Category: Abide

A Life that is Victorious

We all want to be victorious. It is the way the Lord made us. He made us to win. No one wants to lose or feel like a loser. How can we live a victorious life? There is only one way to live that kind of life.

I John 5:4 For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

The first prerequisite to being an overcomer is that you must be born again. Have you been born again?

John 3:3-8 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

You must be born again of the Spirit. You will fail over and over again in the flesh. The only way that you can have the victory is in the Spirit because Jesus overcame and He lives in you if you have been born again. How do you become born again?

John 1:12,13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

If you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior then He gives you the incredible gift of becoming His child. You become born of God into His family. It is by faith that we receive Him and call upon Him.

Romans 10:9-13 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

You call on Him in faith and He will save you and you will become His child. How do you get the faith to believe? You receive the faith from hearing God’s Word.

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

It only takes a little bit of faith. Your faith will grow as you grow in your relationship with Him. Call on Him. Come to Him. He says that you will not be disappointed. As you grow in your faith then you will see victory in your life. Victory over discouragement. Victory over depression. Victory over sin and sinful habits. You will not only be sorry for the consequences but the Lord will give you a sorrow over your sin. That sorrow will lead to repentance, which is a turning away from your sin and a turning to Him, over and over again until you have been changed and see the victory. This is God’s will for you.

II Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

He is patient and He is kind. Come to Him with your struggles and your burdens. He will take them and give you His peace and His joy.

Romans 2:4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Life that Trusts

A Christian is one who trusts in the Lord. A Christian knows Him and trusts in the trustworthiness of who He is and His faithfulness to His Word. The opposite of trusting in the Lord is to lean on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.

The Lord will not forsake those who put their trust in Him.

Psalm 9:10 And those who know Your name will put their trust in You, For You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

When you put your trust in the Lord then you will not be shaken.

Psalm 21:7 For the king trusts in the Lord,
And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.

His lovingkindness will surround you.

Psalm 32:10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.

You will be blessed.

Psalm 40:4 How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.

Proverbs 16:20 He who gives attention to the word will find good, And blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.

You will not fear bad news.

Psalm 112:7 He will not fear evil tidings;
His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.

You will prosper.

Proverbs 28:25 An arrogant man stirs up strife, But he who trusts in the Lord will prosper.

You will be exalted.

Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted.

Woes come to the one who refuses to trust Him. The One who does not trust in the Lord will put their trust in someone or something else. She will not heed His voice and she will not accept instruction. She will not draw near to Him.

Zephaniah 3:1,2 Woe to her who is rebellious and defiled,
The tyrannical city!
She heeded no voice,
She accepted no instruction.
She did not trust in the Lord,
She did not draw near to her God.

Curses will come to the one who does not put their trust in the Lord.

Jeremiah 17:5 Thus says the Lord,
“Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind
And makes flesh his strength,
And whose heart turns away from the Lord.
“For he will be like a bush in the desert
And will not see when prosperity comes,
But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness,
A land of salt without inhabitant.

The choice is ours. Will we trust in the Lord and make Him our trust or will we trust in falsehood by trusting in anything or anyone else other than Him? If we trust in Him then we will cling to Him as a drowning man would cling to a life preserver thrown to Him.

Jeremiah 17:7,8 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord
And whose trust is the Lord.
“For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in a year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.

A life that trusts in the Lord will have no regrets.

A Life that Loves People

If you love God then you will love people because God loves people. He loves everyone. The Bible says that He is good to the evil and the good.

Matthew 5:45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

If you are His child then you will want to become like Him.

I John 3:1-3 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

When we see Him we will be like Him but before that happens we are in the process of becoming like Him, which means we are being conformed into His likeness while on earth.

Romans 6:5 For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

His destiny for us is to become like Him.

Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

It is through knowing Him that we become conformed to His death, His resurrection and His life.

Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;

Jesus is the Word and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. God uses His Word to transform us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

His Word becomes alive in us and replaces our old though patterns and habits.

