Today's Godly Reminder - Proverbs 13:12

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

Unrelenting disappointment leaves you heartsick. If disappointments are always attacking your life, it will indeed put you down. Not getting what you want can make you feel sick. But later on, a wish that comes true is a life-giving tree. A sudden good break can turn life around. So, don't give up. Disappointments sometimes lead us to blessings.

The Daily Grace - Secondhand Faith

When I was growing up in Singapore, I remember that some of my school friends were kicked out of their homes by their non-Christian parents for daring to believe in Jesus Christ. They suffered for their beliefs and emerged with stronger convictions. By contrast, I was born and raised in a Christian family. Though I didn't suffer persecution, I too had to make my own convictions my own.

The Israelites who first entered the Promised Land with Joshua saw the mighty acts of God and believed (Judg. 2:7). But sadly, the very next generation "did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel" (v. 10). So it was not long before they turned aside to worship other gods (v. 12). They didn't make their parents' faith their own.

No generation can live off the faith of the previous generation. Every generation needs a firsthand faith. When faced with a trouble of any kind, the faith that is not personalized is likely to drift and falter. Those who are second, third, or even fourth generation Christians have a wonderful legacy, to be sure. However, there's no secondhand faith! Find out what God says in His Word and personalize it so that yours is a fresh, firsthand faith (Josh. 1:8). If your faith is not personalized, it's not faith.

Today We Pray

Dear Jesus, Your death on the cross has set me free. I can live joyously and freely without fear of death. Your mercy knows no bounds.

I bless You for the day You have made. I pray that I may spend this day rejoicing in Your creation. And, I pray for Your Holy Spirit to fill me with the joy of my salvation, so that Your light may shine through me into the world, that Your honor and glory may be known to all people.

Let me not forget You as I go forth into the world this day, blessed Lord. May my every word be a prayer, and my every act be testimony to Your love and truth. And, may I know Your presence every second of this day.

Amen

Today's Godly Reminder - Luke 1:38

This was the words of Mary when she met the angel that told her that she will about to give birth to a baby. We all know her story. She's not been married to Joseph and yet, she is about to give birth. But, she followed the will of God for her life and she entrusted it to Him alone. And now, her son, Jesus, is famous in the world because He is our Savior, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Mary's born child Jesus Christ is a blessing to the nations from generation to generation.

Like Mary, if you don't know what's happening in your life, trust in the Lord. He has better plans for your life even if you don't know His ways. Remember, His ways and thoughts are higher than ours. Let go and let God. Let His will be done according to His Words. Uphold His promises to your lives.

The Daily Grace - God Restores

God specializes in restoration like an artist.. In Paul's letter to the Christians at Colosse, he described a restoration process that is impossible in the world of art. It's a restoration of God's people. Paul wrote, "You have put off the old man with His deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created Him" (Col. 3:9-10).

This is no attempt at renovating the work of a certain artist. It is a spiritual renewal from the living God who created us and gave us new life in His Son, Jesus Christ. His forgiveness brightens the colors of our lives. While, His grace sharpens the lines of His purpose for us.

The canvas of our lives is in the skilled hands of our Lord, who knows who and what He designed us to be. No matter how sin-damaged and dirty we may be, there is hope for renewal and restoration. The Master Artist is alive and at work within us. Let God be the artist of your life.

Today We Pray

Dear God, who has been the refuge of my fathers through many generations, be my refuge today in every time and circumstance of need. Be my guide through all that is dark and doubtful. Be my guard against all that threatens my spirit's welfare.

Be my strength in time of testing. Gladden my heart with Your peace. Let me be the thing I meant.

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep me from falling away and will bring me with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time.

Amen

The Daily Grace - Surfacing

Human beings straddle visible and invisible realities - the natural and the supernatural. I thought about these two worlds when I went out in a boat to watch whales off the coast of New Zealand. A whale would rest on the surface for a while, then breathe deeply a few times, his exhalations creating a spectacular spout, before plunging a mile deep to feed on squid. Despite having its own lively habitat of marine plants and sea creatures, the whale must surface for oxygen from time to time or it dies. Though it knows little about the world above, it needs vital contact with it to survive.

I sometimes feel like that whale, coming up for spiritual air at regular intervals to stay alive. But there is no neat division between the natural and the supernatural. The world we live in is not an either/or world. What I do as a Christian - praying, worshiping, demonstrating God's love to the sick, needy and imprisoned - is both supernatural and natural. The same God who created the world that's visible to us actively sustains it and has made a way for us to approach Him, the invisible. Paul wrote, "You, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death" (Col. 1:21-22).

All our actions take place in the visible world, which we can touch, smell, and see. Yet the Creator and Sustainer of all things have provided a way for us to breathe the spiritual air we need and crave. God's throne is always accessible to His children. Just come.