“The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, Look! There is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world!” John the baptist noticed Jesus approaching him to be baptized. Jesus went through the normal channels to set the example for us to follow. He was baptized by John even though John told Jesus, I’m not worthy to tie your shoes. Jesus said, we must fulfill all manner of righteousness. Jesus had to come the same way we must come to be right with God. To be baptized is an outward expression of what happened to you spiritually. Death, burial and resurrection. We go down under the water when baptized, which exemplifies the death and burial of Jesus Christ, and then we are pulled up out of the water exemplifying Jesus being raised from the dead, which now you have been through water baptism. All things have become new, and old things have passed away. Your new recreated human spirit is then sinless, and you are in right standing with God. But the sin had to be dealt with first, thus the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice. Jesus has taken away the sin of the entire world, but because mankind has free will not everyone chooses Christ. God said, my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. This world system is designed to keep us so busy, and distracted from the things of God that most people will miss this message, die and go straight to hell when it’s all over, which is very soon. Look around you in this world, it’s falling apart, so the Lord can fall into place in your life if you let Him, because the time is short. Jesus will return for those who have chosen Him before their body dies. Now you know.

“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.” Perfect peace can only come from God. Jesus is the Prince of peace who understands our struggles. He walked the earth with God’s perfect peace as a man without His deity. In other words He didn’t use the power He had in heaven, His heavenly status was stripped away to conform to mankind’s make-up, yet without the sin nature like we were born into. God will guard us and keep us in perfect peace once our mind is stayed on Him. Being steadfast in our minds with both its inclination and its character locked in place brings change. You must go after this peace, if you want it, like a bull dog on a bone, tenaciously, with a relentless state of mind until you get it. As we put and keep our minds on the Lord, peace is automatically transmitted to our hearts and souls which will cause our bodies to experience less stress in it. (Joshua 1:8) Meditate in God’s word (the bible) night and day and you’ll get more than just peace in your life. God will keep us in perfect peace, that’s a promise. But discipline and perseverance are required of us to manifest His peace in our lives.

“So then, whatever you desire that others would do to and for you, even so do also to and for them, for this is (sums up) the Law and the Prophets.” Do to others what you would have them do to you. That is an attitude of love. When we take the first steps towards peace or establishing camaraderie or to set a standard of life for ourselves, we begin to live the lifestyle Jesus lived while walking the earth, and His entire ministry was based on love for others, or He would have never came to deliver us from our undeliverable state of being. Only God’s love could change the nature in mankind from fallen, (dead to God), to alive to God in right standing with Him. This act of love, to do to others what you would have them do to you, is beneficial to you and the other person. Planting seeds of love by treating people with respect, kindness, and an obvious caring spirit towards them, puts you in God’s good graces. In God’s good graces we find favor, and clarity in life for ourselves. We are love children of a love God. We as christians should always imitate our heavenly Father. Start sowing seeds of compassion, and kindness to others, it’s a good start for the rest of your life.

“Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.” Waiting doesn’t seem to be a part of today’s culture anywhere. As we do wait on the Lord, He shall renew our strength though (Isaiah 40:31). Today’s verse also speaks of being strong and letting our hearts take courage. We can willfully be strong when we don’t feel like it, but you must invoke your will. Make yourself do it regardless of your thoughts or feelings. Many of us get defeated because of the negative thoughts that pop in our minds. These thoughts do not have legal rights to any of your make-up. Handle the bad thoughts by working the word of God. There are scriptures for everything that has to do with life and how to overcome it. When we expect the Lord to, and have true anticipation for His help, that’s acting in faith, which brings God’s resources on the scene of your challenges. The Lord wants us to be brave and of good courage, with a stout and enduring heart. Through faith and patience we obtain the promises of God (Hebrews 6:12). Talk the talk, but you must walk the walk.

“For godly grief and the pain God is permitted to direct, produce a repentance that leads and contributes to salvation and deliverance from evil, and it never brings regret; but worldly grief (the hopeless sorrow that is characteristic of the pagan world) is deadly [breeding and ending in death].” When God allows sorry to come to your doorstep, there’s a different purpose behind it than depressing you out of your mind. The purpose of Godly sorrow is to lead us to repent not take us out. Worldly sorry is hopeless, it’s not intended to bring you hope, and it is only able to produce in you, things which motivate your demise, no comfort there. When we are going through our wilderness experiences of trouble, the world’s advice is limited, it may possibly lead to a temporary fix, but from the root of your core, you know it ain’t over. There is a sustaining comfort of hope when the Lord is in the picture on your behalf. Everything we need for this life and its woes, are outlined in the word of God, which is God’s will for us, the bible. Our part is to find out what belongs to us from the Creator. That would include your rightful authority over evil being restored to you. If you don’t know or haven’t learned the basics of who you are in Christ Jesus, you will always be fighting an unnecessary battle. There you have it, two different sorrows, which you will, or at least have the opportunity to experience. Get away from people that agree with your troubles to the point they say, wow you’re really having a go of trouble, that makes you feel worse not comforted. Godly comfort says, you got this, and I’ll help you through it.

