“What time I am afraid, I will have confidence in and put my trust and reliance in You.” Being afraid is a common thing for us, getting rid of it isn’t. Fear is a spirit to be dealt with by the blood of Jesus in the name of Jesus. It comes from Satan and his evil spirits. If the enemy can get, and keep you afraid, then you become useless to do anything of great value. Fear is a crippling force with a purpose to put people in bondage. When people are in bondage, they can’t be effective in life. The answer to our deliverance is in trusting the Lord. God is love and we are His children capable of exercising fear out of our lives. Perfect love, mature love, drives out fear from the human heart, mind, and soul. We are equipped to fight and win over being afraid. To the degree we walk in love towards others will be to the degree of potency to come against fear in our life. Love is the key that unlocks many doors of victory against the evil in this world, because God is love and we are His children with His love in us. When you are afraid go to the scriptures and rightly divide the word of truth for your situation and confess it out of your mouth with force. Fear will back down to the faith believing, trusting, child of God.

“Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.” One of the hardest things for people is to not worry. Being concerned should be, the beginning of planning defensive or offensive maneuvers to resolve an issue. Worrying is a no plan, hopeless, crippling attitude that puts us in bondage. Worry has no place in our lives because of its negative effects on us. It takes the life out of our expectations and dreams for today and leaves us high and dry for tomorrow’s regularly scheduled program. Hope is a confident favorable expectation for a desired outcome. Worry will take hope out of the picture. God gave us a command to not worry, so it’s possible. He expects us to include Him in resisting worry since it can be a spirit. The spirit of fear carries the symptom of worry. Since perfect love (mature love) drives out fear, it will take worry with it. Simply because God cares for you, He has made a way to escape worry. It’s up to us to take God’s way out so the temptation of worry won’t overtake us. All cases concerning the temptation to worry can be avoided by trusting God’s word of promise to you concerning it. Worry has been defeated by Jesus Christ, stop giving it a second round, fight’s over. Boom!

“Be earnest and unwearied and steadfast in your prayer [life], being [both] alert and intent in [your praying] with thanksgiving.” Prayer clears the way of your journey from unnecessary trouble. We lay down tracks that have been straightened by prayer from a crooked, and possibly harmful place up ahead of your travels. Having a lifestyle of everyday prayer brings peace of mind and secured direction from the Lord. Prayer must be maintained like a car needing gas or an oil change. We have these bodies that must be fueled now and then with food and sleep. Prayer is up there with eating, and sleeping everyday. Lacking sleep or missing a meal, whether it’s breakfast or lunch or dinner, will affect your body’s functionality. Missing prayer time is no different, you will be lacking from Godly input intended to be your daily portion for living above the evil in this world. Devoting ourselves to prayer is like keeping an invisible force field around us of protection. “The prayers of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16). Devote yourselves to prayer, invoke your will, get over your feelings and do it. Get in the habit of praying, simply thank the Lord for life, and ask Him to bless your day for starters. Talk to Him about what concerns you, He’s always listening.

“Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing.” Part of the christian lifestyle is to help admonish, strengthen and build each other up, not tear each other down. We have allowed the world’s attitude into the church. Encouraging one another in the Lord is Iron sharpening iron, talked about in the bible (Proverbs 27:17). When we come together and share testimonies and revelations from God we may have experienced, that’s Iron sharpening iron. We were born into a world dominated by satanic rule, it’s an uphill battle to shake off the world’s way of doing things. The world’s way is all about going along with not hurting people’s feelings, or being overly concerned about what people think about you. What people think about you is out of your control. Their thoughts will be guided by what they perceive about you, although their discernment of you is false. How can anyone help you with encouragement or build you up, when they have worldly unfounded negative thoughts about you. We can only help others when we have the right information concerning that person and God’s way of life has been our portion for many years, or you have at least matured in the things of God long enough. If you’ve been helping people God’s way, keep it going because the Lord really needs you to.

“I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things, even purposes planned of old [and fulfilled] in faithfulness and truth.” When we purpose to do a thing in faithfulness and truth, we invite the hand of God to endorse it. Our God given plans, when followed lead to success on every turn. God’s purposes were planned long ago. He had things figured out even before the fall of mankind in the garden of Eden. As we include faithfulness and truth in our motives, that’s a whole other level of existence for many people. Most people are not totally honest with you or themselves. In many cases, they assume you’re as dishonest as they are and will treat you that way. Bad morals create bad behavior which lacks faithfulness and truthfulness. Having a plan in advance could mean the difference between success or failure. The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps (Proverbs 16:9). The common denominator here is acknowledging the Lord in all our ways, and He will direct your path (Proverbs 3:6).