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Just as Jesus did not come to do His own will but the will of the Father, in the same way, we also are not to do our will but the will of God.

John 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.

Just as Jesus prayed in the garden, “not My will but Thy will be done”, we too are to pray the same and desire that His will would be done.

Luke 22:42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

Jesus also taught His disciples to pray in the same way, that His will would be done.

Matthew 6:10 Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.

When you choose to follow Jesus. He will be your Lord and it is His will that becomes of utmost importance. This is what it means to die to yourself. You are dying to your will and living to do His will. This is truly the only way that you can love people. It is the way that Jesus loved you by going to the cross for you. He chose the will of the Father.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

God so loved you so that you too might love others with the same kind of love. What amazing love!

A Life with Something Better than Life

The Lord is so amazing that He actually says that there is something better than life and he wants to give it to us. It is His lovingkindness. Therefore let us praise Him if we have experienced His lovingkindness.

Psalm 63:3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You.

It is because of His lovingkindness that we can come into His presence. We need to bow in reverence to Him. There is something powerful about getting on your knees before the Lord. Many of the great men of God not only prayed but read the Word on their knees. They knew His love and bowed in reverence to Him.

Psalm 5:7 But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house, At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.

It is because of His great lovingkindness that we have salvation. For God so loved the world that He gave… Those who know Him know His lovingkindness and they are not asking why to the unanswered questions in life but are trusting in His great lovingkindness. We can’t always understand but we can always trust. It is because we trust in His lovingkindness that we can rejoice in His salvation.

Psalm 13:5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.

If we do trust in His lovingkindness then we will not be shaken.

Psalm 21:7 For the king trusts in the Lord, And through the lovingkindness of the Most High he will not be shaken.

If we trust in Him and follow Him then His lovingkindness will surround us and follow us.

Psalm 23:6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Psalm 32:10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, But he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him.

The Lord wants us to share with others His great lovingkindness towards us.

Psalm 40:10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.

It can’t get any better than this, His lovingkindness reaches to the heavens.

Psalm 36:5-7 Your lovingkindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
Your judgments are like a great deep.
O Lord, You preserve man and beast.
How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!
And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

We can take refuge in Him. We can trust Him with our sorrows and suffering. We can rejoice in Him and we can thank Him continually. He never changes and His lovingkindness is better than life. We can praise Him to Him and to others. He is amazing and His lovingkindness is unfathomable. Praise the Lord!

 

 

 

 

 

A Life that Stands Alone

One of the hardest things to do is to stand alone in the world. We long for affirmation from other humans and confirmation that we are doing what is right. However, the Lord has spoken to us about what is right and He has also given us a conscience to know what is right and wrong.

Romans 1:18,19 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them.

The Lord describes two types of people in the world and everyone falls into one of these groups. He says there are the righteous and the wicked.Over and over again in Scripture the Lord makes a contrast between the righteous and the wicked.

Proverbs 10:7 The memory of the righteous is blessed, But the name of the wicked will rot.

The righteous lives by faith and obedience to the Lord and the Lord says that it will go well with them.

Isaiah 3:10 Say to the righteous that it will go well with them,
For they will eat the fruit of their actions.

The wicked lives according to what they think is right and wrong and they will receive what they deserve. It will go badly with the wicked.

Isaiah 3:11 Woe to the wicked! It will go badly with him,
For what he deserves will be done to him.

However, there is one characteristic of the righteous that is so special that the Lord takes note of these particular righteous individuals. They stood alone in a wicked world.

Ezekiel 14:20 even though Noah, Daniel and Job were in its midst, as I live,” declares the Lord God, “they could not deliver either their son or their daughter. They would deliver only themselves by their righteousness.”

Noah found favor in God’s eyes. He walked with God even though no one else did other than his family. He was called a preacher of righteousness and he never saw one convert. He stayed faithful to the Lord and did what the Lord commanded him to do.

