And we ourselves know and believe the love which God has for us.

God is love, and whoever lives in love lives in union with him. Love is made perfect in us in order that we may have courage on the Judgment Day; and we will have it because our life in this world is the same as Christ’s. There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out all fear. So then, love has not been made perfect in anyone who is afraid, because fear has to do with punishment.

1 John 4:16-18

Daniel made up his mind not to let himself become ritually unclean by eating the food and drinking the wine of the royal court, so he asked Ashpenaz to help him, and God made Ashpenaz sympathetic to Daniel.

Daniel 1:8-9

Do people like to have you around, and if so why? Do you demand attention when you come into a room or are you more interested in the people who are there? Life is similar. We have to fight the urge to want to be special, because that is the easy way. Looking out of the window of an airplane you can see the winding paths of rivers below, you can see the winding paths of the rivers below. Except for some man-made waterways, all rivers have one thing in common – they are all crooked. The reason is simple – they all follow the path of least resistance. Rivers find their way around anything that blocks their flow because they take the easy way. The same can be said for some people. You will be judged by which route you took.

You won’t go astray on the straight and narrow way.

Our Daily Bread – December 5, 2002