“Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.” This world we live in was created by an unseen entity. The unseen realm is where God, His angels and Satan are visible. From heaven long ago God said, let us make man in our image and our likeness (Genesis 1:26). The earth had already been created by Jesus before man was on the scene (Hebrews 1:2). Our existence is based on the rules and guidelines set by the unseen realm. Our success is based on following the teachings and precepts of the unseen One. What is temporary is this world we live in (Matthew 24:35). Life in this world can be summed up like this, testing ground to determine if a person will choose the Lord Jesus regardless of the spirit of the anti-christ always in our ear. God allows us to touch evil (go through crisis), to experience it. Going to heaven without that understanding of evil, could cause us to turn out like Lucifer. Lucifer who is now the devil, chose rebellion against God, and now his future is everlasting punishment. You will join Satan in hell without the unseen One in your life. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. Think long term, not on this short life span we have here on earth.

“There is none holy like the Lord, there is none besides You; there is no Rock like our God.” He is immovable, not pressured or moved in any way because of circumstances or bad situations. He is the Rock of our salvation and deliverer of our soul’s torment and unrestfulness. There is no one holy like the Lord, and there is none besides Him. Holiness in the born again believer can repel demonic influences. The devil and his pitiful crew cannot stand in the presence of God’s holiness. When there’s a sufficient amount of Christ’s presence in the heart of a child of God, it’s like Jesus facing Satan, no difference than when Satan got the Holy beat down in hell. The power of the Godhead dwells in Jesus and we are complete in Him (Colossians 2:9-10). Stability in this world as it is today has left. The only surety is Christ the solid Rock on which we stand. To walk in holiness is to walk in love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness, meekness, kindness, goodness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). As the christian believer follows these Godly attributes and characteristics of His make-up, the power of God will flow through you easily. The devil can’t tell the difference between you or if that’s really Christ Himself. It’s all about your faith in the Lord. As our faith grows the Rock in us will grow. Since we are made in God’s image and His likeness, is this really that far fetched (Genesis 1:26:-28).

“Now may the God Who gives the power of patient endurance (steadfastness) and Who supplies encouragement, grant you to live in such mutual harmony and such full sympathy with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus.” It takes endurance and encouragement to ultimately live in harmony with each other. Being able to suffer certain things to happen without retaliation. People can be easily angered, and easily offended. The only way to be able to get to them is by loving them through it. Not becoming a doormat along the way, but being more understanding of what they may be going through. People are not born angry, bitter, hurt, jealous, or any of the bad qualities none of us like. We go through stuff that causes us to become that. Without knowledge of God’s word, or certain people helping, we will most likely stay in that funk. Having the mind of Christ on every subject or issue in life can be your lifeline to deliverance from that snare of bondage. Paul is talking to the Romans in this passage about having the same attitude of mind that Christ Jesus had. Jesus loved without restraint towards the people in His day. Even the ones about to crucify Him on the cross. We must be long-suffering and steadfast in our relationship with God. Quality time with the King brings peace of mind, and clarity of thought. We have clear thinking minds as we continue in our fellowship with the Lord. Without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5). Encouragement, the fortifying support which helps us endure.

“But if we [really] are living and walking in the Light, as He [Himself] is in the Light, we have [true, unbroken] fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt [keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations].” To walk in the light is to follow the footsteps of how Jesus walked the earth. Since Jesus is the light we can more easily walk this walk (John 8:12). When our fellowship with the Lord is unbroken, and undisturbed, we are continually being cleansed of our sins by the blood of Jesus. All christians have relationships with God, but many have left the idea of maturing in Christ. The richer our fellowship with the Lord, the more cleansing of sin will occur. The main God blocker from getting His help is sin in our lives. Sometimes we are unaware of certain sins in our life but the Lord sees it all. Every morning when you speak to the Lord you should ask Him, if there’s any sin in my life please forgive me. Much sin in our lives is self inflicted because we have not renewed our minds enough with the word of God to be more conscious we’re messing up. To walk in the light is not to be perfect, you can forget about being perfect, not happening while in these bodies of ours. We should always be striving for perfection, understanding we’re working towards a much higher prize than this world can offer. Walk in the light because the darkness will suck you dry from living a victorious life.

“Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.” The word of God says, meditate in the word day and night and then you’ll make your own way prosperous (Joshua 1:8). If we are to have great success in life, we must study to show ourselves approved by God. Because of the many distractions in this world we must invoke our will and make ourselves study the words of the Lord. His word is spirit and life. There is no word of the Lord that is void of power (Luke 1:37), and where it is sent will produce the desired results you’re looking for. Our faith must be tested, but without studying first how will you understand the answers. We can have head knowledge of a subject matter but without living it, or having revelation knowledge of it, the test has not been taken. When the only way you’ll get out of a bad situation is if God delivers you, that’s when your faith will be tested. God has said in His words, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). There is no shame in knowing the truth, and the truth about life will make you free as long as you keep God in the mix.

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name!” Where God dwells there are gates and then the courtyard. Not much different than the approach of today’s kings. Much of how and what we do in this world is patterned after heaven’s design whether realized or not. Thanksgiving is the key into His gates, and praise should be given once we’ve entered the courtyard before the Holy of holies. Once we’ve come into the presence of God, the Holy of holies, it changes us for the good. By worshiping before going into the Lord’s presence, it calms down our flesh, and minds to be able to receive from God. Our spirit man at this point is ecstatic, super excited and totally submitted to the presence of God. In this position we can receive our spiritual needs. God works on us in a supernatural way that will affect our everyday life. There’s nothing like the presence of God. The counterfeit to God’s presence is drinking alcohol or using drugs to help you feel a certain way of comfort. But there’s only one true high that builds you up after the experience, and it can only be found and experienced by the presence of the Lord. The shekinah Glory of God is the ultimate experience of God’s presence that won’t kill us. Our earth suits (our bodies), cannot handle the uncut presence of God. The Lord has so much more for us that we can have if we would just seek Him out.

“The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.” The Lord your God is with you, let that sink in. The creator of the universe lives in the born again Christian’s heart. We have access to His benefits for victorious living. He does not hold our sins against us anymore. Today we are living in the dispensation of grace. Meaning we are not in the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth get even mentality with those that come to do us wrong. Neither is God counting our wrong doings against us any more like in the old testament bible days. Because of Jesus Christ our Lord we are forgiven of our sins. They are as far from God as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). Unlike mankind God makes no mention of past sins. In many human circles people have heated discussions and they bring up a past issue that was put to bed or settled way back when. Stirring up a pot of troubles that were already settled and forgiven, is like reliving something that could keep you in a drama loop of unnecessary misery. If a person is doing that to you, run away from them as fast and far as you can. Because of God’s love for us He will be silent and make no mention of your past sins. Ask God to forgive you if you mess up, and don’t allow negative people to keep you under condemnation when the Lord has already forgiven you. Be free!

“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.