“The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the [whole] person; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple”. The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy. We can always count on what God has decreed will come to pass. His utterances make the simple wise. Down to earth common folk of mild understanding become wise, wisdom conscious from God’s decrees. The instructions of the Lord are perfect, totally in tune with the understanding of the struggles of life. Jesus came down from heaven clothed in flesh to walk and experience what we have in this fallen state the world’s in. Giving God the Father a closer look and understanding of how sin has affected His creation, man and woman. So now God’s dispensation of grace has been upon us since Jesus died and was raised from the dead. Man will never reach His maximum potential without the input of God’s instructions, (the bible, basic instructions before leaving earth). Be all you can be in the army of the Lord.

“And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint”. We are encouraged to continue doing good when we start getting weary. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and when we are weak, then are we strong because God’s strength is made perfect in weakness, it matures when we are too weak to get in God’s way of strengthening us. Many times we must encourage ourselves in the Lord. We must persevere in going forward knowing no matter what things feel like, look like, or seem to be, God has us in His hand. From time to time it will feel like God’s not there, maybe He went on vacation, but no, He’s testing your faith to see if you’re gonna give up, or start encouraging yourself in the Lord so His strength can come into you. To never give up, is to never lose. Time is the great equalizer. Keep it moving, He’s got you.

“Give us this day our daily bread”. Most of us know this scripture. It is speaking of God supplying provisions for His people. He will supply as needed. Each day brings new insights into God’s way of supplying our needs. He doesn’t provide the same way every time. He may have provided for you one way in the past, but it may be coming a different way this time. When we look into the future wondering how the answer’s going to come, we can easily miss God. It’s a faith walk, trusting God will do for you, not how and when. The timing is always in His hands. Many times we think it’s too late now, God didn’t come through. He can change the due date of the deadline you were given, if necessary. Staying in faith should be our focus, not figuring out how God’s gonna move on our behalf. The text reads, give us our daily bread, that’s indicative of supplying as needed, each day, not a heap up for the future. God wants us depending on Him for each day’s needs, it’s not a one time end all future concerns about the needs of this world to survive. Give us this day, our daily bread.

“THE Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack. He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters”. God’s words here are a promise that our needs will be met, and He’s leading us beside still waters which is indicative of peaceful surroundings. We all would like a drama free life. The way inflation has taken hold of this country’s economy has left many borderline hopeless. God says in His word also, He supplies our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus, that’s more than we could ever use. That sounds great but God’s there and we’re here on earth. Prayer and faith in your prayer, can take from the spirit realm where God is, and through people He’ll get your needs met. Like Neo in the Matrix movie, as he believed more and more, his powers grew as well. It’s all about faith, the hand that takes from God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Knowing your needs are going to be supplied, brings peace, the still waters of life.

“[But what of that?] For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us!”. This life is the only hell a christian will know, and the only heaven a sinner will know. Suffering is a part of life if you haven’t noticed yet. But what God is saying is; what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal later. This peace and love, and glory of God will dominate our beings to a level of indescribable joy, safety, and comfort to our spirits souls and the new glorified bodies we’ll have. This is all to be obtained after the last day, (the rapture). We are on testing grounds here on planet earth, to see who answers the call of God to be in His family after this world passes away as we know it. Whatever troubles, storms, crisis you’re experiencing now, is ultimately for your development. Using God’s word to come against your enemy, will never fail you. Once your thing with God is tight, you may fall from an attack but you’ll not stay down, understanding your relationship and trusting your relationship with God, which holds you together. You are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus. Toughen up, and be that person.

“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]”. We have no physical or ocular proof of God’s existence, so it is a belief that each person must come to on their own. We choose to believe God exists without seeing Him or touching Him. It is an invoking of your will to believe regardless of your five natural senses. There’s another part of life existing in another realm of reality. The spiritual realm is where The Lord lives along with His angels. That world existed before earth was created. The invisible realm created the visible realm, (earth). That world will never pass away, but earth the way we know it today has begun its deterioration towards the end. Faith is believing without seeing, touching, hearing, smelling, or tasting. Faith is simply believing the bible is true. The good fight of faith is, winning over the thoughts that say God isn’t there. It’s the quiet times when our prayer hasn’t been answered for a long time, that’s a testing of your faith. He’s a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him, especially during those tougher times, to keep on believing that God’s got you. Never give up!

“And whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus and in [dependence upon] His Person, giving praise to God the Father through Him”. We are representatives of the kingdom of God when we use the name of Jesus. The fullness of the Godhead resides in that name. Once a christian knows his or hers authority in Christ, the power will be in your hands to fight the enemy, and to help change your bad circumstances. We have the power of the Holy Spirit with measure, not like Jesus who had the power without measure when He walked the earth. As we become married to that name, with intense intimacy, we grow in power, and grace. Demons tremble at the mention of that name, even they know the power that’s behind that name, and they’re counting on you not knowing it, so they can come hug you a little tighter. As we do our due diligence in seeking God and exercising his teachings and precepts, we can only become more powerful with the use of the name of Jesus, the name above every name.

“………As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith. The person who is in right standing with God shall live by faith. In other words, your five senses should no longer be your ultimate guide in living, or making decisions. To live by faith means you have a sense of the supernatural connecting with this natural world, you become the connector to the spirit realm. God’s in the spirit realm, along with Satan and his demons. To receive from God what’s necessary to live a victorious life, we must believe He has set up this system of faith, trusting without seeing or knowing from natural knowledge. It’s a gut feeling, that still small voice giving input from the throne of God. He’s very connected to every living thing, as He is in all things of creation. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. Our righteousness isn’t of ourselves but that which Jesus provided for us, by going through calvary. We walk by faith, not by sight, we are to be led by our spirits, not by our flesh.

“It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail”. This verse is talking about the agape love of God. Many of us are delighted when something bad happens to a person that wronged us. But that’s not love’s way. The law of reciprocity is always in effect, what goes around comes around, good or bad depending on what seed you planted. The love of God is a sacrificial love, a love that can handle disrespect, unrighteous behavior and betrayal, when it has matured in us. It is not easily angered and pays no attention to a suffered wrong done to us. When you associate with evil people regularly, the love of God will not shine from you. We can be products of our environment if we don’t guard our hearts. Because we live in a potentially harmful, demonic world, everything about it is geared towards you not operating in the love of God. It’s a day to day practice walking in the love of God. As we do, there’s no law that can come against us, you’ll be blameless and karma will never be a problem. Love does not delight in evil, so when we do, God’s love takes a step backwards.

“Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; be wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and without falsity) as doves”. Jesus speaking here saying to us even today, He sends us out to help fulfill the plan of reconciliation (share the gospel). As we go out we should know the wolves of this world are those trying to oppose the message of the gospel. We are to be wise as serpents and innocent as doves, for our safety. We may go out like sheep but we have the backing of the God head to handle the wolves. Once we know our authority in Christ, we stop allowing much of the unnecessary attacks to overtake us. No weapon formed against us will prosper. The weapon may form against us but it won’t prosper unto the detriment, or demise of our purpose. We’re in a war down here, and hopefully we are aware of the devices of satan. He has nothing new under the sun. He comes with deception, strong temptations, inordinate desires, delusional thoughts, with mind binding spirits to attack our thought life, and that’s where the battle starts, in your head. So renew your mind with the word of God, think like Him, and wolves will know you know God, and then they’ll back off.