Month: October 2025

When you feel like giving up, ask God for the wisdom and energy needed to accomplish His will.

Zechariah 4:1-9

Wouldn’t it be great if doing God’s will was always easy? But at times we encounter obstacles. When Zerubbabel felt this way, the Lord sent the prophet Zechariah with a word of encouragement.

Zerubbabel was given the task of rebuilding the temple. The first temple had been built during a time of peace and prosperity—under Solomon, the treasuries were overflowing and the workforce was huge. But the situation was quite different when the Jews returned after 70 years of Babylonian captivity. Now they were few in number, their enemies kept attacking, Jerusalem was in ruins, and resources were limited. In today’s reading, Zechariah’s message to Zerubbabel (4:1-9) contained two principles that strengthened him:

We are to face our tasks in the power of the Holy Spirit (v. 6). The Lord’s work can never be done with human strength. His indwelling Spirit must empower us with the wisdom and energy to accomplish His will in our life.

When God calls us to a task, He assumes the responsibility for removing any hindrances (vv. 7-9). When we’re tempted to give up, it’s time to look up and see the obstacle through His eyes.

Is the Lord asking you to do something that seems impossible? Ask Him to supply the hope and strength to persevere.

In order to reap a harvest of faith, believers must keep their eyes focused on the Lord.

Luke 9:61-62

Most of us probably don’t fully appreciate Jesus’ choice of a plow to illustrate a life dedicated to God. The ancient plow, shaped much like the ones widely used until the early 20th century, was a single wooden blade attached to two handles. A mule pulled the apparatus forward, but the farmer also had to do a great deal of work to push and guide the path of the plowshare.

Using such a device—one without an engine—is no easy task. The simple machine bumps and jerks as it tears up the ground. The only way to make a straight line is to stay focused on the work and keep your eyes forward every single second.

When believers trust Jesus Christ as Savior, they “put their hand to the plow.” The idea is for us to follow the Lord in absolute obedience—always keeping our eyes focused on Him. That’s how we stay on the right path and eventually reap an abundant harvest of faith.

Is there anything in your life drawing your attention away from the heavenly Father? Believers who focus on past failures and present distractions end up all over the place in their Christian life and often miss out on the peace and joy that can be ours in the Savior. Follow the Lord earnestly, and He will help you do what’s needed to bring forth much spiritual fruit (John 15:5).

Moses endured because He fixed His eyes on the Lord.

Hebrews 11:23-29

Moses faced some tough times. He fled from a murder charge, spent years in the desert, led a grumbling nation whose allegiance ran hot and cold, and more. Today we’ll explore what a challenge it was for Moses to stand toe-to-toe with a ruler who scorned him—and how he endured.

Even though he returned to Egypt with an unmistakable call from God (Exodus 3:10), appearing before Pharaoh must still have been intimidating. And Moses had to plead with him repeatedly for the Israelites’ release. Pharaoh was not fazed by locusts, convinced by boils, or softened by water turning to blood. In fact, he made life even harder for the Israelites. In turn, the Hebrew people heaped ingratitude on the one tasked with liberating them.

Moses, however, kept returning to the palace until he’d achieved the Lord’s purpose—the release of the Israelite slaves. And while leading the exodus from Egypt, “he endured, as seeing Him who is unseen” (Heb. 11:27). With a stack of trials behind and even more to come, Moses moved forward, aware that he was walking in the Lord’s presence.

God had pledged to be with him (Exodus 3:12). So, fixing his focus on that promise and the One who made it, Moses wisely trusted that whatever trials he faced, God would bring victory.

Are you finding ways to share the goodness of God with others?

Acts 17:16-33

There are three questions everyone must face eventually: Who is the one true God? What is He like? Is it possible to have a personal relationship with Him? Throughout history, countless people have grappled with these questions.

Let’s look at today’s passage. Imagine walking into church one Sunday and sitting in front of a giant statue made of bronze or gold. We might sing a few songs in honor of it, listen to a sermon, then take up an offering and lay it at the foot of the statue. After some additional music, church is over and we return to our houses. What would we gain from that worship? What assurance could we claim? There would be no joy, peace, or security in this life or for the one to come because we bowed down to something that is lifeless and unable to hear us.

