“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” Faith is taking God at His word. Acting on what God has said in His word, is trusting Him to bring to pass whatever we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts, it is the basis for and heartbeat of Christianity. Without faith it is impossible to please God. Faith is knowing without seeing, touching, smelling, hearing, or tasting. Faith does not, nor cannot be dependent upon natural ways of this world. This world is subject to change, God is the same yesterday today and forever. Since faith comes by hearing and hearing by the world of God, we can have strong faith, ever increasing faith, or we can be weak in faith, or have little faith which limits God’s ability to release the abundant life He promises us. Faith is the hand that takes from God. We can write our own ticket with God by our faith. The choice as always, is ours to make. Do the work of studying God’s word and become all you were created to become in Him. Meditate in His word today and night and you’ll make your own way prosperous.

“A voice of one who cries: Prepare in the wilderness the way of the Lord [clear away the obstacles]; make straight and smooth in the desert a highway for our God!” As we live on the earth, we are to make a way for the gospel to go forth. John the Baptist cried out, announcing the coming of the Messiah declaring, repent of your sins. That was John the Baptist’ calling. Once we know our calling, and begin to walk in it, we will follow the great commission to go out into all the world and preach the gospel. To the dry places of the land where people haven’t heard of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Dry places are just that, lands where the gospel has not been heard. Every christian has this commandment from God. We are not of this world as it is now, but will be once the end comes and God sets up camp down here after Satan is locked up. For now, go into all the world and share the gospel with every living creature so the end can come. The Lord needs access to all people and we are the vehicle He uses to get it done.

“The Lord bless you and keep you…….The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace”. The Lord will bless you and keep you, He will turn His face toward you, and give you peace. The key to it all is faith in believing it’s so. Just like anything else, the more time spent with a person, the more you understand them, and the more you’ll believe in them as they show you, you can trust them. Fellowship with God is vital to all the promises of God coming to pass in your life. It is through faith and patience we obtain the promises of God. The good news is He loves blessing His children, and especially those who are always in His face. It’s a relationship the Lord desires with us and then close fellowship. Once His face has turned toward you He gives you peace. We write our own ticket concerning our involvement with God. To the degree we do the work of fighting the good fight of faith, is to the degree of our receiving from Him . Everything is by faith with God. We must believe He’s there even though we can’t physically see Him, that my friend, is faith. The Lord bless you now!

“I WILL praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth (recount and tell aloud) all Your marvelous works and wonderful deeds.” To praise God with all your heart, taps into the Lord’s soft spot of enjoyment. He loves praise from His people. The Father desires to be worshiped in spirit and in truth. We have our spouses and close friends for fellowship, He desires praise. Praise and thanksgiving are the power twins for entrance into the presence of God. As we praise the Lord with our whole heart, it’s real. Praising Him when your heart isn’t in it is like an unacceptable offering. We may start off praising God and our emotions are not in it, but starting out by faith will bring your heart and soul into alignment with the Spirit of God worshiping Him in spirit and truth. Giving thanks to God is an acknowledgement of His existence and your appreciation of Him which will bring favor to your life. I will give thanks to the Lord, and I will praise Him with all my heart.

“Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place”. David speaks here on goodness and mercy. They (goodness and mercy) should be following you all the days of your life. God has promised it in His word. As the believer lines himself up with the words of God for their life, these two will follow us everyday. We can repel goodness and mercy by our actions and bad motives. Everything coming from God is based on our participation with His way of life. There is always His mercy that can scoop us up when we mess up, our flesh has not been redeemed, only our human spirit. We are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb but our minds are not. It is vital we renew our minds, change our old way of thinking to how God thinks. It is obtainable through His word, the bible. As we follow our God given purpose, goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life, God will be more attentive to His plan being carried out by you, and protective of it being completed.

“Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts”. The Lord is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Searching for Him with all your heart and not with mental ascent. When we really mean something, when our entire focus is on a thing or person, our hearts will be involved. And when your heart is the for runner of your actions (not your emotions), that can trigger the supernatural’s involvement. We cannot tap into the spirit realm with our minds, or bodies. Our spirits are the real us, we have a soul, and we (our human spirits) live in a body. To search for God, the bible is where we start. Going to the right church for you, is important as well. Obeying His laws once we know them will bring us joy according to the scripture verse today. The motivation of the heart is where the search begins inside us. There’s a longing for God and the supernatural in every person, whether realized or not. Some people mess around with Ouija boards or have seances seeking the supernatural. This world has developed the best distractions, counterfeits, and deception to keep the truth at bay of God’s original plan for us. Obeying His laws will bring joy to the diligent soul whose heart’s desire is the Lord.

“And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the good news (the Gospel) to every creature [of the whole human race]”. This is the great commission to be carried out by every christian today. Until this is completed, the return of Christ cannot happen. Every living being will have an opportunity to choose or reject the Lord Jesus Christ. In the end, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God. We are to follow the example of Jesus. Jesus went into the places that were considered the most sinful, and worldly areas, (today we’d call them clubs, or bars). Nevertheless, He knew they needed to hear the gospel regardless of the opinions of the church world judging Him for doing it. When we become too heavenly minded, we become no earthly good towards helping others. There must be a balance in living in this world but not being a part of it. Jesus didn’t care what the religious folk of the day had to say, He knew His assignment. Your God given purpose may rock the church world’s religious way of doing things, but your calling is your calling and no one is to stop you from fulfilling it. Go get ’em!

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise”. Approaching the Lord with thanks giving is the first step, and then as we approach His courts we give Him praise. Even hell has gates before you enter. “The gates of hell shall not prevail against the church”. So there’s a protocol before entering in. At one point in our christian walk we should be with the mindset of going to God simply to bless Him, not with gimmie gimmie gimmie my name is Jimmy. He knows what we have need of before we ask. We invoke our will over our flesh (emotions) to give thanks even though we don’t feel like it. Then we go into praising God to complete our entry into His presence. In the old testament God’s people would bring offerings to Him to cover their sins. Today we live in the dispensation of grace and our sins have been totally washed away by the work at Calvary Jesus finished. Now, instead of physical offerings we bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. It has been said, thanking God is great to do when you’re in need of a miracle. Thanking Him means you believe He’s there, which is your faith in action, and that brings God on the scene of your trouble.

“A friend loves at all times, and is born, as is a brother, for adversity”. Friends always show their love, but that will be tested sooner or later. Sometimes we think someone has our back, because “we’re friends”, but when trouble hits the fan your “friend”, shows his, or her true colors and leaves you hanging out to dry by yourself. The one true friend we can count on when no one else is available is Jesus. “What a friend we have in Jesus”, is how the song goes. With all the vicissitudes in life we deal with in this world, there must be a stabilizing force to hold us down. When you have that one friend that sticks close to you no matter what, your ride or die partner, that’s a gift in this world not easy to find. Life hits us all, but having someone to stand with us in prayer, in battle, and or just to tell you, it’s gonna be alright, that’s priceless. A good friend will correct you when you’re wrong, even though it’s gonna hurt. If the friend can’t accept the correction then you were never friends in the first place, and it’s best to leave them alone. Selah

“Every good gift and every perfect….. gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of….. light, in…Whom there can be no variation…… or shadow cast by His turning [as in an eclipse]”. When God sends a gift there are no strings attached, and it will be what is most desired or really needed. What is a perfect gift, the gift that has been granted long ago but not released until the season is ripe. The word perfect can also be interchangeable with maturity. Some gifts from God are not yet ready for release. As we grow in Christ we become more stable in life, and God can begin to trust us to handle blessings that we would otherwise not be able to receive. Our heavenly Father won’t give us a gift that He knows we can’t handle, and that it might even cause us to backslide. Natural fathers in their right mind, won’t buy a $100,000 sports car for their 16 year old, a brand new student driver. The right gift, at the right time. Your time will come. Continue to build your relationship as a son or daughter of the Father and that perfect gift will be yours in time.