“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. [Exod. 19:5, 6.] Once you were not a people [at all], but now you are God’s people; once you were unpitied, but now you are pitied and have received mercy.” We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation so we can set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of the Lord who called us out of darkness. We are God’s super men and women put here to carry out great exploits and to demonstrate Satan’s defeat. He has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Coming out of the darkness brings deliverance unto freedom from wrong doings. Before Christianity mankind was under the control of habitual sin, we couldn’t help ourselves from the bondage of it. You have been called out of the darkness, and now you have the option of living a clean life. The sin nature is still in our flesh so we must deal with temptation all the time. Once we learn how to fight the good fight of faith, every battle you enter into can be fought that same way, believing and trusting the Lord to bring you through.

“So trust in the Lord (commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him) forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].” Things can’t get any more stable when it comes to trusting and relying on the Lord. He is the Rock of the ages for a reason. This world has been unstable since the fall of mankind in the garden of Eden. Man was supposed to be in charge of managing the earth and all of creation. But the devil got involved and we lost our rightful position in life on earth. We now have become secondary when it comes to having authority on the earth. But then Jesus came and turned things around for mankind. He defeated the devil and this world’s system of operation so mankind could be reinstated to our place of authority and control over the evil in this world. So the only guarantee of victorious godly living is through the stability of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will always have challenges and troubles and crises as long as we are here. But once you have found the importance of the kingdom of God, and its function and positive intervention on earth, and you utilize its properties of rule and guidelines, you will stand firm in trusting everything is gonna be alright. There’s no trust without relationship and no depth of character without fellowship with God. We must take God at His word. Trusting Him is everything!

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” How we present our bodies as a living sacrifice is the question. We must first understand that most people have been following the desires and dictates of the body since birth, and the unruly thoughts that come into our heads. The control center of our make-up goes like this; we are a spirit, we have a soul, and we live in a body made of clay (Isiah 64:8). All of our actions are first presented to our thought processes. Then we either allow the dictates of our flesh (our body appetites) (1Corinthians 9:27), or we run with a thought based on a fantasy or unrealistic reality. This is why the renewing of our mind is vitally important. Once we begin to think like God, because of the washing of our minds by His word, we begin to react to Issues, even crises based on a faith response and not a reactionary fearful response. Our bodies must be kept under control. We must deal with our thoughts based on His word, before we just react to stuff, we must trust God. Through faith and patience we obtain the promises of God (Hebrews 6:12). There’s no quick fix in dealing with the things of God. It is a lifestyle walking by faith and not by sight. Your body is the temple of God on the earth, each saved person is God’s temple on the earth. He is everywhere at the same time living in us and working through us, the plan of reconciliation. It is a sacrifice worth living to honor our Lord and Savior, it is your reasonable service to Him (Romans 12:1 KJ).

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the [consistently] righteous man [upright and in right standing with God] runs into it and is safe, high [above evil] and strong.” The name that is above every name, Jesus, is filled with the power of the Godhead (Colossians 2:9). As we learn the reason why all that power and authority has been put in the name of Jesus, we understand how to utilize that power against the demonic enemies that come after us. His name becomes a strong tower of protection and the righteous run into it, (that understanding of His name) and are safe because of it. The consistently righteous, those who have been washed of all their sin by the blood of Jesus are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We are sanctified, set apart by God at the new birth, but being consistently righteous has to do with our will. As we miss the mark because of wrong doings on our part, that’s when we ask the Lord to forgive us, don’t just let it go like it’s alright, but acknowledge the sin to God and He will forgive you, it’s His word. 1 John 1:9 was written to christians, not sinners, because we’re still not perfect. He can do more for you, and be involved with everything concerning your life as long as He doesn’t have to wade through sin in your life to get to you. God can’t stand sin, so without your confession of messing up, there’s no acknowledgement or establishing of the fact you missed the mark of staying blameless, the Lord needs that from us confirming our humility to His commandments. The strong tower is for the Lord’s family. Learn the rules and signs of how to get the most out of the tower experience for your safety.

God’s Solution For A Better Life

“If My people, who are called by My name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek, crave, and require of necessity My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” “If” is a big word here. The word of God is conditional. If we follow the commands of life given by the Lord, we will be on board the freedom train destined for victorious living. Since you are a part of God’s people, talked about in this verse, humble yourself under the mighty hand of God and He will exalt you in due time (1Peter 5:6). Pray and seek God’s face, study His word day and night to make your own way prosperous (Joshua 1:8). Turn away from wicked ways, that’s easier when you lose those friends you know aren’t right for you, how can you change hanging out with them all the time. Once you’ve done those things, God says in this text today, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. You are part of the land, the earth, so the healing you need in your body now, will be taken care of by the Lord once you make the changes in your life. Look at it this way, our provisions, our healing and divine health, better relationships, and more money in our pockets, yes all that awaits the person that lines up with God’s program for life.

