We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:3-5)

No one delights in suffering. It’s not natural to rejoice as we lose our job or wade through relational conflict. It doesn’t feel good to disagree with our spouse or be the recipient of an offensive comment. We like when things go our way—so when they don’t, it’s unsettling.

When Paul wrote to the Romans, he addressed their problems and trials. Yes, we live in a land where sin abounds. Yes, there will be political strife and moral decay. Yes, the future would be filled with question marks and suffering may lie ahead.

But Paul said we can still rejoice. How? How did he expect them to do that, and how does he expect us to do that today? Because of what we know.

Paul says we know what Jesus Christ has already done for us. We know how we stand in this place of undeserved privilege. We know that our endurance is being developed. We know our character is being strengthened. We know our confident hope of salvation will never disappoint. And we know how dearly God loves us and how He has given us the Holy Spirit.

So even when our plate is full of trials and challenges, we can have peace—because we carry this inside knowledge. We can look ahead and know how it’ll all pan out. Since God showed us His great love by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners, certainly He will not abandon us now. He will use it for good. Salvation is coming.

Reflect:
• How well do you know the Bible and God’s promises—are you familiar with His storyline? If so, do you trust His narrative and His promised ending? The more we know, the more we can rejoice in our current challenges.

• As a friend of God’s, you can approach His throne confidently and boldly. In prayer, lay your trials before the Lord today and find peace in knowing that He will help you in your time of need: “Lord, this is my plight and my biggest heartache: ___________. Bring your truth to light and help me to remember your promises, so I can find peace in the hope that does not disappoint.”
(EAGLE BROOK CHURCH)

“Jesus looked at him and loved him. ‘One thing you lack,’ He said. ‘Go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.’ At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had
great wealth.” Mark 10:21-22

One of the many life lessons that thirty years of marriage has taught me is that you don’t make it to thirty years without emptying yourself and going all in. Day by day and year by year, my precious wife, Sharon, and I learned that “me” doesn’t become “we” without both of us putting everything we are and have on the table. This is true of our journey with God as well.

Jesus emptied Himself of all the glories of heaven to come to us and for us that first Christmas. For me to become His, I must also empty myself. As David Nasser (senior vice president for spiritual development at Liberty University) writes, the call to Christ is a call to die. Sometimes, like the young man in Mark 10:17-31, we’re willing to go 50/50 or maybe a little higher. Jesus named 6 of the 10 commandments and the young man was keeping all of them. Jesus then more or less referenced the first commandment which is “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3) For the young man, his wealth was the “god” he had put before God. Jesus loved him and was all in for him but the young man decided he didn’t want to “marry” God after all. In a sense, he just wanted to “date” Him.

How about you? Sooner or later, God will ask you to empty yourself of something you don’t want to let go of. It could be anger, addiction, selfishness, materialism or unforgiveness. It could be rude behavior, a critical spirit or a victim mentality. Whatever it is, it has become your “god” because you value holding on to it more than fully embracing Him. Remember, Jesus didn’t walk away, the young man did. Jesus is still standing there, inviting you to have a fully committed, nothing held back, relationship with Him. You are loved!
(TERRY ARDIZZONE)

Quite simply, the church must accept the children. How? Simply by loving them and accepting him or her just as Jesus does. Surround them with a love that makes them feel safe and secure. A love that allows them to be children and be themselves. A love that is also expressed in firm and fair discipline. A love that treats each individual child as special. That is the love that Jesus showed these children and which we must show them as well.

But how can we do that specifically? First, we should accept our children’s statements of faith. We need to encourage our children to take a stand for Jesus at any age. That doesn’t mean that they have a clear understanding of all the theological truths we hold; they don’t understand the doctrines. But we allow them to say that they believe in Jesus with all their heart.

Second, we must teach them. That means more than just preparing a lesson for a Sunday School class. It means taking the effort to get to know each child as much as you are able. It means showing that you care for each child as a person. It means being willing to teach, as some of you have done, when no one else has come forward to be a teacher.

We also should listen to the lessons that our children are continually teaching us. The simple truths of the Bible which we have either forgotten or taken for granted are brought home with striking clarity and power by our children. There was a family who had a little girl named Rachel who had a terminal liver disease. Rachel struggled with this disease for over 3 years until she died from it. It was very hard and very sad for the family and for those who knew them and had been with them through this struggle. I conducted the funeral for Rachel and I remember watching Rachel’s older sister, Julia, before and after the funeral. Julia was running around smiling, bubbling, happy as can be. Her mother said to me that Julia can’t understand why everyone is so sad. To her it did not make sense to be sad. Rachel believed in Jesus. And if you believe in Jesus then when you die you go to heaven. That means that Rachel is with Jesus right now in heaven. What better place, what happier place could she be in than with Jesus in heaven?

That is the faith of a child! But you say, “But they don’t understand the hurt, the frustrations of this life, the difficulties and the disappointments!” You’re right, of course, they don’t. But I think they understand the basics of the Gospel much more clearly than many of us with our vast array of Biblical knowledge. Our children have so much to teach us if we are willing to listen to them. In what ways will you bless the children of our church in the weeks to come? Will you trust and accept the amazing gift of grace with the faith of small child? (PASTOR JERRY HOEK)

Years ago, I heard of a missionary who had faithfully served the Lord amongst a group of market traders. During many years of sharing the Gospel with them, he didn’t have a single convert. As he was about to retire, he was asked to train a new recruit, which he did. During that first week, that new recruit led one of the traders to Christ. The young man was initially delighted, and then sorrowful, as he’d been blessed, while the older missionary hadn’t. The older missionary was not in the slightest bit upset, as he said, “You’ve reaped what I’ve sown, and God has the glory.”

