In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit. Isaiah 27:6

This is a prophetic verse about Israel which has already come true since the late 1900s. Israel which was barren for many years has been reestablished and the agriculture industry is in full bloom, flourishing with exports to all over the world. Also, Jesus Christ - the seed that was sown in Israel has been yielding fruits in all corners of the world! That is in the literal and spiritual sense of the verse.

But what is in there for you and me? Well, is it not a great promise? Then let's claim it! Let's also work on our Fruits of the Spirit so that our fruits can fill all the world around us...

Several times in the past we have discussed each Fruit of the Spirit in detail. For ease of use here's the links to our discussions on each fruit to refresh your memories.

* Love
* Joy
* Peace
* Patience
* Kindness
* Goodness
* Faithfulness
* Gentleness
* Self-control

Happy 'Son'day!

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3

Do we trust in the Lord? Do we have a steadfast mind? Then God will keep us in perfect peace!

There is peace; then there is perfect peace.

I believe this is the peace God promised us, peace as defined in John 14:27: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

There is a trick to earn this peace, which is explained in Philippians 4:6

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Here's wishing you all this perfect peace from above! Happy Saturday!

In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. Psalm 5:3

They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

So the key here is Wait for the Lord or take the time.

Taking the time or waiting on the Lord does not come naturally to us.  We would rather take matters in our own hands than "sit around", we reason. From Abraham to Moses to Peter to even us, all have history of impatience and we have seen the consequences of that.

Waiting on the Lord means getting the confirmation on God's will, to surrender the matter at hand at His feet and wait for His leading. Taking the time to read and meditate the Word of God will enable us to hear when the Lord speaks. Our hearts will be in sync with the will of God. Naturally this will result in us finding the grace and peace that has been given to us.

Shall we set aside some time each day to wait on the Lord? Morning or evening or at noon, that is up to you. But take the time!

I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. Psalm 130:5

My soul waits in silence for God only; From Him is my salvation. Psalm 62:1

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

The hard thing about this verse is, often times we do not recognize the devil. On the contrary to our imaginations he doesn't come with baring teeth and twisted horns...

He is so subtle and cunning that at times it is hard to even recognize it as the devil. We might mistake him for self pity, temptation, depression, tiredness, sickness, sadness, etc.

Remember this: Anything that spoils our joy of salvation is of the devil. So right away resist him and he will flee from you.

That brings us to a very important question: How to resist the devil?

* In the same verse we read, "Submit yourselves, then, to God"
* I Peter 5:8 says, "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour"
* In I Peter 5:9 we read, "Resist him, standing firm in the faith..."
* Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. Ephesians 6:11

And when you do recognize him say, "I command you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to stay away from me satan... I take victory in the blood of Jesus Christ!"

He will take off! As simple as that!

King David has set us a great example as a prayer warrior. He was constantly connected with God, day in and day out.

Prophet Isaiah too insists on praying in the night; he writes: My soul yearns for you in the night Isaiah 26:9

Prophet Jeremiah reminds us in Lamentations 2:19, Arise, cry out in the night, as the watches of the night begin; pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ also prayed at night. In Luke 6:12 we read, One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God.

We may reason we do not have time to pray; but it is high time we make time to pray. If we don't pray for our children who else would?  If kings and prophets and our Lord Himself chose to pray, what makes us think we can survive without it?

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Isaiah 55:6

* My eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promises. Psalm 119:148
* On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Psalm 63:6
* I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways Psalm 119:15

Do we stay late any night just to meditate on His promises? May be if you are a Pastor you would. But for others it might be the least priority in a day's schedule. In yesterday's post - Healthy Start, we saw King David rose up early every morning to praise & worship the Lord. (Psalm 5:3, Psalm 59:16, Psalm 119:147).

Here we see that he also stayed awake late in the night to meditate on the promises. He was a king, he had a big family, he was running for his life from time to time, yet he found time to sit at His feet both early mornings and late nights. Clearly his first priority was the Lord. No wonder he was a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:13) or in other words a friend of God.

My sincere desire is to be a friend of God. You too wish the same? Well, now we know how to...

