We know that God loves us! 

Do you sometimes feel though, that it is difficult to praise Him? There may be times when we are feeling so low, or frustrated, or so unappreciated that we cannot find it in our hearts to be thankful. We actually feel sorry for ourselves.

We then need to go beyond our feelings. We need to remind ourselves that He loves us and that He does not wish bad things for us. In moments like these, repeating “He loves me and wants only good for me” over and over again like a mantra actually helps! Then we start thinking of the good things that have happened to us. Then we start feeling a little better as we remember small victories, answered prayers, and even big victories. Soon we find ourselves thanking God for those successes. 

Getting to that point however, takes practice. It also requires a lot of prayer. During times of defeat, we must pray for God’s help to overcome that feeling of discouragement. We are humbled as we are stripped of our pride while praying for strength and courage. And guess what? During those times when we are unable to lift ourselves up, God meets us where we are. He bends down to pick us up, helps us get on our feet, and even carries us when we are unable to stand! 

After the crisis has passed, we realize that God was there for us during all those times of trial and challenge. Then we fall down on our knees in thanksgiving for His steadfast love and support. He never left us. He was holding our hand as we went through those tough times.

We then praise God for His steadfast love for us. We reflect on those many times in our lives when God walked with us on our journey. We resolve to forever proclaim His goodness and love for us.

It does not end there. As we reflect on our lives and the countless incidents and experiences we’ve had with our God and the joy, gladness, peace, and love that we feel, we want to share Him with others. 

We cannot just keep quiet. We WANT to share God’s goodness and His love. We are called to share about God. We bear witness to His love and care for us. We share that Love with others by perhaps providing a listening ear, or a shoulder to cry on, or by simply giving a nod of understanding to brothers and sisters in need of someone to talk to. We bring God closer to them just by doing that!

By our lives we “forever sing of your steadfast love, O Lord.”




Liz Venezuela


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God sees a good heart. This woman, who is identified by her privilege and not by her name, is remembered for her good heart. Wealth and privilege put her in a unique position to serve. As Uncle Ben (from Spiderman) would tell us, with great power comes great responsibility. This woman didn’t do the bare minimum. She urged him to eat. She fed him whenever he came to the area. She went so far as to build him a room to rest in when she saw his visits were regular. She saw a person in need and used her privilege to serve him. She did not do it for any reward – although she is given one of exceeding personal value.
 
There are so many important takeaways from this short reading, but for me, the most important is privilege and credit. This woman had privilege and influence that many of the other women we encounter in the Old Testament do not. She is married; she is wealthy; she has the ear and respect of her husband. In this one short paragraph it is clear that she is discerning and quietly generous with her wealth and privilege. She doesn’t ask for anything, she just gives.
 
The other important element of this story is credit. She is not named. She is not praised. How often do we hear of wealthy people’s good deeds because they make a great fuss about having their names attached to them? While that does not diminish the impact of the work on the lives of those who are served, it can make one question the motivation. Are they just doing it for the charitable receipt? Are they trying to improve public awareness and positive perception of them personally or their business? We can’t help but assume there’s some benefit for that person, otherwise why would they make sure we all knew it was them?
 
This woman is a good example of what Jesus said: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” (Matthew 6:3). While her name is long forgotten and only known to God, the good example of her deeds lives here in the book of Kings. Do we follow the Gospel’s call to generosity without credit? Are our eyes open to the needs of others and do we go beyond the minimum to serve?

 
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, teach us to be like this woman who served Elisha in humility. May we acknowledge times when our ability to give meets the needs of another and be bold in our giving. Teach our hearts how to give without expectation of return, reward, or credit. All we have belongs to You. All we are is Yours. Thank you for the opportunities to serve that You send us. AMEN
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Stephanie Potter

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Of all the concepts in Christianity, grace is the one I have to learn over and over again. The grace of God is a free gift. It cannot be earned and we cannot add to it. It is so central to who God is. It’s basically the whole thing. But it’s so counterintuitive to who we are as people and to who I am, specifically, as a person. As someone with fairly strong, and somewhat destructive, perfectionistic tendencies this is really hard. I’ve spent a lot of time trying, a lot of time striving, a lot of time checking boxes, and a lot of time working for gold stars. This has often worked for me in some parts of my life. Our society rewards this behaviour. Or, I should say, it has worked for me until it didn't. Life is not a series of check boxes. And more often than I care to admit, I apply this thinking to God as well, as if I thought I could earn God’s favour. But that’s just not how it works. 
 
Unconditional love is an incredibly difficult concept for us humans to grasp. The most beautiful human relationships can come pretty close, but we never quite get there. There is, inevitably, some kind of limit. We’re so transactional in nature. Even the language we use is deeply problematic. We talk about how much we value people, how people deserve our time, how much people are worth to us, etc. We talk like there is some kind of math going on where we work out where we stand with each other. Humans are transactional, but God is not. There is no math. We don’t deserve grace, but, through Jesus, we get it anyway. It’s not a tally—adding up all the good things about us and subtracting all the bad things.


It’s a free gift from God. 

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I’ve been doing this for a while. But I keep coming back to grace, realizing that I don’t fully get it yet. Perhaps that’s the point. In this life we’ll never fully understand what grace really means. But the more this truth is revealed to us, that we don’t earn God’s love, the more God is revealed to us. And with the revelation of this truth, the more freedom we experience as we come to understand who we are in His sight.  
 
His precious children.  
 
Loved and held.  
 
Redeemed not through what we have done, but through what Jesus has done for all of us.  
 
 
Praise God. Thanks be to God.
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Morgan M.