“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?

“Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”” – Mark 12:29-31

Very little needs to be said here. Jesus is crystal clear about what’s most important. Yet, despite its simplicity and clarity, we’re not very good at obeying this Great Commandment!!!

Jesus showed us what it looks like to obey. By His life, ministry, and sacrificial death, Jesus showed us what total love for God and neighbor looks like. It looks like love (and obedience) to God that takes priority over love of family, love of country, love of tradition, love of preference, love of comfort, love of safety, love of money, love of career, love of politics, love of party, and love of social status. God must truly come first!

Jesus showed us what love of neighbor looks like. It looks like compassion, care, contact, and counsel for the sick, the disgraced, the outcast, the outsider, the immigrant, the poor, the sinful, the shameful, the despised. It looks like love that transcends all cultural boundaries, racial boundaries, and social boundaries.

Jesus showed us what to do. He told us this was most important. And yet, we still stumble and fall in these matters, focusing instead on a thousand other issues without getting these right. First, things first. Let us love God and love neighbor every hour of every day.

“For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.”
– Psalm 30:5

With God, even the darkest of times are only temporary and brief compared to eternity. Though we earn His anger by our rebellion, stubbornness, and sin, God is always ready to forgive utterly and completely. In Christ, forgiveness is always at hand – all we must do is confess our sin and ask God to forgive. When God forgives, it is absolute – the sin is gone, the record of it is gone, nailed long ago to the cross of Jesus. The blessing and love of God through Jesus Christ is ours to enjoy for all the years of this mortal life and for all eternity afterward.

No matter the hardships, sorrow, and grief we experience, no matter how deep, painful, or how long-lasting, there is a glorious eternal morning ahead of us! While each day is a new gift from God, there will be one day in which Jesus returns and the heavens and earth are renewed. In that glorious day, there will be no more grief, no more suffering, no more pain, no more poverty, no more injustice. Ever.

On that day, we will see the Lord with our own eyes and He will comfort us Himself. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4) Make no mistake, the joy of the morning is coming!