Verse from 2 Corinthians

“他却对我说：“我的恩典是够你用的，因为我的能力在人的软弱上显得完全。”所以，我更喜欢夸自己的软弱，好让基督的能力临到我的身上。”

哥林多后书 12:9 

“But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

2 Corinthians 12:9 

In a fallen, broken world, all of us are “crooked,” each with our own collection of natural weaknesses. We might be tempted to keep our vulnerabilities under wraps, but Scripture encourages the opposite attitude. 

In 2 Corinthians 12, for example, Paul suggests that it’s in our weaknesses—for him, an unnamed struggle he calls a “thorn in my flesh” (v. 7)—that Christ is most likely to reveal His power. Jesus had told Paul, “My power is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9). So Paul concluded, “For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (v. 10).

We may not like our imperfections, but hiding them only denies Jesus’s power to work within those aspects of ourselves. When we invite Jesus into the crooked places in us, He gently mends and redeems in ways our effort could never accomplish.

Invite Jesus into your imperfections for His mending.

Verse from Psalms

“认识你名的人必倚靠你；耶和华啊！你从未撇弃寻求你的人。”

诗篇 9:10 

“And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

Psalms 9:10 

At the very moment Darnly Motter was giving birth to her third child in the delivery room, her husband, Larry, was one floor below having a blood clot removed from his brain. 

These are the kind of paradoxes that entered the Motters' world the day their car crashed on a lonely stretch of South Dakota highway, leaving Larry in a coma with severe brain damage. When he returned to consciousness, he was partially paralyzed and his short-term memory was gone. For all intents and purposes, he was another baby in the Motter household. 

There were people who advised Darnly to find Larry a comfortable place to live—to set him up in a nursing home—so that she could get on with life. But Darnly knew she couldn't do that. Making a home with Larry—even the new Larry he had become—was part of keeping her wedding vows, she believed.

Over the years, she has often cried herself to sleep at night, and she has occasionally succumbed to the heavy undertow of depression. Her lonely walk as the only "adult" in her marriage has left her feeling maddeningly desperate. But when times get the murkiest, she remembers, "I don't need answers; I just need God." 

That, is a faith statement—something that people who walk by feelings can't say, because it demands that they know and trust God enough to be able to handle the challenges He often allows into life. Faith like this brings freedom and peace, even in the midst of the storms of life, known only by those who choose to set their dial and choose to live by the trusted timeless truths of Scriptures. 

When life isn't fair, God is still there—to make sure you have everything you need to hang in there yourself.

Verse from Psalms

“我把我的灵魂交在你手里，耶和华信实的神啊！你救赎了我。”

诗篇 31:5 

“Into Your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.”

Psalm 31:5 

In Psalm 31, David revealed that he knew something about the Lord’s amazing, caring hands. That’s why he could confidently say, “Into your hands I commit my spirit” (v. 5). David believed that the Lord could be trusted even when life got bumpy. Because he was targeted by unfriendly forces, life was very uncomfortable for David. Though vulnerable, he was not without hope. In the midst of harassment David could breathe sighs of relief and rejoice because his faithful, loving God was his source of confidence (vv. 5–7).

Perhaps you find yourself in a season of life when things are coming at you from every direction, and it’s difficult to see what’s ahead. In the midst of uncertainty, confusion, and chaos one thing remains absolutely certain: those who are secure in the Lord are in amazing hands.

Verse from 1 John

“神对我们的爱，我们已经明白了，而且相信了。神就是爱；住在爱里面的，就住在神里面，神也住在他里面。”

约翰壹书 4:16 

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

1 John 4:16 

In his first of three letters to early Christians, the apostle John boldly states that God Himself is love. “We know and rely on the love God has for us,” he writes. “God is love” (1 John 4:16).

God loves. Not in the pillow of a pretend animal but rather with the outstretched arms of a real human body encasing a beating but breaking heart (John 3:16). Through Jesus, God communicated His extravagant and sacrificial love for us.

John goes on, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). When we believe we’re loved, we love back. God’s real love makes it possible for us to love God and others—with all our hearts.

Verse from Psalms

“我的神！我的神！你为甚么离弃我？为甚么远离不救我，不听我呻吟的话呢？”

诗篇 22:1 

“My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.”

Psalms 22:1 

In just six months, Gerald’s life fell apart. An economic crisis destroyed his business and wealth, while a tragic accident took his son’s life. Overcome by shock, his mother had a heart attack and died, his wife went into depression, and his two young daughters remained inconsolable. All he could do was echo the words of the psalmist, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22:1).

The only thing that kept Gerald going was the hope that God, who raised Jesus to life, would one day deliver him and his family from their pain to an eternal life of joy. It was a hope that God would answer his desperate cries for help. In his despair, like the psalmist David, he determined to trust God in the midst of his suffering. He held on to the hope that God would deliver and save him (vv. 4–5).

That hope sustained Gerald. Over the years, whenever he was asked how he was, he could only say, “Well, I’m trusting God.”

God honored that trust, giving Gerald the comfort, strength, and courage to keep going through the years. His family slowly recovered from the crisis, and soon Gerald welcomed the birth of his first grandchild. His cry is now a testimony of God’s faithfulness. “I’m no longer asking, ‘Why have you forsaken me?’ God has blessed me.”

When it seems there’s nothing left, there’s still hope.

Verse from John

“律法是借着摩西颁布的，恩典和真理却是借着耶稣基督而来的。”

约翰福音 1:17 

“For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

John 1:17 

Jesus, who was perfectly qualified to condemn people for their sin, didn’t use the Ten Commandments to crush a Samaritan woman He met at an ancient watering hole. He gently critiqued her life with just a handful of statements. The result was that she saw how her search for satisfaction had led her into sin. Building on this awareness, Jesus revealed Himself as the only source of eternal satisfaction (John 4:10–13).

The combination of grace and truth that Jesus used in this situation is what we experience in our relationship with Him (1:17). His grace prevents us from being overwhelmed by our sin, and His truth prevents us from thinking it isn’t a serious matter.

Will we invite Jesus to show us areas of our lives where we need to grow so we can become more like Him?

Verse from James

“如果有人自以为虔诚，却不约束他的舌头，反而自己欺骗自己，这人的虔诚是没有用的。”

雅各书 1:26 

“Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.”

James 1:26 

"It's no big deal!" That's the whine of a believer rationalizing vulgar, inappropriate, or hurtful speech. However, someone confessed a long time ago, "Our moral plunge in the office began when we let our language slip. It didn't seem like that big a deal at the time, but what it led to was disastrous." 

Religion that is not reflected in everyday speech is empty and hollow. So let's use our speech to bless and encourage, not to curse, slander, or gossip.