“Anyone who confesses (acknowledges, owns) that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides (lives, makes His home) in him and he [abides, lives, makes his home] in God.” Here’s the invitation to enter God’s family. We must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God. Jesus is the mediator and door to Father God. He wants everyone in His kingdom, His family. Calling on the name of the Lord to save you is a thing. Believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, and confessing with your mouth that Jesus is Lord is how we become christians. Then there’s the growth process starting with the renewing of your mind, your thinking must change to conform to the teachings and precepts of the Lord. We learn to walk by faith not by sight, and be led by our spirits not by our flesh, our emotions. Those Who are led by the Spirit of God, are the true sons, and daughters of God. Become God inside minded, acknowledge Him in all your ways, and He’ll direct your path straight into the abundant life He promised all His children. Become a light in this dark world, get saved now before it’s too late, because the clock is ticking for the return of the king. Once He comes, you’re either in or out.

“Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you.” The scripture here is exemplifying the consistency of not giving up or giving in to your circumstances. If we never ask, we’ll never know, or have, if we never seek, we’ll never have knowledge, or obtain the thing we want most. If we never knock the door will not be opened to our success. By nature I’m the guy that won’t instinctually go after this method of having God’s best in my life, but I have to use my faith, and now in life, I can discern the voice of God well enough to get the instructions I need to achieve the same desired goal for successful, victorious living. By continuing to NOT give up, God sees your determination, and that is a clear sign of faith, because you wouldn’t continue like that if you didn’t believe it was possible. Hope is the forerunner to faith’s journey. Ask by faith, seek by faith, knock in faith believing and the hardest part is done. Now, patience must have its perfect work in you to allow the promises of God to manifest. Premature harvest isn’t God’s best, wait on the Lord, your strength will be renewed like the eagles, while the promise is delivered in season.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think”. Renewing your way of thinking is vital to your mental health as well as your spiritual health. Learning all over how to respond to different situations, or offenses, etc. Instead of being reactionary, letting our emotions rule the moment, we can respond based on what the bible says concerning that issue. Being quick to hear and slow to speak should be a thing in our lives. Giving opportunity for the entire thought of a person to be expressed before we cut them off, we must lose the defensive attitude. We are in this world and must function according to the basic rules and regulations of it. But man’s rules and regulations can’t stop the force of God’s purpose in you from being completed. As we begin to think more like God, (we are made in His image and likeness, so we can think like Him) we open the door of His grace, favor, and mercy which will be the main ingredient to going through what could be deemed an impossible situation. Once you’ve done all you know to do, it’s time to just stand your ground until the manifested desire has come. Change the way you think.

“But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.” Seeking the kingdom of God is ultimately seeking God’s face. His way of doing and being right. We have our own self righteousness which doesn’t measure up to the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. To be right by man, is far different than being right according to the Lord’s standards. To get ahead in life to your greatest potential, you’ll need God’s help. There’s an automatic sustaining system for your life in place when you are seeking the kingdom of God. All the things for life’s necessities, are added unto you when you’ve decided to first seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Being in the kingdom, and living according to kingdom life, puts us in a whole other plan of success, and functionality. We don’t make decisions on our feelings or emotions anymore. We go out of our way to be nice to people, we are not easily angered, or take offense from trivial comments because we are kingdom minded, we now operate under the guidelines of the Kingdom, we simply trust God concerning everything.

“Pray in the spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.” When today’s church people hear about praying in the spirit, for many it goes right over their heads as far as what that means. The uncut answer is, it’s a way to pray the perfect will of God back to Him concerning any and every life issue we experience. It’s a deeper dimension of God. It also builds up your new recreated human spirit to accentuate and boost your faith in God. It is praying in tongues. The only thing that past away from the upper room experience in the book of Acts, is the apostles. The unbelievers of “talking in tongues” are Satan’s vehicles to keep you from the ultimate experience of God living and working through you. To be saved is the first level of the christian experience, but the next vital level in your fellowship with the Lord is the baptism of the Holy Spirit through evidence of speaking in tongues. It’s a gift for all christians. It’s that missing ingredient that you wonder about other people that have that something about them, and why are they so blessed and used for such mighty exploits for God. Pray in the spirit on all occasions, clear your path of unnecessary obstacles.

