Hebrews 6:19 – This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain of heaven into God's inner sanctuary. (NLT)

We have hope and confidence of eternity with Christ. We will continue to live after dying from this world. We'll continue to ask to be saturated by the Holy Spirit.

As an anchor digs firmly into the sea floor, we continue to hold on firmly to the Word and let others know, just like the words of one of my many favourite choruses:

We have an anchor that keeps the soul
Steadfast and sure while the billows roll;
Fastened to the rock which cannot move,
Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour's love.

Hope is one thing in life we cannot do without.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, may we ever be aware of Your abounding love for us, certain that while we go through the storms of life, we can rest assured of Your hand upon us. Help us as we pass Your message on to others. Please give us the strength necessary to maintain hope, that we may overflow with it, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Matthew 7:20 – Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit that is produced. (NLT)

I've been working at the supermarket for almost a year now. I still love my job as much as I did on Day One. As my department is right by the entrance, I get to chat every day with many customers who shop there.

I make dips, both fruit dips, and ones to be used with chips and vegetables. I also make up different varieties of salads, and veggie and fruit trays of varying sizes. Then I chunk up pineapples, cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon for mixed melon bowls. Strawberries and dip follow, then strawberries and kiwi, and strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries for the berry bowls. Lastly, I put the melons, strawberries, grapes, pineapple, and kiwi together to make fruit salads to place out on the counter, which is made of ice.

Customers notice everything — down to the last detail! They can be very critical. Some just need a shoulder, someone to listen. I try to oblige. On the weekend, as I was in deep conversation and cutting up the fruit, I wondered how the customers see me. Do they see my fruit — fruit of the Spirit, that is? I pray, at my cutting board, that people may see not only the fruit in the bowls on the ice, but also the fruit of the Holy Spirit in me. I want them to see that I have much love in my heart, that I know and love Christ, and that I imitate Him in how I speak and act.

God gives us opportunities each day to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. We can demonstrate patience at home with our family. We can be kind to others at our workplace. We can show love to our neighbours. When we have the Holy Spirit as our guide, the possibilities are endless.

Prayer: We pray that You will have the Holy Spirit work in us, to make good fruit come from us. May we show the character of Christ each and every day. Amen.

The day before that appointment, I felt unwell. I ached all over, my head hurt, and I felt sick. Thinking back though, I hadn't eaten properly at all that day, or, in fact, for a few days. The day of the fitness evaluation, I had a terribly bad headache and borderline migraine.

As I was thinking about going to the club, I was embarrassed to think that people would see my condition. I had let myself go, over the previous year, since changing jobs. I was out of condition, for sure. I had put on weight and inches, and totally lacked any physical fitness. I dreaded going, to be honest.

Thinking long and hard, I became aware that I should treat my body as I do my car. After all, if I didn't fill the tank with gas, it wouldn't go anywhere. I hadn't been eating properly for a while, and that should have been my first hint as to why my body was as it was — no energy left. This is also the case in our spiritual lives. If we don't feed on the Word every day, how will we ever grow? We will become embarrassed to face people. We won't want others to see our condition. We also need to be able to share our nourishment as we see those needing to be fed spiritually.

How will we do in our evaluation? Who knows when that will be!

1 Timothy 4:8 – Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next. (NLT)

Prayer: Dear God, we pray that you will come closer if we tend to miss our devotional times with you. Renew a right spirit within us, for we need your Word to guide and strengthen us. Help us to devour all that we read, to enable us to grow strong in our Christian walk. You are an awesome God, and we thank You for loving us, no matter what. Amen.

Of course, we all know we can't do this. If we have wronged someone, we need to admit our fault, apologize, and seek forgiveness. If we have wronged God, we need to do the same. After we have received His forgiveness, we need to learn from our failure, forget the past, leave it there, and move on. Become better, not bitter.

Just the same, once a year, many of us physically turn back the clock. It doesn't allow us to erase things done or said in that hour, nor does it really give us an extra hour to add on to our life, since, in the spring, we lose an hour. But changing the clock does remind us to take advantage of every single minute. Time is short, and there is much to accomplish for God's kingdom. There is also much to accomplish as God transforms us into the likeness of Christ. Let us waste no time to imitate Christ's compassionate attitude, to let go of our pride, to clothe ourselves with humility, to trust God's power and goodness, and to learn to depend on God's will, not our own.

Ephesians 5:16 – These are evil times, so make every minute count. (CEV)

Prayer: Lord, enable us to allow Your Spirit to work within us, we pray, as we try to become more like You. May we never take our eyes off You. Amen.

I worked for a carpenter the other day. It was my husband. I was helping out, filling in nail holes. A tedious task, one might think. However, I like jobs like this, and it is so satisfying to stand back and look, once the job is done.

