Graced To Do God's Will

2 Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The best way to better any relationship is getting to know the other person. It’s no different when bettering our relationship with God. How do we better our relationship with God? By getting to know every part of Him (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) through intimate time in His Word and conversing with Him.

There are several benefits through our knowledge of God. As we see, an abundance of grace and peace can be obtained through the knowledge God and Jesus. Wisdom and revelation comes through the knowledge of Him (Eph. 1:17).  Finally, all things (needs / desires) that pertain to life and godliness come through the knowledge of Him. Obviously, getting to know God is important.

Let’s stop all the theatrics and religious duties and build an intimate relationship with God by getting to know Him more.

1 Samuel 2:1 “My heart rejoices in the Lord; My horn is exalted in the Lord. I smile at my enemies, Because I rejoice in Your salvation.

Hannah could smile in the face of her enemies because of her expectancy in the salvation of the Lord.

When we face various attacks from the enemy (Satan), we should smile. We don’t smile because the attacks are fun and exciting. We smile because there’s an opportunity to experience the salvation of the Lord.

We get to see how God’s going to save us from certain situations. We get to see how God will provide for us. We get the see the miracle working power of God.

Although it’s natural to get upset or frustrated with problematic events in our lives, don’t get frustrated. Change your perspective and smile and expect to see the salvation of the Lord.

Judges 15:15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.

18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, “You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore, and it is still there in Lehi.

After Samson killed 1000 men with the jawbone of a donkey, he was thirsty. Once he communed with God and drank from the water God provided, Samson’s strength returned and he was revived.

In our own lives, we will have to fight. We’re not fighting physically like Samson, but we will have to fight spiritually. Like Samson had to destroy 1000 men, we may have to destroy 1000 demonic thoughts a day (2 Cor. 10:5). One thought may be a thought of worry about how we’re going to pay our bills. Another thought may be a thought of lust. They’ll come one after another. After fighting for so long, we may be mentally exhausted.

In the scriptures, one metaphor for water represents the Word of God (Eph. 5:26). When we commune with God and spend time in His Word, we too can be strengthened and revived. We’ll get the strength to continue on from day to day until we get what God has promised.

So, if you’re feeling mentally, spiritually, or even physically fatigued, spend time with God and His Word and expect your spirit, soul, and body to be strengthened and revived.

Psalm 91:5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

There’s a lot of reasons to fear. We can fear someone harming us, we can fear getting sick, we can fear going broke, we can fear failure, etc. With all these reasons to fear standing before us, it’s still a choice to be afraid.

With God on our side, there’s a lot of reason not to fear. Throughout His Word, He’s told us numerous times to not be afraid. He’s told us He’s with us, He protects us, He’ll fight for us. With all these promises from God, some of us still choose to fear. Either we’re going to believe in His promises or be afraid that His promises won’t pan out.

Make the decision today that you’re not going to be afraid of ANYTHING anymore.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you.

There’s an old hip-hop saying that says, “Wave your hands in the air and wave them like you just don’t care.” Although it originated in hip-hop, there are some spiritual components with that saying.

When we don’t care about our problems, struggles, issues or concerns because we’ve given them to God, we don’t have cares weighing us down. We become free to lift our hands, wave them in the air, and praise our great God.

We’re praising God because He’s handling everything we gave Him. He’s handling every concern about our children, every uncertainty with our health, and every issue with our finances. He will perfect everything that concerns us (Psalm 138:8).

Don’t wait to be prompted by music. When we give our cares to God, we can wave our hands in the air (in praise) and wave them because we just don’t care.

Matthew 14:29 (AMP) He said, “Come!” So Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.

Peter was frightened, confused, and unsure during this time in his life, but his fears and uncertainty was cleared as he went towards Jesus.

When we have fear or uncertainty in our own lives, it’s best that we come towards Jesus. It’s best that we spend time with Him. It’s best we read His Word and tell Him all about our fears and uncertainties. It’s best that we see Him as our Savior.

As we come towards Jesus, all our fears will be transformed into faith and our confusion will turn into clarity. And like Peter walking on water, as we come towards Jesus, we’ll do extraordinary things.

Go towards Jesus.

