“The Lord is close to those who are of a broken heart and saves such as are crushed with sorrow for sin and are humbly and thoroughly penitent.” The Lord is close to those who have a broken heart, and He saves those who are crushed with sorrow. If you are going through the ringer right now with a crisis like never before, there is hope. Right now your spirit may be crushed with a heaviness that hardly allows you to breath. The end is not yet my friend. Until we have touched sorrow, and felt the sting of evil that can kill, we will not easily understand what we’re made of, how strong we truly are. We are capable of so much more beyond what our minds are screaming. We must learn about ourselves from the source, our Creator. He is the manufacturer of mankind. He and He alone knows how much you can take. You would not be going through this storm of life unless He allowed it. Why would a loving God let His children go through such a horrible experience. He knows we can handle it, but we may not. If you’ve had enough of being broken, bitter, looked down upon, allow the creator Jesus Christ to be in all your business (Proverbs 3:6). He’ll make a way out of no way, and by putting all of your heart, your mind, and might towards seeking Him, then His grace alone will start turning things around in your life. You’ve got nothing to lose, but everything to gain. Trust Him!

“This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you.” The commandment is clear to love one another as the Lord has loved us. He gave the example by giving His only begotten Son to die for our sins. While we were enemies to God, He still gave His only Son as a sacrifice for us (Romans 5:10). We don’t have to give up our children in this way, but we could give up on having to be right all the time. We could give up on obeying our emotions in times of trouble. We could give up on letting people treat us like dirt just because we don’t want to be alone. We could give up on allowing demonic influences to rule our lives. The love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts at the time we became christians. That love first comes as a seed which must grow. The growth process begins when we decide it’s not about our feelings but faith. When someone disrespects you, there’s an opportunity to walk in love, and not to react to their level of ignorance. There’s always a way to deal with drama folk or straight up ignorant people and not participate with their nonsense. As we love one another the love of God in us grows. But it’s the friction of crisis or storms in our lives that test our love level. Faith works by love, so if your love meter is low, so is your faith gauge that reaches God (Galatians 5:6). God is love, and love is still the answer for this world’s fallen state.

“Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” To be saved is an acknowledgement of Jesus having died for your sins and being raised from the dead for your justification. Justice is in need of being satisfied because of the sin of mankind. We are born into sin and raised in iniquity. Unless you receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, you will be lost to eternal damnation. In other words, someone had to pay for all the wrong doings of mankind from the beginning of life until the end of the world. Without receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, you will have to pay for all of your wrong doings (sin), yourself. To die and go to hell is forever. It would take forever to pay the price of our sins. God is love, but He is a God of justice in the end. Free will is a serious thing. Choose life my friend, because death is without Jesus is an everlasting punishment that never ends.

“that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,” God can strengthen us with might through His Spirit. Our help from God comes from His investment in us. We are new creatures in Christ after the new birth experience. Once we are born again (become christians) our spirits are alive to God even though our minds are just as ignorant as before we got saved. The renewing of our minds is vital to be able to conform to God’s leadings more easily. The word of God we’ve learned will always agree with what the Spirit of God is saying to us. The more we believe and experience the Lord’s help for strength, or anything, the more victorious in life we’ll be. We have the power in us, we just need to know how to release it into our lives on a daily basis (2 Corinthians 4:7). You are a spirit, you have a soul, and you live in a body of flesh. Once we pass on to the next life, you the spirit (the inner man), will not cease to exist, only your physical body. Your soul is where your thinking processor is along with your emotions, it will continue after death with you. God deals with us spirit to spirit, not according to our feelings or emotions. Our help will always come through our human spirits where God strengthens us. And if your mind, your thinking processor doesn’t block it, the energy in your inner man will flow from God throughout your being. Confess the word of God out loud, and release the power!

“Therefore humble yourselves [demote, lower yourselves in your own estimation] under the mighty hand of God, that in due time He may exalt you,”. It’s ok to think of yourself highly but not more highly than you ought to. As we humble ourselves God won’t have to humble us (1Peter 5:6). Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18). Being humble can mean different things to different people. It may well be humility for a person with a strong personality to keep their silence in a heated discussion. Holding our peace when we’ve successfully gone through a difficulty while someone else is trying to tell us how to do it differently. Humility of the heart is the Lord’s idea of being humble. Humility and meekness are cousins to each other. The meek shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5). Since the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, God can cause us to eat the good of the land and have the best this world can offer. Staying humble can also be challenging. Without being consistent in the things of God, we can slip back into high levels of pride which can be detrimental to our humility. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so He won’t have to humble.