A few times, I'd come across wood where it had split a little. To catch my finger on that smarts a bit, but I wouldn't say it was painful. To get a sliver was nothing.

As I wasn't under the clock to get the job done in a particular time, even though it seemed the job was insignificant, I did my best. I tried to make sure that I didn't leave too much excess filler on the wood, as it would be less work when the next process of sanding was done.

Then my mind started wandering … and my eyes!

The size of the nails used in this particular job was so small, compared to others my husband has in his workshop.

My mind wandered even more, then my imagination. I began to see the terribly rough wood and the huge nails used to crucify our Lord and Saviour. I can only imagine the pain He suffered. To watch my husband drive the tiny nails into the wood with a nail gun and to see how quickly they went in — I can't even try to come close to imagining the excruciating pain He felt as the huge nails were driven in, much more slowly than by a nail gun, through body parts, to the very rough wood.

All this He did for me and for you!

Prayer: Lord God, we thank You for all that You have done, for us. We can only imagine the pain that Your Son Jesus suffered when He was crucified. May the realization that Jesus died for us cause us to confess our sins, to repent, and to be transformed by Your love. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

When I'm told the salt is harmful, I just reply that my doctor says I don't have to watch my salt intake, because I have such very low blood pressure. I just lick my fingers and thumb, when I've finished, to enjoy the flavour to the last minute.

Salt makes people thirsty. Am I — are we — salty Christians, making others thirsty for Jesus Christ? Our influence should have an effect for Jesus on everyone about us. Jesus called his disciples the salt of the earth.

Matthew 5:13 – You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavour? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. (NLT)

As for my French fries, salt is a seasoning. It adds flavour. It is an antiseptic; it has a healing quality. It also prevents decay; it is a preservative. We are to preserve and purify the good in the world and bring new flavour to life.

Salt has an important work to do, but it does it inconspicuously. It is not effective unless it is applied.

God poured out Himself, for mankind, in love, by sending His Son to become the Saviour of the world. Jesus poured out Himself, for the world, by dying on the cross. We are not effective for our Lord unless we pour ourselves out in service, for those in need of Jesus.

The next time we find ourselves pouring salt while making pastry or adding it to French fries, let's pause and think just how willing we have been to share the love of Christ with others. A little? A lot? None at all? If we lose the desire to "salt the earth", then we are useless to Him, and we fail to represent Christ.

God is good — all the time! Are we?

Let us take a good long think.

Prayer: Lord, You are so awesome. You are so good to us. Help us, we pray, to aim toward becoming more like You each and every day. In the way we live our lives, by the things we say, may others see You in us. May we go around sprinkling the flavour of Your love to those crying out for help. Help us to show them where to get nourishment by reading Your Word, by prayer, and in so doing drawing closer to You, our friend and Saviour. Without You we are nothing. Help us to be a good influence on others, to be salty Christians. In Your name we pray. Amen.

I recently entered my name on a website, with lists of schools and names of past pupils who attended. The very next day, I received an e-mail from a pal from my junior school days. She is still residing in England, she informed me, and also remarked about the fact that we played together on the netball team. Well! It was a lovely surprise to see that come up on the screen.

I e-mailed back, telling her how I'd emigrated to Canada, also reminiscing over those wonderful school days when we were between 7 and 11 years old. I was very involved in all the sports, running, jumping and representing the school.

She then scanned a picture of our netball team, which gave amusement to my daughters.

There were different kinds of races. We were called, by name, to the starting line. With the relay we had different starting positions. Cross-country was over rocks, hills, and streams — rough terrain. We had to get over the hurdles. Then there were the team sports, like netball and rounders, where we had support from others. There was the bar to clear, in high jump. We had to jump as far as we could in the long jump. There was a teacher in charge, telling us what to do the whole time.

Then my mind wandered from school, to Sunday School picnics:

egg and spoon race — concentration
piggy back race — carry someone
3-legged race — hindrance

With all of these, we had to train beforehand. We also knew that we should focus — and not on the crowd, or friends looking on. We had to fix our eyes on the goal. We had to concentrate on the race.

Since then, it's made me think about comparisons with our spiritual lives. Our life is like that. We're called, by name, at different stages in our lives. We can train, every day, read the Bible, pray. We have to keep our focus, which is on Jesus Christ.

We'll have hurdles, unseen terrain. Sometimes we'll carry people. There will be hindrances.

Throughout our lives, though, we have a teacher telling us, guiding us, in the race of life. We need to listen, focus and live in faith that He knows best and will, if we let Him, be there waiting for us at the finishing line.

Prayer: Help us, Lord, not to take our eyes off You as we may face hurdles and rough ground. May we remember You are there to carry us. Help us, too, as we train every day, becoming closer to You, and so being like part of a team, encouraging others on toward Your kingdom. Amen.