Romans 15:13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Throughout God’s Word, it tells us that we have joy however, there are times we don’t feel joyful. But, just because we can’t feel joy doesn’t mean it’s not there. With healing, there are times we don’t feel healed, but it doesn’t change the truth in God’s Word that says, “we’re healed.” It’s the same way with the feeling of joy or any other promise from God.

Like any promise of God, the feeling of joy must be received by faith. The feeling of joy may not always be there, but since His Word says we have joy, we should use our authority to command the feeling of joy into our lives.

God gave us joy. The devil attempts to steal it from us. We must hold on to the feeling of joy with our faith.

Confession: “I believe God gave me joy and I declare the feeling of joy in my life, in the name of Jesus.”

We may have to make our confessions multiple times throughout the day, but as we fight the feelings of heaviness, sadness, or depression, the feeling of joy must reveal itself.

1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

Most of us don’t have a problem with humbling ourselves. With a little motivation, we’re willing to let go and let God direct our lives. None of us have a problem with exaltation. We’re happy to be lifted, promoted, or increased. The problem most of us have is with “due time.”

We’ll humble ourselves for a couple of months, but after that, we’re ready for exaltation. Unfortunately, there’s not a time table for exaltation. It could be a couple of weeks, but it could be 3 years. We don’t know.

Regardless of how long it takes, our role is to remain humble by doing the things God has instructed us to do. We may not know when, but there’s a guarantee of exaltation if we humble ourselves. Don’t worry about the time because every delay works in our favor.

1 Corinthians 9:27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.

Q: What does a body without self-control like?

A: Eating sweet, salty, savory things in large quantities.
A: Lusting over attractive people that are not our spouse.
A: Sitting around and not exercising.
A: Getting drunk or high on drugs.
A: Not sleeping or sleeping too much.

As we mature, we need to discipline our bodies (flesh) to do things that honor God and that are going to be beneficial to our health. A good way to discipline our flesh is with a fast.

When we fast, we intentionally take the keys away from our flesh and sensitize ourselves to hear God’s voice. He may tell us to exercise, read more, or limit the amount of sweets we eat. Whatever He tells us is going to bring Him glory and be beneficial for us.

Take control over your bodies.

Philippians 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Whatever God called us to do, He is able to see us through.

God called some of us to go back to school, but due to our finances or other circumstances we stopped our pursuit of getting our degree. If He called us to do it, He’s able to see us through it.

God told some of us to start exercising. We started, but due to minor ailments or the feeling of fatigue we stopped. If He called us to do it, He’s able to see us through it.

God told some of us to start a business. We started it, but looking at how hard it’s going to be we stopped our business to remain at a “safe” 9 to 5 job.

Whatever He told us to do, He’s able to see us through. He’s not concerned about our finances, how we feel, or how hard it is. He knows that we can’t do it within ourselves. All He’s requiring is our belief in His ability and our participation with His plan. Know that through Him (Jesus), we can finish God’s plan (Phil 4:13).

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

We’re living in a time where we’re glorified by how much money we have, what type of house we have, what type of cars we drive, and what type of vacations we go on. When we have all of that, we want to post it on social media.

The amount of likes we get from our posts makes some of us feel important. We want to keep that image up so that we can appear successful.

As we can see, the Bible tells us not to think of ourselves more highly than we should. The amount of likes we get can go to our heads. Don’t let the likes go to your head.

We are important because we’re blessed and made in the image of God. Continue to remain humble.

1 Samuel 17:40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

As David was preparing for battle with Goliath, he gathered five smooth stones for his slingshot. With God at his side, he only needed one stone.

Like David, we often feel like we need more than we actually do to succeed. We feel like we need a degree, with a good grade point average, and connections to get that desired job. All we need is God and His favor will open up doors of opportunity. We feel like we need, good credit, a certain amount of money in the bank, and a certain amount of income to get our desired house. With our trust in God, we can get a house with one or none of those things.

We feel like we need these extra things because we’ve been convinced by the world that these other factors will make us successful. Let’s shift our confidence. Instead of having confidence in grade point averages and credit scores, let’s put our confidence in God. Now, if He tells us to get those additional things, so be it. But, let’s not solely depend on that.