When the apostle Paul was in Athens, he provided answers for the people there by preaching about the one true God. Today, as Christians, we should do the same because it is God’s will that every single person know Him (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

As believers, we have a relationship with God through Christ, but countless people in this world have never heard about the Savior. Do not be content just to live your Christian life quietly. Instead, find a way to share your peace and joy with someone else.

God may sacrifice our comfort now to give us what is best in light of eternity.

Acts 9:1-22

We never enjoy illness or affliction. After all, what good could come from such a thing? God would never allow us to get sick, would He? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. Suffering is one of the realities of living in a fallen world, so we shouldn’t be surprised when it comes our way. In fact, God can use times of distress to get our attention.

Think about the apostle Paul. When we hear his name, we recall the missionary who spread the gospel during the first century. But this wasn’t always the case. When we are first introduced to him, he is known as Saul, an enemy of Jesus and the church (Acts 9:1-2). So how did God get his attention?

The book of Acts explains how the Lord appeared in a brilliant flash of light that only Saul could see. After revealing Himself, Jesus left him blind for three days. Saul was brought low, having to be led into town by hand, totally at the mercy of others.

What went through the man’s mind during those days of blindness? No doubt Saul’s thoughts were fixed on Christ. God’s primary goal is our ultimate good, not our comfort or short-term happiness—He wants what is best for us in light of eternity. If you experience hardship, do pray for healing, but also pray to discern God’s message to you in your ailment (Psalm 119:50).

Listen for the Lord’s voice in the midst of hardship; He is speaking.

Numbers 21:4-9

At times, God will use hardships to shake us out of misguided mindsets. Unexpected difficulty removes distractions, teaches us, refocuses our mind on the Lord, and is often followed by a moment of great clarity.

This is evident in today’s passage, where we learn God has directed the Israelites to take a particular route in order to avoid the Edomites. The people became impatient because of the lengthy journey and began to complain about Moses and God. They had turned their minds away from the Lord, who then needed to capture their attention.

It is interesting that God decided not to do so through blessing or a miraculous sign. After all, the Israelites had seen Him move in such a way on more than one occasion (Exodus 14:31). Instead, God sent poisonous snakes into the camp. What was the response of those who witnessed this? They confessed their sin and asked Moses to pray to the Lord, interceding on their behalf.

While we cannot know what God’s trying to tell others through their heartaches, we should meet our own hardships by looking for His divine purpose and instruction. Even though it may not make sense, we can trust that the Lord will bring about positive and crucial changes in us through our challenges.

Who we are becoming is more important to God than what we are doing.

2 Corinthians 4:7-18

Probably the greatest obstacle to understanding God’s purpose for brokenness is this: Many think of Christianity as a series of activities. We pray. We read the Bible. We go to church. We worship. We tithe. We do and do and do—with the assumption that’s the sum total of the Christian life.

However, authentic Christianity is about becoming rather than doing. The life of faith that God designed involves receiving Jesus into our heart and allowing Him to change us so we become increasingly like Him (1 John 2:6).

This realization will change our perspective on the heartaches we must endure. You see, when we recognize that the Christian life is about Jesus’ persistent work of “re-creation” in us, then the role of brokenness makes more sense. It’s the process the Lord uses to strip away obstacles to our spiritual growth.

God doesn’t want to be Lord of most of our life; He wants to be Lord of all of our life. For that reason, He removes everything for which we rely on “self” so we can live moment by moment, day by day, in full dependence on Him. Won’t you open your heart today, asking God to reveal anything that needs to be surrendered to Him?

If we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we become more and more like Christ.

Ephesians 5:15-21

Although God wants all His children to be filled with the Spirit, many Christians are not sure what this actually means. Every believer is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but the extent of His impact is affected by the Christian’s willingness to comply.

Think of this as a voluntary choice to surrender your life to the Spirit’s control—in other words, to be sensitive to His leadership and guidance, obedient to His promptings, and dependent upon His strength. The evidence of the Holy Spirit’s control is revealed in a person’s character. Those who have yielded their life to Christ’s leadership are continually being transformed into His likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18). The degree of surrender determines the level of transformation.

Even though good works and faithful service result from being filled with the Holy Spirit, in and of themselves, they are not necessarily signs of being yielded to Him. Remember, God prioritizes character over actions (1 Samuel 16:7). After all, it’s easier to serve the Lord in some manner than to love the unlovable or be patient with difficult people.

When the Spirit is in charge, He works through us to accomplish what we cannot do on our own. Godly character and fullness of the Spirit await those who choose God over self.