Christ Will Rescue You

Tuesday, December 23, 2025

A Happy and Successful Life

Joshua 1:8(NLT)

“Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day andnight so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”

In the Old Testament, after Moses died, Joshua took his place as the leader of God’s people. In Joshua 1:8, God commanded Joshua to tell His people about His requirement. There could be no substitutes, addendums, alterations, or adjustments to God’s instruction. It was to the point, and very clear. He commanded the people to study His Word. The practice of studying means to devote time and focused attention upon a subject. This is how we must all approach God’s Word. It’s not meant to be a once-in-a-while practice. God commanded those living in Old Testament times to study His Word continually, and the same goes for us. God rewards those who study and mediate on His Word. He delights in this, and we should as well.

Not only is our focused attention on His Word required, but He has told us to meditate on it day and night, and He has commanded us to obey all His statues and commandments. Again, we can have confidence that the practice of studying and meditating on God’s Word is something that Heavenly Father rewards. He promises to reward our diligence by causing us to prosper and succeed in everything we do. God spoke this to His people living thousands of years ago, and He is speaking it to those of us living today.

In the New Testament, He tells us in Hebrews 4:12(ESV), “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” And in 2Timothy3:16-17(ESV), He tells us, “16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” God’s Word is our bread of life! When Jesus Christ was tempted and tested by the devil in the wilderness, he responded to every temptation with “IT IS WRITTEN…” The Word of God equips us for every good work. It equips us for victory!

God’s Word is the Spirit’s sword, and God commands us to use it so that we are spiritually prepared to carry forth His purpose, and so that we can abide continually in His blessings. To meditate on God’s Word is to fix our minds on a verse or passage and allow it to marinate in our minds. It’s to examine the verse or passage from all angles and to do this in a very peaceful and calm state. The psalmist tells us a lot about what we should be meditating on in order to please God and draw closer to Him. In Psalm 48:9(NLT), he wrote, “O God, we meditate on your unfailing love as we worship in your Temple.” In Psalm 119:27, the psalmist tells us that he meditates on God’s wonderful deeds, and Psalm 119:117 tells us he meditated on God’s decrees.

The words of the Psalms give us all the inspiration we need. It tells us the aspects of God’s nature and being, and these are the excellent and holy qualities, promises, and decrees of God that should capture our attention continually.

Our Heavenly Father wants us to keep our minds focused on His Word, so that we can respond to any situation or crisis and do so with His strength and wisdom. For this to happen, His promises, guidance, and direction must sink deep within and be cemented in our minds and hearts. It’s not a verse or two every month or so. It’s an imbedded habit pattern of staying our minds on what God has said. Many living in our current times are not responding to God and to life with His Word. In fact, many have turned their backs on His wisdom. They have labeled God’s Word as ‘outdated’ or ‘antiquated’. “People can’t live that way now…” Many have said, and they have used this as an excuse not to obey what God says. This is a very costly mistake.

Our Heavenly Father is brilliant beyond brilliance. He has empowered us to live holy and righteous, and He has purposed every aspect of our existence to model after our Big Brother, Jesus Christ. God tells us in 2Timothy 2:15(ESV) to “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” It’s our privilege and responsibility to be a worker of God’s Word. It’s the way we stand approved before Him. If we are committed to study God’s Word and live by the example of Christ, we will become wiser and spiritually stronger, and because of our commitment to obey Him, God promises that we will have a happy and successful life.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Lord, What Am I Missing?

God has blessed each of us immeasurably. There are blessings we could never fully list or articulate, and they converge in such a simple but profound way that we woke up this morning with breath in our lungs. We have another opportunity to praise God and thank Him for His goodness.

Most of us recognize this, and we truly are thankful. And yet, many believers still feel unsatisfied. Some feel unfulfilled. There’s a quiet sense that something is missing, and we can’t quite put our finger on where or why that feeling exists. We want to know the exact book, chapter, and verse where God explains the why behind emptiness, loneliness, lack, numbness, sadness, and disappointment. We’ve been on this journey a long time, and still, joy feels hard to hold onto the way we see others do. So we ask, “Lord, what am I missing?”

Jesus Christ is the answer—we know this. But often, what’s missing isn’t who we know; it’s how deeply His life has been allowed to take root within us. Paul’s prayer reveals God’s desire for every believer in Ephesians 3:16–17 (NLT): “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”

This passage points us straight to the condition of the soul. Roots deliver nourishment to the whole tree. God tells us our roots are meant to grow down into His love. But sometimes, without realizing it, roots grow into other things—distractions, habits, comforts, or pursuits that were never meant to sustain us. When that happens, God lovingly begins the process of pruning. And often, we’re so focused on those other attachments that we don’t recognize what He’s doing.

