Have you experienced, or heard of someone who experienced a situation in which something bad happens, but something good comes out of it? Something that might never have happened if the bad event did not first happened. For example, college is not going well so you switch majors, and find your true calling. Or, someone loses his or her job, and then ends up starting a business out of necessity that becomes a great success. We can never know how God is working things in our lives, to put us in the right situation.

Isaiah writes God’s words in Isaiah 55:9, “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts” NLT

God has a plan for each of us. Our job is to commit our plans and activities to following God’s plan, and listen for his direction.

Dear Lord, help us remember that part of having faith in you, is keeping our peace and joy even when things do not go the way we wished, knowing and trusting that you are working a higher plan for our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

I have had conversations with Christians who believe the doctrine, and strive to live faithfully, but when discussing God’s involvement and concern for the day to day events of their lives, they don’t believe He is involved.

I have a different view.

Psalm 37:23 says “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.”

The NIV Bible describes “the godly” as “The one who delights in Him”

So I believe the Bible is clearly telling us that if we put God and His will as our highest priority and responsibility, He will be with us helping us deal with all the details of our lives.

Dear Lord, What joy it is to know that you care about all the details of our lives. We can come to you with all our challenges, and opportunities, and you will directs in how we should go. Thank you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Why is it that people like the typical characters played by John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, or in more recent movies, Vin Diesel, or Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne? I think part of the reason is their display of courage.

Courage comes down to, risking harm to your self for something more important. The harm may be pain, intimidation, insecurity, threat of death or injury, shame, or personal loss, or other risks. I think we like these characters because they display both physical courage, risking life and limb for a what is right and moral courage, going against the crowd or the easy way in order to do the right thing.

God tells Joshua in Joshua 1:9, “be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

We need to think of ourselves like these courageous characters. We may not face physical risks for living our faith, without apology, but we may face risks of embarrassment, intimidation or ridicule. Our faith is more important than avoiding embarrassment.

Paul writes in Romans 1:16, “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes.”

Dear Lord, we know we should be courageous in living our Christian lives, without backing down from what is right in your eyes. Work in us to have this courage. In doing so, maybe we can be one of these courageous characters that leads others to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Paul tells us in Galatians 5:16-17, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants.”

And he says in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

It would be reasonable then to believe that the opposite of these characteristics “fruit” would go something like this: “The fruit of our sinful nature is hate, gloom, stress, worry, fear, impatience, meanness, dishonesty, harshness, and lack of self-control.”

So when we see characteristics from this second list in ourselves or others, it is not from God.

Dear Lord, Help us model our lives on the example Jesus gave us. The perfect example of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Shortly after finishing college, I had a job working in the offices of a major car company outside New York City. The group of recent grads and I were the people who answered the telephone if a customer, in the NY metro area, had a problem with their car and the dealership did not satisfy their concern. At that time, cars were not as reliable as they are today, and fixing them was not always an exact science. Most of the people we spoke with had been through several visits to their dealership and their cars were still not working properly. Understandably, most were very upset.

We all learned early on, that arguing or getting upset ourselves in response to these customers was unproductive, and a quick path to frustration and more anger. What almost always worked was keeping our calm tone, being understanding, and not getting defensive. Sometimes it took a while, but eventually if we kept calm, the customer would settle down and we could work on solving the issue.

It is interesting how we were experiencing something that is written in Proverbs 15:1, ” A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.”

It can take a lot of self control to maintain our calm when someone else is angry with us, criticizing us, and insulting us, but that is the maturity that God is calling us to practice. When we do, we are demonstrating Gods love for us, and our love for our neighbor, and typically we will feel better about ourselves as a result.

Dear Lord, Thank you for the wisdom you give us in the Bible. Wisdom provided by you who made us and therefore have the instruction manual for our lives. Help us read, learn and follow this wisdom. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.