Genesis 6:9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

Genesis 6:22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.

Job also was called blameless and righteous before the Lord. Job lived in a time of great evil and there is not evidence that even his children sought the Lord. While they were celebrating at a party he was praying for them. He stood alone even when his wife suggested that he blame God for his troubles. Job was faithful to the Lord in the midst of great suffering and pain. The Lord called him righteous.

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil.

Daniel also stood alone in the midst of a very wicked society and even when his life was in danger he would not compromise. He remained faithful to the Lord.

Daniel 1:8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself…

Even though these three men did not see much fruit in their lifetime all three of them still speak through their lives and faithfulness to the Lord. All three stood alone and were surrounded by many wicked people and yet they remained faithful. They remained faithful to the Lord and grew strong in their faith. Were they perfect? Not at all and yet the Lord called them righteous. The righteous man shall live by faith and the faithful shall be called righteous by the Lord.

Romans 1:17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

 

 

 

A Life Filled with Joy

We all want to have joy. Sometimes it may seem that joy is not possible all of the time but actually it can be. Is not it possible to have peace all of the time and also love? Yes, the Lord wants our lives to be filled with His fruit. Joy is not just an emotion even as love, peace, patience and kindness are not merely emotions either. Joy is a well being or satisfaction and pleasantness in the spirit. It is part of the fruit of the Spirit and comes with no guilt or regret. Emotions come and go and we are not to live by them but the fruit of the Spirit is an expression of Christ in us.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Joy is knowing His presence and having His favor on your life. Joy comes from the Lord. It is a security that comes from His presence and knowing that the Lord will be with you, will guide you and has a pleasing future for you. You can try to please yourself or you can have His pleasures which last for eternity.

Psalm 16:9 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

The Lord has also given us something special in this life which will give us great joy and that is the privilege of serving Him through the spiritual gift that He has given to you. There is no one like you and although others may have the same spiritual gift as you, it will not be expressed in the same unique way. The Lord has a job for you to do and only you can do it.

I Peter 4:10,11 As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

There are two types of gifts, a speaking gift and a serving gift. If your gift is speaking then you are to speak the utterances of God, which is His Word. His Word has the power and you are the mouthpiece to speak it. If your gift is serving then He has given you supernatural strength though His Spirit. If you are filled with His Word and His Spirit then He will be glorified in your life and the church will be built up.

II Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

You must know His word if you want to be used by Him. He uses His Word. We are only His vessel through which He speaks. If we know His Word then we will be prepared for the goods works that he has planned for each of us.

II Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.

You must keep a clear conscience so that the Holy Spirit is not quenched in your life. The Lord uses His Spirit and His Word. Sanctified means to be cleansed and set apart for a holy purpose.

II Timothy 2:21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.

Finally, we must continually humble ourselves before the Lord, for He give grace to the humble. Jesus was full of grace and truth. The Word of God is truth and grace allows us to live out the truth and therefore be full of truth through the power of the Holy Spirit.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

When you are prepared and set apart and obedient to His Word then the Word becomes flesh through you and Jesus Christ is glorified. You are a part of His body and the spiritual gift that He has given you is meant to be an expression of Him to others. The word joy has the same root as the word grace and gift. You will have great joy when you exercise your spiritual gift through the grace that He gives to you.

John 17:15-19 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

Jesus has sent us into the world. He has prayed that we would be cleansed and set apart through His Word. He wants to use you. When He uses you to fulfill His plan for the world then you will have great joy. When you are faithful to Him and obedient to Him and His will for your life then your life will overflow with joy. May you be blessed by entering into His joy and hearing His words to you, “Well done, My good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your Master.” What has He called you to do?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Life that Loves

The greatest of all is love and love is the most powerful influence in the world. When we learn to love as Christ did then our world will be changed. We will be willing to die for each other even as Christ died for us.

Romans 5:7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.

