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Written by Dallas Willard (1935-2013), an American philosopher, speaker  and writer on spiritual formation. This is an excerpt from his book “The Scandal of the Kingdom.”

Children excel at persistence and humility. When children fall down, they get up and try again. They learn to talk by steadily babbling. As little children grow, they possess an unlimited ability to humbly persist in learning things and never quitting…The humility of little children shows in how they don’t have to think about “saving face.” “Saving face” is a façade-saving device. Grownups are not saving face, but saving the façade they have created to manage how they appear to those around them. A little child doesn’t yet have a façade to save. This kind of honesty—tearing away all the pretenses and just being who we are—is what enables us to have a tender heart that is honest and vulnerable…If we are to be humble like a child and be great in the kingdom of the heavens, we must turn from the normal human attitude that says we are competent and quite capable of managing our lives on our own…When we understand our place in the rule of God, we naturally humble ourselves under his mighty hand and depend on him to care for us.          

And [Jesus] said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. [Matthew 18:3-4]

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Written by Charles Gallaudet Trumbull (1872-1941), an American evangelical writer and journalist.  This is an excerpt from the book “Messages for the Morning Watch.”

In the original creation of light, God the creator divided light from darkness…Now, when God commits specific light-giving duties to certain of His creations, He makes it a definite part of their duty to divide the light from the darkness. So it is in the spiritual world. God has once for all divided light from darkness: they can have nothing to do with each other. God also entrusts His children, as co-workers with Himself, the responsibility and privilege of dividing light from darkness. We must lead others from darkness to Christ, and insist, for ourselves, a rigidly and relentlessly sharp line of cleavage between those things that belong to the light and to the darkness. May the God and Father of all light, and the True Light which lighteth every man, keep our vision clear and our will true.

God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. [Genesis 1:16-18]

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This meditation is from the Pray.com app.

God doesn’t just command us not to fear—He gives us Himself. The God of the universe promises to hold your hand and walk with you through whatever comes. His presence is constant, His help unfailing. He doesn’t stand at a distance—He stays close, steadying your heart and guiding your steps. When fear rises, you don’t have to face it alone. The One who holds your hand also holds all power. You are not abandoned. You are not forgotten. God is your help, and He will never let go.

For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you. [Isaiah 41:13]

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Written by Tim Bias, a contemporary pastor.

O God, help me love the people you send my way every day. Fill me with a love so deep that I am not only moved but I make a conscious decision to work for the good of others. By your grace, help me respond to your love with love for the people around me. I place myself at your disposal, in the name of Jesus. Amen,

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. [1 John 4:8]

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Written by Matthew Dickerson, a contemporary American professor and writer.

Compassion—when empathy moves us to action—is close to the heart of God, the example of Jesus, and the teachings of Jesus and the apostles. Compassion requires both emotional vulnerability and often personal self-sacrifice. It can be uncomfortable…Sympathy  is an understanding of the difficulties experienced by somebody who walks in different shoes than our own: the struggles that person is going through or the sorrows they have experienced. Sympathy is, in a way, a first step toward caring. Empathycan be understood as an even further step. Empathy is when we not only try to understand what somebody else is experiencing, but we actually work to feel what they are feeling. Whereas sympathy might be a mere intellectual exercise, empathy is personal and risky, involving a vulnerability to let ourselves invest emotionally in what somebody else is going through. Empathy is a step of love. It is also an imitation of what Jesus did through the incarnation: choosing to enter into our world in human form, in all its vulnerability and risk, fully experiencing all the temptations and sufferings of our human condition … Jesus’ compassion was certainly costly. But it is what we are called to do…Take some time to put yourself in the shoes of somebody whose life is different than yours, and who may be experiencing hardship. It could be a refugee fleeing violence, or somebody who is homeless, or somebody who works with or for you experiencing personal challenges. Let empathy move your actions to those of compassion.

As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. [Colossians 3:12]

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Written by Aaron D’Anthony Brown, a contemporary writer.

