Read: 1 Peter 3:8-12

As the NFL playoff game ended and the Green Bay Packers celebrated their victory over the Chicago Bears, my daughter Lisa noticed that her little girl, 4-year-old Eliana, was crying. That seemed odd, since neither of Eliana’s parents particularly cared who won the game.

When Lisa asked Eliana why she was crying, she said, “I feel sorry for the Bears. They look so sad.”

Can we learn something from a preschooler about compassion? In a world where winning is so important and losers get rejected, forgotten, and maligned, we need this reminder: People need compassion. When we see others struggling with a loss are we willing to shed tears with them, put our arms around them, and offer to help?

A number of Scripture passages challenge us to treat others with compassion. Philippians 2:1-3 tells us to think of others above ourselves, looking out for their interests—not just ours. First Peter 3:8-12 reminds us that compassion means treating others “as brothers,” and Colossians 3:12-15 says that mercy, kindness, and humility are marks of those God has redeemed.

Look around you. See anyone going through a difficult loss? Go beyond feeling bad for them. Reach out with compassion and God’s love.

Read: 1 Kings 8:22-30

In August 2011, NASA released a composite image from the Hubble telescope that left people smiling. The image is of two galaxies beginning to collide. The collision looks like a heavenly exclamation point (!). The latest statistic I’ve read says there are about 100 billion observable galaxies in the universe. Each galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars, and more galaxies are being discovered.

When I saw the exclamation-point image on CNN, I was reminded of our awesome Creator. The heavens exclaim His glory (Ps. 19:1), but He is even greater than the heavens He has made. After Solomon built a temple for the Lord’s presence to dwell in, he prayed: “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27). He knew that if the heavens couldn’t contain God’s presence, the temple he had made surely couldn’t contain Him.

The Lord is so much greater than our finite minds can grasp. Yet He has made it possible for us to know Him through His Son Jesus whom He sent to live on this earth, to die for us, and to be raised. When we believe in Him, our lives join the heavens in proclaiming His glory!

Read: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

I love the words always and never. They hold so much hope! I would like to think that I could always be happy and that life would never fail me. But reality says that I won’t always be happy and that the things I hope would never happen just might. So, as good as these words sound, they struggle to live up to their potential—unless you are thinking about the promise of Jesus’ presence.

To a group of troubled disciples who feared facing life on their own Jesus said, “I am with you always” (Matt. 28:20). The writer to the Hebrews reminds us that Jesus said, “‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear’” (Heb. 13:5-6). And the apostle Paul assures believers that after death, “We shall always be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:17). How encouraging!

No matter how scary our journey may feel today or how hopeless our future may look, the assurance of His never-failing presence can provide us with the courage and comfort to make it through. And best of all, when this short life is over, we will always be with Him. No wonder Paul encourages us to “comfort one another with these words” (v.18).

Read: 1 John 1:1-10

A friend was updating me on his past year—a year in which he had been receiving ongoing medical treatment for cancer. The smile on his face was a powerful testimony to the good news he had just received. He said that at his one-year checkup the doctor announced that the test results all pointed to one thing: “You are totally clean!” What a difference two words can make! To my friend, totally clean meant every trace of the disease that had threatened his life only months before had been wiped from his body. We rejoiced to hear that he was totally clean!

King David, after his moral failure with Bathsheba, longed for a similar thing to happen in his heart. Hoping for the stains of his sin to be washed away, he cried out, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10). The good news for him and for us is that our sins can be taken care of. When we need cleansing, John’s familiar words bring hope: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

We can’t cleanse our own hearts; only God can do that. If we confess our sins to Him, He promises to make us totally clean!

Read: Isaiah 41:8-14

Champion athlete Eric Liddell’s decision not to run on Sunday in the 1924 Olympic Games was not difficult because of his deep belief that the Lord’s Day was for worship and rest.

A more agonizing dilemma had come a year earlier when Eric was asked to speak about his faith in Christ to a group of coal miners. Liddell said of his struggle: “My whole life had been one of keeping out of public duties but the leading of Christ seemed now to be in the opposite direction, and I shrank from going forward. At this time I finally decided to put it all on Christ—after all if He called me to do it, then He would have to supply the necessary power. In going forward the power was given me.”

The day after agreeing to publicly share his faith, Eric received a letter from his sister, Jenny, in China. Written weeks before, it ended with this verse of Scripture: “Fear not for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (Isa. 41:10).

Every call from God is an opportunity for us to say “Yes,” trusting His strength and not our own.