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” This verse can be interpreted in a many ways. Our purpose in life is connected to prosperity as we allow it to play out. Troubles, opposition, and getting weary from life’s struggles are a part of our development. We must see a thing through once it is motivated by your God given purpose, regardless of the demonic influences that come against you. Out of our hearts flow the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23 KJB), and we find ourselves many times dealing with our issues unaware of the treasures that wait for us by following our heart. The Lord’s connection to us from heaven to earth is through our hearts, our human spirits. In the creation of mankind, God put in us everything we need to have a successful victorious life. When our heart is in a thing, and your assignment is from the Lord, treasure will be in the picture, because God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. To find and fulfill your purpose, you must have close fellowship with God. This verse could be interpreted differently depending on your perspective. Storing up treasures on earth opposed to storing up treasures in heaven. Storing up on earth has to do with your personal gain, and your heart may be in that, which is not God inspired. Treasure for future use in heaven is God inspired and is a selfless act proving where your heart is positioned. Nothing wrong with having money and a lot of it, as long as the money doesn’t have you. Where your heart is, your treasure will provide its location, earthly or heavenly minded.

“Why are you cast down, O my inner self? And why should you moan over me and be disquieted within me? Hope in God and wait expectantly for Him, for I shall yet praise Him, Who is the help of my countenance, and my God.” The inner self can get disquieted within us. That’s when worry and anxiety have taken a seat in your soul. Our human spirits are the real us, the inner man, but our souls which are not the same as our hearts or spirits, can be put to the test. In this area of our minds, where our thinking processes happen, is also where the good fight of faith in God occurs. It’s a good fight because we win. Once we have renewed our minds, (our way of thinking to conform to God’s way), by the washing of the word of God in our souls (Ephesians 5:26). Until we renew our minds with the word of God, we are prone to worry as usual, and have unnecessary anxiety like you always have. Once we understand the truth of what God is really saying to us, which pertains to life and godliness, you become less concerned of being easily moved into temptation or bad decisions. Our best bet is to learn how to live above the evil in this world which is what Jesus prayed to the Father for us (John 17:15 KJB). If you do the work you will reap the harvest of keeping peace in your soul.

“Train up a child in the way he should go [and in keeping with his individual gift or bent], and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Training our children in the way they should go is very important when they are young, it’ll stick better, and the words of the bible in their hearts will not depart from them even when they are older. The power behind God’s word operating in the heart of a believer is the nightmare of Satan and his crew who have come to steal, kill, and destroy. The foundations of our life are supposed to be built by the family unit (good morals, discipline and behavior, etc.), preferably with dad in the picture. But things are not hopeless without dad. I was a single parent for three years and I did bible study with my two and four year old children every night, just the three of us making it happen, and the same thing with my youngest son later on. To this day as they are adults now, they are flourishing in life with children of their own learning about God’s word at a young age. The importance of training up a child in the way they should go, Is totally realized after they’ve gone through the normally scheduled hard places of life, which is to make you stronger, not an opportunity for you to give up the fight. The way we all should go is based on the living word of God. It’s alive and sharper than any two edged sword. As children get older, they begin to assert themselves. As their will is involved, parents are to simply keep them in prayer. Trust God!

“External religious worship [religion as it is expressed in outward acts] that is pure and unblemished in the sight of God the Father is this: to visit and help and care for the orphans and widows in their affliction and need, and to keep oneself unspotted and uncontaminated from the world.” To be in this world but not of it has been one of the greatest challenges for christians since long ago. We are ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. Our temporary existence here on earth may seem like the final destination but it isn’t. There is life after death. When we can care for those in dire need that can’t help themselves, and not allow the stench of the world’s ways to affect our way of thinking while doing it, then we have a tight fellowship with the Lord, it’s the only way. Without experience in working God’s word for your troubles on a regular basis, you won’t stand without being influenced by undesirable people, and circumstances. The word of God is our sword and shield against anything coming to kill, steal, and or destroy that which God has developed in us. Once the christian has lost his or her salt saving preservative qualities against evil, the world will have your undivided attention, and temptations will be harder to resist. God is always about helping people. He’d rather we go into the hardest, toughest most undesirable places to share His gospel than He cares about how many members the church congregation has grown. Pure religion is not what most church folk think it is.

“And this I pray: that your love may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight [that your love may display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment], So that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble].” Did you know your love can abound in knowledge and depth of insight. To have a more comprehensive discernment, you will have the ability to understand where a person is really coming from. When you’re walking in the agape love of God, you have the proper discernment to deal with people where they really are concerning their motives or intent, (it’s like you pick up an extra awareness by loving harder). Our love grows as we love others more and more. To love the unlovely is a true testament to your love level. Anyone can love someone else who shows love to you first. But to love a person through offense, disrespect or straight up nasty, takes patience to achieve. Allow love (God) to abound in you, and you won’t recognize yourself. Nothing can stand against the power of love.