Proverbs 28:13 - Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

What causes people to hide their sins from those around them? It could be because of a fear of punishment or judgement. It could be because of a desire to keep doing what is wrong, and not wanting to be told to stop. It could be because of the collateral damage that you know others would experience if your hidden sins were brought to life.  Whatever the reason, sin is ugly, and we tend to want to hide it away as if it were an unsightly blemish on our face.

Now, a blemish is skin deep, and therefore its effects on you if people see it are purely surface level. So, if we try to hide things that are ugly on the surface, how much more will we want to hide the ugliness of our sin inside of us? The answer is exponentially more. A better analogy for hidden sin in our lives would be to think of it as a deep, infected wound somewhere on your body. You may cover it up best you can, but if you don’t see a doctor, that wound could become deadly.

If we conceal our wrongdoings, they will destroy us. The devastation that we experience from sin becomes far more damaging to us and those in our lives if it goes unaddressed. The solution is that we have to be willing to confess our sins to God and to others. Many people have refused to do this, hiding sin away in their hearts, doing things that they ought not to do, but because no one knows about it, the life of that person begins to implode from the inside out. At that point, it’s only a matter of time before hidden sin makes itself known publicly, and usually in horrific ways.

Confession is scary because we fear what others may say or do when they find out about our sins. This is understandable because historically, people have responded to sin with wrath rather than mercy. Rather than seeking to heal the wound, some have been so disgusted by what they see that instead of helping, they just talk about how bad the wound is and how horrible the person is for allowing it to happen. God is merciful towards sinners who confess, and we should do the same.

Now, it’s important to note that the giving of mercy does not diminish the effect or consequence of the sin that has been brought to light. If anything, this verse tells us the opposite. If you are in hidden sin then you must confess it to have life, but confession is only the first step in the process. You also need to forsake the sin in your life, which is just another word for repentance. A disease can’t get better just by talking about it. You must make an effort to eliminate it or you run the risk of losing your life because of it. As John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”

If you are hiding sin in your life, please confess it to the Lord and others and then, forsake it. Confession may cause more difficulty initially, especially if your hidden sins have been against others, but trust that the Lord will work even in that to restore, heal and strengthen those affected by those sins in ways that you may not be able to fathom.

Isaiah 26:3-4 - You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.

What do you think it would be like to have perfect peace? It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it? Just having peace at all is difficult, but perfect peace seems like wishful thinking, or even an impossibility. We can long for peace in just one area of our lives, like our relationships, but perfect peace, because it is perfect, would need to reach to every area in our lives.

How then can we have this perfect peace? First, we have to understand that perfect peace comes from God alone. We can find peace in many things, but a perfect peace can only be found in a perfect source. So, we find perfect peace in the Lord, but what we see in these verses is that God is able to keep us there. Perhaps the reason peace is so hard to come by is because we are trying to find it in the wrong places, and once we think we’ve found it, it’s up to us to stay there.

Certainly, we have a part to play in having peace, but the foundation of perfect peace and the longevity of it, is found in God. So what do we do in all of this? Our responsibility is to have our minds focused on the Lord. We think of him, we remember him, we meditate on him. When we hear that this is the way to peace, we may think of it as an oversimplification. And yet, there is sweetness and hope in the simplicity of it. The chaos in our world is complex, but the solution is not, even though we may think that it is.

At the heart of having peace is trust. We lack peace when life is not stable, and life is generally not stable when there are things in it that can’t be trusted. For instance, you won’t have much peace driving a car when you can hear the engine making noises an engine isn’t supposed to make. You aren’t going to have peace in relationships if you can’t trust the people in your life to be honest with you. You aren’t going to have peace at work if your employer talks about downsizing, and they aren’t sure who they will have to let go.

However, the Lord is totally trustworthy in all that he has said, all that he has done, and all the he will do. So if we trust in him, the sovereign God who reigns over all things, who isn’t surprised by anything that happens, then doesn’t it stand to reason that if we trust him in his sovereignty that peace will not be far off. In fact, if we trust in a perfect God, and we think on his perfections, then the idea of perfect peace becomes more of a reality.

There is no area of your life that God cannot bring peace to. Today, the chaos of this world and the confusion in your own heart may make you long for peace. Trust in the Lord today and forever. He is the everlasting rock. He is unshakable, immovable and faithful. Though the earth gives way beneath you, the Lord will remain. If you want perfect peace, cast yourself onto the everlasting rock, find your hope in him, and know that in his strength, you can find peace and rest for your soul.

