“The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.”
– Psalm 33:10-11

We’ve certainly learned a few things about the fragility of human plans this past year, haven’t we? For so long, we enjoyed the luxury of thinking we basically had everything under control, but we’ve seen that was always an illusion! Even the best-conceived plans of mighty nations have floundered and flailed.

What isn’t an illusion is God’s sovereign plan to advance His Kingdom through the spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every ethnic people group, seeing many saved. That continues. His will for Christians to make disciples who make disciples has not changed. His work of love and grace stands forever. His Word stands forever.

The Bible reveals God’s plan. He will faithfully walk with us through difficult times. He will restore all creation after Christ returns in victorious judgment. He will dwell with His people forever in the renewed heaven and earth. That has not changed and will not change.

Likewise, the good works God has uniquely prepared for each follower of Jesus to do have not changed, nor has His will for us to serve and grow His glorious Kingdom here on earth. We have important work to do. It may not be what we planned, but it’s absolutely what God planned!

“For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”
– Psalm 32:3-4

When we’re on the wrong side of God, embracing a pattern of thought or behavior contrary to His will, it’s a blessing (not a curse) when we feel the heavy weight of God’s conviction. The guilt we feel in these situations is a gift from God, calling us back to Him. It’s a holy invitation to turn to God and genuinely ask His forgiveness.

God is always quick to forgive. Our forgiveness is what Christ died on the cross to secure. When we confess our sins to God and genuinely seek to turn away from them, He forgives us totally and completely and helps us resist the temptation to fall back into those sins.

Once we’ve truly taken our sorrow and repentance to the Lord, we must then truly know that we ARE forgiven. God won’t continue to hold our sins against us, nor will He throw them back in our face later. God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ is absolute.

If we continue to struggle with guilt, that isn’t from the Lord, it’s from ourselves (or the devil). We must forgive ourselves once God has forgiven us. We must preach the gospel to ourselves and remind us that our sin is gone through the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross and there’s nothing we can add to that. We must set ourselves free, for God already has!

“Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!”
– Psalm 31:24

God never promises an easy life for His followers. In fact, He promises quite the opposite. The Bible never promises God won’t permit us to endure trials and suffering beyond our ability to handle. Indeed, quite the opposite! However, the Bible tells us that as followers of Jesus, adopted sons and daughters of Almighty God, we can be strong and courageous nonetheless, because God is with us, God is in us, and God will prevail!

Christ-followers can draw strength and courage from knowing the end of our story: we will spend eternity in the presence and comfort of King Jesus and our Heavenly Father. We can also draw strength and courage from knowing the end of the world’s story: Christ will return in victorious judgment over every evil and creation will be renewed in perfection and holiness.

Christ-followers can draw strength and courage from knowing that in every trial and every fearful situation, Jesus is with us. He has promised to be with His followers every moment of every day and He is. Walking with us through the valley of the shadow of death is the One Who endured all suffering and overcame sin and death through the cross and the empty tomb. He understands our agony and provides comfort and courage.

Christ-followers can also draw strength and courage from knowing that God the Holy Spirit lives within us. We are truly united with Jesus Christ in Him. We have resources within us far beyond our natural abilities and endurance, once we stop trying to grit our teeth and endure purely by our own strength. We are united, strengthened, and transformed by God’s Spirit within us.

Whatever you may be going through (now or in the future), be strong, take courage, and wait for the Lord!

“And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’” – Leviticus 19:2

Our God is holy, holy, holy! Here there’s both good news and challenging news for followers of Jesus. The good news is that in Christ, we are made holy by Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf. We are cleansed and purified by the blood of Christ. Our holiness comes not by our action but by God’s grace, poured out through faith in Jesus Christ. We are truly holy, because the Lord is holy.

The challenging news is that we’re also called to pursue the holiness of Christ in our own lives! We’re called to imitate Jesus, to follow Him, to grow in our spiritual and behavioral resemblance to Him. This means that though we’re made holy by Christ, we’re also called to eagerly pursue personal holiness. We can’t simply use God’s amazing grace as an excuse to continue indulging personal sin and unholiness. Such behavior cheapens and disrespects the grace Christ paid for on the cross.

We must grow in our awareness of sin in our hearts, minds, and bodies. Then we must seek to crucify that sin! We must put to death those sins closest to us, the ones within us we like to indulge, excuse, or ignore. The battle will be terrible, but God is with us in this battle! The battle will be terrible, but the closeness we’ll experience with God as we fight and win will be extraordinary. Be holy, for the Lord your God is holy!

“And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’” – Mark 14:37-38

Jesus knows us so well, doesn’t He? We have the best of intentions, but so often, in the moment, our bodies defeat us! A great test was coming, Jesus commanded His closest followers to pray, but instead they slept. The most critical thing to do in that moment was praying and they chose sleeping. Most of us can probably sympathize! How many Christians have good plans to read the Bible more consistently, pray more often, and practice other key spiritual habits, but in the end, won’t make the necessary daily sacrifice of a few minutes of sleep and a few minutes on our phones?

The body, its desires, appetites, and weaknesses is a powerful influence. However, as followers of Christ, we have the resources to overcome it. If we’ll commit to use them. It takes discipline and some sacrifice. Enormous spiritual growth and transformation is available to us through Christ, if we’ll simply exercise the daily self-discipline necessary to experience it.

Following Christ is hard. Jesus was clear on this point. It requires self-denial. It requires devotion to prayer to resist temptation, rather than pretending that with a bit more sleep we won’t be tempted. It involves the sacrifice of time and sleep sometimes. But it’s worth it! As followers of Jesus, we should want to live a better life that’s pleasing to God. Are we willing to do the hard work of daily prayer so that we can overcome temptation?