The road from my winter home to my summer home rises from 1700 feet (518 metres) to 6400 feet (1950 metres), and it is 143 miles (230 kilometres) from the Sonoran Desert to the White Mountains of Arizona, USA. For half an hour, I travel on a four-lane highway. Then, I drive through a tunnel, emerging into Devil's Canyon — a collection of unique burnt orange rock formations called hoodoos. They tower on each side of the road, some balanced on just the tip of an edge, looking ready to topple onto the road at any moment. Soon, the driving gets more intense as I wind in between hills, dip steeply into a valley and rise again, then cross a few more bridges. Halfway through the trip, I enter the Salt River Canyon: three slow miles down to the river, winding down the side of the mountain, and three slow miles back up the other side. Soon, the driving becomes even more challenging as I travel up, down, and around the mountains; occasionally there's a straight stretch and a passing lane. Finally, I reach high country, more curves, mostly uphill, until the road levels out about ten miles before my destination.

There are two routes to reach my summer home. I prefer this one for the variety of scenery and the driving challenges, except for the delays and frustrations of getting caught behind huge trucks and recreational vehicles that can't keep up their speed on the steep hills. On my last trip, due to construction, I was stuck behind 15 vehicles, including four trucks, going through the canyon — exasperation!

As I drove this route the other day, it occurred to me that it's a great deal like life. Sometimes, life goes smoothly, like a four-lane highway. Sometimes, we feel like we're in a dark tunnel and suddenly come out of it, only to see more hazards ahead. Life throws curves at us, and obstacles get in our way. We feel like we're on a downward path, then something happens to lift us up.

Proverbs 3:5-6 – Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. (NLT)

Psalm 16:11 – You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever. (NLT)

If we have trusted in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we are not alone as we travel the road of life. If we let Him, He will guide us and give us peace and joy even when there are hazards, delays, or dark tunnels. We can put our trust in Him, knowing that He knows what is best for us.

Prayer: "Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow." (Psalm 25:4 NLT) Keep me focused on You, and guide me as I travel through life. Amen.

In conversation a few days ago with my good friend, Pastor John, I asked him this question, "John, how do you handle all that life throws at you, especially in times of illness?" His response was immediate and heartfelt. "God is always training us for something greater."

My response to him was to research how we can receive this training that he mentioned. Let's think about it for a few moments and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal God's Word to us as found in this passage:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (NIV)

• First of all, we have to read and study our Bible faithfully.
• Secondly, we must listen to what God is saying to us as we read His Word.
• Thirdly, we must act on what God is asking us to do or not to do.
• Fourthly, we must be willing to be corrected and restored, and to live in harmony with God's will for our lives.
• Fifthly, we must be willing to be trained for something greater for His purposes and for His glory.

God's training in righteousness lasts for a lifetime. It can be rough, laborious, and strenuous. We will be challenged to the breaking point as we submit to His use of time and people and circumstances to sharpen us in self-control and patience. Just when we think that we have arrived spiritually, He asks us to love difficult people unconditionally, to accomplish His purposes on this earth.

This course begins the moment when we are saved and ends when we take our last breath. It does not qualify us for service outside the kingdom of God. It does not have a diploma that we can display. But we do get to hear from Him when we graduate, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" (Matthew 25:23a NIV) I hope that you are as excited as I am about being enrolled in this training in righteousness.

Wouldn't all of us who claim to be followers of His Son Jesus want this amazing training in our lives to be complete, to be full and fulfilled so that we can be all that God created us to be, and be thoroughly equipped for every good work? I do!

Prayer: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. We pray that You would use Your Word today to make us complete and to equip us for good work in Your kingdom all day long. O God, we love You and we love Your Word, and we pray for its full effect in our lives. We pray that You would help us to share this Word with others. We want to hide Your Word in our hearts so that we will not sin against You as we are being trained in righteousness. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen!

Proverbs 27:19 – As in water the face is reflected as a face, so a person's heart reflects the person. (NET)

As I was meditating on this Scripture, I began to think that a face seen in a mirror can be changed through plastic surgery. Many people are willing to pay a great deal of money so that their faces no longer show wrinkles, saggy skin, blemishes, sunken eyes, drooping lips, a nose that's too big, and so on. Some people may even want to add dimples, tattooed eyebrows, and who knows what! Plastic surgeons will use their skills to make patients' faces more in line with what the patients consider to be beautiful. Even after extensive surgeries, however, many people are still not satisfied with the results.