Psalm 77:13-14 - Your way, O God, is holy. What god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; you have made known your might among the peoples.

It is good for us to reflect on who God is, especially since there are so many views in the world regarding him. If we want to know God, we have to see how he has chosen to reveal himself in his word. If we don’t look for him there, we may create all kinds of versions of him, worshiping idols in our hearts and minds rather than the true God. 

Who then is God according to these verses? For one thing, we see that his way is holy. Now, the only way that his “way” could be holy is if he is holy himself. To be holy is to be set apart, meaning that God is totally unique. There is nothing in heaven or on earth that is like him, at least not completely. He has attributes that are his alone, and no one else can claim them. 

His holiness also speaks to his purity and righteousness, being completely free from sin or wickedness. He is the holy God, and in everything he does he reveals this holiness. So then, when we see God in this perfect, set apart, unique view, we are able to look at any other god that has ever been imagined and say, “Our God is greater”.

Why is our God greater? Well, we already read about his holiness, but the psalmist doesn’t stop there. This great God works wonders. From creation to the plagues of Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea and the pillars of fire and smoke, the crumbling of the Jericho walls and the destruction of Sodom and Gamorrah. These are just a small taste of the wonders that God has done throughout history, not including what we read about in the New Testament with regard to blind people seeing, lame people walking, dead people coming alive, tongues of fire, and so on. 

When these wonders were done, along with many others, they caused people to see God and God’s people differently. In all of these things God shows the world how mighty he is in all his ways. Our God is great because he is holy, mighty, and wonderful in all he does. He is not fickle or weak like the gods of other mythologies. He is not limited as we often imagine him to be in our own hearts and minds. There is no one like him, and we would do well to see him as such.

Because of his holiness and might and wonders, our response to him should be one of reverence, awe and affection. If we recognize that he is holy, then we too should desire to be holy. If we see that he is mighty, then we can look to him as our strength in times of trouble. If we see that he is a wonder working God, we can trust that nothing is impossible for him and hope in the day when we will see his wonders first hand for an eternity.

Do you see God in this way, or have you made him into a god of your own creation? Hopefully, you have been given a taste of who he is through these verses and you would want to know this God more. Today, see him as he is. Put away the false views of him in your heart, and let go of the idols that continually show themselves to be inadequate. Find your hope and strength today in the holiness and wonder working might of the one true and living God.

John 3:16-17 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Here we have one of the most familiar verses in all of scripture. Verse 16 has taken the world by storm, and while many are familiar with the reference, it’s fair to say that not as many people know what the verse is, or what it means. Perhaps it has become so appreciated because it talks about God’s love for us. After all, who doesn’t want to be loved?

It is important to then ask, what kind of love has God extended towards us? The answer is that it is a very merciful and gracious love, and one that is mostly unappreciated. Regardless, God loves the world. He cares for us and has affection for us. We are his creation after all, born in his image, made to be in relationship with our creator.

Because he knows us and sees the true falleness within us and the world, his love causes him to do something about it. What is God’s loving response to our sinfulness? He sends his only Son, Jesus, to take our sin upon himself and die in our place. If you are a parent, imagine that you have a friend who is a horrible person. One day you and your son or daughter are walking with this friend, who you know is a terrible person but you are trying to love them well, and they step into the street to cross the road. You see a car coming and the driver of the car is not paying attention at all. Your friend is too far ahead for you to do anything about it, but your son or daughter is close enough to try to push your friend out of the way.

Would you be willing to send your child into harm’s way, knowing they will probably get struck by the car and killed in order to save your friend’s life? Talk about a difficult question to answer! This is what God has done for us, and that kind of love is a profound love that is beyond our human comprehension. You see, God didn’t send Jesus into the world to condemn horrible people, but to save them. Whether God condemns any of us or not depends on how we respond to this great act of love that he has shown the world through Jesus.

If you believe in the Son, Jesus, and what he has done for you, then God has promised eternal life. What is so wonderful about this eternal life? This loving God will be with us forever, and we will be with him. Sweet relationship will be ours for an eternity. However, if we reject the Son, then we stand condemned. We have chosen to ignore his love for us in this life, which means that we will spend an eternity away from his love after we die.

