I love going to my father’s home. As I turn down the long drive to his log cabin out in the country, it’s like my heart sighs with contentment. His home is a place of rest and comfort for me. Jesus loved His Father’s house too. Can you imagine the longing He must have felt to be in His Father’s home while He lived as the sinless One in a world of sin? Oh, how He must have anticipated that day when He would go to His Father’s house once again!

I wrote a whole book about giving God glory when life and circumstances take an unexpected turn. I was at the crossroads of decision and response—Would I trust the Lord’s goodness and wisdom? Or would I turn inward, focusing on myself, giving way to self-pity and pessimism? The second choice just didn’t seem like the best option, which left me with choosing to trust the Lord’s goodness and wisdom. But how to get there?

Losing a pastor to confinement for a short time or even longer has profound consequences for a congregation. Yet a faithful pastor’s biblical preparation can help his flock respond with sound wisdom and grace-filled faith in unexpected and fearful circumstances. Thankfully, whether our churches are large or small, whether we’ve had much teaching or only a little, God has given us everything we need in His Word to “keep calm and carry on” in a God-honoring way in difficult and trying circumstances.

If your pastor is thrown in jail, what should you do?

What would you do if you knew today would be your last day? It’s important for us to understand that faithfulness and obedience to God’s Word matters, all the way up to the last moment we live and breathe on earth. We are indeed living in the last days (James 5:8; 1 John 2:18), as all believers have done since the New Testament era began after Jesus’ death. The Bible also tells us that as the day of Christ’s return draws near, life will grow increasingly more difficult, especially for believers, as the world the world grows more openly hateful of God and His people (2 Timothy 3:1). Yet, we can gain courage by searching the Scriptures for God’s focused, narrowed down, “do the most important stuff” instruction for living well to the very end.

As this year draws to a close, consider how you’ve lived it. Is it possible that you started this year well by faithfully reading your bible, praying, and relying upon the Lord, but as the Christmas season has drawn closer you have found yourself slacking off in those areas? Learn the lessons from 2 Chronicles and finish well.

At its essence, a quiet time is the private time you spend with your Savior, talking with Him in prayer, and hearing from Him through His Word. The time you spend with the Lord each day is essential to your spiritual health and growth. No Christian can maintain spiritual health and vitality or grow in grace, knowledge, and understanding if they omit time with the Lord. It is not even possible.

In Luke 10:38-42, we happen upon Martha in the midst of a meltdown. The friction from the “must-do-this-and-this-and-this-to-be-a-good-hostess” details in her head appear to have reached their boiling point. Thankfully, God’s Word cools off our fevered brains. Jesus opens a window of truth to allow a refreshing breeze to blow through a stifling hot kitchen. As our sweet Martha hears those soul-calming words from the Word of God Himself, she gains some perspective. Let’s see what we can learn from Martha’s story, because like it or not, we all find ourselves in the midst of those “Martha, Martha, fever brain” days every once in a while.

Pecking is natural for chickens, yet when chickens begin to peck at each other, it reveals something is wrong. The same can be said for us, which is why I want to encourage you to guard against pecking at each other during this strange season of quarantine life, specifically regarding the way fellow peeps exercise their freedoms according to the Scriptures. If ever there was an opportunity to love each other well, it's now!

To walk with God during the day, all day, every day means being right with Him. Fellowship with God is interrupted when we sin. If I want to walk with the Lord all day long then what do I need to know so I can do that well? Three verses contain what we need to know and apply to live closely with the Lord.

Did you know that it’s natural and expected that we grow as Christians? When we repent and place our faith in Jesus, we are born again—new babies in the Lord. We would never expect or want babies to stay babies their whole lives, but often people don’t realize God wants every one of His children to grow from babyhood into mature adulthood. God, being the perfect Father, provides everything we need to grow from baby believers into strong, steadfast believers.

I don’t know much about the Bible. What can you tell me? First and foremost, you can trust the Bible. God cannot lie. His Word is true. And you can trust it. Though there are parts you may not understand right away, know that you can trust God’s Word. There are no mistakes in the Scriptures. Everything contained in the Bible is relevant—and has some kind of application for you today.

How you live in your little chicken coop, cooped up or not, reveals God’s work in you. Don’t put all your eggs in that one basket that life will soon return to “normal.” We don’t know how long the Lord intends this trial and testing. We do know that He will give the grace we need to respond well in every circumstance (1 Corinthians 10:13, 31). Seek to follow the Lord Jesus as closely as you can, which will bless the rooster and any little chicks cooped up with you in the hen house.

Dear believer, you may not be a friend of the world (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15), but is it possible that you stalk it? Are you secretly enamored by its allurements? Do you find your thoughts more focused on its ways than God’s?

Use the reset and the rest of summertime as a means of being more effective when things start back up again.

