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.

GOOD ATTRACTS EVIL
Genesis 6:1-7

Be conscious in your mind that every good thing will pass through challenges at certain times in life. The author of evil will always take a position in your opposite direction to delay or deny the good that is to come your way. Whenever God is operating in His goodness the devil will operate in his ugliness and that is why he is being referred to as the accuser of brethren. God in His goodness created all to be good. Genesis 1:31, “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good…” Whatever that was made to be good is also beautiful and there is no ugliness in it. Also, whatever is beautiful will always multiply. The first blessing that was uttered by God after His good work in creating man was the blessing of fruitfulness and multiplication, “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply…” (Genesis 1:28)  Beauty and multiplication cannot be separated and it will always draw the attention of wickedness. Evidently, with multiplication and beauty taking its place on the earth, “Then the LORD] saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.” (Genesis 6:5-6) Just as beauty and multiplication draws the attention of the wicked, possession of good will also draw the attention of the evil one. The evil one will want to present itself wherever the good ones gather just like it happened in Job 1:6, “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them.” As one that loves God and walks in His commands bumping into challenges in your opposite direction is not always an evidence of wrong doing but could be an evidence of the enemy’s attempt to derail and deny your blessing. In your journey to posses all that is good, rest assured that walking in the opposite direction of the evil one is a clear indication of being in the right direction. However, walking side by side with the evil one could be the evidence of being in the same direction with him. Walking side by side is heading in the same direction with evil. Definitely, you do not want to end up in the same place with the evil one. God is good, He made us to be good, beauty and multiplication is our portion. The evil one will be attracted but termination shall be the portion of the evil one.
 
Prayer for today: Ask the Good Lord God to deliver you and preserve you from every evil so that His name can be glorified in your life.