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Psalm 37

King David wrote, “Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the workers of iniquity.” (Psalm 37:1) Which one of King David’s advice of ‘do not’ are you doing? Being fretful of the evildoers or being envious of the workers of iniquity? Being fretful of the evildoers is evidence that you have lost your rest in the Lord, that is, you are no longer resting but troubled. Also, when you are envious because of the workers of iniquity it is a demonstration that you are no longer resting in the Lord but rusting away on your inside. The wicked are here to stay until the Lord is ready to take them away. King David went further in the same Psalm 37 and gave the prescription to rest in the Lord while ignoring the wicked and their wickedness. Psalm 37:3, “Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.” Let the Lord take care of His business concerning the wicked. There is nothing that gets past the Lord. The Lord sees all things and He knows all things that are going on. He alone knows when to deal with them when they refuse to come out of their wickedness. Jeremiah also complained to God, “…Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why are those happy who deal so treacherously? 2 You have planted them, yes, they have taken root; They grow, yes, they bear fruit. You are near in their mouth But far from their mind.” (Jeremiah 12:1-2) God does not sleep nor slumber and it is important that we concentrate on pleasing Him, working the works of God rather than questioning His response to the wicked. What makes you think you are not a wicked one too? Would you be honest and take some time out, search, examine, and identify if there is any wicked way in you? Jesus said in Matthew 7:5, “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” However, whatever is wicked is bad and if you are an evil doer you are wicked. There is no minor or serious wickedness. God will judge all the wicked ones. King David said to the wicked one, “…They shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.” (Psalm 37:2) Man can be deceived, the whole world can be deceived but God cannot be deceived and it will take the timing of God to catch up with the wicked ones.
 
Prayer for today: Ask God this day, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; 24 And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

DELIGHT YOURSELF
Psalm 145

When there is fear of God there will be a delight and when there is no fear of God, there will be no delight. Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” Also it is written in Psalm 145:19, “He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.” The point that both scriptural verses pointed out is about having desire fulfilled. In one word, one that fears God is one that delights. Psalm 119:130 stated that, “The entrance of Your words gives light; It gives understanding to the simple.” With light having its place in you, being in a state of delight will reign. However, without the word entering you, you cannot have the kind of delight that brings desire to come to pass. To be in a state of delight is to have joy and having joy will grant access to the presence of God. Psalm 16:11, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” The path of life is to continuously be in the presence of God because the One that came to give life came to give it more abundantly. Abundance of life is in the presence of God and His presence is where He gives life as desired. The enemy of God hates to see the children of God have life abundantly and that makes him operate as a thief that is here to steal, kill and destroy. The mission of the enemy is to make sure being in a state of delight is not possible because where there is no delight evidently there will be no joy that gives access to the presence of God. The Psalmist mentioned that at His right hand are pleasures forevermore. Getting to His right hand is only through joy. God is a good God and there is no iota of wickedness in Him. He made everything beautiful and He that made all to be beautiful has a plan to make life a blessing not a pain. Proverbs 10:22, “The blessing of the LORD makes one rich, And He adds no sorrow with it.” The point here is, living a life that brings desirable, good things is found in the fear of God. Where there is no fear of God, nothing good will move in the direction of man. Jesus says, “…I am the light of the world…” (John 8:12) Remember, the light that brings joy is in the word of God and when it has been contacted in the word of God, it brings man to the presence of God. Paul the apostle knew what he was saying when he emphasized in Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! ” Spend time and allow the word to enter you, let it delight you and rejoice in it so the presence of God will have its place. Always remember, God will not reside in a joyless environment.
 
Prayer for today: Father let your word have its way in my life in Jesus name.   

