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Moses said to the LORD, “May the LORD, the God who gives breath to all living things, appoint someone over this community to go out and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in, so the LORD‘s people will not be like sheep without a shepherd.” Numbers 27:15-17

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. Matthew 10:1

God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 1 Timothy 1:15

None of us are exempt from suffering, loneliness, discouragement, or unjust criticism. Why? Because those are things Jesus experienced, and we need to experience them too for God to develop the character of Christ in us. Does this mean God causes tragedies? No. God is good, and he will not cause evil or do evil. But God can use dark and stressful times like these for good. He can use our current troubles to teach us to trust him, to show us how to help others, and to draw us closer to other believers. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, “We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed. We are perplexed, but not driven to despair. We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God. We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed” (NLT). So, what should you do when you’re going through difficult times? First, refuse to be discouraged. Then, remember God is with you. Finally, rely on God’s protection and guidance. God’s light shines even in the darkest shadows.

The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey . . . So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” Exodus 3:7-10

Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” Matthew 9:12

Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.” Matthew 9:12 Did you know Jesus was a doctor? Not a doctor with a white lab coat and a stethoscope. Jesus is a doctor for our souls. That’s what he says in God’s Word for us today. One of the things the Bible teaches us is that we are all sick. Not “body sick” but soul sick with a disease called sin. What are its symptoms? Getting angry and throwing a fit when it’s not appropriate. Sassing mom or dad. Saying bad things about our classmates. While hearing the news that you’re sick is not usually a good thing, in this case it is. People who are soul sick are exactly the ones Jesus is looking for. He’s not only the doctor. He’s also the medicine that cures us. His holy precious blood seeks out our sin, finds it, and erases it once and for all in God’s sight. It’s pretty awesome that the doctor, Jesus, wants to see and hear from us! Matthew and his friends were not a very popular group. Others looked down on them and tried to keep them at a distance. But Jesus didn’t run away from them. Jesus shows mercy to the outcasts, the losers, and the spiritually sick. He shows mercy to you and me. There are many things in this world that make us afraid. But we do not need to be afraid to stand before God on Judgment Day. Why? Because Jesus stands there with us.

This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. 2 Peter 1:20–2:3

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith. For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. Romans 3:27,28

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth. Deuteronomy 11:18-21

When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. Matthew 7:28,29

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash. Matthew 7:24-27

Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation. Colossians 1:21,22

Then Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, with all the remnant of the people, obeyed the voice of the Lord their God, and the words of Haggai the prophet, as the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord. Haggai 1:12

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 36:5, 7

Demetrius, a silversmith in Ephesus who made silver models of the temple of the goddess Artemis, sees his business, along with the economy of the city, threatened and undermined by Paul’s teachings. He stirs up opposition to Paul’s evangelizing work, and a city clerk is finally able to subdue the crowd. Acts 19:21-41

We are to be a people who do good deeds. That's a very significant part of who we are as Jesus' followers. So let's look for the many opportunities that God places in our paths to bless others. Let's use all of these blessings to bring God glory! Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:10

As promised, God sent Jesus to be our Savior. To earn our salvation and to guarantee our eternal future as we put our trust in him. When it comes to eternal life in heaven, God speaks with authority. His promises are true. Put your trust in his Word. Then God said, “. . . and it was so.” Genesis 1:29,30