“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

Scripture Text: (HEB 13:1-8)
Let brotherly love continue.
Do not neglect hospitality,
for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.
Be mindful of prisoners as if sharing their imprisonment,
and of the ill-treated as of yourselves,
for you also are in the body.
Let marriage be honored among all
and the marriage bed be kept undefiled,
for God will judge the immoral and adulterers.
Let your life be free from love of money
but be content with what you have,
for he has said, I will never forsake you or abandon you.
Thus we may say with confidence:

The Lord is my helper,
and I will not be afraid.
What can anyone do to me?

Remember your leaders who spoke the word of God to you.
Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

At different times, in different degrees, and at different stages of our life, we get a keen understanding of how the secular world operates. We can feel like we are in a pressure cooker sometimes...pressures from deadlines, bosses, family, friends and work, pressures in which our Christian faith can put us at odds, and pressures to conform, to be popular and to be accepted. Our current culture does not do a good job of handling this pressure. Sadly, it has closed its eyes to the Truth.

Do you allow yourself to be manipulated by the pressures of other people's expectations and demands? Are you able, in the midst of that pressure, to think clearly and make the right decisions based on the Truth of Jesus Christ and His Church? When we are in the pressure cooker, remember Jesus, who suffered and died because he stood for God's truth. If we fail or deny the Truth, remember: what is more true than our sin is God's forgiveness. What is more true than the pressure is the promise of Jesus, "And be sure of this: “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20).

Let's not be pressure victims, pressure pushers or pressure pawns. With all God's people we rejoice in the Truth (Jesus Christ), trust in the Truth and act in the Truth.