Often summertime provides a type of “sabbath rest” for many of us when our regular church events like Bible studies, small groups, home groups, etc. take a hiatus. Yet a perpetual holiday/vacation can cause us to lose spiritual ground we may have gained during the year. As we enjoy different routines and changes in our schedules, we slow down. Now that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The downside of slowing down and taking a rest is that it becomes so easy to just roll to a stop and take a nap at the wheel. Without realizing it, we quit doing the very things we know help us grow in the Lord.

Oh, wouldn’t it be just lovely when we are experiencing our own northeaster storms and our hearts are tempted to despair that all hope is lost, we could, like Paul, have a direct messenger from God, telling us not to be afraid? Such a message would be so particular and tailored for us that we immediately take heart. Yes, it might be tempting to somewhat envy Paul’s personal encouragement from the Lord. Yet, there really is no need for envy on our part, for we have received just such a kindness from the Lord, in fact, even better, for the multiplied promises of deliverance contained in the Scriptures cover every circumstance we might ever undergo.

Living in the light of the Lord’s countenance is just another way of saying that we live close enough to see His face—and conversely that He sees us. The idea is captured really well in Aaron’s blessing of the sons of Israel in Numbers 6:24-26: “The Lord bless you, and keep you; the Lord make His face shine on you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance on you, and give you peace.” The idea of living in light of the Lord’s countenance carries with it His blessing. It also carries with it a sense of accountability. It’s basically like living in His throne room—and that’s where the accountability comes in. We’re called to live differently in the throne room so that when His face shines upon us in holiness we’re not ashamed.

Meditation actually reveals how much we value the Scriptures. The simple act of looking at and thinking on God’s Word prizing God’s Word tells us, tells others, and most importantly, tells God, “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day.” (Psalm 119:97)

Meditation, at its most basic level, is simply thinking on a specific verse or section of Scripture, yet it can also include thinking on aspects of God’s character, a specific doctrine, even the works of God. It’s also worth noting that meditation is not studying, though you can meditate upon what you are studying—and it’s wise to do so! Study and memorizing Scripture lead to meditation, yet it’s what meditation leads to that is the real jewel here.

God frustrates our plans and nullifies our counsel when our plans don’t match His plans. The counsel of the nations can be nullified, but God’s counsel stands forever. The plans of the peoples can be frustrated, but God’s plans, the plans of His heart, stand from generation to generation.

Somehow my thoughts about newlyweds made their way into my prayer time one morning. I was praying about some different troubles and what concerned me more than anything was my response to them. Was I responding with a sweetness of spirit that is so endearing of a newlywed or was I responding with an old married, nag type of response to the Lord’s dealings with me? Oh my.

I was eating lunch on a layover in the Denver airport when I couldn’t help but overhear a conversation between two men traveling together. Their somewhat loud, though innocuous, conversation centered along the lines of business, until a young woman walked past dressed in tights/leggings. One man was completely derailed in his animated business conversation. I heard a sharp intake of breath, and then he said, “We need to thank whoever the guy was who created those tights things the girls wear. Man….", he said with a sigh of appreciation. The other man knew instantly what he was talking about and echoed similar sentiments. It was silent for a few moments while those men ogled that girl as she made her way through the airport.

Have you ever started the day cheerfully, full of good intentions, and by mid-morning you’re in a puddle, pouring your heart out to the Lord in frustration over your sad turn of events? Have you ever said to yourself, “What happened? I started the day well; I spent time with the Lord; I even got up early to do so, but something went wrong. How did this happen?” Galatians 5:7 reads, “You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?” Ahhh, what a question! Taking the time to answer that question will help us the next time we find ourselves wondering, "How did I end up here?"

Recently I was reading in Acts 22 where Paul powerfully recounts how he came to faith in Jesus Christ as he encountered the risen Lord on the road to Damascus. There the Lord asked him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” That question stopped Paul in his tracks. And then I wondered, “What question would Jesus put to me today?” I could just imagine it, Lisa, Lisa, why are you ­­­­­­­­­­­(fill-in-the-blank)? That wasn't too hard for me to do. “Lisa, why are you being so faint-hearted? Lisa, why aren’t you trusting Me? Lisa, why are you looking to a change in your situation to bring you joy? Lisa, why are you discouraged?” And on it went.

It was a good exercise for my heart. There’s no hiding from the Lord; He always gets to the very core of the issue.

We can rationalize about our choices—“Oh but chocolate chip cookies really are satisfying!” yet at the end of a day feasting on chocolate chip cookies alone we feel empty and sick inside. God wants us to understand that settling for "chocolate chip cookies" to nourish our hungry souls is a poor food choice at best and folly at its worst. Jesus was getting to the same core issue with the woman at the well in John 4 when He asked her to get Him some water to drink and then turned to conversation to the living water that would satisfy her thirsty soul. He explained, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life (John 4:13-14).”

What well are you drinking from to replenish your thirsty soul? Why are you willing to settle for something that won’t truly satisfy you, even when you know better?

Trials have a purpose. They produce a perfected faith and a completed character. You know this; I know this. The difficulty comes in staying still while God does His work in us with that trial. So, the first thing we need to consider is just how do we persevere under trial? Keep reading for some ways to apply these words to “persevere under trial.”