“Love your enemies … hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great … He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful … Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you … For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:35-38).

“A bruised reed He will not break” (Isaiah 42:3).

A reed is a tall stalk or plant with a hollow stem, usually found in marshy areas or near a supply of water. It’s a tender plant, so it bends easily when high winds or swift waters strike. Yet the reed can only bend so far before it finally breaks and is carried away with the flood.

Like a reed in calm weather, America once stood proud and tall, full of purpose and promise. Our entire society honored God, and the Bible was held up as the standard for our laws and judicial system.

“So it was always: the cloud covered it by day, and the appearance of fire by night” (Numbers 9:16).

In Numbers 9 we read of a cloud that came down and covered the tabernacle in the wilderness. This cloud represented God’s constant presence with his people, and for us today, the cloud serves as a type of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives. At night, the cloud over the tabernacle became a pillar of fire, a warm glow in a dark place.

At the time Paul was still known as Saul, he was on his way to Damascus with a small army to take Christians captive, bring them back to Jerusalem, imprison and torture them. But on the way, Jesus appeared to him and he fell to the ground (see Acts 9:3). Trembling and astonished, this proud, misguided zealot asked, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Jesus directed him to go to the city, where “he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank” (9:9).

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you” (John 15:16). 

I am convinced by Scripture there is only one core purpose for all believers. Our specific callings are gathered up in this single purpose, and every gift springs from it. If we miss this purpose, all our desires and pursuits will be in vain. This purpose is simply this: we are all called and chosen to bear fruit.

“When [Jesus] saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest’” (Matthew 9:36-38).

Asaph, a Levite from the priestly line in Israel, was a singer who served as David’s appointed choir director. A psalmist who wrote righteous instruction for God’s people, he wrote Psalm 77 after he fell into a deep depression: “My soul refused to be comforted” (77:2).

Jesus said of John, “Among those born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist” (Luke 7:28). Christ dignified this godly man. He was the one who would lay a straight path before the Messiah, in preparation for his coming: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Isaiah 40:3).

“That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7).

God has shown his loving, warmhearted kindness to us. Therefore, we can wake up shouting, “Hallelujah! God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit want to be near me.” 

Every Christian will face temptations and hardships, but in the midst of our trials, we are able to abound with thanksgiving because of his everlasting kindness toward us. Paul tells us this is exactly why God has made us to sit together with Christ.

We are told that Christ himself has brought us into a heavenly position with him. Yet if that is so, then many Christians are living far beneath the promises God has provided. Think about it: if we are actually living in Christ, seated with him in the throne room of heaven, how could any believer still be enslaved to his flesh? We have been given a position in him for a reason. But many in Christ’s Body have not claimed or appropriated it.