Everyone enjoys a good vacation. It’s nice to get away sometimes. But are you living a life where all you can think about is your next vacation, or weekend, or day off? God created us to work and then take a Sabbath - a day of rest - but many people are constantly thinking about their next extended rest.

What if you lived a life of such powerful, dynamic ministry, that after enjoying a vacation, you can’t wait to get back to work? What if you find joy in your job beyond what you can imagine right now? We aren’t meant to enjoy only Saturdays and Sundays, or two weeks off every summer. God made you for more than that. He wants you to make the most of every day, right where you are, where He has planted you. “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Notice “in the Lord,” not in the circumstances.

In Colossians 3:23, the Bible says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.” So this week, if you are at work, or school, or picking up around the house—do the tasks before you as to the Lord. Look for opportunities to minister right where you are, right where God has you. Thank God for the privilege of working hard for His glory. Your joyful attitude at work and at play will help you reach your world more effectively also.                   

This is Luis Palau.

Does something have you feeling down? Perhaps there’s an issue with a family member or friend, or perhaps your job is overwhelming. When the inevitable difficulties come, it can be easy to become negative, or complain. Life can be hard, but I assure you, God wants more for you and your life than negativity and complaining. Even when times are hard, your joy comes from the Lord, who never changes.

St. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:14: “Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Paul also says, “I have learned to be content.”

Can you imagine the positive impact Christ-followers could have, if we deliberately chose to practice joy—not complaining—in situations in our lives? Set a goal this week, a goal to go one day without complaining at all.  Once you make it a whole day, keep adding to it. God will give you what you need to persevere. And you will be amazed how He’ll use your new positive attitude to reach your world in a winsome way.

This is Luis Palau.

You know, God’s Word has a wonderful promise. It says in Ecclesiastes, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart.”

When we view our lives through our limited human perspective, we can fall into the trap of questioning God and doubting His promises. We don’t understand why things don’t happen in our time frame, or within our parameters. But when we look through God’s eternal perspective, the problems we face in our daily lives become trivial. And, the tasks God has laid out for us—such as proclaiming His Good News—become even more important. Proclaiming Jesus our Lord is one of those “beautiful things” God has made.

This week, ask God to reveal to you whom He wants you to talk to. Take on His eternal perspective, and spend your time doing things to help share the Good News. I urge you to focus your passions this week on these things—which have eternal ramifications—instead of wasting time fretting about trivial problems. There is nothing more effective in a person’s life than the life-changing Good News found in the Gospel.

This is Luis Palau.

When we’re children, one of the things that motivate us is the desire to please our parents. We draw pictures and show off new skills to get a smile or an expression of approval. We do this because they love us and that love compels us to make them proud. It’s a powerful motivator.

Likewise, once we grasp the scope of God’s love for us, we are compelled to serve Him. Jesus’ death and resurrection granted us the ability to have a personal relationship with Him. And, as 2 Corinthians 5 says, “we make it our goal to please him.”

So what pleases God? When people speak well of His Son. We are called to proclaim His Good News and demonstrate His love to those around us. This week, spend some time in the Word and recall the immense depth of God’s love for you. Meditate on the words of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Then, go share that news with someone who needs to hear it. Let that love motivate you to reach your world for Jesus Christ.

This is Andrew Palau.

I’ve been asked an important question. That question is: “Can Jesus’ new commandment—to love as He loved—make any real difference in our lives today?” The answer is a resounding yes!

Think of the energy exerted by the crowd at a sold-out concert or an exciting sporting event. Think of the even greater amount of energy exerted by someone who serves God and others faithfully year after year, decade after decade.

When you think how much God loves us, how much energy are you willing to exert loving other people? How intimate are you willing to be? How much are you willing to sacrifice?

More specifically, who are you choosing to love? Does anyone come to mind? Who is he? Who is she? Say their name in your mind. Say, “Yes, Lord, I’m choosing to love him or her.” It may mean getting to know them better. It may mean sacrificing something. Who are you choosing to love? Perhaps you’re thinking of someone whose health is poor or who serves others quietly without fanfare. Maybe it’s a family member or someone you have a hard time getting along with.

Never forget Jesus’ words: “Just as I have loved you, you should love each other” [John 13:34 NLT]. That is, the people in our world that we’re trying to reach for Christ.

This is Luis Palau.