“For there [is only] one God, and [only] one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,” Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all people. Because justice had to be satisfied concerning the sin of mankind, Jesus paid the price with His natural sinless life while on the earth. He was the perfect sacrifice for a one time offering to God. The offering to God covers all sin from the beginning to the end of time for all people. Jesus has become the mediator between us and Father God. He is our lawyer our attorney for the law of sin control. Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10). He will bring on strong, the feeling of guilt and condemnation when we mess up. But Jesus has fixed our sin problem by the shedding of His blood. Once we christians learn who we are in Christ Jesus, guilt and condemnation have no hold on us. To the degree you understand God’s word concerning you, will be to the degree you’ll not allow the temptation of guilt and condemnation to take you for a loop. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. We are now in right standing with God because of the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. When you legitimately miss the mark, you screw up in life, ask God for forgiveness, level with Him, and He’ll forgive you like it never happened (1 John 1:9). That’s what Jesus did for you.

“In everything I have pointed out to you [by example] that, by working diligently in this manner, we ought to assist the weak, being mindful of the words of the Lord Jesus, how He Himself said, It is more blessed (makes one happier and more to be envied) to give than to receive.” Being more blessed to give than to receive, is a tried and true statement. When we give a gift to someone who has been wanting that particular thing you bought them, and their face lights up with happiness, that look they expressed says it all. You made them feel in such a way they won’t easily forget. We can give in many ways. We can give our finances to bless someone or our time in volunteering for something worthwhile. As we give, it shall be given again back to us. The amount you give out is always reflected in the return you get from your giving. The quality you get back is reflected in the quality you gave out. Everything is weighed and measured at the time of the act of giving. The law of reciprocity is always in effect. What goes around comes around (Luke 6:38). So the act of giving has a two fold blessing attached to it. One, the way you’ve made someone feel from your giving is priceless. The second thing is, you will always be blessed from whatever you sow in good ground. The harvest has no choice but to find you out and return the blessing you gave to someone else. The giver always has the upper hand in staying blessed.

“For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.” The faithfulness and truth of the Lord endure to all generations. That means our kids, and grandkids are covered. It is our job to prepare the next generation for service to, and trust in the Lord. For the Lord is good and His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting. We can trust the Lord to be the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). He’s the missing foundational rock of people’s lives. The stability of this world’s system has been totally compromised. The demonic influences of this life can and will over take you. Most times unawares, to lead you away from your God given purpose in life. Once we find our God given purpose, we begin to live the abundant life promised to us by God. His loving-kindness becomes a support to the assignment He has given us. As we line up with God’s program for our lives we begin to really understand the bigger picture about life and how we individually fit in. God’s love for us leads us to victorious living if we yield to it. His ways are above ours, but we have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). As we begin to exercise the mind of Christ in our everyday life, we position ourselves above the evil conniving of this world. We must be as wise as serpents yet harmless as a dove. As long as there is life on the planet, God will sustain us on every level.

“Give us this day our daily bread.” Most of us know this verse in the bible. It is indicative of the Lord supplying our needs daily. It is a prayer from David to God about his everyday provisions. The Lord knows what we have need of before we ask. He supplies our need according to His riches in glory (Philippians 4:19). The most important need of mankind is freedom from the control of sin. That need has also been supplied through you receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of your life. Our everyday needs have been supplied as well. The word of God, His bible, is conditional. Everything that pertains to life and godliness is written in God’s word. As we learn of Him and His teachings and precepts, we position ourselves in His automatic supply chain of provision, daily and long term. Without faith it is impossible to please Him, and He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). We should be aspiring towards taking no thought for tomorrow as far as, what we will eat or drink, having clothes to wear, etc (Matthew 6:25). Maybe you don’t think you know God’s word well enough yet, or you’re still having doubts about trusting He will help you. His mercies are new every morning, and when you simply cry out to Him for help, He loves coming in by way of mercy to give you what you need. Ask for forgiveness first, in case there’s unrealized sin in your life so He can get to you more easily. All you need is faith.

“[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!” The sufferings through trials and crisis of life are not to be compared to the glory God will reveal. Once we are in God’s presence, face to face, we will see Him as He is (Revelation 22:3-4). The light, in comparison to His glory, troubles we experience and go through, must be dealt with. After going through any storm of life there is always a cleansing that follows. The same holds true for natural weather storms. Once the storm clears out, there is a refreshed and cleansed sense of air quality and washing of the earth. We are a part of the earth, we were formed from the dust of the earth. Clay, dirt, or dust are indicative of God’s starting point for the creation of mankind (Genesis 2:7). We must go through the storm to have character built in us from our core. The trouble must shake you from your core to have a true cleansing of self. The pride and arrogance will leave if you get crushed enough in your crisis. The purpose of this process is to make us stronger, to become deeper in character resulting in tried integrity, and not to break us. Our reward in heaven is based on our dealing with the storms of life on earth. Once we’re on the other side where our loved ones have already passed, we will know, the storms and trials of this life were not worthy even if recognition, compared to where we will end up, and that’s with the Lord forever.