​The psalmist is real here: doubts filled his mind.  Doubts have filled mine and doubts likely have filled yours.  It’s tempting to think doubt is bad or even sinful, but it’s not.  It’s normal.  And there will be times when doubt will fill your mind multiple times throughout a day!  The psalmist also offers that God’s comfort gives us renewed hope and cheer. When the doubts come, remember the truth of God’s comfort.

What doubts do you have today?

How can God give you hope and cheer in the midst of these doubts?

​Challenge: Memorize Psalm 94:19 and say it out loud whenever doubts enter your mind.

We want deadlines for our struggles and trials.  We want to see proverbial lights at the end of tunnels.  We want to know when the danger is going to pass us by.  Here the psalmist exclaims that he will hide beneath the shadow of God’s wings until the danger passes by, whenever that may be.

What’s does “hiding beneath God’s wings” mean to you?

How has God protected you from previous dangers?

​Challenge: Write down or talk to someone about all you can be thankful for during this time.  Try this practice each day to remind you of everything God has provided for you.

Immediately after Jesus tells a parable about a manager being shrewd with his wealth, He begins teaching the disciples. It seems Jesus wants to make a point about the faithfulness involved in stewarding wealth. God and wealth cannot be served together, you will choose one and reject the other, so the better option is to serve one with the other! May not your love of money lead you to serve wealth, but may your love for God lead you to use wealth to serve His Kingdom.

Questions for further thought:
1. In what ways are you serving God’s Kingdom?

2. What are some ways that you serve wealth? 

3. What are ways that you serve God?

Challenge: Find a way to use your things (money, materials, etc.) to bless someone who needs to hear about God’s love today.

God has promised to never leave us nor forsake us, and his plan for our salvation is worth more than any of the greatest wealth on this earth. Wealth won’t buy any of us eternity in Heaven, The Blood of Jesus has paid the price for that. How sweet a gift that is. Because of who God is, you can rest knowing that contentment comes in Him, not in anything else.

Questions for further thought:
1. What is comforting about these two verses?

2. How have you found contentment in the Lord lately?

Challenge: Make a list of all the things you know about God’s character, then give Him thanks and praise for who he is.

God is faithful in his covenant to Israel that He made in Genesis. Because this speaks to God’s glory, Moses wants to remind his audience to not be prideful about their wealth, for everything they have was God’s first. Moses’ plea to his audience is this: to glorify God with the wealth He has allowed you to receive, whatever that wealth may look like.

Questions for further thought:
1. In what ways have you been prideful about your wealth?

2. How can you use your material wealth to give God glory?

Challenge: Look for opportunities to use your possessions in ways that remind you of the Creator. 

The teacher in Ecclesiastes says the wealth is not worth losing sleep over in the context of understanding the meaning of life. Wealth is meant to be enjoyed as a gift from God. Wealth ought to be seen as God’s good gift to those who are faithful in labor. May the things you have received from the work of your hands remind you of the joy found in the Lord.

Questions for further thought:
1. What are ways that you can faithfully enjoy what you have?

2. How does wealth bring us into closer relationship with God?

Challenge: Spend some time thanking God for the material things you have been able to enjoy as a product of your labor.

Paul’s letter to Timothy is a personal letter written to Timothy. Part of Paul’s instruction to Timothy is to flee the false teaching in Ephesus, which teaches that wealth provides happiness. Instead, Paul's instructions teach us to love Christ, not money. Our hope is not in wealth, which keeps us wanting more, but our hope is in Christ who has forever given us all we need for true life: Himself.

Questions for further thought:
1. What desires are on your heart today? 

2. How can you find true life in Christ Jesus? 

Challenge: Write down what hopes you have in Christ, and what hopes you have in wealth. When you have done this, pray for God to intervene in your hopes and show you the Hope that is found in Him.

You will have troubles in this world, but Jesus has overcome the world. You will be made weak, but Christ’s power is stronger in weakness. As followers of the king, Jesus, we have a great comfort and hope. God became human, so he understands your pain. In every moment, He will be with you; the God of the universe is at your side. Someday, you will receive the crown of life, and place it at Jesus’ feet. He will look down to you, the faithful son or daughter, and be proud. 

Questions for further thought:
1. How is Christ’s power magnified through our weakness?

2. How does our time on Earth compare to a future eternity with Jesus?

Challenge: Go out into the world and share the good news! Jesus has overcome the world, so that we may be brought out of our sinful condition and into the light of God’s presence.

The earliest Christians were not strangers to suffering. They gave up their homes, their possessions, and their lives for Christ. Not only were the people around them converted through their faith, they themselves were changed as well! The trials of life offer an opportunity; will you persevere, or give up? If you choose the former, you will find yourself changed. You have withstood fire, so that you are sharper and better prepared than before. The goal is to become more like Christ, so that through your suffering you will find peace.

Questions for further thought:
1. In what ways have you changed since you first accepted Jesus?

2. How can you become more like Christ?

Challenge: Look forward to the challenges ahead of you. Approach them in a new light and see the opportunity instead of the pain.

Some people seem so joyful in the direst of circumstances. How do they do it? These people know about, or at least have a sense of, The Plan. After humanity chose their own way, God began working to get us back. Though it doesn’t feel like it, God is right now picking up the broken pieces of Earth and putting them back together. It’s hard to see the big picture when you’re stuck in one moment in time, but know this: God can take the worst thing on Earth and turn it around for good. The people that know that find hope in God’s good plan. 

Questions for further thought:
1. At what points in the Bible does The Plan seem most obvious to you?

2. In what ways do the little moments in life hold more meaning when God can use it all for good? 

Challenge: Look back over your life and review your times of struggle and blessing. Do you see where hardship was turned around for your good, or for the good of God’s kingdom? Share this! People will draw strength from the hope you provide.