Today's verse, however, isn't talking just about physical appearance. Our face, our attitude about life, our viewpoint about living, come from what exists in our heart. Here, our heart is not the muscle that pumps blood; it is what makes our inner self tick: the desires, dreams, aspirations, goals, wants, and wishes that give our life meaning. Sometimes, people frown all day long. They are angry with everything and everybody. They complain about how life isn't fair, exclaiming that they have been cheated by life because they don't have money, good health, a family, love, understanding, or acceptance, among other things. Others may smile outwardly, but in their hearts, they are backstabbers. They secretly wish that other people would never find joy or contentment, because that think, "If I'm not happy, then neither should anyone else be. They don't deserve a better life than mine."

There is hope for heart transformation, however, through the healing power of God's forgiveness. Unlike a plastic surgeon, He doesn't just make an outward transformation. The Lord goes further and implants a new heart.

Ezekiel 36:26 – I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your body and give you a heart of flesh. (NET)

He removes the ugliness of sin and replaces it with the beauty of forgiveness. Our faces no longer reflect the confusion of sin, but now show the beauty of the love that God pours into our hearts through His salvation. Once our hearts have been transformed, let's allow God to change our faces to reflect the image of Jesus Christ!

Prayer: Lord, help us not to evaluate ourselves by what the world views as beauty. Help us to allow You to change our hearts — attitudes, viewpoints, desires, dreams, and wishes — to reflect Your image so that when people look at us, they see You, Jesus. Amen.

In many years of ministry, I have seen people who were truly thankful to God for help and healing. Their lives were changed in a single moment, so they devoted themselves to worshipping and serving God for the rest of their days. I, also, am one of them, because when God heard my cry for help about my alcoholism, He graciously answered my anxious prayer by restoring me physically, mentally, and above all, spiritually. I was made into a new person and decided to follow Jesus for the rest of my life.

The man in Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan was not the only foreigner commended by Jesus. The other good Samaritan returned to give Jesus thanks.

Luke 17:12-18 – As [Jesus] was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed. One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him — and he was a Samaritan. Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" (NIV)

I have seen people who have been restored physically, whose prayers for healing have been answered perfectly, whose worries and anxieties, issues and illnesses have been positively dealt with by God and yet they remain thankless. Instead of returning to Christ and worshipping Him, they take their cure for granted and get on with their lives, focusing on themselves first and ignoring any notion of recognizing what God has mercifully done in them. It's sad to see and very disappointing, but Christ Jesus also experienced this many times throughout His life on earth.

Wherever we are and however we feel today, let's not forget what Christ has done in each of our lives. Let's be thankful that we exist even for another day and make time to be grateful to God for all that He has graciously — and perhaps even miraculously — done for us.

Point to ponder: How has God positively changed my life? How do I show Him my gratitude?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, there are many times that You have helped us throughout our lives. You have listened to our prayers and enabled us to overcome illnesses and issues that have seriously troubled us. May we never take Your compassion and grace for granted. May we also seek to worship and glorify You for the rest of our days. In Your holy name, we pray. Amen.

Luke 1:50-51,53 – And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty. (ESV)

From years of water leakage, the floor of my upstairs ensuite bathroom was rotten under the shower. I removed the ceiling, walls, and floor, and the room became an empty shell with a toilet. I have now insulated the ceiling, replaced the walls, installed a new water-resistant chipboard floor with linoleum, and put in a bath, sink, radiator, extractor fan, and tiles.

Because of the cost, the only way for this job to be done was to do it myself. By God's leading, I have acquired the tools, gifts, experience, and help to be God's hands in this endeavour as a service to God and my wife.

God wants me doing this because I had this confirmed to me in a sign: an unusually large one-sided rainbow. It provoked a memory of a poster from the 1980s that said, "God keeps His promises" — which He does! He has truly given me the ability and tenacity to do it, now that it is done. Jesus was a carpenter, and I sense that I had a little prompting from Him to guide my hand in how to manage the project and to find all that I needed at the right price!

Given that for me this was a God-given chore, I was not surprised to have some opposition, as when my back complained during the first week. I could hardly move without spasms to the small of my back. As an older man, I should have been more careful about when to stop and rest. After seeking prayer from the Bible study group on that Saturday, I was able to get back to work on Monday. Praise God for His healing mercy and encouragement to keep on with the task!

Later, as I filled a rubbish bag with the old materials, I was aware of His prompt. Just like all the crud that I had just put into those rubbish bags, Jesus has removed and continues to remove all the rotten stuff that is not beneficial for future kingdom life. Life is messy, so we need refurbishment!

As we follow Jesus according to His will in obedience, He in turn will come in, clean, and refit. He wants to provide strength for the day, or provide helping hands at the right time as support. We are not alone in the kingdom.

Like Mary's declaration in today's passage, we have to trust that our help comes from God, even when life's circumstances seem overwhelming.