* Each morning everyone gathered as much as he needed, and when the sun grew hot, it melted away. Exodus 16:21
* In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:3
* In the morning I will sing of your love Psalm 59:16
* His compassions never fail. They are new every morning Lamentations 3:22,23
* I rise before dawn and cry for help Psalm 119:147

Scriptures show the importance of sitting at His feet in the morning and yet that is one area we neglect. When Israelites were fed by Manna, every morning they had to gather as much as they needed. As the sun grew hot, it melted away.

Same is true for our Spiritual Manna - the Word of God. We need to gather it every morning as when the day progresses we may altogether skip it. We all know the Lord's prayer, "Give us each day our daily bread" Let us take an effort to eat it every day, possibly at breakfast for a healthy start.

Manna for breakfast anyone?!

For today's "coffee" I wish to share this beautiful psalm that touches my soul. Let us read it together, line by line, word by word letting it all sink in. God bless you. Happy 'Son'day!

* Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. Psalm 55:22
* Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. I Peter 5:7
* I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you. Hosea 14:8
* And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you Matthew: 6:30
* You saw how the LORD your God cared for you all along the way as you traveled through the wilderness, just as a father cares for his child. Deuteronomy 1:31

Today's message is specially for those who constantly worry about this or that. The verses here make it crystal clear that our Lord will sustain us through our tough times as long as we cast our cares on Him. What does it mean to cast our cares on the Lord?

It simply means bringing our burdens to His feet, praying it over from the depth of our hearts, crying it over (if we feel like) at His feet (not to anyone else), and then no longer be burdened by it but rejoice in His love. You might ask how is it even possible not to be burdened by it?

The answer is if you truly believe God will answer your prayers and handle it for you, you will know better to refrain from worrying further. Or in other words if you continue to worry it only means you have not trusted Him to lead you through.

I am casting all my worries right away; hope you will join me too!

The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. James 3:6-10

I am sure most of us made a conscious effort to make our words be few, lately. Once again we are reminded of taming our tongue this morning. This time rather than speaking little, it is speaking the right words that is being insisted upon.

Is our tongue starting fires or quenching fires? Is it full of venom against past, people, self, spouse or is it filled with love and praise for what/whom we have? Do we bless or curse mostly?

Let us give heed to the Scriptures that show us the way. Let us tame our tongue with God's help.

May our words be kind.

Kind words are like honey--sweet to the soul and healthy for the body. Proverbs 16:24

Let your words be few Ecclesiastes 5:2

The prudent hold their tongues. Proverbs 10:19

Fools multiply words. No one knows what is coming - who can tell someone else what will happen after them? Ecclesiastes 10:14 

A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. Proverbs 29:11

All of us have opinions of things good and bad. We have a point to make, good & bad. We often share our thoughts without the filtering process, which is the Word of God that gives us the divine wisdom. 

We might think we are being straight forward, but the Bible tells us we are fools if we don't control our tongue. Many a times I am guilty of it myself :(  

Today's message challenges us to speak less, hold our tongue, nod, listen, cook, clean, do something but don't talk. Enough if entertaining our guests and neighbors and friends and colleagues with our constant blabbering. We have shared our opinions time and time again. Now is the time to hold. Pause. Heal. Be.

Let our words be few. Today. Tomorrow. This week. Next week. For a month. For 6  weeks. Until it becomes our very nature. Then we will be prudent.

With God's help we can. Amen! 

The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, without painful toil for it. Proverbs 10:22

Isaac planted crops in that land and the same year reaped a hundredfold, because the LORD blessed him. The man became rich, and his wealth continued to grow until he became very wealthy. Genesis 26:12-13

Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth... Deuteronomy 8:18 

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7

Amen! Precious blessings this morning!

Let us be careful not to make it our priority to accrue wealth. Our priority or primary focus in this life is to do the will of God. Whether we seek after or not wealth will follow, as long as we first seek Him - with all our heart.

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

God bless you all!

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.

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.

But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1:3-11

Pure and simple Scriptures this morning for Coffee with Jesus. As we read above, let us make every effort to confirm our calling and election.

How beautiful your sandaled feet... Song of Solomon 7:1

Interesting how the bride and groom alternate compliments on each other in the book of Song of Solomon. Further more interesting is the fact that we are the bride personified here while Jesus is the Groom. It makes it all the more important for us to pay close attention to these Scriptures so that we can compare to the described bride.

Here, the Lover admires how beautiful His bride's feet are. Not just the bare feet, but her 'sandaled feet'.

