“Your word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” The way we won’t sin against God is to hide His word in our hearts. Meaning we must know and understand His word to the point it becomes a part of us. Meditate in His word day and night and you’ll make your own way prosperous (Joshua 1:8). If we do sin against God, we have a mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ who can relate to our struggles and shortcomings. Our understanding must be enlightened to the word of God to the point we have renewed our minds in the way we think, the way we react to crisis or calamity. You become comforted in your thoughts with this new way of thinking based on the Lord’s teachings and precepts. Jesus is the Living word of God. Upon His visit to earth to become a living sacrifice for our sins, He kept His sinless nature because God was His Father, and He never yielded to the temptations we all deal with. In doing so, He led the way as an example to us of what it is to hide God’s word in our hearts. He overcame the sin by only using the word of God. He left His deity in heaven, no super powers to fight Satan, only God’s written word (which is all powerful and effective against Satan and his crew). Hide His word in your heart and it’ll be there when trouble comes, and it will keep you from sinning against God.

“[For I always pray to] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that He may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation [of insight into mysteries and secrets] in the [deep and intimate] knowledge of Him,”. The spirit of wisdom and revelation are very important for the deeper life in Christ Jesus. Knowledge is necessary but the proper allocation of knowledge should be filtered through wisdom. Much knowledge can invite unwarranted pride and will attract a buffer to your body and soul (1Corinthians 8:1). The buffer is a thorn in your flesh to bring you down to a less puffed up state of mind due to much revelation (2 Corinthians 12:7). Revelation knowledge can be obtained through reading and meditating in God’s word, the bible. Godly wisdom is winsome, easy to be entreated, it’s pleasant to the soul, and it yields understanding to its seekers. Revelation comes directly from the Spirit of God into our human spirits and is perceived, directed and manifested into our thinking processes. Our understanding becomes enlightened from the spirit of wisdom and revelation which gives us insight into mysteries and secrets. For the deep and intimate knowledge of God, this is the way.

“Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; she rejoices over the future [the latter day or time to come, knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it]! She opens her mouth in skillful and godly Wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness [giving counsel and instruction].” The proverb 31 woman is the fine example laid out for all to see. She has structure in, and total control of her day. In between raising children, running the household and being a wife, she has her hands full. Dignity in how she performs her day is also her portion. She rises early in the morning to take charge of all she does. She speaks with wisdom and faithful instruction on her tongue. Her love for the Lord is her motivation and it fuels her day to perform in excellence. Almost sounds too good to be true and possibly a bit challenging for today’s woman. If you’re able to laugh at the days to come, with confident expectation that everything will work out, you are a woman of faith and understanding, and have been empowered by God because of your constant seeking of Him everyday. All excellence comes from spending quality time with God. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13), but we can do nothing of great value and worth without Him (John 15:5).

“Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; let Your good Spirit lead me into a level country and into the land of uprightness.” David asked God to teach him God’s will. God’s will is the bible, it’s all there. You may need help understanding it clearly but that’s His word in a book. God’s word is His will. He can be counted on to never change like humans do from pressures of life. To do the Lord’s will takes trials and much error to develop us into the outward image and likeness of God. We are made in His Image and likeness from the beginning. But after sin was introduced into the world, none of us were acting like God. We must be taught or really, reprogrammed from creation to be like the Lord. There is much natural resistance if you’re wanting God in this world. This world is all about your feelings being gratified and having your own way 24/7. Because of this, there’s a discipline of self control that must be mastered. We are in this world as christians but not of this world at all. Born on earth, subject to the governing rules of the land, we must live life from the perspective of the kingdom of God and its rules that can supersede the natural laws and rules of this world with truth. Learn His will for yourself and live as God intended for us to.

“But to as many as did receive and welcome Him, He gave the authority (power, privilege, right) to become the children of God, that is, to those who believe in (adhere to, trust in, and rely on) His name–”. By believing in Jesus’ name we are given the right to become children of God. We must receive and welcome Him before being in the family of God. You may have heard it said, we are all children of God. Not true, the devil’s children are not children of God, and if you haven’t received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, then it is impossible to be a child of God. Everything having to do with the Lord is of faith, dealing with the unseen but still trusting God’s control. Everything in life that is dependent upon our five senses (our emotions) is Satan’s territory of expertise. Without faith there’s no connection to God, because you can’t see Him with your eyes. Those who are led by the Spirit of God are the true sons and daughters of God (Romans 8:14). So if we live according to the flesh, our senses and emotions, we will die; but if by the Spirit, we will live a victorious life as children of God (Romans 8:13).

