How Can I Help?
Think about the last time someone was kind to you. Kindness is one of the most powerful forces on earth, and serving other people can transform someone’s life for good.
All of us have the ability to do good for someone, and God has gifted each of us with special abilities and talents that can be used to serve other people in our lives. Whether it’s a spiritual gift or a learned skill, you have unique opportunities to show kindness to those in need.
Paul, the writer of the letter to the Galatians, is careful to note that we won’t always have the opportunity to do good for others. We cannot know how many days we have left on earth, and we certainly don’t know how long certain people will be in our lives. That’s why we should make sure we use every opportunity we have to encourage and help others.
Serving and helping others is a form of love. When we take the time to help someone, we are allowing them to experience the love of Jesus through us. Doing good for someone opens the door for conversations about the love that Jesus has for them.
Paul also says that we should help those who are believers. That is because those who are believers are our spiritual family. Just as we ought to care for our relatives, we should also look for opportunities to love those who are part of the Church.
How has God gifted you with talents and abilities to serve others? Take some time to think about a few people in your life that you can help. Maybe it’s letting them know you’re thinking of them, or maybe it’s helping someone with a need they have. In any case, be on the lookout for ways that you can do good to all people as you go about your day.
“In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him. And the LORD sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the LORD came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did; and also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the LORD would not pardon. Now the rest of the acts of Jehoiakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead. And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his land: for the king of Babylon had taken from the ...
God is Faithful
We all have to face hard things. It’s not if you will face them, but when. But when those challenges come, you can know you’re not alone.
In Isaiah 43:2, God reminds Israel that His faithfulness doesn’t change with their circumstances. He was faithful in the past, and He would continue to protect and provide for them…
“When you pass through the waters…”
After 400 years of slavery, God empowered Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian captivity. Just as the opposing army was closing in and all seemed lost, God made a way—right through the Red Sea. (See Exodus 14.) This is probably what the book of Isaiah is referencing to remind the Israelites of God’s power.
“When you pass through the rivers…”
Isaiah’s readers would have likely been reminded of the time God dried up the Jordan River for the Israelites when they were crossing over with the ark of the Lord. They even built a memorial, so that generations to come would remember God’s presence. (You ...