Seek God, and you’ll find out you won’t need as much as you think you need to succeed.

Psalm 119:130 The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.

Reading the Bible is not something we do just to say we did it and it shouldn’t be a chore. The Bible is the written Word of God. It’s not just a book to be read, but it’s God’s Word that should be studied (2 Tim. 2:15).

God’s Word gives, revelation, wisdom, and understanding. We can study the Word of God and get an answer to a dilemma we’re having at our job. Studying the Word of God can improve our marriage. Studying the Word of God can increase our business. A lot of us have this great book, but it’s only read at church.

Start taking the time to study a verse, a chapter, or a book and expect revelation, wisdom, and understanding to upload into our minds.

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

When we make Jesus our Lord and Savior, we become adopted into the family of God. God is our Father. We are His heirs. This is our new family.

Every spiritual promise is based on our belief. If we don’t believe we’re a part of the family of God, we won’t reap the benefits of being in the family of God. One great benefit is divine health.

Whatever health issues we may have had with our old families is cancelled. Our old families may have had a history of high blood pressure, sickle cell disease, depression, alcoholism, or early death. All of that is cancelled. We’re in a new family now. We’re in the family of God.

In this new family, every cell, organ, thought, and chemical within us functions the way God intended for it to function. In fact, 1 John 4:17 says, as He (Jesus) is, so are we in this world. Jesus is not walking around heaven with arthritis, bad kidneys, or a bad hip, so neither should we.

Don’t accept the old issues with our old families. We’re in a new family, therefore new benefits are available. Believe and receive them today.

Inspired by Pastor Bill Winston

Psalm 91:14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”

When we set our love towards God, we have the following promises to look forward to:

Deliverance, Promotion, Answers, Companionship, Honor, Long Life, Satisfaction, and Salvation.

Setting our love towards God is more than saying, “God, I love you.” Setting our love means we honor God by doing His will, we make the adjustments to align our lives with His Word, and we put our faith, trust, and hope in Him.

All God wants is a devoted loving relationship with us. Let’s give God our love and keep it there and expect His promises to follow.

James 1:14 But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.

The temptations Satan presents are enticing and they appeal to our flesh. They are tailor-made temptations based on our sin tendencies, our upbringing, and what we’re exposing ourselves to.

It may seem fun to relieve the stresses of work by getting tipsy at happy hour. If cheating on our spouses was glorified in our upbringing, we may be tempted to do the same.

Certain temptations may not lead directly to sin. They just may lead us away from something more beneficial. For instance, Satan may tempt us to binge watch Netflix shows instead of spending time with God. There’s nothing wrong with watching Netflix, but the temptation to binge watch shows leads us away from quality time with God or being more productive with our time like studying for a test.

We must recognize and not succumb to temptation. God has blessed us with the wisdom to know when we’re being tempted and has given us the strength to resist. Use these tools to honor Him and have a better quality of life.

Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Have you ever heard the statement “You changed,” as if it’s a bad thing? In life, we’re supposed to change. There are two ways we can change. We can either change by renewing our minds with the Word of God or change by renewing our minds with something else.

When we renew our minds with the Word of God, we make our thoughts align with His Word. Any change in our thinking compels us to change our behavior. Consistently hearing the Word of God on love, service, and giving will change us into more of a loving, serving, and giving person.

This type of change is good. People often highlight the change in us because it makes them aware of areas where they need to grow. It puts pressure on them to change. It isolates them because now there’s one less person who thinks like them.

Don’t be resistant to change. It’s beneficial to our lives.

Psalm 139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.

God thinks about us often. He’s not just some giant in the sky demanding our praise. We’re always on His mind. He’s the lover of humanity.

God wants the best for us, He wants to see us prosper, and He wants us to tell others about Him. Even if we hadn’t done right by Him, we’re still on His mind. He hasn’t forgotten about us, He hasn’t disowned us, and He still loves us.

Just know, God loves you and He’s always thinking of you.

John 6:9 “Here is a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. But what difference will these make among so many?”

The miracle of Jesus feeding the 5000 wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for the little boy voluntarily giving up his lunch. Although it wasn’t stated, we know his lunch was given voluntarily, and not forced, because God never makes anyone do anything. That would violate our free-will, which would violate His Word.