This word good means the highest form of love. What the Lord is saying is that someone would not be willing to give up their life for someone who does the right thing  but perhaps maybe someone would die for a person who loved them. Love is the greatest power in the world. We will always want to be around those who love us.

I John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

We know that Jesus loves us. He died for us and He would do it again. He did not die for us because we were good but He died for us because He is good. Jesus Christ is the expression of the highest form of love.

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

The only way we can love with the love of Christ is if we die to ourselves first.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

We must deny ourselves and follow Him. It is a daily dying to ourselves and it is the path to freedom and to Christlikeness.

Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

This life is only possible through His Spirit and by His Spirit. He will only lead you where He has gone before you. There is no fear in a life of dying to self and following Him. In your dying you will begin living and in your death others will find life.

Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Jesus went before us. He was crushed for our iniquities and by His scourging we are healed. He died for us.

Isaiah 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.

The Lord is pleased when we offer ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice. How is it seen by others? It is seen through our love for others as we are poured out as an offering to Him.

Isaiah 53:10-12 But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
As a result of the anguish of His soul,
He will see it and be satisfied;
By His knowledge the Righteous One,
My Servant, will justify the many,
As He will bear their iniquities.
Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great,
And He will divide the booty with the strong;
Because He poured out Himself to death,
And was numbered with the transgressors;
Yet He Himself bore the sin of many,
And interceded for the transgressors.

You have the opportunity to be like Jesus when you intercede for those who have sinned against you. You may not be able to bear their sins as Jesus did on the cross but when you pray “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”, you will be more like Him than you will ever know and others will see Jesus in you.

Luke 23:24 But Jesus was saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves.

The greatest is love and those who love are the greatest.

I Corinthians 13:13 But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 

A Life that Has a Home

All of us at different times in our lives will feel lonely. Sometimes we can be in the midst of people but other times we need a home. The Lord made us to have a home. Home is where the heart goes to even if the body has to wait for awhile. Home is where you are loved and the body, soul and spirit can rest.

Psalm 68:6 God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

The devil destroys the home and keeps his prisoners from being able to go home.

Isaiah 14:7 Who made the world like a wilderness And overthrew its cities, Who did not allow his prisoners to go home?

When Jesus walked and lived on earth He often sent people home after they were cleansed and forgiven.

Matthew 9:6,7  But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.” And he got up and went home.

The Lord was not afraid to go into the homes of the sick, poor and needy.

Matthew 26:6 Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper,

After we become a Christian He wants us to home and share with our family what great things He has done.

Mark 5:19 …but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”

God is a restorer and still wants to restore. Those who serve Him will also want to restore for others the paths that lead home.

Isaiah 58:12 Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

Sometimes the Lord calls His children to serve Him and to leave their homes. He promises to provide other homes for them and many more than what they gave up for Him. The Lord is no man’s debtor. He always gives back more to us than what we give to Him.

Luke 18:28-30 Peter said, “Behold, we have left our own homes and followed You.” And He said to them, “Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life.”

Finally, He promises all of us who have followed Him and trusted Him in this life, a home in heaven.

John 14:2 In My Father’s house are many dwelling laces; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.

One day we will go and be with Him and what a glorious day that will be. Don’t get discouraged in this life. Remain faithful to Him for He is faithful to you if you have trusted Him. Yes, one day soon we will go home forever. The older you get the more your heart longs to go to that eternal home where you are loved and where you body, soul and spirit can rest forever. He has a place prepared for you.

 

 

 

A Life that is Not Timid

Three times in Scripture the Lord talks about the timid and timidity and uses the same Greek word. The first time is in the Gospels when He was with His disciples and He rebuked them for being timid. He reproved them doubting His love.

Mark 4:36-40 Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, “Why are you cowardly? Do you still have no faith?”

The word cowardly in this passage has the meaning of being timid. He reproved them because they questioned whether He cared about them during the storm in their lives. The Lord does not reprove us for being afraid but He does reprove us for doubting His love when we are afraid. He wants you to by faith, trust Him and His love for you then He wants you to come to Him so that He can calm the storms in your life. Has He not promised to care for you and He loves you.

