May 2024

“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have
never forsaken those who seek you.”
PSALMS 9:10, NIV

Dear Friend,

I grew up thinking of God as a cosmic cop. That’s if I thought of Him at all. I imagined Him looking at my imperfect life with His arms crossed, tapping His toe. What did I do wrong this time? I’d wonder. God and guilt were almost synonymous in my mind.

How did you picture God in your early years: as an angry judge, an impersonal force, or perhaps a powerful but distant deity? Have you ever thought about how your view of God affects your day-to-day life?

Knowing the true nature of the real God is crucial to experiencing His peace and power in our lives. That’s why A. W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

Why? Because when we’re faced with challenges, we need to:

• BELIEVE that God is working, even when we do not see Him working nor see a way He could work.
• TRUST that He has already prepared a good plan for us that will accomplish His purposes.
• RESOLVE to accept and rejoice in that plan, even if it doesn’t look like we want it to or expect it to turn out!

Maybe you’re experiencing some difficulties today. They could be health concerns, family conflicts, or business setbacks. Perhaps you are anxious and depressed and feel as though God doesn’t care. As you decide how to face your challenges, I’d like to encourage you to first ask yourself these questions:

Who do I believe God to be?
What is His character?
Am I seeing Him as He really is?

God reveals His nature to His children through creation, through the Word of God (the Bible), and, most profoundly, through Jesus, the Son of God, who came to show us who God is. When we learn about Jesus, we learn about God!

“He who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9, NASB1995)

We can KNOW and BELIEVE that God is loving, just, and merciful. He is unchanging—the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow. And He so loved you that He came in human form to die for your sins.

So, let me ask you, how do you see God? Is He for you? Is He good? Is He holy and faithful? Does He have your best in mind?

I’d like you to pause right now and ask yourself, Do I believe in the God Jesus reveals, or have I subconsciously substituted my warped version of God into my prayers and perspective? I don’t say this as a criticism (we all do it) but as a corrective.

At a time when the Israelites had failed miserably, worshipped idols, and found themselves in captivity, Jeremiah reminded them that their great, sovereign, all-powerful God had not given up on them.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV)

I encourage you to look at your circumstances through the lens of a good and faithful God, not look at Him through the challenges of your circumstances. Hold on to the character of God and believe the truth that He cares deeply about your circumstances. We can’t always understand the why and how of everything. But we can rest in His character and His love.

Remember that challenges and disappointments don’t last forever, but the things we learn from them do. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, “Therefore we do not lose heart. . . For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Thank you for believing, trusting, and resolving to follow Christ, especially when it’s difficult.

Christians living like Christians in the midst of adversity is how the light of Christ shines on those around us.

That’s our mission, and thanks to your prayers and financial support, God is working one life at a time, giving hope and changing lives because of your faithfulness.

Let’s Make a Difference Together,

Chip Ingram
CEO and Teaching Pastor, Living on the Edge

“You need to persevere so. . . you will receive what He has promised.”
(HEBREWS 10:36, NIV)