One thing that will cause frustration in our lives is comparing ourselves to others. God made us all so unique, in our skills, circumstances, relationships, and so many other ways that there truly is no way to make an accurate comparison. We can often fall into the trap of comparing individual aspects of our lives to other people’s. The trouble occurs when we believe we are “better,” than others, or when we believe we are “inferior,” to others. Both of these situations cause trouble.

God made each of us uniquely for his purpose. In Galatians 6:4,5 Paul writes, “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct.”

He also wrote in Romans 8:28, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”

We need to focus on where God is leading us, and be happy for others who do the same in their lives.

Dear Lord, You made amazing plans for each of us, but we must trust you to see where they lead. Help us do that, by just taking each step forward in the direction we hear you calling, and not compare ourselves to others who are on their own paths. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

One of the very difficult things in life is dealing with loss and helping others we care about deal with sorrow and loss. As painful as this is, I think this is one of the many facets of love. Even Jesus expressed this sorrow when Mary came to him weeping over the loss of her brother Lazarus.

John 11:33-35, writes, “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.”

Jesus knew Lazarus would be raised, but as truly human, he also had the same sorrow and empathy for those he loved as we do.

The book of Lamentations is believed to be written by Jeremiah after the Babylonians captured Jerusalem and took many of the Jews away into slavery. It is written about the sorrow associated with this, but even in the midst of the sorrow it says in Lamentation 3:22-23,

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning.” and in verses 31-32, it says “For no one is abandoned by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he also shows compassion because of the greatness of his unfailing love.”

We feel the deep sadness and loss because we love, but even in our loss God will comfort us because he loves us.

Dear Lord, comfort us in our times of sadness and loss. Help us remember that you love us and will not abandon us in our sorrow. Thank you for your faithfulness and for providing us the care we need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

We use the word “good” often in our day to day speech. If we think about what it means, we realize that it needs a standard or measurement to have meaning. Most of the time, the person who says, “that is good” is the one who is setting the standard. For example if you hire someone to complete something, when you say, “it’s good,” then it is based on your standard.

Matthew 19:16-17, says, “Someone came to Jesus with the question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” Jesus said, “There is only One who is good, But to answer your question, if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.” In this story, the standard Jesus is describing for “good” is perfection; No minor deviations, or little mistakes, “perfection.”

Can anyone but God achieve perfection?

This leads us to why Christianity is not like any other religion. Other religions have their lists of actions and behaviors that must be performed in order to achieve the goal. In Christianity, there is nothing we can do to be saved.

God saves us.

Dear Lord, only you are “good.” What a joy it is to know that we don’t have to be good to be saved, we just have to accept the gift you offer us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

I have read that excess focus on the past can cause depression. We have probably all done things in the past that we wished we would not have done. In some cases, thoughts of these past actions, may constantly trouble some of us.

As Christians, we no longer need to think about or dwell on these past actions.

Paul writes about the new covenant we have with God through Jesus Christ, in Hebrews 8:12. He writes, “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

Jesus Christ took the burden of our sins for us. Accept His grace and let them go.

The past is not yours it belongs to God.

Dear Lord, What peace and joy we have knowing that you took the burden of our past failures on yourself, and we no longer need to carry this. Help us truly repent and accept your saving grace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

What are people really saying when they say, “It’s not realistic?” I think what they are really saying is, “I don’t believe it is possible.”

It is kind of academic for us to believe that God created the universe and everything in it, parted the red sea for Moses, raised Jesus from the dead, and the many other biblical miracles. However, when it comes to believing God will do supernatural things in our lives our belief in God’s power is put to the test. Do we put more weight on what we understand in the natural world, and what we think are the probabilities of certain things occurring, or do we put our belief in the power of God to make things work out.

In Matthew 17:20, Jesus told his disciples, “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

In Exodus 4 God tells Moses to go talk to Pharaoh and tell him to let the Israelites leave. Moses comes up with all types of excuses why he cannot, including his poor speaking abilities. God tells him, in 4:11,12, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”

In the same way, the message to us is, “Who determines, how much money you have, whether you get promoted, if your medical problem will be resolved, if your business succeeds, if you will get into that university, or any earthly concern?” God does. It is not for us to figure out “how,” it is our job to believe.

Dear Lord, Sometimes we have trouble remembering that you control everything and have the power to do everything. Strengthen our faith so that we will have the belief in you to act boldly in our Christian lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.