“O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and supplication].” To worship the Lord in spirit and in truth is His desire for us. Many times of worship are spent on our knees, bowing down in our hearts is as important as physically bowing down on our knees. When we bow down physically, it helps bring us to the surrender necessary to invoke God’s manifested presence. Getting our minds quiet can take a little more time from having a busy day, but as we make ourselves stay put, eventually God walks in the room. You’ll sense an unusual peace and sometimes a warmth in your soul that speaks loud and clear, the Lord is here. Bowing down in your spirit (your heart) comes after we’ve passed through the outer courts of His presence into the holy of holies. Now you are totally engaged in worshiping the Lord, your spirit, soul, and body. We are three part beings much like God, but on a lower level. When we allow the hope of our calling to be enlightened, we know worship is a major part of it all. Remember, your feelings have no right to decide whether you worship or not, it must become a lifestyle for each of us. Before you meet your maker, make Him proud.

“For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;”. The gift of God has been given to all mankind. Since we have free will, we must choose the gift, God’s plan of redemption. Many won’t choose Him as Lord and Savior thereby condemning themselves to pay the price for their own lifetime of sins, (which is forever). You see, justice must be satisfied concerning man’s wrong doings, sin. If we don’t receive Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, we will have to personally go and pay the price of sin. It is by God’s unmerited favor we are saved. The price of sin has been paid by Jesus dying on the cross and taking our sins to hell, where He left them, on our behalf. Without Jesus in your life, the price can never be paid otherwise. Those that call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Don’t delay any future, hell’s gates are open to sinners.

“……… By His boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,” The mercy of God is new every morning. It was His mercy that sent Jesus to die for our wrong doings, and Jesus never committed any sin. While we were still enemies of God (due to our sin nature) He wanted to help us because we were unable to help ourselves. People that are lost in the deception of sin being ok, have a longer way to go with being right with God. We can get so accustomed to something regardless of it being right or wrong that we’re not looking to fix what seems to be the norm for us. That’s why the renewing of our minds is vital for balancing life in a way we can still be in right standing with God. He is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, He has given us new life and a hope that lives on.

“I wait for the Lord, I expectantly wait, and in His word do I hope.” Waiting on the Lord is an action. We are waiting with the expectancy of His promises to manifest in our life. Hoping in His word is where our heads should be, pondering what His word says about our situation. Those Who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. It is expected of the Lord that we wait on Him, and as we do, the prayer of thanksgiving should be offered to Him. Thanking God for something that you haven’t received yet is a sign of faith in action. Believing you receive before you have the promise is the lifestyle necessary to walking with God in total victory in every area of your life. But it’s not going to just fall in your lap. We must study His word to show ourselves approved, rightly dividing the word in truth. You can’t believe God to help you get another person’s spouse, or to help you rob a bank. Knowing God’s word for yourself puts you in agreement with His way of doing things for your life. Wait on God, it won’t be too late when He answers you. Earthly deadlines mean nothing to God, He’ll change that too if necessary. Trust Him until the end, and then keep trusting Him. You will not fail!

“But when you give to charity, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,” basically when we give to the needy, we shouldn’t go around boasting how we were the one that helped someone out, so all can see our generosity. That would be your only reward, that your chest had a chance to puff up. Pride will never win God’s approval no matter what you’ve done to help someone. It is the motivation behind your giving that gets the Lord’s attention, and that should be from a place of love, and compassion. It’s better to give without thought, in the sense of not being concerned about your own needs, but from a heart reaction to their need. The law of reciprocity is always in effect, what goes around, comes around. Seed time and harvest are still working. Give and in time, the harvest of your giving will come. God will not be mocked, whatsoever a man sows that shall he reap. He loves a cheerful giver whose heart is in his giving. The feeling we get after giving to someone (without expecting anything in return), is better especially when the person was hurting badly from the lack in their life. If each one will help one, this world would be a much better place.