Good morning, and happy Sunday.

A few weeks ago, my dearest wife Mary and I made a new friend in a benevolent lady named Barbara at a church-wide potluck.

We sat at the same table with a few others and got to know each other a bit over lunch. When someone asked me how I’ve been faring with the chronic condition I’ve been dealing with for a while now, I shared that I’ve been better but not great.

As if she heard the hopeless internal voice I’ve been battling, Barbara looked into my eyes and lovingly said, “Young man, you need to give a sacrifice of praise.”

She referenced the following verse from Hebrews 13:

What does it mean for a praise to be sacrificial?

Barbara noted that such sacrifice lies in praising God even when things are not going the way we want it to go.

She shared her own journey of just how powerful sacrifices of praise have been throughout her life of battling challenges and the enemy, emphasizing that there is nothing Satan hates more than our heart of worship towards our Father in heaven.

Ever since that encounter, I have been fighting to praise God in the midst of my pain, my stress, and my concerns.

Beyond my condition, work’s been incredibly stressful these days, and there’s also been a growing number of people for whom I’m now praying daily to receive healing and deliverance. And I genuinely do not know how I could have fared the past few weeks if it weren’t for what the Spirit spoke through Barbara.

God has encouraged me further through the Word in Numbers 14. When the Israelites were overcome with fear of the Caananites they’d eventually have to battle, Moses declared the following:

Like Moses said, the truth of the matter is my God is with me, and there’s nothing that can loom over Him: no illnesses, no people, no stress, no lies, not even death.

Who God is and who I am in Jesus is all that matters, and this truth sets me free from all fear and bondages— for Jesus has already conquered the grave. In this painful physical illness I’ve been dealing with, I came to realize my unbeliefs in the midst of my hopelessness and finally began seeing the grace and love of Christ— worthy of my worship and praise— that transcends all.

In place of a thousand words to express, I raise to you Psalm 23:

My Encouragement for You

My encouragement for you today is the same one I’ve been telling myself.

Though it may feel like the world is crumbling and there’s no hope remained to be seen, let us lift our heads up and keep our eyes fixated on Jesus.

Though the water beneath our feet may be turbulent, we have ourselves Jesus who conquered death and overcame the world for us to be set free.

On the night he was betrayed, Jesus said “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

We cannot avoid or control the challenges life throws at us. But we can choose how we respond to them.

So, let us face them with a sacrifice of praise and fight the enemy with one thing he cannot take away from us— the love of Christ.

With love, Jae

“Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: you should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12)

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