Because the boy voluntarily gave his lunch for the Kingdom of God, his lunch was multiplied. The boy’s gift positively impacted his life and the lives of 5000 other people.

God is not going to owe anyone. When we cheerfully give, we can expect a harvest in return. If we give an additional $2.00, we can expect a harvest on that $2.00. If we give $200.00, we can expect a harvest on that $200.00. That’s God’s promise to us.

Even if it feels like your last, don’t be afraid of giving. God promises that He will multiply any seed we sow.

2 Samuel 6:14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might, clad in a linen ephod [a priest’s upper garment].

David danced in his undergarments. Is this how a king is supposed to act? Absolutely not. But, when it came to praising God, all protocol went out the door.

God has been so good to us. He’s saved us and delivered us from the bondage of sin. He blessed and continues to bless us. He’s healed our bodies. He’s kept our sanity, and so much more. With all that He’s done, breaking protocol for praise shouldn’t be an issue.

The problem is we think about other people. We don’t want to “embarrass ourselves” or look foolish, and we want to appear dignified. If lifting our hands, crying tears of joy, yelling, jumping, and running are foolish in the eyes of other people, then so be it. God is worthy of our praise.

In praise, break protocol by doing things you don’t normally do. God is worthy of all of our praise.

Inspired by Pastor Bill Winston

Luke 7:9 When Jesus heard these things, He marveled at him, and turned around and said to the crowd that followed Him, “I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel!”

Mark 6:6 And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching.

The things that make Jesus marvel….

In one instance, Jesus marveled at a man’s belief. In another instance, Jesus marveled at a group’s unbelief.

Be a person that makes Jesus positively marvel with your belief. Choose to believe God’s Word no matter how you feel or what your senses tell you. It will advance the Kingdom of God, benefit your life, and benefit the lives of others.

Mark 9:24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

Isn’t this like some of us today. We want to believe, but unbelief keeps showing up.

Most Christians want to undoubtingly believe the Word of God. We want to believe all things are possible with God. We want to believe we are healed and whole. We want to believe we are protected from all danger. We want to believe, but our five senses and the circumstances surrounding us cause doubt to enter our minds. Doubt is the seed of unbelief.

We eliminate unbelief by renewing our minds with the Word of God (Romans 12:2). If we read and say something long enough, we’ll eventually believe it. When thoughts of doubt enter our minds, we should read/confess something in God’s Word that counters those thoughts. We do this until there’s manifestation. It may take days, months, or years, but we maintain our belief through the confession and meditation on the Word of God.

You want help with unbelief? Meditate and confess God’s Word.

Luke 12:48 But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.

There are many of us who desire things such as marriage, a house, and children. Some of us have them now. For those who are still waiting, know these desires require great responsibility. If we have these things, know these things can improve by fulfilling our responsibilities.

A good marriage requires compromise, effective communication (even when we’re upset), and a daily dying to self. A beautiful house requires consistent cleaning, maintenance, and more money. Good children require sacrifice of sleep, pushing our desires aside, and effort without laziness.

If we don’t fulfill our requirements, we’ll have these desires in name only. The quality will be poor. If we’re not willing to fulfill our required responsibilities, we might want to hold off on obtaining these types of desires.

Fulfill the required responsibilities for every desire received.

Psalm 3:8 From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.

There’s help for just about any problem we face. If we feel sick, we go to a doctor. If we feel depressed, we go to a therapist. If we have money trouble, we go to a financial advisor. With all the avenues of help out there, some of us forget about God’s deliverance.

There’s nothing wrong with going to a doctor, seeing a therapist, or going to a financial advisor, but when that’s our first thought when we get into a situation, we exclude God. For some of us, we don’t go to God unless those other avenues don’t work.

God is THE Deliverer. He’s not just another option. The same delivering power we see in the Bible, is the same power He has today. The only difference is our reliance on that power. Help is one thing, but deliverance is another thing. Those other options may temporarily help, but with God’s deliverance, it’s effective, permanent, and we can be totally set free.

Let’s go back to the basics and rely on God to deliver us out of all our fears, problems, and situations.

