“‭But when the goodness and loving-kindness of God our Savior to man [as man] appeared,[5] He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but because of His own pity and mercy, by [the] cleansing [bath] of the new birth (regeneration) and renewing of the Holy Spirit,” Because of God’s mercy we have been saved. Mankind could not save themselves so the Lord, and only the Lord could bring us from our fallen state to become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We can never be right with God by doing good works. Good works are a natural thing having nothing to do with changing our human spirit which was dead to God before being changed by Him. Through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit we became new creatures in Christ. You became something that never existed before. The term born again is that of the spiritual nature. Our dead to God human spirit was reborn, not our flesh. The body will be staying behind here on earth once we transition to heaven. In heaven we will have glorified bodies like Jesus has now. All the work Jesus did on earth when He walked it, was to prove by working God’s word and being obedient to faith, we could overcome anything. He earned the right to be called Lord of all, although He was that before coming to earth. He fulfilled all manner of righteousness so that on every level of life, we are covered. As we follow Jesus’ teachings and precepts we walk in His righteousness. The goodness of God is without measure and His kindness reaches a thousand generations. Thank God for His mercy and loving kindness towards us.

“Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God’s unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it].” When we approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, that is our faith in demonstration. We must know that He exists and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). He will give grace to help in times of need. All of His power and resources are available to us as we seek Him. Most of us will shy away from God especially when we’ve self inflicted a bad situation. But the Lord is gracious to rescue us from all our afflictions. We receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need by coming to Him boldly. The boldness we have to come to Him is the evidence of a strong believer in God’s willingness to help. If we shy away from God, when we mess up or have lost our way, this is a sign of little faith in Him. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). So come boldly to the throne of grace no matter what you’re dealing with, He will help you in your time of need. He cares about you watchfully and will deliver you supernaturally if necessary. But we must come! If you have access to a hammer and there’s a nail that must be driven into something, and you don’t pick up the hammer, what else can anyone do to help you. Let’s wake up to the realization of the position God has put all His children in, and utilize what’s already been given. Come boldly now!

“‭I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]” To have perfect peace and confidence is possible. By now most people realize that life on planet earth is not without trouble, it goes with the turf. But Jesus has overcome the trouble we face in the world. The question is how do we get His victory into our lives. We can have all of God’s promises by spending time in His word, the bible. Living according to the Lord’s plan will give you the peace that passes all understanding, not as the world gives but as God Himself gives (John 14:27). The fact that Jesus defeated the one who causes trouble for the entire world, gives us hope to go forth knowing He has our best interest at hand. God has gone before us and made all the crooked places straight (Isaiah 45:2). We must have faith in the finished work at Calvary. Once we understand our authority in Christ, we can go with the necessary confidence to have continuous peace. Dropping so-called friends that produce drama will add to your natural peace. Once we’ve made the adjustments for peace in the natural realm, the supernatural peace (peace that passes all understanding) will flow more freely in your life. Self inflicted unrest is a thing you know. How we live has much to do with having peace. Live with and for the Prince of Peace who is Jesus Christ, and you’ll have peace.

“‭Let your speech at all times be gracious (pleasant and winsome), seasoned [as it were] with salt, [so that you may never be at a loss] to know how you ought to answer anyone [who puts a question to you].” Is your speech seasoned with salt. Are the words coming out of your mouth gracious or full of harsh impatience, full of malicious intent. We are the salt of the earth and our speech should be indicative of walking with Christ (Matthew 5:13). The text says let your speech be pleasant and winsome, meaning we can choose our words once we get a thought we want to verbalize. Thinking before speaking is having control over the outcome of your future. Our words become creative entities that can and will produce over time. God’s words produce instantly but we have creative power with measure. The Lord has creative power by speech without measure (Genesis 1:3). How we witness the gospel to others should be words seasoned with salt. Our words can build up or tear down another person. How we deliver our words, the way we say things is important. Some people are used to loud, bodacious atmospheres in the home. Other people are used to lower volume talk almost like walking on eggshells. When our speech is released with salt, delivered from the spirit of understanding, you will get through to almost anyone without offending them. Let your conversation always be full of grace seasoned with salt. We are the salt of the land, let’s get salty.

“‭You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” A city built on a hill cannot be hidden, we are the light of the world because Jesus lives in us, we shine His glorious love, and compassion to all. The more we fellowship with the Lord the brighter our light gets. The world is in darkness because of the fall of mankind. Darkness represents the evil in this world. The light is always presented by the good deeds of God’s children. The light represents all that is good, positive, and without doubt or disbelief of any kind. We christians are the light of the world, and the preserving salt that keeps the evil from being worse than it is. Without the restraining power of the Holy Ghost, satan would overrun everything and everyone with his campaign of evil. But the darkness was defeated long ago when Jesus went to hell and gave the devil a holy beat down to get back our authority in the earth. We can live above the evil in this world by obeying God’s commandments. His commandments are not grievous to walk in, but it’s a discipline that keeps us under the Lord’s umbrella of protection and favor. When a christian knows their authority in Christ, it’s a game changer. Our light can shine so bright that even demons will tremble when we’re in their vicinity, because all they see when they look at you is the brightness of Christ. You are the light of the world, make the Lord proud, shine the hell out of this world.

