Don’t lose heart! Don’t lose hope! Remember what Jesus has done for you!
You have not believed in God in vain! God’s word is true! Christ died for your sins, just as the Scriptures said! Jesus was buried in a tomb and rose from the dead after three days, again exactly as the Scripture says! (1 Cor 15:3-4).

Your faith in God covers your past, your present and your future! Your faith in God centers your existence in the eternal, all knowing, all powerful God of the universe! Your faith in God gives you a new perspective from which to view all things! 

Jesus voluntarily put himself under the authority of God the Father. Jesus voluntarily said that each person, you and I are so worth it. Jesus came to the earth to die for us because he knew that was the only way we could come close to God. He didn’t have to, but he did this because he loves us. 

In case you think your sins are too big to be forgiven by God consider the apostle Paul. Paul had viciously persecuted the church and killed a guy thinking he was doing God a favor. Then the resurrected Jesus appeared to Paul and showered him with grace.  In case you think you’ve messed up to badly, consider Moses who also was a murderer, and yet God used him to deliver the Israelites from Egypt. If God could forgive David for seducing Bathsheba and killing her husband, God in his grace can forgive whatever you have done! These are the heroes of the faith! (Hebrews 11) 

You believe in Jesus, so don’t let people get in your way. Don’t let what people are saying get in the way of what Jesus has done for you. It is by God’s grace that you are here! It is by God’s grace that you have a firm foundation to stand on! Your faith is sustained by looking to Jesus Christ crucified and risen! There is no trouble and no toil that needs to be feared because Jesus has obtained the ultimate victory. 

Jesus takes upon himself our sufferings because of his fellowship with us! Allow God to purify your mind so that you are conscious of nothing besides God. Allow God to be the mode and measure of your every movement! Let God be the consummation of all your desires, your love, your praise, your vision! Ask God to open your eyes to see by faith the wonder and power of God. 

Walk in the life and hope God has given you. Live a life worthy of Jesus who gave you life. And when you mess up ask his forgiveness, embrace the hope he offers you and try again! Because Christ is risen, you can know with confidence that you, your life, and your body are valuable and precious to Christ! 

Your journey of faith is unique. Your experience of God’s grace is unique. Your story of struggles, pains, joy, accomplishments and dreams are stories of the gospel that lights the way for others! 

Stand firm! Let nothing move you! Give yourself fully to the work of God even though you are a sinful human being, because you know that you are forgiven and because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 
Because Jesus is risen, because of God’s amazing grace you can say with confidence “What I am now, I am by the grace of God, and God’s grace toward me was not in vain”! (1 Cor 15:10)

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Cor 15:3-4)