SEE GOOD
Genesis 13

If you could see what the future holds for you, the present challenge would not hold you down in stress and disappointment. Abraham was called out of his ground of comfort by God, “Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.” (Genesis 12:1) God had a plan for Abraham, to enter into God’s plan he had to be able to see. God wanted Abraham to see from where there was nothing to show for. Abraham was the only one that was called out of his family but when he was getting out it was with a family member, “So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” (Genesis 12:4) Abraham’s obedience was not in full compliance. Where there is absence of full compliance to God’s command, the will be a presence of full discontinuation. Abraham on his journey could not see what and where God had in plan for him until later, when Abraham and Lot could no longer dwell together because of strife between the herdsmen of Abraham’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. When separation and the division of land was called for, the Bible records that, “…Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other.” (Genesis 13:10-11) Lot lifted his eyes to see only the present but could not see the future. Lot’s choice was not directed by God and His choice later became a land of destruction (Sodom and Gomorrah) Abraham’s seeing was of the Lord’s calling. Lot thought that he was making the better choice but, “…The LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward;” (Genesis 13:14) As far as Abraham could see, it became his. As a child of God what you see will determine what you receive. What you receive is what you believe and what you believe will determine what you become. Are you seeing positive or negative as you look into the future? Do you believe that Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you? Be anxious for nothing. See through Jesus, He owns tomorrow and holds it in His hand. Abraham saw great and the Lord declared, “For all the land which you see I give to you and your descendantsforever.” (Genesis 13:15) See good and good shall become of you.

Prayer for today: My Lord and my God, I ask in Jesus name, call my attention to begin to see where you have positioned my blessings. 

LOVE FULFILLS THE LAW
1 Corinthians 13

Among the gift of God, love is the greatest gift. Love is like an anchor that every other gift holds on to and when love is not there fulfilling the command of God is absolutely impossible. Paul the apostle clearly drew out the importance of love in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” It is clear in Paul’s word that though a believer can demonstrate the gifts of God such: as speaking in tongues, prophesying, reaching out to the needy and making oneself available when or where there is need, without love, all is empty and it carries no weight. Jesus meant what He was saying when He stated in Matthew 7:22-23, “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’” In regard to this statement, every believer needs to examine and search themselves. Have you been demonstrating any of the gifts while you entertain hate, bitterness, and any other opposite of love? Man can always be deceived, your pastor can be deceived, brethren can be deceived, but God cannot be deceived. The apostle Paul went further to describe what love is about in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” If every believer will consider the description of what love is about just as stated by the apostle Paul, there will be a need for grace and not a determination to love because determination will fail. To love in truth and in deed seems impossible but God will not require of us what is not possible. Love and be saved, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”(Galatians 5:14)
 
Prayer for today: Ask God to enable you with grace to love the way the word requires and not in your own way of loving.

HIS HOLDING
Isaiah 45: 1-13

When God anoints you He will hold your right hand and He will go before you. What a blessing to be anointed by God for His assignment? God is God and He can choose to anoint anyone regardless of their background. Once He anointed Cyrus the king of Persia a pagan, to accomplish the deliverance of the children of Israel. Isaiah 45:1, “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut: ” When God holds your right hand, victory is certainly certain. When He holds your right hand, you are no longer the one doing the battle but a vessel being used by God. As it was when He held the right hand of Cyrus, so it will be for you and you will subdue and loose the weapons of your enemy; undeniable doors will be opened for your breakthrough. God holding your right hand is God doing the battle while you are just on the battlefield. Isaiah 45:2 also pointed out that when He anoints, He will go before you. Isaiah 45:2, “I will go before you  And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.” When God goes before you, every impenetrable ground will yield for your penetration and the rough places that have been troubling you in your passage will be made smooth. When He goes before you, highly invested gates that are specially and specifically constructed to stop and deny your breakthrough will be shattered; they will not stand but fall down flat before you. Above all, every treasured and hidden activity of the wicked will be exposed to you. When the Lord goes before you, the riches that the enemy cherishes will be exposed and the enemy will be naked. God going before you is you stepping in His footsteps. You follow and you cannot fail when walking in His steps. God is still in the business of holding the right hand of His anointed and He is sill going before them. Do you need Him to hold your right hand and go before you just like He did unto Cyrus the king of Persia? There is no God besides the Lord God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. He is the Holy One of Israel; He alone is the Lord that does all things and nothing is impossible for Him to do.

Prayer for today: As you go in a new day, week, month or year, ask God to hold your right hand and go before you just like He did Cyrus the king of Persia.