Moment by Moment

Jesus explains this process in John 15:2 (NLT): “He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.” This is not a word of rejection. It’s a word of assurance. This isn’t a word of rejection—it’s a word of assurance. Pruning is not punishment; it’s proof of belonging. Only branches that are already connected to Him are pruned.

Our walk with God isn’t built in one big moment. It’s lived out in small, daily choices—choosing to remain in Christ, choosing to follow His Word, choosing obedience even when comfort feels easier. And sometimes, we don’t. Sometimes we choose ease over growth, pleasure over formation, or familiarity over surrender. When those choices go unchecked, they can quietly settle into patterns that limit the fruit God desires to produce through us.

God doesn’t want anything to remain in us that restricts life. So He sends signals—gentle alarms—to wake us up. These alarms are not punishment. They are mercy. They alert us to areas that need healing, surrender, or growth. Many of us are blind to the very things holding us back, and God, in His kindness, steps in to help us see.

The Alarms

We are spiritual beings living in a natural world. The world teaches us to ignore the inner life and dismiss spiritual solutions. But that is not the truth. Our faith in God’s love and power will not fail. Feelings of emptiness, restlessness, sadness, or disappointment are often signals that something deeper is being addressed by the Holy Spirit.

It’s easy to label these feelings as simply “feeling bad,” but sometimes they are invitations—signals that growth and promotion are near. When we respond by seeking God and remaining open to His direction, we often discover a depth of fulfillment we didn’t know was possible.

God is the Master Gardener. Pruning is not a one-time event; it’s a recurring part of our walk with Christ. Each season, something is refined so greater life can emerge. The feeling that something is missing may not be loss at all—it may be new growth preparing to break through.

Where True Fulfillment Is Found

Jesus says in John 15:5 (NLT): “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” When we don’t recognize the value of what Christ has already accomplished for us, the soul can feel hollow, even in the presence of blessing. But God does not leave us there. John 16:13 reminds us that the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. As we yield to Him, He deepens our understanding, heals our inner places, and teaches us how to live from what Christ has already secured.

All that we need is found in Jesus Christ. As we ask God to reveal the depth of Christ’s sacrifice and trust Him to do His work within us, we discover that fulfillment doesn’t come from acquiring more—it comes from abiding more deeply. And there, our cups truly begin to overflow.

Tuesday, December 9, 2025

The Sound of A Gentle Whisper

1 Kings 19:11-13 (NLT)
11 "Go out and stand before me on the mountain," the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

This record in 1 Kings 19 moves me every single time. Elijah’s story hits close because it mirrors how we act when life gets overwhelming. When pressure sits heavy, when stress piles up, when emotions get loud, we can forget the goodness, strength, and steady power of our God. And when we let our emotions drive the moment, we open the door for the enemy to chip away at our peace. Elijah knew Israel had broken covenant, torn down God’s altars, and rejected every warning heaven had given. He understood the connection between action and consequence, and he was right to feel the weight of what their sin meant. But Elijah was wrong about one thing: he assumed the behavior of people could somehow force God’s hand or interrupt God’s plans. Our feelings get loud, but they never outrank God’s sovereignty.

Elijah expected God to arrive with force. He braced himself for a dramatic display — something loud enough to match the chaos he was facing. But the Lord was not in the windstorm. He was not in the earthquake. He was not in the fire. God revealed Himself in a gentle whisper.

That moment teaches us something critical: God does not adjust His voice to our expectations. He refuses to be boxed in by our assumptions about how power should sound. His authority is not diminished by quietness. His voice does not need volume to carry weight.

The whisper required Elijah to stop, to still himself, and to pay attention. It demanded obedience, not reaction. And it exposed something true for us as well: God often speaks in a way that requires discipline to hear Him.

But many of us are surrounded by constant noise. Schedules dominate. Phones interrupt. People pull. Notifications demand. Responsibility never rests. The static of daily life grows so loud that the voice of heaven is crowded out — not because God is silent, but because we are distracted.

And then we wonder why clarity feels distant.

This is not something to ignore. It is something to correct.

Just this past week, life demanded my full attention in a way I didn’t plan for. A situation came up that required clarity, not reaction. It meant stopping what I was doing, setting aside my usual routine, and making deliberate room to think, listen, and respond wisely. At first, resistance surfaced — not because the moment wasn’t important, but because interruption exposes how attached we can be to our own pace.

That pause revealed something. The noise in my life wasn’t unavoidable; it was coming from everywhere I allowed constant access. I didn’t need to overhaul my life — I needed to lower the volume. I put my phone down. I stopped scrolling. I turned off the news. I let calls go to voicemail. And in that quiet, clarity returned. Space made room for direction. Stillness made room for wisdom.

And that’s the point. Hearing God rarely requires more effort. It requires fewer distractions.