There may be no greater thing you can think about today than God’s great love for you and how he displayed that love through Jesus. If you believe it, rejoice in the eternal relationship you now have with your God. There is no greater hope than this. God has given us a way out of condemnation for our sin, and we truly would be blind fools to ignore or reject such a merciful and gracious love.

Philippians 2:3 - Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

One of the most common flaws in humanity is our natural tendency to think about ourselves before we think of others. The root of pride is one that is hard to dig out and eliminate because it spreads throughout so many areas of our lives. We tend to compare ourselves to others and secretly hope that we come out on top. Let’s face it, humanity has a pride problem.

So when people are brought together into the church by the grace of Christ, suddenly they have to learn how to not see one another as lesser or better than the other. That tendency to look out for number one doesn’t really work all that well in Christian community, or any community for that matter.

Paul’s admonition here is to avoid two things when it comes to pride, namely, selfish ambition and conceit. Ambition is a good thing because it means you have goals and aspirations. Having a drive towards those goals is healthy and right. However, if those goals only matter because of what you get out of them, then you will do anything in order to reach them, even if it means harming others on your way there.

This selfishness destroys community because it comes from a place of conceit, or arrogance. How will you help your brother and sister in Christ if you are so focused on what you want that you can’t see their needs? How can you love others when at the end of the day you just want people to love you? Selfishness makes you blind to the world around you, and this is simply incompatible with how the church is meant to operate.

However, if we pursue humility, which is seeing yourself as no greater or lesser than anyone else, then Christian community can thrive. All the comparison goes out the window. All the need to see one person rise above the rest becomes unimportant. What matters most in a humble community is that everyone is healthy in Christ, growing in the gospel and satisfied in pursuing Christ with the individual giftings and purposes that God has given each person.

Counting others as more significant than yourself is not making them more valuable than you are. Really what it does is places everyone on a level playing field, because if everyone is trying to do this, then everyone will be significant in the life and mission of the church. No matter the background, the financial position, the career or the cultural importance of a person, God makes all people in the church equal in Christ.

Pride is the enemy of a loving community. Today, pray that God would reveal areas where you may be thinking or behaving in selfish ways towards others. Ask the Lord to help you fight that pride and replace it with humility. You don’t have to think less of yourself to accomplish this, you only need to think of yourself less. Be ambitious, but let the drive of that ambition be the good of others. You can still look after yourself, but don’t let that be all you do today.

Matthew 11:28-30 - Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

These words of Jesus are wonderful and extremely comforting. We all have experienced days where we are worn down to a state of weariness, working so hard that we find ourselves longing for real rest. Unfortunately, it can be hard for us to truly find rest, because when we finally can rest, we use that time to think about other things. In other words, because this world is so busy and full of things to do, we can’t seem to ever turn off.

This creates a weariness that is hard to know what to do with. There are so many people who find themselves experiencing this kind of heaviness, but they just don’t know what to do about it. So they just soldier on, getting more and more tired everyday, trying to find bits of rest here and there, but never really feeling truly rested.

This is why what Jesus says here is so valuable to us. He invites us to come to him, and when we do, he promises rest. Now, what is really interesting is that he tells us to take a yoke upon ourselves, which seems to be the opposite of rest. Oxen carry yokes on themselves when they are doing labor, so how can Jesus give us rest when we are wearing a yoke on our shoulders?

Jesus gives us the answer by saying that it is his yoke that we carry, meaning that he carries it with us. As we walk with him under this yoke, we are bound to him, walking where he walks, going the speed he goes, looking the direction that he looks. And so we learn from him as we are yoked with him, and we start to understand how we are to live in light of how he sees things.

But that’s not all, he then tells us what kind of person he is. He is gentle, meaning that while we carry this yoke with him, there will be kindness and grace there. Not only that, but he tells us that he is lowly in heart, which simply means that Jesus is accessible to us. He came from on high to live in this lowly world, with a full heart towards us lowly people. It is in this place, being close to this gentle and humble savior that we find the rest we so desperately need.

You see, when we are weary, it is a soul problem, meaning it is a whole person problem. Jesus is the only person who can renew and restore the whole person from spirit to flesh. We may look at the yoke and say, “I don’t think I can carry any more Jesus”, but he reassures us that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. Only the god-man Jesus Christ could say such a thing, and praise the Lord, he means it.