“For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is complied with in the one precept, You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself.” If we all would love our neighbor as we love ourselves this world would be unrecognizable from its present state. Love does no wrong and is the bed that the fruit of the new recreated human spirit lay upon. You can’t have full joy without love undergirding it. The bible says the joy of the Lord is our strength. God is love and we are love children of a love God. Love strengthens the foundation of joy so it can have the fullness of expression in a person. Loving yourself first is most important. You can’t give what you don’t have. The act of showing love can be expressed in many ways. Showing love can be simply not going off on someone who may well deserve a good reprimanding. The wisdom of love will help you know whether to show mercy or let them have it, (some folk need strong correction). Showing love can be a kind word to someone really down in life. Sacrificial love could be going the extra mile in helping someone you don’t know. Practicing walking in patience, kindness, humility, and self-control regularly gets you in the game of loving your neighbor as yourself.

“In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone make me dwell in safety and confident trust.” What keeps us from falling asleep at night? Our bodies may well be exhausted but our minds are way too busy to sleep. The subconsciousness of a person can have its own agenda at night. According to our text today David is expressing, he’s somewhat declaring and decreeding that the Lord makes Him dwell in safety. We get caught up in the busyness of our day and there could be some unresolved issues or great concerns that stay in our heads when we try to sleep that night. God makes us dwell in safety. He has also said, when you lie down your sleep shall be sweet. Spending time with the Lord before bed can unclog some of the days problems you experienced. Putting on soft and calming music, preferably christian music, as that kind of music can carry the anointing of God, which brings peace and comfort. With our strong confession, and belief in God’s promises to us for sleep, we can lie down and our sleep will be sweet, for you along Lord, make me dwell in safety, so in reality there’s nothing to worry about. God takes care of that which concerns us so stop the worrying, the Lord’s got you. Now get some rest.

“I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” My life is hidden in Him. My attitude, my desires, my way of doing things, and my motivation must come from Him. Our direction in life changes once the Lord is allowed to be Lord in your life. Our outlook on life must line up with God’s agenda. You’ll see His agenda is exactly what was missing from your life. The life we now live is lived by the faith of Jesus Christ. He is the author and finisher of our faith and He knows the way which leads to victorious living. We recognize and yield to the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Our acceptance of His work at calvary positions us for kingdom living. God’s kingdom living program causes us to live above the evil in this world, which was Jesus’ prayer to the Father in heaven. Jesus was raised from the death for our justification of sin. We are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, and have this precious treasure in us of the hope of glory, Jesus. Time to put Him to work and live His life out from your perspective and experiences in life. We are laborers together with God so Christ can live through us and accomplish that which only a faith believing christian can do.

“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.” To be like David, having the desire to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of your life is indicative of a close relationship with the Lord. According to the bible we are seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus even while still here on earth. We can have a sense of heaven on earth through our fellowship with God. As christians we must initiate the process of manifesting God’s presence through praise and worship. We can come to the Lord in spirit and in truth, because God seeks such a believer to worship Him that way. To dwell in the house of the Lord is to be an active member of the kingdom of God. We have a God given purpose while still here on earth. Waking in your God given purpose brings a sense of heaven to you because now you’re walking on the path God predestined for you before you were born. And an awareness begins to come into play that your purpose is bigger than yourself, and once obtained, the peace that goes along with knowing your purpose gives hope and encouragement. These are qualities of the house of the Lord, (truth, hope, encouragement, joy, etc.). David knew his purpose, do you know yours?

“So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts upon them [obeying them] will be like a sensible (prudent, practical, wise) man who built his house upon the rock.” Once we latch on to Jesus’ words and practice what He is saying, we position ourselves into a firm foundation in life girded up by the Lord Himself since He always backs up what He says. If He says you are more than a conqueror through Christ, then it’s an available reality for whoever decides to walk in it. This text today is for everyone who hears and acts on these words. Just like a house or any building structure must have a solid secure foundation, people must have this foundation in their lives. The environment we grow up in must not be our only guideline to development, but a following of the truth and honesty must take the rule in our lives. Every need is supplied, and every blessing from the Lord gets delivered to the truthful, and honest faith believing child of God. A person who struggles with telling the truth or being consistently honest, has a bigger challenge in life than those of us who know and operate from truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, no one gets to the Father God except through Him. Being right with Jesus is being right with God and His way of life, which is based on truth. Our foundation in life is hidden in Christ, and those who diligently seek Him, He rewards.