Gimme shelter.

Do you desire mental and emotional well-being in your daily life? Do you want to experience good days of peace and joy despite your circumstances? I know I do. Here’s the good news: We can attain this! (Learn how: Psalm 34:12-14; Isa. 26:3; 2 Thess. 3:16 AMP.)

As we make Christ the Center of our lives, learning and obeying His commands and making Him our souls' anchor and refuge, He gives us His perfect peace and keeps us within it. How wonderful the Savior of the world is to us!

Three good things required.

God requires three things of you and me. Micah 6:8 gives us the important 3-point inspection we need to make to fine-tune our relationships with God and other humans.

Act justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly before God. If you ever wonder whether or not some action you've taken or way of living is 'good,' give it this 3-point inspection. Tune-ups will be required.

Freedom from fear.

Fear. There’s no getting around facing it from time to time. But do you live in it? Are certain fears consuming your mind, joy, and peace on a regular basis? They don’t have to. Focus for a few moments on Ps. 34:4-9. What can you do to replace the fear that wants to take over your heart?

It is said that "fear not" appears 365 times in the Bible. Enoch walked with God 365 years and was then taken up. There are 365 days in each year. I find the numeric similarity no coincidence. We can receive daily deliverance from fear as we walk with God, seeking Him. May God help us.

True light for dark times.

Spend a moment and reflect on darkness and light: Genesis 1:1-3 and John 1:1-4.

Sometimes, our way feels dark, empty, and formless, like Earth did in the beginning. Whenever this happens, we might lean on people, money, food, sex, drugs, worry, or diversions to fill the heart pain we're experiencing. Sure, they’ll distract us for awhile, but these choices do not bring us the true light, fullness of joy, or meaningful purpose our hearts need, nor can they. Only God can shine light into the Voids of our lives. Real Light that lasts. And He wants to do it, too. Go ahead, ask Him for it.

Seek God’s face.

Did you know God wants you and me to look for Him? He does, and in a specific way. Reflect on these passages: 2 Chron. 7:14; 1 Chron. 22:19, 28:9; Col. 3:1-2.

Seeking God's "face" or presence means we humbly, willingly, and consistently focus our mind’s attention and our heart’s affection toward Him. Self-focus, worries, sins, and human desires dull our minds to the beauty and joy of knowing who God is and how much He loves us. We then lose sight of what's most important. Happily for us, He not only waits for us to refix our minds but helps us do so and then favors us with the gift of His "face" once again. My prayer for you is that you fully come to understand just how much God loves you as you wholeheartedly search Him out (2 Thess. 3:5).

How “sheepish” are you?

Take a look: Psalm 23 and John 10:11-18.

Yes, the Lord is our Shepherd. But are we being sheep? A lamb is gentle. A lamb doesn't worry about its safety or nourishment, because it knows its master has everything under control. It trustingly follows him everywhere. You can turn your worries over today to the Good Shepherd, who died to save us from Death and who deeply cares for us all. Listen only to His voice, and let your mind rest in green pastures of faith, hope, and peace.

Count it all JOY.

We have troubles in this life. In fact, Jesus tells us we WILL have them (John 16:33). But immediately after He says this, he tells us to “take heart.”

Jesus’ brother, the apostle James, encourages us to “count it all joy” when trials and troubles tempt us to lose faith, because the testing of our faith through adversity perfects us in Christ, making us more patient and stronger in character (James 1:2-4). And James had an amazing example in his brother; Jesus endured the incredible suffering on the cross “for the joy that was set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2). Surely, if Jesus could find the joy out of the most miserable of situations, we can too. What are you going through today? Look at the end result, and count it as joy.

God has plans for you.

Sometimes we wonder what we were put on earth to do. Most of us want to feel as though we’re making a difference, somehow. But our idea for how we should go about making that difference can contrast significantly from God’s viewpoint.

God’s plan for the Jews, according to Jeremiah, was that He make them prosper, keep them safe from harm, and give them a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11). That’s it. As they kept their faith and love in Him, He was the one who would make the difference in their lives.

This plan hasn’t changed for followers of Jesus Christ. We make a difference by loving the Savior and following His lead. Jesus said that at the end of time, when we all stand in judgment, the issue won’t be whether or not we made some grandiose difference in the world. The issue to be judged will be what we did for “the least of these” (Matt. 25:40-45), how we helped the poor, needy, sick, physically and emotionally imprisoned people He brought into our paths.

Things God says to you.

God says, “ Your ways are not my ways, neither are your thoughts my thoughts. I AM, Yahweh Almighty. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. With Me, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day. Test me in this, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” He says amazing things like that to you, throughout His holy word. Do you believe Him? Do you trust Him?