“O GIVE thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His doings among the peoples.” As we proclaim the Lord’s greatness of what He has done, we line up to receive blessings from Him. Doing the Lord’s work on the earth is one of our primary kingdom functions. Growing His family is very important to Him. Snatching as many people out of darkness as we can. Telling others about God is the only way people will know of His greatness. He’s God, He wants to be praised. Bowing down before Him is the posture of humility and submission. Once you are submitted to Him, the devil begins to lose his grip on your life. Satan cannot stand in the presence of God. As we proclaim God’s greatness His presence gets on us. The christian enemy (Satan) knows whether or not you are submitted to God. Demons and Angels alike know when a christian believer has the faith of God in them. Giving thanks to God says, you know God’s there, and that’s your faith speaking. And all things are possible for those who believe ( Mark 11:23). Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness.

“We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.” All things work together for good to those who love God. Without loving God, all things may not be working together on your behalf. We love God by keeping His commandments (John 14:21). We are called according to His design and purpose. The great plan of reconciliation is a plan to go out into all the world and preach, and teach the gospel. Our purpose should be in line with God’s purpose for our individual lives. It would behoove us to use our gifts and talents for God. As we use those gifts and talents for God, and not exclusively for the world’s sake alone, that’s the plan. God uses many situations and circumstances to shape and mould His people into mature faith believers. As we learn to walk by faith and not by sight alone, we build an invisible fence around us of God’s protection. All things will work together for our good as we stay in faith believing God. Our hope is in God our Savior the one who is everywhere at the same time (He is omnipresent).He is on top of each person’s situation. No storm, or great trouble is allowed to come to us until it has been approved by God. He knows our limits even though our minds say otherwise. These days are filled with evil, but Jesus has mastered and defeated evil long ago.

“THEREFORE BE imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father].” To be imitators of God we must know Him first. We want an informed opinion of the Lord for ourselves. It’s a personal relationship with God that matters most. In the gospels we can learn the ways of Jesus, how He dealt with the normal circumstances of life. Looking at how He responds to people and their mess. Follow His example of how He doesn’t compromise His calling. No matter the pressure, even up to the point of being crucified on the cross, He kept the faith and completed His God given purpose. To be imitators of God is to have our portion of troubles that go along with it. But the Lord has given us everything we need to be victorious. Our job is to find out what our God given purpose is, and by doing so we will be in training towards becoming imitators of God automatically. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). He takes care of that which concerns you. We can’t follow His example if we don’t know Him imitately. He wants all of you pursuing Him, spirit, soul and body. With all your mind, all of your will, and everything that is within you must go after Him. In thought purpose and action with a Christ centered mentality must we seek Him. By doing so, you will be an imitator of God.

“Blessed (happy, to be envied) is the man who is patient under trial and stands up under temptation, for when he has stood the test and been approved, he will receive [the victor’s] crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him.” To stand the test and be approved gets us the victor’s crown of life. The victor’s crown of life is only given to those who stand their ground under pressure. To the ones who believe God’s promises, and act on them while under attack. Sometimes we have to go on the offensive with the word of the Lord to back down the enemy. Our armour is sure and trust worthy in battle (Ephesians 6:10-18). God has equiped us for battle with all that is necessary for victorious living. The purpose of trials is to gain stronger faith in God. Without trials and crisis, we would be prone to follow the temptations of our fleshy nature. Without the rain we’d never truly appreciate the sunshine. We are human and can be influenced by good or evil. Without making a conscious decision to follow Jesus as Lord over us, our old man (before you got saved attitude) will take your life down the wrong path. Without the restraining love of God that’s in us being in charge of our lives, this world’s demonic influences can rule us. Happy and to be envied is the man or woman who is patient under trial. To stand up under temptation in itself is a major accomplishment in the things of God. You can get there. Just do the work, and you’ll live above the evil in this world.

“Beloved, if God loved us so [very much], we also ought to love one another.” God has set the example for us to follow. He demonstrates His love for us by sending Jesus. Jesus, God’s only begotten Son died by way of crucifixion. He suffered on the cross without having ever sinned a day in His life. God so loved the whole world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). This level of showing love goes beyond any imagination of human thought. The love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts at the new birth. It must be cultivated, exercised and practiced over and over. The best way to cultivate this agape love in us, is by dealing with unlovely people. In the seed of love there is self-control, patience, and more to hold us down, and lift us up. This is a commandment from the Lord, not a suggestion. If we would simply do the work, and learn how to suffer for good, we’d be a walking tower of comfort for many. As we love one another, the love of God in us will grow. Distance yourself from unlovely people. Connect with positive folk of deep character and tried integrity. Surround yourself with the people of God who are on the move for the Kingdom of God. Our time here on earth is short. Let’s win as many people for the Lord as we can. Your love for God grows as we obey His teachings and precepts (1John 5:2-3).