Elijah didn’t find God in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire. He found Him in a whisper. That’s the lesson. God doesn’t need volume to establish His authority. He doesn’t need spectacle to prove He’s in control. He is a faithful, loving Father — and He often speaks in ways that draw us closer rather than drive us back. The question is not whether God is speaking, but whether we have quieted ourselves enough to hear Him. When we make room for God, when we still ourselves before Him, when we step away from the noise, His whisper becomes clear — unmistakable.

And in that whisper is everything we need.

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Remain in God’s Perfect Peace

When Jesus Speaks Peace Into Troubled Hearts

Jesus knew that the time of His death was drawing near, and His disciples were troubled and confused about what was going to happen. He wanted to prepare them for what was coming so they wouldn’t be overwhelmed with fear or worry. In this moment, He told His followers in John 14:1 (NLT), “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.”

The beauty of His words is overwhelming, especially when we remember that the depth of His unspeakable suffering was so close at hand. Just before this, He had revealed that one of His disciples would betray Him. This was shocking news to the others—they were confused and deeply troubled by the thought that someone so close to them could act in such a way.

Being so close to Him—walking, talking, and learning from Him—it must have been hard to swallow that one of their own had betrayal in his heart. Yet the Scriptures confirm it was true. Still, when they heard it from Jesus’ lips, and when He told them that He would soon be leaving them, it was almost too much to process. Their hearts were troubled, and they looked anxious.

Jesus noticed, because He fully knows our pain, both inward and outward. Their souls were troubled, and He told them not to let this happen. How tremendously comforting His words are! But we must not forget: the words of our Master are not suggestions. They are meant to stabilize us in times of stress so we will not be overtaken by the enemy’s distractions or his attempts to steal our joy.

The Two Realms Your Soul Lives In

Heavenly Father created life in a way that always demands a response, and whether we admit it or not, every response we make flows out of one of two realms: faith or fear. Faith pulls your soul into God’s atmosphere — the territory of love, light, liberty, and life. Fear drags the soul toward the enemy’s atmosphere — doubt, darkness, bondage, and death. Isaiah 26:3 (NLT) sheds light on this: “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!” God keeps us in perfect peace when trust leads the soul, but fear breaks that flow.

Some people think this is just a mindset, but Scripture tells us otherwise. The spiritual realm is more real than what we see. Second Corinthians 4:18 (NLT) reminds us, “For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” The unseen world is the foundation of everything visible, everything eternal, everything God-designed, and everything you are becoming in Christ. That’s why your internal position matters — because your soul’s response chooses the territory you walk in.

Living Where Peace Actually Lives

God has already told us where peace can be found — in Him, not in circumstances. Psalm 91:1 (NLT) says, “Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Rest is not random. Peace is not accidental. You don’t stumble into it — you stay where it lives.

But the soul doesn’t stay in peace by default. It has to be trained. Romans 8:6 (NLT) tells us, “Letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.” This is why the mind must be renewed and the heart must be transformed. Peace isn’t weak; peace is warfare. It’s warfare because peace is what the enemy is always after. Every time you choose peace, you defeat a lie. Every time you stay in peace, you shut the enemy out. Peace isn’t passive — it’s the sign that your soul is submitted. Peace is the evidence that the Holy Spirit is leading your spirit, and your spirit is leading your soul. That’s the divine order God designed.

And truthfully, this is where many believers struggle. We love God, but we haven’t learned to remain in His atmosphere. We drift into fear, worry, and self-protection because the soul was programmed by life, not by truth. But the moment we return to His shelter, His peace meets us like a covering we didn’t even realize we lost.

Training the Soul to Refuse Worry

God doesn’t just suggest peace — He teaches us how to live in it. Philippians 4:6–7 (NLT) tells us, “6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Notice the flow:
No worry → prayer → peace → protection.

But let’s be honest. Some of us quietly think, How am I not supposed to worry when so much is happening in this world? But if you trace the origin of that mindset, you’ll notice it wasn’t born out of truth — it was born out of fear. Fear rehearses danger. Faith rehearses God. Psalm 112:7 (NLT) says, “They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.”

Our Heavenly Father is not distant. He is not hesitant. He is not stingy with His help. Jeremiah 32:17 (NLT) tells us, “O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!” Fear whispers that God won’t come through. Faith reminds the soul that He always does.

Peace Is the Proof of Who’s Leading

Perfect peace is not a personality type. It’s not emotional denial. It’s the evidence of alignment — the soul resting under the leadership of your spirit, as it follows the Holy Spirit and rests in God. Isaiah 12:2 (NLT) tells us, “See, God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord God is my strength and my song; he has given me victory.”

When the soul aligns with truth, peace rises. When the soul slips into fear, peace leaks. But either way, the presence or absence of peace is never random — it is the signal of where we are standing spiritually. And God is always inviting us back into His shelter, His provision, His rest.

His perfect peace is not fragile. It is not temporary.
It is your inheritance.
It is your atmosphere.
It is the evidence that your soul has come home.