Sowing and reaping is an essential part of a farmer’s life and it should be a key part of the believer’s life too.

We’re expected to sow. Mark 4:14 says, ‘The farmer plants seed by taking God’s word to others’. Sowing God’s Word into the life of others isn’t just the responsibility of the pastor and leaders. It’s the responsibility of everyone in the church. Every member is a minister of the Gospel. Everyone has a part to play. Do you know how to share Jesus with someone? If not, then maybe it would be good to find out!

We reap what we sow. The quality of the seed is important. If we sow discord, gossip, and contention, then that’s what we’ll reap in our own lives, and from those around us. Learn how to sow good seed that’s worthy of God’s blessing, words of encouragement, building up and blessing are the good seeds to sow, especially the Gospel.

We reap more than we sow. No farmer sows one seed expecting the same return. They expect a significant harvest or there’d be no return for their labours. We should expect the same with our sowing – And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s Word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted! (Mark 4:20). Isaiah 55:11 says, ‘It is the same with My Word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it’. Are we expecting positive results? We should be. Not every seed flourishes, but enough do to create a harvest.

We need to be active reapers. The common misconception about the principles of sowing and reaping is that we sow the seed, and then wait for God to do the reaping for us. When we do this, we miss an important part we are to play. We sow the seed, God gives the increase, but we’re to reap (or gather) the harvest. So, we all must become a sower and a reaper.

Let’s ask God each day for opportunities to sow and reap. Let’s be looking out for those opportunities and grab them with both hands. When we do, everyone will rejoice with us and give praise to God for His abundant harvest. (PHILIP ASSELIN)

Although the Parable of the Good Samaritan is familiar to us, what is the important meaning that Jesus would have us to know?

To the Jews, the very name of “Samaritan” was unspeakable!  Yet  this  despised and  rejected man, a Samaritan, showed by his actions of unselfish love that he was better at loving his neighbor than the other Jewish leaders!

Jesus would have the lawyer see that by asking such questions, the lawyer was the priest and Levite, and therefore would miss totally the real “Good Samaritan” – Jesus Himself! Jesus was “despised and rejected by men” (Isaiah 53:6) Jesus came to where the broken and hurting people were and gave of Himself to help them. Jesus came to give both actions and words!

In a much greater way, Jesus came to all who hated Him, while we were dead in trespasses and sins! By nature, all of us were enemies of God, doomed to eternal life in hell. Because of sin we had no hope of eternal life, no matter what we tried to do! Therefore, God came to us in our greatest need. And God spared no expense. God’s Word tells us clearly: “…while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son…” (Romans 5:10). Jesus is truly the greatest “Good Samaritan”! Jesus spared no expense in order to be our “Good Samaritan!”

Today, as always, this saving knowledge of what God has done for us comes through faith. The lawyer asked the wrong question when he asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Instead, we should ask: “What has Jesus done in order that we might receive eternal life?” It is through faith that the Holy Spirit leads us to confess: “He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of His grace He made us right in His sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7)

And now instead of asking the question, “Who is my neighbor?” we ask the correct question: “How can I be a neighbor?” And the answer comes as Jesus again reminds us that He is the Real “Good Samaritan” who has provided for all our needs, so that now, through faith active in love we might put away our excuses, repent of the times we have “passed by” on the other side of those who are in need, and through God’s love that flows through us, we might heed Jesus’ command: “Go and do likewise.”

 God’s blessings this week as we “serve our neighbors”.     (PASTOR DAN MYERS)

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!
(Romans 10:15)

It has been observed that there are only two things you can do on this earth, that you cannot do in Heaven. You can sing, you can serve, you can pray, you can fellowship in both places. You can even rest in both places, but there are two things you can do here on earth, but not in Heaven. What are they? The first thing is You can’t sin in Heaven. The second is, you can’t tell someone about Jesus, and rescue them from eternal Hell. This world needs people with beautiful feet! What about your feet? Are your feet beautiful in God’s eyes?
(PASTOR RON THOMAS)

When we think of feet, we do not usually think of them as beautiful. Smelly, sweaty, dirty, with bunions and calluses maybe, but not beautiful.

So why does Scripture specifically call the feet of those who share the Gospel beautiful?

Imagine a prisoner trapped in a dark dungeon for decades. He is beaten and abused, hungry and sick. He lies dejected in a corner, consumed by depression, despairing of ever breaking free. Suddenly, his cell door flies open, and a voice proclaims his freedom. Too weak to stand or raise his head, all he can do is look at the sandals of the one who brings his release. The prisoner does not see dust or dirt on those feet. He takes no notice of bunions or calluses. To him, the feet in those sandals are beautiful!

How beautiful are our feet today? Have we been bringing the Good News of salvation to those most desperate to hear it? When we obey God’s call to share the Gospel, we have the most beautiful feet in the world.

How can we better prepare for opportunities to share the Gospel with those around us? (AVA PENNINGTON)

If you want these “beautiful feet”, then go into the world spreading the Gospel. I understand that some of us can’t physically go, but there are still a couple of ways to have beautiful feet. We can all pray for those who go and live apart from family and friends, and give up the comforts of a familiar place called home. The other is that each of us can support those who go. No gift is too small for those who live and serve on the mission field. The money you sow into their ministry will yield a harvest of souls that you will be a part of. Each of us can have beautiful feet in God’s sight.
(CHRIS HENDRIX)