What kind of sandal it would be? In Ephesians chapter 6, where we read about getting ready in the full armor of God, in verse 15 it says: "... with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace".

So, it is not just any sandal we are talking about here; it is 'the readiness' that is implied. Readiness? Readiness for what? Clearly it mentions 'readiness that comes from the gospel of peace'.

In Isaiah 52:7 we read: How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"

Let us check if we are fitted with the 'sandal' our Groom so admires. If not, let's get fitted with readiness by accepting the gospel of peace.

Have a blessed Monday.

 If you are not feeling up to going to church today, here's a reminder for you:

“If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath

and from doing as you please on my holy day,

if you call the Sabbath a delight

and the Lord’s holy day honorable,

and if you honor it by not going your own way

and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,

then you will find your joy in the Lord,

and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land

and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”

The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 58:13-14

It doesn't matter which day of the week we choose to gather to worship the Lord;  whichever day it is, let us do it willingly. Then we will find our joy in the Lord.

Let's go enjoy worshiping our Lord!

Today's reading: Proverbs 29 Click here to read online (NIV)

Verse of the day: "A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor." 29:23

Few other scriptures here in similar lines:

* "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." Matthew 23:12
* "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up." James 4:10
* "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Proverbs 3:34

If there is one person who had all the reasons to have pride - it would be King Solomon! Why? Because the Bible says there was no one before him or no one after him who would be as wise as him!

But, King Solomon himself stays away from pride as carefully as possible. We can repeatedly see many references in Proverbs where he shuns away from pride and warns us to the consequences pride can lead us into. I am sure he had found it out to be true that being humble at heart would help receive the grace of the Lord.

Pride is a trap. Once we fall for it, it is very difficult to come out. These verses are here to warn us. Let us avoid pride at any cost!

These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Revelation 3:8

Just yesterday we learned how our King who breaks open the way will go up before us ... Today again as a reiteration of the same message, what the Holy Spirit shares with us is that the door He opens no one can shut.

I am sure it is for strengthening us in the Lord, that we are reminded of the same message a second time! Amen!

Whatever doors are shut before you, God is going to open it for you. He knows you have little faith, yet you have kept His word and have not denied His name. God knows it all - even if it looks like no one else cares.

Let us continue to hold on to His words and not deny His name. The doors are going to be open - very soon... and no one can shut it!

Amen! Praise the Lord!

One who breaks open the way will go up before them; they will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, the LORD at their head. Micah 2:13

Let us read the verse once again slightly differently - emphasizing the words in bold:

One who breaks open the way will go up before me; I will break through the gate and go out. My king will pass through before me, the Lord at my head.

Let's repeat the verse one more time...

Loud and clear!

One who breaks open the way will go up before me; I will break through the gate and go out. My king will pass through before me, the Lord at my head.

 Let's keep praying this verse against all the "closed doors" in our lives.

When our King takes the lead before us, He will break open the way for us. Amen!

If you believed, you would see the glory of God!

If only we believed...

When a man or woman wrongs another in any way and so is unfaithful to the Lord, that person is guilty and must confess the sin he has committed. He must make full restitution for his wrong, add one fifth to it and give it all to the person he has wronged. Numbers 5:6,7

I once read this story of a reporter who wrote ill of a politician on his newspaper. Soon one day he happened to bump into the politician quite unexpectedly in an elevator or restroom, somewhere confined. The reporter felt very bad and was quick to apologize to the politician about his article, to which he simply replied, "I'd have rather had you criticize me in private and apologized in public."

"So true!" we exclaim; but don't we all do just the same? We offend our spouses, children, neighbors and walk around as if we have done no wrong, or do a name sake gesture one day to think we have made up for it, don't we?

Believe it or not, this is against the Scriptures! If we have wronged someone in any way, and by doing so we are unfaithful to the Lord, we are guilty. Period. No sugar coating it. No reasoning it out. No justifying it.

The remediation the Word of God suggests is to confess (first to God and next to the offended) our wrong doing and pay back more than what we owe - in fact as much as five folds more. So, if we lacked respect, we owe it five times more, if we lacked courtesy we owe it that much more, same for love, peace, joy, a smile, you name it.

I am sorry if this post itself offends you; it's not me but the Holy Spirit sharing... Hope you are listening...

