I have teenagers in my house, and people tend to ask us and them, what they want to study in college, or what occupation they have an interest in. However, rather than the traditional questions, one of our children’s teachers asked an interesting question recently. “What problem does he want to solve?” This seemed to be a so much more inspiring way to approach the future.

In Romans 15:20, Paul writes, “It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.”

It is important to have a clear objective or as Paul calls it an “ambition,” not only for our personal pursuits, but for our Christian lives. What is yours?

Dear Lord, You have given us all many gifts and talents. Help us remember these are not just for our own entertainment, and satisfaction, but to serve you and each other. Help us use these to pursue objectives that grow your Kingdom and bring glory to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Defining love is difficult. It is emotion, action, thought, feeling all rolled together and prioritized above everything. True love like that of a parent for a child will stop at nothing to protect and care for the other.

This is what is so powerful about the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 8:38-39. he says, ” for I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

So with these words from Paul inspired by God, we can know without doubt that God will stop at nothing to protect and care for us.

Dear Lord, help us truly believe and trust in Your love for us so that we may do your will with faith and not fear. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

If you have traveled internationally, to places where the primary language is not your primary language, you may have experienced the feeling of being a foreigner, in a place that was not your home.

This is how Jesus describes us when he prays in John 17:16 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.”

The closer we get to Jesus, the more we feel like strangers in our world, but the closer we feel to other believers and to our true homeland with Jesus.

Dear Lord, it is a joy to know we are citizens of your world. In Jesus name. Amen.

Different denominations of Christians have different processes for confession, whether that is personally to a pastor or priest, or during the service as a group, or on one’s own. The important thing is that we confess our sins to God, ask for forgiveness, and relief from the temptations that pull us toward those sins. The more specific we can be when we confess, the better. Confessing to God is so much different than confessing our mistakes to other people. When we confess our sins to God, we can expect the weight of the guilt to be lifted, and to receive the peace of being forgiven.

The Living Bible says in 1 John 1:9, “But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our sins”

Proverbs 28:13 says, “Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” NIV

Dear Lord, as we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.” Help us remember for our own good to confess our sins to you, and carry-on with renewed peace to avoid them in the future. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Three of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke write about Jesus telling us that we must have faith like a child.

In Matthew 18:4-6 Jesus says, “So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.”

In Matthew’s account of the story there is one interesting addition. In verse 10 Jesus says, “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.”

“Their angels” it says. As one of the Bible verses supporting the belief that people have guardian angels, this verse gives an awesome and comforting vision that there are angels standing in God’s presence responsible for helping individual believers.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the assurance provided in this passage that you care for us, and assign your angels to look out for us. Help this give us strength, confidence, and comfort in our lives each day. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.