Titus 2:2 that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience; 3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things— 4 that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. 6 Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, 7 in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works; in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, 8 sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you.

The older we get, the more knowledge we should have. This knowledge is not for hoarding, but for teaching. We all have young children, nieces or nephews, cousins, or our friend’s children we can teach.

By giving them knowledge, we can potentially prevent people from going through tough times, we can minimize their mistakes, and we can limit their foolish years.

Let’s be a blessing by sowing the seed of knowledge whenever an opportunity presents itself.

Daniel 4:34 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.

The consequence of King Nebuchadnezzar’s sin of boasting and non-acknowledgement of God was an unstable mind. For 7 years, Nebuchadnezzar’s unstable mind forced him out of his kingdom; he lived in the wild, ate grass, and behaved like an animal. After 7 years, we can see God restoring Nebuchadnezzar’s mind back to its right state.

What can we learn from this? If God can restore the mind of a Babylonian king not under the covenant of God, He can surely restore the mind of every born-again believer.

If our spouse has been acting mean or cruel lately, we can call on God to restore their mind back to a kind state. If our children have been moody, we can rely on God to restore their minds to maintain a positive attitude. If our parents have been diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s, God is strong enough to destroy the disease and restore their memories. Depressions, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and other mental illnesses can all be restored by God if we believe.

Release your faith and praise God in advance for His mental restoring power.

Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

When things seem too slow, we often want to take the wheel and do things ourselves. Avoid giving in to this temptation. When taking things into our own hands, the outcome gets contaminated. The outcome will either be not as good as we’d hoped it would be, won’t last as long as we thought, or have factors we did not consider.

For instance, we may want to buy a house. God told us to wait. Although God told us to wait, thoughts of losing the house to another buyer causes us to impulsively buy the house. That house may have foundation issues that will cost us more money in the future. We may not have considered the property taxes we would have to pay on the house. Five years later, the neighborhood may not be as nice as it was. We could have avoided these issues if we waited on the Lord. This is true with a job, car, or relationship.

God’s timing is the best. Wait on Him and He will bless whatever He approves.

When it comes to God, everything is not going to be revelatory or deep, but stay the course. There are going to be times where it feels like nothing is happening, nothing is working, and God is far away, but stay the course. The time between when you prayed for the desire and the manifestation of that desire may be great, but stay the course.

We stay the course because we know our consistency in faith mixed with our patience will produce whatever we desire. Satan knows this and that’s when he’s the loudest. He’ll let us know this faith stuff is not working, God’s not listening to us, or we don’t deserve that desire. Here’s a tip. The more Satan talks, the more we should know it’s working.

Don’t get discouraged. Stay the course and watch desires from wisdom to materialistic things manifest in your life.

Hebrews 10:26 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.

2 Samuel 23:3 The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: ‘He who rules over men must be just, Ruling in the fear of God.

God will place everyone of us in a position of leadership. It may be leadership at our jobs, leadership at church, or leadership over our children. Regardless of the leadership role, it’s important to be just and God fearing.

To be just simply means to be fair. What you do for one, you should do for another. How you treat one, you should treat another. No favoritism in being just.

Secondly, we must be God fearing. God fearing is our utmost respect and reverence to God. When we respect God, we respect His decisions. He may tell us to put a particular person in charge of a certain project. He may tell us to let that person lead worship. He may have you tell your children to help with a task. Even though it may not make sense, we submit our leadership to Him.

Those two things are the foundation of great leadership. Use them today.

Ecclesiastes 2:10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. 11 Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Some of us spend a lot of our time trying to obtain the ultimate goal of becoming wealthy to enjoy our lives to the fullest. Celebrities who reached the financial status of where we want to be tell us to grind, hustle, and get money, so we do. We want to enjoy every aspect of life and not think about the cost.

Is there something wrong with wanting to enjoy life to the fullest? No. It is unprofitable when wealth and riches just to spend on ourselves becomes our ultimate goal. Solomon, the richest man ever, did whatever he desired to do for years. At the end of the day, he calls it vanity or pointless.

Our ultimate goal is to honor God by fulfilling the purpose(s) He has for our lives. If we try to please ourselves, it’s vanity. If we try to please someone else, it’s vanity. Fulfilling God’s purpose is the only thing that will bring fulfillment to our lives now and benefit us in the next life.