When God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work--this is a gift of God. Ecclesiastes 5:19

Interestingly the Scripture here points out it is not the wealth or possessions that are considered the gift of God, but the heart that accepts our lot and remain happy in our work - that is a gift of God.

In his letter to Timothy Apostle Paul writes about Love of Money and says "Godliness with contentment is great gain". I Timothy 6:6. Indeed it is!

King Solomon was the richest king ever. He writes in Proverbs 28:25, "A greedy man stirs up dissension, but he who trusts in the LORD will prosper." - which shows that his prosperity came from trusting in the Lord and not from greed.

How many of us are content this morning?! Praise God for all those hands that are going up! Let us continue to accept our lot! This is our gift from the Lord! Amen!

Have a blessed week ahead!

"Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done." Revelation 22:12

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Revelation 3:11

He who testifies to these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20

Jesus is coming soon! It is what we as believers look forward to, or do we?

I remember as a child and as a young adult, I have expected His return every day. Going to bed my prayer would be, "Lord, if you return tonight please count me in"; waking up my prayer would be, "Lord if you return today, keep me holy and take me along".

However, I admit over the years, His tarrying has made me lose the expectancy of His return, to a point where for days together I have gone without much thought about it.I am sure, all of you believers can relate to this one way or another.

Today's message comes as a reminder that indeed He is coming soon. We must stay focused, not giving yield to the distractions life throws our way. A child like faith, that fully trusts the Word of God, without any reservation or bias, is what is expected of us.

Being always ready for the imminent return of the Lord, should be our constant state of mind. The assurance of forgiveness of our sins and the joy of salvation is what it takes to make us ready for His return.

If anyone here does not have that assurance, please seek Him today. I guarantee you, you will find Him. Amen!

Jesus is coming soon. Until then, happy waiting!

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”

But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.

By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison. Deuteronomy 29:18

See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. Hebrews 12:15

The first scripture here is an excerpt from Moses's address to the Israelites at the end of their journey; the second is from Paul's letters to Hebrews.

The idea is the same: Do not develop bitterness yourself; neither do let others induce it in you! Both will lead to falling short of the grace of God. Let us see how we can work on these.

How do we get rid of our bitterness? Ephesians 4:31-32 has the answer. It says, "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

How do we safeguard against people who produce bitterness? For one, by praying the Lord's prayer "Lead us not into temptation  but deliver us from evil" (Luke 11:4).

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23

Our heart is the precious of all organs - vital for our survival. No wonder the scripture says we need to guard it with all diligence. While looking up this verse I came across a sermon by Rev. Adrian Dieleman. Thought of sharing the highlights with you for today's coffee.

What does the Bible say what heart is:
* Heart is a physical organ and food & drink strengthens it
* The heart is the focus of intellectual life. The heart is connected with thinking
* Acts of the will are considered to arise in the heart
* Heart is closely connected to the feelings and affections of a person: joy, fear, discouragement, sorrow, hate, love.
* The heart is spoken of as the conscience.
* The heart represents a person's true nature or character.
* The heart is the place where God does His work in the individual.
* The heart is the dwelling place of God.

Who can attack our heart?:
* Sin & Satan - God lives in our heart. But so does sin and Satan. The two cannot coexist. This means our heart is a battleground between God and Satan. Both lay claim to our heart. Both want to be master of our heart. Both want the allegiance of our heart.
* World - The world hates Jesus along with His followers.
* The acts of our sinful nature - The devil is our opponent who attacks us from the outside. The world is the hostile environment in which we live. And our own "flesh" is the enemy within us.

How do we guard our heart?:
* To guard our heart, our heart needs to belong to God.
* We need to listen to the Word of God if we want to guard our heart
* Be part of a church in the fellowship of believers
* Steer clear of sin.

Our heart is precious. Our heart is under attack. So, let's guard our heart!

Anger is an emotion related to one's psychological interpretation of having been offended, wronged or denied and a tendency to undo that by retaliation.

Attitude behind anger - You owe me!

God's anger is different from man's anger. God's anger is moral, holy and is about the righteousness of God. Man's anger is selfish, immoral and sinful - someone will have to pay.

Issues of anger - ill health, depression, paranoid, suspicious of others, judgmental, messes up our relationship with people and ultimately God Almighty.