Today, you know doubt will find yourself tired and weary at some point. Maybe you will have a long day at work, a draining day at home with kids, or maybe you are emotionally exhausted. In all cases, remember that you are not doing these things alone, but that even in the midst of the work, you can have rest in knowing that Jesus is walking with you. You won’t find rest away from him, so hear his invitation, take his yoke, learn from him, and find true rest.

Proverbs 6:22-23 - When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

In this proverb, the writer is telling his son how important it is to remember what he and his mother have taught him. It is in this that we see just how important it is for parents to instruct their children in what is good, especially in the words and ways of the Lord. It can be hard to teach your children these things, but the benefits for your children will be invaluable.

For instance, the writer tells his son that these truths that have been passed down to him will lead him when he walks. One of the most challenging things for some young men and women is leaving home and the responsibility that comes with that. If their parents have not instructed them in how to take care of themselves, then they will have no idea what to do. The son in this proverb isn’t clueless like this though, as his parents have taught him what to do. So when it’s his time to find the right path, he looks to what he has learned and moves forward.

The benefits don’t stop there, though. The good teaching that the son has learned will also allow him to sleep peacefully at night. How is this the case? Well, if you feel prepared for the path ahead, you will probably feel prepared for the times when you need to lay your head down and rest as well. Since you can’t defend yourself in your sleep, you need to have an idea of how to sleep safely and be as protected as possible.

Then when the son wakes up in the morning, the words of wisdom from his parents talk to him, telling him how to live well that day. What we see here is an argument for parents being as involved as possible in raising their children in what is good. What is good ranges from the things of God to teaching your children what to do in practical matters.

If a father passes along a good command from the Lord to his child, then it goes with them like a lamp, lighting up areas of darkness. This lamp not only protects, but it shines light on the world, opening the son’s eyes to what is really out there. Now, the son may find himself tempted by what he sees in the world, but his parents’ words help him there as well. He may hear the reproof and correction of his father in his head, disciplining and training him even when he is living far from his parents’ immediate instruction.

If you are a parent, don’t miss your opportunity today to teach your children the way of life. It is no small thing that Christian parents have been called to. It is hard work, but think back on what you’ve seen today and recognize that the benefits your children would receive from knowing God and his word through your instruction, far outweigh the difficulty in teaching these things. Try keeping it simple, meaning that if all you do is expose your children to God and his word, that is better than nothing at all. Teach these things to your children, and don’t forget that you too will benefit greatly from the true, good and lovely word of God that you have learned.

Ephesians 4:26 - Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,

When you think about anger, do you tend to see it as a negative emotion rather than a positive one? It would be no surprise if you did, because for the most part, the anger that we experience day to day tends to do more harm than good. How then can we agree with Paul when he writes here that we should “be angry”?

First, think about what typically makes people angry. It could be bitterness, frustration, lack of control, conflict, being treated unfairly, and so on. Anger that is birthed out of these things tends to do the most harm to others because it can carry with it the need for retaliation. In other words, when things don’t go our way or we are treated poorly, our way of getting back at that pain is to inflict some pain of our own.

It is this type of anger that causes us to look at this verse and wonder how on earth Paul could write such a thing. However, what we must realize is that being angry is not always a bad thing. For instance, it is right to be angry at injustice. It is right to be angry when a wife suffers abuse at the hands of her husband. It is right to be angry at those who distort the truth, especially those who twist the gospel, leading many people away from the true God. This type of anger is right and justified, but even this anger does not permit us to retaliate with evil.

Anger should not be a long lasting emotion, but rather a brief moment that prompts you to do something about whatever made you angry in the first place, and to do it in a way that honors God. Paul tells us that we must not let the sun go down on our anger, which means that once you’ve felt that righteous form of anger, don’t carry it with you into the night or into the next day. If you do, you will find that the righteous anger that you were meant to feel for a moment, begins to morph into an unrighteous anger very quickly.

When you think about areas of your life in which you struggle, is anger one of those areas? What causes anger to burn inside of you and what do you typically do with it? Would you say that the anger you experience in yourself leans more towards the righteous or the unrighteous side of anger? If the negative version of anger is a struggle for you, take that to the Lord and ask others to help you. Unfortunately, this kind of anger can do more damage than we realize at times.

Be angry at what God is angry about. Be angry at sin. Be angry at the devil. Be angry at lies. Be angry at injustice. Don’t let the anger drive you or cause you to allow bitterness in your heart. Rather, experience it, then look forward to what must be done, believing that God gave you the ability to be angry for a reason. Just as Jesus was angry from time to time, but still good and righteous and without sin, we too can follow his footsteps, looking to him for our example on how to experience anger, but do it in a way that pleases God.

