Today's encouragement comes from John 16:33, where our Lord Jesus said this:
"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."
Notice that the Christian churchman's peace is entirely experienced in the Lord Jesus Christ. It may never be found in the "world," or in anything other than Christ. Our union with Jesus causes us to be able to be genuinely cheerful, even as we are going through very difficult hardships.
All of this is because our Savior has "overcome the world." The world no longer has any controlling power over us (who are in Christ). In Jesus all true believers have also "overcome" it (the world).
[Puritan quote of the day: "Begin with simple things, for all truth begins with simple things. A man can never write good cursive till he has first learned his letters.” —Robert Harris, in, "The Way to True Happiness"]