If there’s one undeniable truth about the human condition, that truth would be that each of us always wants something. That something could be significant or insignificant, like a new book, fresh clothes, a relationship, more money, or a better job. There’s no way to produce an exhaustive list because of our unique desires, and our hearts never stop longing for more…All this wanting is normal, but normal isn’t always moral or productive. In this case, normal means not being very content in life. Chances are, this describes you or many of the people you know. However, this need not always be true. How do we become more content, and what exactly is it?… Contentment denotes a mindset of peace that is not contingent upon circumstances…To be content does not mean that you don’t want anything at all. Instead, contentment is finding peace with what you have. That can be true of us even while still desiring something else, something more…We can find peace wherever and with whatever we have in life.

I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances. I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any circumstances, I have learned the secret of being content, whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. [Philippians 4:11-13]

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Written by Max Lucado, a contemporary pastor and author. This is an excerpt from his book “God Is With You Every Day.”

Have you heard voices of failure? When you lost your job, flunked the exam, dropped out of school. When your marriage went south. When your business went broke. When you failed. The voices began to howl. And you joined them! Failure finds us all. Failure is so universal we have to wonder why more self-help gurus don’t address it. Bookstores overflow with volumes on how to succeed. But you’ll look a long time before you find a section called “How to Succeed at Failing.” Maybe no one knows what to say. But God does. His book is written for failures. It is full of folks who were foul-ups and flops. David was a moral failure, yet God used him. Elijah was an emotional train wreck after Mount Carmel, but God blessed him. Jonah was in the belly of a fish when he prayed his most honest prayer, and God heard it. Perfect people? No. Perfect messes? You bet. Yet God used them. A surprising and welcome discovery of the Bible is this: God uses failures.

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. [Psalm 40:1–3]

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Written by Hannah Whitall Smith (1832-1911], a lay speaker and author in the Holiness Movement and active in the women’s suffrage and temperance movements.

I once met a poor woman, who earned a precarious living by hard daily labor; but who was a joyous triumphant Christian. “Ah, Nancy,” said a gloomy Christian lady to her one day, “it is well enough to be happy now; but I should think the thoughts of your future would sober you. Only suppose, for instance, you should have a spell of sickness, and be unable to work; or suppose your present employers should move away, and no one else should give you anything to do; or suppose—” “Stop!” cried Nancy, “I never supposes. De Lord is my Shepherd, and I knows I shall not want. And, Honey,” she added, to her gloomy friend, “it’s all dem supposes as is makin’ you so mis’able. You’d better give dem all up, and just trust de Lord.”

“Be content with such things as ye have: for He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” [Hebrews 13:5-6]

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Written by Bill Gaultiere, a contemporary psychologist and spiritual mentor.

Do you ever feel like stopping? Let’s be honest — all the texts, emails, calls, meetings, events, and demands can leave you feeling anxious, exhausted, or disconnected. Even too much of a godly thing (like caring for others) can leave you spiritually drained. Solitude and silence teach us to stop doing, stop producing, stop people-pleasing, stop distracting ourselves, and stop controlling outcomes. Spiritual disciplines of less help Jesus become more in our lives and ministry. It’s how we grow in authentic love for Christ alone and make him the foundation of loving others. Jesus models for us the importance ofgetting alone and getting quiet with Abba… The ultimate fruitfulness of solitude and silence is that these practices empower you to love others. Being with the God of love helps you naturally and organically express his love to those around you.

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. [Mark 6:31-32]

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Written by Louis Albert Banks (1855-1933), an American pastor and author.

A gentleman, writing about the breaking up of old ships, recently said that it is not the age alone which improves the quality of the fiber in the wood of an old vessel, but the straining and wrenching of the vessel by the sea, the chemical action of the bilge water, and of many kinds of cargoes. Some planks and veneers made from an oak beam which had been part of a ship eighty years old were exhibited a few years ago at a fashionable furniture store on Broadway, New York, and attracted general notice for the exquisite coloring and beautiful grain. Equally striking were some beams of mahogany taken from a bark which sailed the seas sixty years ago. The years and the traffic had contracted the pores and deepened the color, until it looked as superb in its chromatic intensity as an antique Chinese vase … So there is a vast difference between the quality of old people who have lived flabby, self-indulgent, useless lives, and the fiber of those who have sailed all seas and carried all cargoes as the servants of God and the helpers of their fellow men. Not only the wrenching and straining of life, but also something of the sweetness of the cargoes carried get into the very pores and fiber of character.

You will come to your grave in a full age, as stacks of grain are harvested in their season. [Job 5:26]

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