I’m not lucky when it comes to contests. Most of the time, I don’t win anything. Then there was the time recently when I won a big gift bag from the mall – – only to discover it was from a store that specialized in women’s apparel.

I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I’ve won in any kind of a drawing or contest. But then I remember that Jesus died for me. For. Me.

That’s better than any kind of lottery. That’s better than winning the $1 billion jackpot. That’s the abundant life now plus eternal life to come.

That’s for anyone who will say yes to Jesus. That’s for anyone who will repent of their sins and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. That’s something that can never be taken away, taxed or destroyed.

If I’m not overwhelmed and amazed by this amazing gift every single day, it’s only because I don’t fully appreciate the gift I’ve received. If I truly understood all the salvation meant, I’d never stop being thankful day and night and telling everyone I knew about it.

Note: This is something I wrote a long time ago back before the WordPress days. It’s probably from 2010 or earlier:

“I think one of the reasons that community is so important is that it enlarges our view of God. I like to think that each of us carry puzzle pieces of what God is like. Each has a few pieces that reveal a limited aspect of God. When you get to know me, you add more pieces to your puzzle and your view of God gets bigger and clearer. When I get to know you, the same happens for me.

The more people whose lives we invest in, the more pieces and the bigger our view of God becomes and the more the pieces fall into place and connect into more coherent forms.

I truly believe that we grow as believers and our knowledge of God increases only in the context of community, where we share with each other and serve one another in love. There’s no way I can figuire out God on my own, apart from other believers.

There it is. That’s my thought for the day. Hope it helps.”

I think believers as individuals can reflect the image of God, but not as well as when we function within the context of community. As we compliment each other with our strengths and weaknesses, we demonstrate the totality of who Jesus is to the world.

It’s no accident that one name for the Church is the body of Christ. No one person can represent all of who Jesus is, but we can each play a part. Together like the pieces of a puzzle or a mosaic or a work of stained glass, we reflect the glory of God as shown in Jesus Christ.

I’m reading through a daily devotional this year called God’s Message for Each Day by Eugene Peterson, best known as the translator of The Message Bible. This one was from a few days ago, but it made enough of an impact on me that I remembered it and thought I would share it.

There is something to praying the Psalms. If we prayed the Psalms through, we’d cover all the gamut of human emotions. There is nothing in the human experience that isn’t in the Psalms at some point.

But also it’s a good reminder to pray honestly. I’ve been as guilty as anyone of praying what I thought God wanted to hear or what might make me sound holier than praying what was really on my heart.

Why bother trying to fool God? He already knows what you’re feeling and thinking. Praying isn’t about telling God something He doesn’t already know. It’s about coming to see things from God’s point of view and having your perspective reset.

I love that God hears me when I have no words. God can take those groans and sighs that go too deep for words and turn them into prayers that can’t be refused. God can take “Thy will be done” and answer it in ways you might never have expected but in ways that turn out way better than you could ever have planned it had you had your own way.

Can I ask you something? Have you ever had one of those moments where your plans took a sudden and unexpected detour? I don’t mean in a grand and tragic way (although that does happen to us at times). This is more of a minor reroute.

For example, many times I will retrace my steps because I realize that I left something behind or forgot to do something while I was there. Often, I see it as an annoyance at first and get frustrated with myself for having to go back.

But occasionally I’ll run into someone and have a conversation that I would not have had if everything had gone according to the original plan. Maybe that’s God’s divine redirection, like when you miss a turn and your GPS doesn’t miss a beat but tells you where to go next from there.

I think God already knew I was going to be forgetful at times. God planned for my sometime stupidity when He orchestrated my life. He wants me to see that my hope is not in my plans or my idea of how my day should go, but in the God who has already numbered my steps and shown me the way to take.

Sometimes interruptions aren’t a distraction from the work God has for me. They are the work God has for me. The same goes for detours, whether in life or on the road. If we’ll only be wise enough to look for God’s fingerprints and follow His lead, we’ll receive a bonus blessing of seeing God’s providence at work.

I think Voddie Baucham, a pastor out of California, said it best. Christians in Nigeria are dying for their faith, and we complain about being persecuted because the media said mean things about us. I do think there are varying degrees of persecution, but I also think that losing your life is way worse than having hurt feelings.