As you read the New Testament letters of the apostle Paul, you soon discover he couldn’t stop writing about the amazing, intimate, sacrificial love of God the Father and Jesus His Son. He never stopped marveling that God demonstrated the full extent of His love by giving His Son, who then gave His life for us. In turn, Paul shined the light of Jesus’ love through the prism of his classic words in 1 Corinthians 13—words which are often read at weddings.

It’s to this high standard of love—Jesus’ own love—that the aged apostle Paul appeals when he wrote to his dear friend Philemon. That short letter is a majestic example of persuasive writing. In it, Paul urges Philemon to spare the life of his runaway slave, Onesimus, and instead embrace him as a new brother in Jesus Christ.

So, did Jesus’ new commandment—to love as He loved—make any significant, observable, and ultimately meaningful difference in the lives of Paul, other apostles, and the early Church? To say the least, we can give a loud, resounding yes!

And in our lives? Again, yes! In fact, that kind of love, energized by the Holy Spirit within us, is the secret for reaching our world today.

This is Luis Palau.

My attention often is drawn back to the amazing, intimate, sacrificial love that God the Father and Jesus demonstrated to us and to the rest of the world. The apostle John experienced this, too. In 1 John chapter 4, John writes: “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love” [4:7-8 NLT].

But John can’t stop, so he keeps writing: “God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” [4:9-10].

Still, John can’t stop, so he adds: “Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us” [4:11-12].

John continues to write about this amazing love for three more paragraphs in First John chapter 4 alone, and in dozens of other passages throughout his writings. What love, indeed! It’s what motivates us to keep reaching our world today.

This is Luis Palau.

During His last Passover meal with His disciples, Jesus says these remarkable words: “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” [John 13:35 NLT].

Do we have any evidence, however, that the disciples took this to heart? Thankfully, the answer is a resounding “yes!”

First, we find similar injunctions in the writings of the apostles Peter, James, John and Paul. In fact, John and Paul couldn’t stop talking about it. More importantly, each of the apostles, to his dying day, was renowned for his intimate walk with God, his passion for unity within the Church, and his sacrificial love. To a man, they were willing to die a martyr’s death, following the example of their Lord and Savior. They took the Gospel of Jesus Christ west from Antioch to Spain and east from Jerusalem to India.

What compelled them to give the rest of their lives, year after year, decade after decade, in the Lord’s service? Our attention is drawn back to the amazing, intimate, sacrificial love that God the Father and Jesus demonstrated to us and to the rest of the world. In 1 John 3:1 we read, “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are.” What love, indeed! It’s what motivates us to keep reaching our world for Christ today.           

This is Luis Palau.

We all want to know who we are. When we are young we try to “find ourselves.” Many of us have taken personality tests and other assessments.My wife Wendy and I have three children, all in different stages of life and yet all similarly trying to figure out who they are.

I remember those days – giving in to peer pressure, wanting to look or act a certain way to be accepted by others.

Sometimes adults stress just as much as teenagers about what others think of them. It motivates so much of what we do, want, buy, say. God wants you to stop thinking so much about what others think of you and instead commit to learning what He thinks of you. Listen to these truths from the Bible:  You were created in His image. You are more valuable than many sparrows. You have sinned, but sin doesn’t have the last word, grace does. In God’s eyes, you are a new creation. You are completely free from sin and there is no condemnation for you. You are utterly secure in Christ and He will never leave you or forsake you. Through Jesus, you are victorious and have a glorious future. You are a citizen of heaven and an ambassador for Jesus. 

There are many passages on this topic. Seek your true identity every day in the Word of God – not in the opinion of others.

This is Andrew Palau.

Have you ever heard the saying, “Monkey see, monkey do”? As it turns out, this saying is not just true about monkeys—but children as well. In a book called It’s Better to Build Boys than Mend Men by Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A, a sentence stood out to me. Cathy wrote, “Children will never believe in the covenant of marriage unless they see you living it with their own eyes.” And you know, I think this is true for a lot of things—certainly marriage, but other things as well.

As a father, I wanted my boys to respect the covenant of marriage, so it was important for Pat and me to love and respect each other in a biblical way. I wanted the boys to keep their promises and hold true to their word, so I tried very hard to keep mine. I wanted them to evangelize and have a passion for spreading the Good News—so I tried to include them when I was doing so.

Of course, no parent is perfect, and I had my moments. God doesn’t call us to be perfect. Rather, God says in the book of John, “Whoever abides in me and I in him will bear much fruit.” By abiding in God’s Word and keeping close to Him in our hearts, our actions will mirror His values. And our children will learn from our example.                    

This is Luis Palau.