Cure for anger: Forgiveness

Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Colossians 3:5-8

No one owes us anything - not even an apology. We owe it to ourselves to be anger-free. That's what the Scripture tells us. If we are calling ourselves children of God and believers of Jesus Christ, would you carry an offense rest of your life, or would you rather forgive it and go anger free?

Forgive! Shall we?

Psalm 86:15 - But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.

Ephesians 4:26-27 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

do not fret when men succeed in their ways,
when they carry out their wicked schemes. Psalm 37:7

"Be still and know that I am Lord" Psalm 46:10

The question is How to be still?

A well known verse from the Bible, yet one we all struggle with. When situation calls for a panic we start running wild, trying to figure out a solution for the issue at hand, instead of submitting it at the Lord's feet and doing things in accordance with His divine guidance.

Only when all our "resolutions" fail we come to the Lord - as our last resort. All the while He was there saying, "Be Still"!

Only when we are still we can know that He is Lord

For example when a child gets hurt with a thorn of some kind, we as parent or even a doctor can't help much unless the child calms down and allows the adult to intervene. In the same way, our Father Lord asks us to be still; so that He can intervene and take care of our pain and suffering. Why is it hard for us to do?

Let us make it part of our prayer going forward: "Dear Lord, Please teach us to be still so that we can see your glory. In Jesus' name - Amen"

Shall we?

trust in him and he will do this:

the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Psalm 37:5-6

Amen! What a great promise for us this morning. In fact, I believe this is a direct message for me as much as for the rest of you around the coffee table.

The world around us is tough. It speaks foul language. It hates the godly. It ridicules the righteous and denies justice to their cause. On the other hand, it supports the ungodly, goes hand in hand with the foul mouthed and loves their ways. It is difficult to survive such a world on a daily basis - almost impossible on our own!

That's when promises like these encourage our spirits and speaks directly to our souls. It is an assurance that the Lord support our righteous cause; and bring us justice like the bight sun. Just as bright and powerful the sun is at noon, everyone will see us shine through!

However, it all starts with a commitment on our side - to commit to His ways and trust in Him. Which then brings us to our today's discussion: How to commit our ways to the Lord?

When Moses summoned all Israelites and gave them the ten commandments from the Lord, he had given an important instruction which holds true for us even to this day:

Be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or to the left. Deuteronomy 5:32

King Solomon shares a wise word: Commit to the LORD whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. Proverbs 16:3.

He repeats in Proverbs 3:6, In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

Yet again He says, in Proverbs 4:27, Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

The Bible is full of instructions on how we can continually commit our ways to the Lord. We only need to read it and apply it in our lives - with a conscious effort.

Then the Lord will bring forth our justice as bright as the noonday sun and our righteousness will shine like the dawn!.

Praise the Lord!

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

We all wish our desires or dreams would come true, don't we? Well, the Bible assures us of a sure fire way of getting our wishes granted - to delight ourselves in the Lord!

Let us discuss How to delight in the Lord?

To delight in the Lord means to delight in the things of the Lord. We will look at Scripture examples of things that we can delight in that are of the Lord.:

* If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day, if you call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the Lord, and I will cause you to ride on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” The mouth of the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 58:13-14

* I long for your salvation, O LORD, and your law is my delight.
Psalm 119:174

* Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-2

* He will delight in the fear of the Lord. Isaiah 11:3

* Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who finds great delight in his commands. Psalm 112:1

* I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness... Isaiah 61:10

* My soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation.
Psalm 35:9

Enough said I believe. The Scripture clearly tells us how all we can delight in the Lord. When we do as it says, all the desires of our heart will be granted!

Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33

Now that we know the secrets for our wishes to be granted, why not give it a try?!

Dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Psalm 37:3

We are meditating on the same Scripture portion for the last few days, Psalm 37:3-8, focusing on specific instructions each day. Today's discussion is: How to dwell in the land?

 In verse 27 of the same Psalm we have the answer; it says: "Turn from evil and do good; then you will dwell in the land forever."

Apostle John insists in his letter to Gaius, "Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God." 3 John 1:11

For the upright will live in the land, and the blameless will remain in it. Proverbs 2:21

"Because you have made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, your habitation; There shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come nigh your dwelling. "  Psalms 91:9-10

King David sings, I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23:6. Can we truly sing the same?

If we turn from evil and do good, then we will dwell in the land forever and of course, sing the same song!

Have a blessed September 2018!