“…In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, NIV).

Every day, things come against us in life to try to steal our joy and rob us of our victory. In fact, throughout your whole life, the enemy has had one mission—to kill, steal and destroy your hope, vision and happiness. But I love what it says in today’s verse, “take heart.” In one translation it says, “Be of good cheer.” Now that may seem strange to say right after “in this world you will have trouble,” but when we truly understand that we are overcomers in Christ Jesus, we can be joyful no matter what the circumstances look like. We don’t have to allow our emotions to get rattled. We don’t have to let our nerves go haywire. We can find rest knowing that Jesus has overcome the world and deprived it of the power to harm us.

We have to remember; the things that happen in this life are temporary. We are in this world but not of it. We need to keep our focus on eternal things, things above. Sure, we will have trouble in this life, but we can stay encouraged because in eternity, we are overcomers through Christ Jesus!

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