I do believe that real persecution is coming to America. I’m not a prophet, so I don’t claim to know when or how or any of the details, but I know it will come, first because Jesus promised it would come and second because America has been an anomaly in history as far as the Church is concerned. That will end.

But one thing persecution does is to clarify your priorities. If you can practice your faith in a comfortable setting, you won’t value it as much as if confessing Christ could cost you your life. You’re less likely to treasure your Bible until it becomes illegal to posses one.

But it’s not another doom and gloom pronouncement in an age of doom-scrolling. The Church has always flourished under persecution. Persecuted faith is faith that is purified under trial and comes forth as gold. Just as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego could see a fourth man in the fire, so we see Jesus more clearly in the midst of persecution. We can know He’s near to the suffering and close to the brokenhearted.

If I’m honest, I confess that I don’t look forward to persecution and hope that it doesn’t come in my lifetime. I also confess that if it does come, God has promised to be with me and to give me strength to bear it when the time does come. Or God will be my strength in that hour.

“You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all.
God’s kingdom is there for the finding.
You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry.
Then you’re ready for the Messianic meal.
You’re blessed when the tears flow freely.
Joy comes with the morning.” (Luke 6:20-21).

If you’re familiar with the Beatitudes, then you know the Kingdom of God often turns normal expectations upside down. Jesus’ ideas of what it means to be blessed run contrary to just about every book on success and leadership that has ever been published. But I think Jesus was onto something (to put it mildly).

To be blessed above all means to possess the favor of God. Sometimes, that means riches and wealth; sometimes not. Sometimes, that means abundant health; sometimes not. Sometimes, that means a clear-cut path to career and personal success; sometimes not.

What it means is a very real and tangible sense of the nearness of God, even when you can’t feel God or see God. You know at a gut level that goes beyond emotion or reason that God is there. You’d rather go through poverty and mourning with God than have riches untold or be the king of a vast domain apart from God.

To be blessed means to know your deep need of God, to mourn over the sinfulness and brokenness of the world (as well as your own), to have a steady supply of strength that comes from God, to want God’s righteousness more than anything else, to cherish lovingkindness, to have pure heart for God, to bring peace that comes through the gospel, and to suffer for the sake of loving Jesus more than the world.

To live out the Beatitudes is to be like Jesus, and to be like Jesus is to live out the Beatitudes.

“Our willingness to wait reveals the value we place on the object we’re waiting for” (Charles Stanley).

“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4).

“God always gives his best to those who leave the choice with him” (Jim Elliot).

Waiting is still hard, but the more you value the object you’re waiting for, the more willing you are to wait for it. Right now, I’m already thinking about Christmas. I saw where Christmas Day is 218 days away.

But I can wait. Because Christmas is officially my favorite holiday. It’s worth waiting for. Plus, there are so many good days in between that help the waiting part.

Life is like that. You can keep your eyes on the thing you’re waiting for and also appreciate the multitude of good things that come your way in the meantime. You can hold out hope for the future while still being fully present in the moment.

At the heart of every hope that we long for and wait for is God Himself. He’s the ultimate fulfillment of every longing and desire. And one day we will no longer know by faith because we will see with our own eyes what we’ve been waiting for all along.

Years ago, I read a book with a fascinating premise. Basically, the book said that only one person has ever lived a normal Christian life — Jesus Christ.

By normal, I don’t mean what passes for Christianity in our culture where all you need to be saved is to recite words in a prayer and where there’s no need to show evidence of a changed life as long as you can remember the date you prayed that prayer.

Normal Christianity is biblical Christianity. It’s dying to self. It’s taking up your cross and following Jesus, no matter what the cost. It’s turning the other cheek. It’s loving your enemies.

Normal Christianity is what you find in places where Christians are persecuted and even killed. Their hopes aren’t based on getting the right people elected or getting the right laws passed. They don’t base their moral and spiritual values on a majority vote or what the media tells them.

At the end of the day, don’t strive to fit it. Don’t strive to be like every other American believer. Strive to be like Jesus. Strive to be normal.