“‭For I know that my Redeemer and Vindicator lives, and at last He [the Last One] will stand upon the earth.” He surely lives and He lives in us and delivers us from all our afflictions. We have been redeemed from the curse of the law which leads everyone under that law straight to hell in the end. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). Once we know what our Redeemer has redeemed us from there is freedom from condemnation and all sense of guilt. When we are led by our spirits and not by our flesh, we have no sin consciousness. We have been redeemed from having to live a life of poverty and been given the opportunity to live the abundant life the Lord has promised us. The word of the Lord is conditional as far as receiving the help we need from Him. We must live inside the boundaries of the law of the Spirit of life. This law helps us stay clear of wrong doings. God’s people are destroyed from lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). The more we seek the Lord, the more we can live in the promises of a redeemed lifestyle, which is headed up by God Himself. He will never let you down no matter what things look like. Our Redeemer lives!

“But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].” I always say, faith is the hand that takes from God. Without faith we wouldn’t be christians. You had to believe that Jesus died for your sins and then confessing Him as Lord out of your mouth. That my friend is faith. You’re trusting and believing in something, or in this case, someone you cannot see. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, it is the unseen reality of what’s yours already (Hebrews 11:1). We have all the promises of God now, by faith. Which means to complete the circuit of connection from heaven to earth, we must act on what God said is ours. If you believe something emphatically, there’s unseen power in that, it’s your faith system activated. In these moments we’re not concerned about failing or coming short of the mark, because we have such a strong conviction it’s going to come to pass, and manifest for us. So without faith it is impossible to please God, and without faith God would have no one to interact with on His level. Faith in God simply trusts whatever He has spoken to be all that matters for us to have victorious living now.

“‭Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail).” Many of us have been trained to carry our burdens as if it is what it is, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Our trust in God opens the door for burdens to be lifted. First of all, we must believe God can and is willing to do this for us. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done in life that’s not so honorable, God will and has forgiven us of all sin. Confess it out of your life, apologize to the Lord, ask for forgiveness and keep it moving. It’s much easier to cast our burdens and concerns on the Lord without the sense of condemnation on the mind. 1John 1:9 is for christians who have committed sin. We are saved, not sinless, we will become sinless in the next life with the Lord after shedding these earth suits, our bodies. We will never be forsaken by God, He cares about us more than we can imagine. God accepts us regardless of our shortcomings and mess ups. Mankind will hold things against each other that may have occurred years ago, which was already settled. To bring up again that which was already remedied is unwarranted abuse, and designed to keep us in bondage. The Lord doesn’t play these games and He can be counted on even when we’ve screwed up big time. It’s not being held against you in God’s program of grace and favor. So cast all your cares on the Lord because He truly cares for you.

“‭The liberal person shall be enriched, and he who waters shall himself be watered.” We’re speaking of generosity here today. A generous person will prosper, and to be a refresher of another’s soul is priceless. We can be the recipients of many blessings by simply having a giving heart. Some people do it naturally and there are others who are straight up tightwads when it comes to giving away anything. The law of reciprocity is always in effect and it doesn’t care what has been sown, good or bad. You reap what you sow, (Luke 6:38). When we refresh another person’s soul, our words are bringing some form of relief to their minds, helping to ease some stress of a conflict, or pressure from work, or out of control children. Being a generous person comes more easily to some more than others. In following the teachings and precepts of the Lord, we learn His nature and character. True followers of Christ have a Christ inside mindedness that keeps our feelings and emotions at bay, so we can serve our brothers and sisters in the Lord. Iron sharpening iron is unto the edifying of the church. We need each other to grow into maturity in Christ. This word today says, the generous person will prosper. Since it’s from the word of God, it’s a surety, it can be counted as law. The laws of God work for anyone willing to work it to their advantage. Refresh others and you will be refreshed.

“‭For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.” This scripture is the foundation to becoming a Christian. We believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, and confess with our mouths that He is Lord. Once this verse is acted upon with genuine belief, you are saved, a christian. We are declared righteous once we adhere to, trust in, and rely on Christ. When we speak, we release our faith. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth will speak (Luke 6:45). Whatever’s deep down in our hearts, something we’ve heard over and over, and we believe that thing, once it’s confessed, or spoken, we release power into the atmosphere for change. That change can be good or bad, depending on what you’ve allowed into your ear-gate, because eventually it will reside in your heart. Faith comes by hearing something again and again, preferably the word of God. Our right standing with God is by faith. There’s no proof of it other than what we’ve been told by someone which was based on the Bible. We choose to believe the bible is the truth. anything and everything we receive from the Lord is by faith. We ask Him for it, through prayer, we believe in our hearts He heard our prayer, and we thank Him for the answer before it manifests in this natural realm, that’s faith! And since you believe and you act on your belief, He hugs you tighter because you are right with Him.