Seek God on the purpose(s) He has for you.

A lot of us want to know the secret to having a long, fulfilling life on earth. Well, look no further. Psalm 34 gives us specific instructions on positioning ourselves to having that long life.

Psalm 34:12 Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, 13 keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies. 14 Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

1. Keep our tongue from evil and deceit.
   Talking about people’s appearance, gossiping, lying, and speaking negatively in general are all forms of evil speech. Doing the opposite such as, uplifting one another, remaining silent when there’s a temptation to gossip, telling the truth in love, and being positive will position us to long life.
2. Depart from evil.
   Evil is doing anything contrary to the Word of God. Temptations to do evil will come. Resisting those temptations will fulfill our role to having a long life.
3. Do good.
   There’s a sense of good that God placed in all of us. Helping the poor, being a blessing, and simply being nice to each other are forms of good. Knowing what’s good is not enough. We must act on it.
4. Pursue peace.
   Maintaining peace is our responsibility. Avoiding arguments with our spouse, putting our pride aside, resisting the temptation to be offended, and removing ourselves from situations are all forms of pursuing peace. Avoid the drama and maintain peace.

A long fulfilling life is not a secret. When we do our part, a long fulfilling life is bound to happen.

Genesis 26:6 So Isaac stayed in Gerar. 7 When the men of that place asked him about his wife, he said, “She is my sister,” because he was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “The men of this place might kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is beautiful.”

**For those of us who know their Bible history, Isaac’s father, Abraham, did the same thing.

Genesis 12:11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, “Look, I know that you are a beautiful woman, 12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will allow you to live. 13 Please say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake, and on account of you my life will be spared.”

As we can see, Isaac’s lie to preserve his life didn’t come out of nowhere. It had to be taught by his father Abraham. This is not a good example of something we should teach our children but, it does show how much of an impact we have on them.

We are our children’s first and most impressionable teachers. What they see and hear from us will last a lifetime. It’s going to be beneficial to teach our children spiritual things as well as practical things. How we want our children should be taught by us. They’ll learn other things from other people but, their foundational teaching should be from us.

Let’s be a good teacher to our children because they’re learning from us.

God told Saul to destroy everything associated with the Amalekites. Saul disobeyed God and kept the best of the Amalekites’ animals. Saul claimed he was going to use the animals to sacrifice to the Lord.

1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

Some of us sacrifice out of our flesh instead of obeying God. For instance, a lot of us understand the principle of giving. The more we give, the more we’ll receive. God instructs us to give a $25 offering at church. We want a bigger harvest therefore, we give $100. We feel like our sacrifice of giving an additional $75 will impress God or compel God to bless us, but God desires our obedience above sacrifice. God may have had other intentions for that $75.

We’ll sacrifice our time by serving in multiple areas at the church, but we know God instructed us to spend more time with our families.

Our sacrifices may seem honorable and noble, but our obedience will go further than sacrificing from our flesh.

1 Samuel 15:20 “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.

Twice, Samuel, the mouth of God, gave Saul specific instructions to destroy the Amalekites and everything associated with them (animals included). As we see, Saul convinced himself that he obeyed God even though Samuel told him he disobeyed God. The Amalekites’ king is standing right there and the Amalekites’ animals are in the field. Saul is deceived into thinking that his partial obedience is complete obedience. Saul is lying to himself.

Saul is not the only one lying to himself. Some of us have done the same thing.
We know God told us to quit our jobs and fully focus on our ministry or business full-time. We deceived ourselves into thinking we completely obeyed God because we started our ministry or business, but we’re working somewhere else part-time for “security.” We know God told us to stop watching TV altogether to be delivered from pornography. We’re lying to ourselves thinking we’re obeying God by not watching TV except, Christian broadcasting. Did God say we can watch Christian broadcasting or no TV altogether?

Whatever God told you to do, do it completely. You may be scared and it may seem illogical, but do it and expect for God to positively impact your life.

Psalm 34:11 Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Reverence, honor, and respect to the Lord is not automatic. It’s something that must be taught. While it’s celebrated to teach our children reading and math at an early age, it’s more beneficial to teach them the fear of the Lord.

