John 15:9-11 NASB
Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.

Encouraging Words…
If we are followers of Christ then we are not on this journey through life alone. If we keep His commandments: love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves, then we will be abiding in His love. We will have lives that are filled with His joy and presence.

Proverbs 14:30 NASB
A tranquil heart is life to the body, But passion is rottenness to the bones.

Psalm 5:11-12 NASB
But let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You. For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, You surround him with favor as with a shield.

Encouraging Words…
If we are a child of God then we are never alone. We can take refuge in His mighty and loving arms and be glad. We can sing for joy and be sheltered. We can exult Him. He is the one who blesses us and surrounds us with His favor. These are His promises to His children…claim them and live within them.

Esther 4:13-16 NASB
Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews. “For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?” Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.”

Personal Challenge…
As I have been reading through the Bible I came across this passage and it really jumped out at me. Here Esther is in the perfect place in the palace of the king where she can save her people from an impending disaster. Upon expressing her concern that if she does what she is being asked the law says that she could be put to death.

Mordecai’s answer is what hit me so hard. He informs Esther that maybe God put her where she was for this very purpose, but that it was her choice whether or not she acted as needed. He also told her that if she did not do this then God would certainly raise up someone else to do it in her stead.

Esther’s response also struck me…she chose to step out in faith and trust in God, and if the result was her death, then that was okay. She also stepped out in this act of faith fasting an praying for God’s protection, as well as having everyone around her fast and pray as well.

‎1 Peter 3:8-12 NASB
To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. For, “LET HIM WHO MEANS TO LOVE LIFE AND SEE GOOD DAYS REFRAIN HIS TONGUE FROM EVIL AND HIS LIPS FROM SPEAKING GUILE. AND LET HIM TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD; LET HIM SEEK PEACE AND PURSUE IT. FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE UPON THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”

Personal Challenge…
Whoever said that living the life of a Christian was easy was grossly mistaken. It is not just suggested that we live a certain way, but it is commanded. And what are some of the ways that we are commanded to live? Harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead. We are to refrain our tongue from evil and our lips from guile, to turn away from evil and do good. We are to seek peace and pursue it. Only though the work of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit can we ever hope to achieve this.

‎1 Thessalonians 2:3-4 NASB
For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts.

Personal Challenge…
God expects us to represent Him and His gospel without error, impurity, or deceit. This can be a difficult and sobering responsibility…especially when the world is so full of teachings such as the gospel according to Fox, or the gospel according to CNN, or the gospel according to my political party, or the gospel according to my own needs and desires, or the gospel according to ________ (fill in the blank). It is not my gospel, or the gospel of men, that we are called to share…it is His gospel.

Colossians 3:23-24 NASB
Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

Command with a Promise…
If we do all that we do, everything in life, heartily and as if we are doing it for the Lord (which we are) then we will receive His reward that He has in store for us. That reward may not measure up to worldly standards, but we are not to be striving after worldly perfection or rewards but spiritual perfection and rewards.

Mark 9:32-35 NASB
But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask Him. And they came to Capernaum; and when He was in the house, He began to question them, “What were you discussing on the way?” But they kept silent, for on the way they had discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. And sitting down, He called the twelve and *said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all, and servant of all.”

Personal Challenge…
Servant? Who wants to be a servant? We are told all of our lives that we should strive to be in charge, to be in front, to be the leader and not the follower. But the greatest leader of all time, Jesus, chose the path of being a servant leader. He set the pattern for us to serve those in our lives and to put them first. This is so contrary to what the world (often including the the church) teaches and yet so rewarding when done with the intent to be more like Him.

Psalm 3:3-4 NASB
But You, O LORD, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. I was crying to the LORD with my voice, And He answered me from His holy mountain.

Words of Encouragement…
It is so encouraging to know that we serve a God that is not some dead idol made out of wood or stone or precious metal, but a Living God, a caring God, the Creator of all. He hears our voices and He is present in our lives…especially when we follow and obey Him.

2 Kings 6:16 NASB
So he (Elisha) answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”

Words of Encouragement…
Have you ever had one of those days where it feels like you are standing all alone in the battle of life facing humongous odds against you? Well Elisha and his servant did. His servant was ready to run in fear until Elisha had his eyes opened up so that he could see the heavenly host that had been gathered together to take their side. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities of this world. We are not alone, we just need our eyes opened to see Who is really on our side…as long as we are on His.