of day you’ve had.

Dear Lord, thank you for creating us in Your image, continuously loving us, and always seeing us as valuable. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

The comparison game

Philippians 2:3 (ESV)

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

Do you ever see someone and think, “Oh my goodness, I am so glad that’s not me”? Maybe it’s the way they dress, play a sport, act, but you are just so thankful, you are better than, well, that. Don’t lie, we all play the comparison game.

God created you unique, special, set apart for a great purpose; but don’t let it go to your head. We are also called to be humble, servant hearted, and encouraging. That is not so easy in this day in age; I completely understand. You watch tv, movies, and see in real life that “Mean Girls” and “Jerks” seem to rule the school. They seem to be the popular ones, and deep down we all wish for just a little glimpse of that.

Friends, this is not what we are called to do as a Christian. We are called to act like Jesus acted, spoiler alert…. He wasn’t a fan of the so called “popular kids” in his day. Jesus hung out with the cripples, the tax collectors, with the people others literally called “dogs”. In our terms today, he hung out with the geeks, those with special needs, the poor. The people the rest of the world thought of as “weird” or “worthless”. The ones the “popular” people bullied because, “Hey, at least we are not like them, we’re better”.

God created each of us amazingly special for His purpose and plan. Who are we to tear apart our Heavenly Fathers work? So next time you start to think worse about someone ask yourself what Jesus would say if you shared those thoughts with him. Would he laugh with you, or would he go to their defense?

Dear Lord, You made each of us different and special. Help us to encourage others instead of tear them down, even in our own mind. Help us remember that we are Your masterpiece, created new in Christ Jesus. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.