You may have heard this quote, “The teacher is always quiet during the test.” It is an interesting way to think about our life challenges.

I imagine that quote describes David’s situation when he wrote Psalm 22:1,2, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help? Every day I call to you, my God, but you do not answer. Every night I lift my voice, but I find no relief.” He felt left alone and forgotten in his difficult time. I am sure many of us have felt this way at times, and maybe feel this way right now.

However David was not alone, and neither are we. We get tested, allowed by God to be tested to make us stronger. David goes on to to write the well known words in Psalm 23 afterward, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” NKJV

God is always there when we are being tested even though we may not feel it at the time. When we are going through difficult times, we can also remember this less serious quote, “when you feel like you are going through hell, by all means don’t stop, keep going.”

Dear Lord, help us remember that you are always there with us, and will give us the support we need to get through our tests and trials. We will come out the other side stronger and closer to you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

As Christians, our ultimate guide to for life is to be like Jesus Christ.

In Matthew 20:28, Jesus says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

We also should be focused on serving each other.

Paul writes in Galatians 5:13, “For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love.”

Dear Lord, what a blessing it is for us that you came to serve and save us, help us follow this example and serve each other in love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Do you remember when you were a child being taught that when you get angry, count to 10 before speaking? This is a simple solution to maintaining control of oneself. When we lose control of our actions due to our emotions like anger, we are easy targets for temptation. Targets for the temptation of saying and doing things we know are wrong.

Psalm 4:4 writes, “Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Think about it overnight and remain silent.” James 1:19 says, “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.”

It is easy to say, “Control yourself and don’t get angry,” but definitely not easy to do. However, like all temptation, with God’s help we can overcome all temptation.

Dear Lord, we all face the temptation to lose our control at times. Help us remember to stop and ask for your help to control ourselves and overcome this temptation. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

There are numerous reasons people resist or reject the message of Jesus Christ. One that has been common since the beginning of Christianity is the difficulty scientific and academically “smart” people have with not being able to figure things out. During early Christianity, the brilliant academics were the Greeks. Even today, we study writings of Plato, and Aristotle, and the creations of the ancient Greeks.

The apostle Paul recognized this challenge that the “intellectuals” had with Christianity and wrote about it in 1 Corinthians 1:21-25. He wrote, “Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Greeks say it is all nonsense. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.”

What if you needed to be smart enough to figure out how salvation worked in order to be saved. It would no longer be God saving, it would be the smart saving themselves; Which would essentially make them their own god. Ultimately, when people put their intelligence above their faith they are making themselves or their intellect their own god.

Dear Lord, we all have our struggles to overcome in order to surrender ourselves to you. Help us all see and believe the power and peace of salvation, your gift to us, and accept it with humility. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Hopefully we have all experienced a person who amazes us with their exceptional work and performance in their job. For example, the sales person who knows just how to find you exactly what you were looking for without being pushy, the service technician with a bright smile and polite “yes sir” “yes ma’am”, the contractor who proudly strives for perfection, meticulously cleans up, and patiently explains everything to his customer, or the doctor or nurse who, with angelic like compassion and tenderness, cares for the dying patient. These people not only bring great credit on themselves, they make their employers and organizations look good to those who see their service.

In much the same way, Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 that we are the “light of the world,” and to “let your light shine before others, that they will see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.” When we do good, we are bringing credit (glory) to God, whom we follow.

I have heard it said this way, “You may be the only Jesus some people ever see.” We have an opportunity every day to demonstrate Gods love to those we contact.

Dear Lord, Help us remember that our actions demonstrate what Christians are to people around us. Help us do good and bring glory to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.