You may have heard the parable Jesus tells of the “persistent woman” who pleads her case to the judge who tries to avoid her and ignore her, but because of her persistence he gives her justice.

It is interesting that the verse opening this parable in Luke 18:1 writes, “One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up.”

Whether God’s reason for instructing us to persist in prayer is to strengthen our faith, test our faith, or be certain about our requests, we do not know, but that is the direction. As we are told in Isaiah 55:8 God’s ways are higher than our ways, and he is working his will.

Dear Lord, we trust you and thank you for teaching us through Jesus’ life and parables about how to live and pray. Help us to remember to be persistent with our prayers and rely on your will. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

It is sometimes sad to think about the number of people we encounter in our day to day lives that have not accepted, or may not even have been exposed to God’s Salvation through Jesus. There is a constant battle going on for the hearts and souls of everyone, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12, “For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.”

It is not possible to sit down and witness to everyone we encounter, but we can demonstrate God’s love with each interaction we have with others. 1 John 4:11-12 says, “Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.”

We can never know what snowball effect a kind word or action may have on another person. I think the expression, “we may be the only Jesus someone may ever see,” is a good reminder of how to approach others.

Dear Lord, You have conquered sin and the devil, and we only need to believe and trust in you to be on your winning side. Help us to show your love to others in our daily lives so that we might be part your plan to bring them over to you as well. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Have you had the conversation with someone discussing and wondering if you would have accepted and followed Jesus if you had lived during Jesus’ time?

I kind of wondered what I would think or do, but looking at the following verses, I have more confidence that it would have been very difficult to ignore, write off, or rationalize what Jesus was doing at the time.

In Matthew 12:15, Matthew writes, “…with many following him. He healed all the sick among them.”

And in Matthew 14 after the story of the miracle of feeding the 5000, in verses 35 and 36, Matthew writes, “And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.”

The key word in both of these descriptions is “all.” Jesus didn’t heal some of those that were sick, he healed “all”, and it wasn’t just some of those that touched his cloak that were healed, in was “all.”

Finally John writes in John 21:25, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”

We can only imagine what the media frenzy would be like today if someone was able to heal every illness of everyone he encountered, and do the many other miracles Jesus did. We would all have been amazed at the significance and magnitude of what Jesus was doing at the time. It was incredible.

Dear Lord, we thank you that you have sent your Holy Spirit into the world, so that we don’t have to figure out and prove you are the Messiah. We only need to drop our resistance and accept the free gift of your salvation. Help us share the opportunity for this gift with others. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

You are probably familiar with the expression, “if you play with fire, eventually you will get burned.” This expression is very applicable to our lives as Christians. We cannot spend our time around activities we know are wrong, and think it will not influence us.

Paul writes in Ephesians 5:15-18, “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

We need to stop and think about what we are doing, often. We should ask ourselves, if we saw someone else doing what we are considering would we think it wise and thoughtful?

Dear Lord, help us think before we act. Protect us from temptation when we might put ourselves at risk. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off of your goal.” Henry Ford

When we have ourselves focused clearly on our goals with determination to achieve them, we tend to ignore or not even see obstacles and challenges that arise along the way.

Paul describes how this was demonstrated clearly by Jesus, as a lesson for us.

Hebrews 12:1,2 he writes, “…And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame.”

Jesus is what we need to focus on as we run this race toward our eternal salvation. Just as he focused on the goal of conquering death and returning to Glory with God in heaven, he endured being shamed and crucified in order to accomplish his race, we can endure the challenges and obstacles to maintaining our faith and doing God’s will, by keeping our focus on our goal; The goal of eternal life in heaven.

Dear Lord, as you said, You established the principles for our success thousands of years ago, showing us the importance of focusing on our goal to overcome our obstacles. Help us do this and run our race toward salvation, with faith and obedience. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.