I Peter 5:6,7 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

It is more tempting to doubt His love than to doubt His power. Martha and Mary did not doubt His love but His power when their brother died. 

John 11:21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.

Again, if He had been there the situation would not have happened.

John 11:32Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Often we do not come to Him because we feel that He really does not care about us in our situation.

II Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.

The Lord says that He has not given us a spirit of timidity. He wants us to come to Him to receive power to face the storms that He will still. He wants us to love Him and loving Him is coming to Him with our fears. He wants us to be disciplined in our relationship with Him and give Him our cares and concerns every morning before we face the day.

Revelation 21:7,8 He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

The word here “cowardly” in the book of Revelation means the same as timid. In all three of these instances in Scripture it is the same Greek word, which means timid or cowardly or afraid. The second death is hell. These are the cowards, timid and those who are afraid to come to Him. Sin and unbelief causes us to not go to Him.

Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;

Grace is an invitation to come to Him and faith is coming to Him. Salvation is the gift He gives to those who come to Him. His salvation includes not only eternal salvation in the life to come but saving us from the storms in this present life, .

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Are you struggling with storms in life? Go to Him and experience His rest for your soul in this present life. Are you struggling with sin and guilt? Go to Him and experience His forgiveness and cleansing. He loves you and cares about the things that concern you, whether it is an outward storm or an inward storm. Jesus is our salvation and came to save us.

 

A Life of Wisdom

Wisdom comes from the Lord. It is one of the gifts that He promises to anyone who will ask Him and He will give it generously…and without reproach. What a beautiful picture of who the Lord is and how different He is from many of us. He gives when we do not deserve and He does not remind us that we do not deserve His goodness!

James 1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

Wisdom is the right application of knowledge in any situation. When we act with wisdom there is great benefit to not only us but to everyone involved. Wisdom sets things right side up. Have you ever felt as though your life was a mess or upside down? You need wisdom.

Colossians 2:3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

All of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Him. There is no wisdom apart from Him. When you know Him then you have access to all of the treasures of wisdom. His wisdom is a picture of who He is.

James 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.

When we become like Christ then wisdom will characterize our lives.

James 3:13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.

If you live according to God’s wisdom then you do not have to constantly be defending yourself to others but your life will manifest the fruit of wisdom.

Matthew 11:19 …Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds.”

Your life will be vindicated by its deeds if it is built on God’s Word.

Proverbs 24:3 By wisdom a house is built, And by understanding it is established;

There is no wisdom that will go against God’s Word. If someone says that something is okay or gives advice that is not in accordance with God’s Word then it is not wisdom so do not act on it even if they are in a position of an advisor, such as a pastor, a Christian counselor, etc. Examine what everyone says by what is written in Scripture.

Proverbs 21:30 There is no wisdom and no understanding And no counsel against the Lord.

He who loves herself will get wisdom. Getting wisdom is one of the most thrilling aspects of your relationship with the Lord. You will understand cause and effect. Rather than deal with the symptom of problems you will be able to understand the root of problems.

Proverbs 19:8 He who gets wisdom loves his own soul; He who keeps understanding will find good.

With wisdom you will see life more from God’s perspective. You will love life and enjoy it and want to know more of God’s ways. Wisdom makes life pleasant.

Proverb 2:10 For wisdom will enter your heart And knowledge will be pleasant to your soul;

Wisdom is how to live life in this world with less pain. Just like with any sport, the better you get at it the more you enjoy it. It is the same with wisdom, the more you apply wisdom to life then the more you will enjoy doing life.

Proverbs 10:23 Doing wickedness is like sport to a fool, And so is wisdom to a man of understanding.

May you ask Him for wisdom and be blessed. He wants to give His wisdom to you.

Proverbs 3:13 How blessed is the man who finds wisdom and the man who gains understanding.