FROM THE KEYBOARD

Just as medicine may lift a headache, so can joy lift a heartache. You see, even in the midst of a trial, when we connect with the Lord, He injects our hearts with His smile. And that is why "the joy of the Lord is my strength" (Nehemiah 8:10).

God loves us where He finds us, but He doesn't leave us the way He found us. He takes us out of the mud and brings us into His love. "He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps" (Psalm 40:2).

Jesus is worth more than everything you're afraid of losing--And that's why our faith in Christ is our greatest asset. Therefore, protect it and let it protect you! “The law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces” (Psalm 119:72).

If we don't see God as faithful, we'll never see suffering as useful. You see, to trust God as always good in His doings is to not need to know what He's doing to know it's for our good. "And we know all things work together for good to those who love God" (Romans 8:28).

Our confidence in a trying circumstance needs to be based on the right deliverance. And the right deliverance isn't always about God getting us out of trouble, but more so about God getting the trouble out of us. "I sought the LORD and He delivered me from all my fears" (Psalm 34:4).‍

Salvation isn’t about “just accepting" Jesus. Salvation is about realizing Jesus accepts you and makes you just. Big difference. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23-24).