“THEREFORE, [there is] now no condemnation (no adjudging guilty of wrong) for those who are in Christ Jesus, who live [and] walk not after the dictates of the flesh, but after the dictates of the Spirit.” In the new birth of our salvation our spirit man which was spiritually dead to God, has become alive to the Lord unto being in right standing with Him. Justice has been satisfied on our behalf. We must act on the work Jesus accomplished at Calvary or we are still on our way to hell after death. Being in Christ Jesus now and walking, or living your life according to the gospel, there’s no condemnation. The Holy Spirit will convict us of sin, but Satan condemns us when we mess up, God will forgive you. If we are still yielding to the temptation of sin, after getting saved, then there’s much growth needed on our part. We can’t behave in a certain manner without the knowledge behind the power necessary to do it. The knowledge we need to walk after the spirit and not the flesh, is in the word of God, His bible. When you know you haven’t done anything against God’s word but the thoughts are coming that you feel condemnation, that’s the devil and his crew trying to get you off your game. There is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Believe the Lord, not Satan.

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” The example has been set. We all have faults that may rub someone else the wrong way. We are still human with the tendency to mess up. None of us have reached the mark of being perfect. Even though someone got really deep under your skin, finding the way to deal with it is vitally important. To be reactionary all the time, and for things that shouldn’t be worth your attention, walk away, and know Jesus went through much worse than that for you. One of the hardest things to deal with in life is unforgiveness. Yes, the other person was wrong, yes they went too far this time, but if you can shift that anger towards them to your real enemy, Satan, come against him with God’s word and the name of Jesus concerning that person. Practice working the word of God in areas like, preferring your brother before yourself (Romans 12:10). Focusing on the love of God that bears up under anything and everything that comes (1 Corinthians 13:7). Walking in the agape love of God will be like walking in a deeper dimension of understanding for that person who wronged you, and that will make it easier to forgive.

“If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].” This letter was written to christians for when we screw up in sinful acts. Being a christian doesn’t mean we’re capable of not sinning anymore. Until a Christian has renewed their way of thinking, (renewed their mind with the word of God Ephesians 6:11-12), wrong doings are inevitable. Christians in the body of Christ are unfortunately baby christians or adolescents as far as maturity goes in the kingdom of God. Most of us don’t want to do the work behind growing up in Christ. The only thing that changes when we become christians is our human spirit. Our mind and body have not been touched. And all temptations and moral conflicts to agitating spirits are first dealt with in our mind, our thinking processes. If we don’t deal with those thoughts there and defeat them there, we will eventually act them out physically which leads to trouble and being out of the Lord’s good graces. You’ll still be saved, but trouble will be your buddy from time to time. The way out is no different than the way into becoming a christian. You confess with your mouth the sin you committed and ask God to forgive you, then believe in your heart God forgave you. And do not allow your mind to persuade you in thinking God didn’t forgive you. It’s written, and it’s your job to believe. The work has been done at calvary, get with the program.

“Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.” Watching over our hearts is important because that’s where life starts. As we become more knowledgeable of God’s word (the bible), we are able to release the waters of life through our speech. Speaking God’s word out of our mouths with true conviction brings deliverance, healing, correction, and a life giving source of God’s manifested help for others. God’s words are spirit and life (John 6:63), so once the believing christian knows this, he or she will become a dispensary enabling God’s intervention to help people. Watching over your heart is vital. What we hear or are listening to on a regular basis is important. We are programmable individuals,;+ in that once something is repeated over and over in our ears, it will drop down into our heart from our brain, and then we begin to believe whatever we’ve been hearing, good or bad. This will affect our springs of life. Meditating on God’s word day and night will keep us on the straight and narrow of guarding our hearts. We must live here amongst all the negativity and still find a way to live above the mess in this world. Program yourself for a higher life that has less trouble. Become the Lord’s spring of life, for out of it flows the issues of life that people are starving to understand.

“And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you.” To be compassionate, understanding, and loving-hearted is the kindness the Lord expects from us as christians. It can be an uphill battle for some of us to do this. Since the Lord has said, we can do all things through Christ…. (Philippians 4:19), it’s simply a matter of you invoking your will to follow God’s plan. Forgiveness plays a big part in this. If you have unforgiveness in your heart, it will not be easy to show kindness to anyone. Unforgiveness being a dirty weed in your life can block you from doing things God’s way, which is out of love. Low love levels in your life means a low chance of being kind to others. Even though the person who hurt you was wrong, when you forgive them anyway, you become a magnet for God’s blessings in you life, because now you’re acting like your Savior Jesus Christ who forgave you when you were His enemy. Because of sin in our lives we were all His enemy before becoming a christian, (Romans 5:10). Be kind and compassionate, it’s an excellent seed to sow for someone to be kind and compassionate to you.