Prayer: Lord, we give You thanks for Your presence in and through us to perform Your purposes, even through trials and the temptation to give in. You are always alongside us in what we do because You first called us. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.

Psalm 23:5 – You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (NIV)

I have always loved coffee, but as my girls have grown to enjoy it too, I have come to love it even more! While growing up, I had a divided home: Dad was a pot-a-day coffee drinker, but my mom loved hot tea in the morning. My sweet grandma, Mary Helen Camp, was the one who whetted my appetite for the delicious brew when I was just a little girl and coffee was a somewhat forbidden adult treat. I remember her having her coffee cup sitting on a saucer so as to catch the overflow as she heaped sugar and cream into it. After she had stirred it just right, with the saucer catching the extra, she would let me drink the sweet concoction right from the saucer, since it had cooled enough for me to drink. It was heavenly, as I remember it! I felt privileged to partake in this treat as we all listened to Arthur Godfrey on the radio. In my childish mind, I determined that when I grew up, I would drink coffee from a cup, and like grandma, a saucer would catch the overflow. With the coming of giant mugs, I don't often drink from a cup with a saucer, but when I do, warm feelings of my sweet grandma come to mind.

As I think of that coffee of my youth, I wonder how much I would have loved my "Joe" if bitterness were the overflow from her cup. My grandma was a divorced woman when divorce was far less accepted than it is now. Because of her divorce, she found herself penniless, unskilled, and uneducated. She had to take jobs that nowadays would be considered menial, but throughout my life growing up, she was always there for my family and me. At best, in the eyes of onlookers, she was a pretty ordinary woman, or at worst, she was known as "that divorcee". She had many reasons to be bitter and to fill her cup with the biting resentment and hatred that betrayal and hurt sometimes bring. But she chose the better, which was love. For me, her cup always overflowed with love. I am so glad that I was there to drink of the overflow, and it was sweet!

Romans 15:13 – May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (NIV)

With what does the cup of your life overflow?

Prayer: Lord, help us to keep our overflow as sweet as possible. In Christ, we pray. Amen.

Genesis 22:2 – Take your son, your only son — yes, Isaac, whom you love so much — and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you. (NLT)

Pete was obeying God, so why was his life falling apart?

The events unfolded slowly at first, then more rapidly. Pete had answered God's call to full-time ministry a number of years before. Now, events with enough explosive power to derail all that were taking place — circumstances that weren't his fault and were also beyond his control. Decisions had been made that would affect the rest of his life. He saw a resignation in his future. He saw other churches not wanting to call him as pastor. He didn't understand why God allowed this.

Depression stalked Pete for more than a year after the ground completely disappeared from beneath him. Not until he gave up his right to understand was he able finally to move forward into other areas that God opened for him.

Pete was forced to do what Abraham had to do. God had promised Abraham a son through whom millions of descendants would come. Now, God asked him to sacrifice that same son. How in the world would the descendants come if the son were dead? But he didn't question God.

Hebrews 11:19a – Abraham reasoned that if Isaac died, God was able to bring him back to life again. (NLT)

God promises to love us unconditionally, to use us in His service, to gift us with talents and special abilities, and to work all things together for our good, but He never promises that we'll understand all the ways that He'll work to accomplish that. Pete didn't, Abraham didn't, I haven't, and millions of others haven't either.

A crucial element of following and serving God is giving up the right to understand His ways. By faith, we must believe that He works to form us more each day into His Son's image. By faith, we must trust that what comes out on the other side will be spiritually healthier than what's on this side. If we could always understand God, we'd be like God — but we're not.

Following God is a journey of faith that includes rarely understanding what He's doing or why. When we give up this right, it frees Him to do things in and through us that He would have to accomplish in other ways.

Let God be God in your life, whether you understand Him or not.

Prayer: Father, give us the faith to trust You, regardless of how things appear. Amen.

Twenty-four years ago, the area on which our home was built was a farmer's field. Once the subdivision was established, trees were planted along the boulevard in front of or to the side of the homes. As I looked out the kitchen window this morning, I saw that the tree right across from us has flourished and provides a barrier of privacy for us, as well as shade. The tree on the next property is not as full and is noticeably smaller in size. I have no idea why some trees in the neighbourhood have flourished, while others have struggled, or in some cases, died, and all that remains is a cut-off stump. They were all planted around the same time and in soil that would have had similar nutrients. Maybe people watered some more when they were first planted to get them established.

Psalm 92:12-14 – The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green. (NIV)

Both palm trees and cedar trees grow tall and strong and have long lives. Cedar trees can reach a height of 120 feet or more, and they symbolize strength and greatness. In the Middle East, palm trees produce dates, and they are stately and beautiful, symbolizing triumph and victory. They have extensive fibrous roots reaching in all directions, so they can flourish even in the desert.