Romans 15:1-2 - We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.

The easiest thing to do when it comes to how we view ourselves and others is to think more of ourselves than we do them. When you put a bunch of people together in a community, you end up with all kinds of people with different personalities and different proclivities. Some may see some things as important and others may feel like we shouldn’t be concerned about those things very much at all.

In Christ, we even mature at different rates and over various periods of time. Because of this, there will be some that hold a strong view on a topic or teaching from scripture and others may not know why people feel so strongly about it at all. As you can tell, and possibly experienced, getting Christians to see each other with love and charity in these scenarios can be very tricky, but it’s certainly worth the effort.

Whether you are one of the strong or weak ones that Paul mentions in these verses, the principles remain the same. First, we are to bear with one another. It can be hard to put up with someone who just doesn’t seem to get it, but if we stick by them and help them, then that will be far more fruitful than if we just cast off those who grow too slowly in our eyes.

This leads to the second principle, and that is that our goal is not to please ourselves, but to please our fellow brother or sister in Christ. We think of others as more important than ourselves, seeking to help others rather than being pleased ourselves. Now, this can be extremely challenging, especially with someone who just doesn’t seem to get it like you do. But instead of doing what you do for your own good, you should do it for the good of others.

This leads to the third principle, which is that we please them for their good and to build them up. The mature don’t please the weak by doing whatever the weak person wants, but by helping them in ways that build them up and produce good. If the “strong” always looks down upon the “weak” then what good is that? We should understand that all of us are strong in some areas and weak in others, and this shows us how important these principles really are.

When you interact with other brothers and sisters you will have differences of opinion on all kinds of matters, and you will think at times that you must be the strong one in the scenario. Whether that’s true or not, it’s better that you walk in humility rather than pride, and it’s better to build others up for their good, than it is to focus on yourself at the expense of others.

Today, pray that God would reveal where you may be strong, and then take that strength and bless others with it. Also pray that he would show where you are weak, and then humbly listen and think about what more mature brothers and sisters in Christ might say about these things. We all have much to learn, and we cannot do it alone. Thank God for the charity and love that can exist with the church.

Psalm 16:11 - You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Of all the things that people search for in this life, it would seem that this verse covers the top three. Everyone wants to know what direction they should go to have the best life they can have. Everyone wants to find joy and keep it. Everyone wants to experience more pleasure. You would be hard pressed to find a person who didn’t care about finding these three things, and because everyone wants these things, we strive after them through any means we can find.

Unfortunately, we tend to get more confused and lost than find any real answers, and this causes more problems down the road. This will inevitably happen when we look for these three things in what is temporary. You may think you have found the right direction in your life through some self-help book, and feel life from it for a time, but then you discover that what you’ve learned in that book doesn’t hold true when life gets really hard. You may find joy in family, but what happens when conflict comes that rips the family apart, or what happens to that joy if the family member who gives you that joy passes away?

It goes without saying that the pleasure we experience in this life is equally fleeting. You may feel pleasure when watching a movie or reading a good book. You may have pleasure when eating ice cream or taking a warm shower. We experience pleasure in all kinds of ways, and it’s good that we do because God created us to be able to have pleasure. He created us to have life, to have joy and to have pleasure, but when we look for these three things in the temporary world alone, we will ultimately be let down and disappointed.

If nothing lasts forever in this life, then the only way to find these three things is by looking outside of what is temporary. What we see in this psalm is that God is the answer. If you want to know what direction you should go so that you would have life, then look to God. If you want fullness of joy rather than partial joy, look to God. If you want pleasure forever, rather than pleasure that is fleeting, you will only find it in God.

There is something very important that we see in this psalm about these three things, and that is that there is a fulness to them. The path God leads you to is the path to life. The joy that God gives is a full joy. The pleasures God provides for us are eternal. This is important to see because even though God may bring us life and joy and pleasure through the things of this world, we know that it is not the things in and of themselves that provide those things in richness, but only God who can do that.

If you want these three things today, you must go to the Lord. He will lead you on the path of righteousness which leads to life. He will give you a joy that is beyond understanding and that will exist in you even in the most difficult circumstances, and in His greatness you will find a pleasure that goes beyond what this world can give. Hope in him for these things today, and you will find them. Seek him first, and all these things will be given to you.