If we don’t teach them, who will? If we wait until they’re “older,” it may be too late. If we wait too long, they may have already accepted the deception of an atheist or an agnostic.

Let’s be sure to teach our children to fear the Lord. Even when they’re adults, we can teach them about our God and His Word. God’s Word are teachings that will never end.

Genesis 25:21 Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.

When issues arise in our marriage, the first thing we should do is pray. It’s unprofitable to complain or blame the other person. To resolve any issue in any situation, pray.

If our spouse is having health complications, like Isaac, we can pray and ask God to turn that negative situation around. He may lead us to a certain specialist that can resolve that complication. If there’s turmoil within our marriage, we can pray for peace. God may give us a plan of action that will eliminate the turmoil. Finally, we can ask God to show us any areas where we can improve in order for our marriage to improve.

Whatever complications that exist in a marriage, let prayer be the first option.

“You can’t have a sick soul and a healthy body.”-Joyce Meyer

There’s a connection between our soul and our body. One component of our soul is our mind. If we’re mentally unhealthy, our bodies suffer negative consequences. It’s been proven that stress, worry, anxiety, and depression lead to physical unhealth such as, high blood pressure, muscle pain, and heart disease.

That’s why it’s so important to take control over our thoughts. We may not be able to control what enters our minds, but we can control how long it stays there. When thoughts that lead to stress, depression, or worry enter our minds, take control over those thoughts, realize where they’re taking us, and as believers, reverse those thoughts with the Word of God.

Thoughts may come that we’re alone and not loved. Instead of being depressed, silence that thought and declare (with your mouth) God loves me and He promised to never leave me. Thoughts of not being successful may come. Instead of being anxious or stressed, declare your life is blessed.

It’s a serious battle, but well worth it to our mental and physical health. Understand this connection so that we can prosper and be in good health mentally and physically.

3 John 1:2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

Psalm 103:2-5 (ESV) Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

We, as humans, are an interesting bunch. For the most part, we’ll remember, become upset about, and maybe depressed about all the bad things that happened in our lives. Even if it’s something that happened 20 years ago, we’ll remember the details of the negative experience. But for whatever reason, the good things that happened, we’ll forget. From a miraculous healing to the birth of our child, we tend to forget or minimize the good things that we’ve experienced.

Obviously, the good things are from God and the bad things are an attack from Satan.

The same mind that can recall the details of a negative experience has the capability to remember the details of a positive experience. Let’s place our focus and energy on the good things God has done instead of dwelling on the negative experiences. Write it down if you have to, but don’t forget all the good things God has done.

When praising God, do you ever run out of words to say? Do you find yourself repeating the same thing over and over because you don’t know what else to say? Or, maybe you’re a new believer and you don’t know how to praise God. Well, there’s good news for all.

In the book of Psalms, King David gives us hundreds of praises to God. For every season in life, David provides us with the verbiage to praise and honor our God. From being ecstatic about what God is doing in our lives to overcoming frustration, David provides us with countless praise phrases that will glorify God.

No need to reinvent the wheel. Look through Psalms and read a praise out loud. We’re not only getting God’s Word inside our hearts but, we’re giving God praise, glory, and honor.

Psalm 71:14 As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. 15 My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long—though I know not how to relate them all. 16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.  

Jeremiah 32:27 “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

God is the Creator of all things. He knows all. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows what we’re going through and He knows how we feel. He knows we face trials and circumstances that shake us to the core. Although He didn’t create these trials, He knew that we would face them and provided a solution (1 Cor. 10:13).

With all this known about God, we can conclude that everything’s easy for God. The biggest problem to us is light work for God. We often trip out because the problems we face seem large, frequent, and plentiful and we can’t see our way out. To God, our problems are no more difficult than brushing crumbs off a table.

We don’t have to know how it’s going to work out. If we give it to God and keep it there, we can walk away from anything knowing it’s handled. We may not know when or how, but we know it’s handled. The key is giving it to God and keeping it there. If we try it on our own, we’ll drive ourselves crazy.

Give all your problems, cares, and concerns to God and allow Him to easily handle these situations for your good.