Unlike the trees, we are not held to one location. In fact, in our Lord's great commission, He instructed us to "go and make disciples of all nations". In order to flourish as we make disciples, like the trees, we need to be well rooted in our relationship with the Lord.

Colossians 2:6-7 – So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (NIV)

These deep roots are vital to our ability to share the Word of God with others, and they allow us the confidence and ability to do the work that Jesus has commissioned us to do.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank You for Your Word, for the more that we delve into it, the more riches that we discover. Jesus, we thank You that You are alive in us. Help us to continue to flourish and to spread Your love to a lost and hurting world. In Your name, we pray. Amen.

Philippians 4:19 – And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

Deuteronomy 31:8 – The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. (NIV)

Over four decades ago, when I stood at the altar before the minister who performed the marriage ceremony between me and my husband, I made a promise of faithfulness to him "till death do us part". Quoting Matthew 19:6b (KJV), the minister announced, "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." That day, I promised myself that I would adhere to those words. Over forty years later, I am still here, and I kept my promise. I could have broken that promise many times over, but I chose to keep it. Why? Because I took that promise seriously.

Throughout my life, I have made several promises to various people. I have followed through with some, but soon after making others, I have forgotten about them. To this day, I can vividly recall with regret some that I didn't keep — not because I didn't want to or because they were unimportant — I just didn't! But every promise is important. A promise can be a matter of life or death to someone.

When I was a child, I made another promise — it was my first, simple, powerful promise: I promised Jesus that I would love Him — and I do! Every time I hear the hymn, "O Jesus, I have promised", it fills me with joy. John Ernest Bode (1816-1874) wrote the words, and the tune which I know is by Arthur Henry Mann (1850-1929). The words and the music are beautiful.

When I made that promise, I was a child. I am now decades older, and I intend to follow it through to the end. Although all promises are important, such a promise has eternal consequences. When we promise to do something for Jesus, we must follow through with it.

Our promises to Jesus are made in response to God the Father Who has made many promises to us: to strengthen us, to give us rest, to care for our needs, to answer our prayers. And He gave us Jesus, His Son, Who died on the cross to give us forgiveness for our sins.

Isaiah 41:13 – For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. (NIV)

God's promises to us are written throughout the Bible. God has made numerous promises to us, and He keeps all of them. He never forgets His promises to you and me — He follows through with every one of them.

Do you believe all of God's promises to you? Do you keep all your promises to Him?

Prayer: Our heavenly Father, thank You for all Your promises to us, and for giving us Jesus. Help us to keep our promises to You. Amen!

My Irish Setter decided that eating bees was a good thing to do. As we had a swarm of them around our porch, she set to her task with a vengeance. An hour later, her hugely swollen face revealed the evidence of her folly.

Benadryl brought down the swelling, but this was not the end of the story. Ruby began to itch where she had been stung. This, in turn set her to scratching and ripping with her nails at an area on her lower jaw. The more that she scratched and tore, the worse that the situation became, until she had two open wounds, almost an inch long and several tissue layers deep. It took over a month of applying antibiotic cream daily, plus wearing a cone on her head to prevent further scratching, before these self-inflicted wounds healed.

This incident brought to mind how I, too, can rip and tear at myself mentally and emotionally when life stings me by my own mistakes. I say something that I wish I hadn't. I inadvertently drop things. I forget an important occasion. A wrong decision leads to unwanted consequences. My temper frays and flares. However, being angry, impatient, humiliated, fed up with myself, and continually ripping and scratching at myself mentally over these issues do not help my situation, but rather exacerbate it, making it much worse. All these things probably happen to all of us on a regular basis, as we are all human and destined to sin and error.

On the other hand, words of wisdom from the Scriptures, when applied not only to others, but also to ourselves, act as soothing, healing balm to the stings of life that our actions inflict upon us from time to time.

Ephesians 4:2 – Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (NIV)

Proverbs 15:1 – A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. (NIV)

Colossians 3:12-13 – Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (NIV)

Learning to be gentle, forgiving, kind, patient, and compassionate with ourselves is in fact an act of humility, as it reminds us of our own brokenness and imperfection and our need of a Saviour Who loves us and forgives all of our inadvertent or intentional folly if we just ask.

Thus, let us put aside the sting and itch of negative self-talk and mental abuse when we feel that we have failed, and instead, apply today's words of Scripture to ourselves. By so doing, self-anger, loathing, impatience, and the like will be replaced by the healing touch of God's love, patience, kindness, and forgiveness. Pray with me:

Prayer: Lord God, help me to learn to be patient, kind, forgiving, and gentle toward myself when I feel that I have failed or been imperfect. In Christ's name, I ask, Amen.