“Fear God and keep His commandments,
For this is man’s all. For God will bring every
work into judgment, Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil.” Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

King Solomon wrote this quote from the Book of Ecclesiastes. He was the son of King David and a very wealthy and wise man. His premise about life is the world offers vanity, emptiness, and little hope.

Solomon believed you cannot find God in religion or government and life will bring unavoidable troubles. He counseled everyone to enjoy life to the fullest and sums up life with the wisdom in this Bible verse.

Life really comes down to having a realistic fear of God and a sincere respect for His character. God created you and will end your life in His perfect timing. You fear God because He has power and dominion over all things and rules with justice and retribution. He blesses and He curses. So the most important thing you can do is understand God and keep His commandments.

At the end of your life, you will have a face to face meeting with God and He will hold you accountable for every action in your life both the good and the evil.

The challenge today is to live a life pleasing to God. You can never do this on your own. You will stumble and fall.

Solomon failed God towards the end of his life. He entered into idolatry by marrying foreign wives and strayed away from God resulting in the kingdom of Israel to be split apart during his son’s rule.

God has now provided a very precious gift that was not available to Solomon. You can have the person of Jesus, the Son of God, live inside you in the essence of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will teach you how to live a godly life and lead you into His paths of righteousness.

Solomon is right about the perils and emptiness of the world but if you are a believer you have Jesus who has overcome the world living inside you. He wants to give you an abundant life and provide you with more than you ask or think!

 

“The word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe.” I Thessalonians 2:13

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The miracle of God is you hear the living Word and make a decision for Jesus and then He implants Himself in you.

The key word in this Bible verse is “believe”. God cannot do His mighty works if you do not believe in Him or if you are unwilling to come clean with Him. You must take the first step and invite the Word to do a powerful work in you. This will unleash His Spirit to cleanse you and restore you to God.

As a believer, you have the Word living in you and He works effectively and ceaselessly to purify and reform you into the personality of Jesus. The Word fills you with the life of Jesus and gives you the ability to be a light shining into the darkness.

The Word of God works constantly every day of your life whether at night when you are asleep or when you are awake. He works unconsciously in areas of your heart and soul that only God can touch. He is also alive in your thoughts and feelings and in all your relationships.

The Word is alive and powerful and pierces the depth of your heart to reveal your shortcomings and to show you how much you need God.

The work of God is endless and there are no barriers with Him. Christ is all and in all. There is nothing of value to you outside of Christ. He rules the world. He is the only pathway to salvation and an abundant life.

Invite the Word to do a mighty work for you today!

 

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all who follow his precepts have good understanding.
To him belongs eternal praise.” Psalm 111:10

The fear of the Lord is to wake up each day and realize the first thing you must do is go to the Lord. It is a recognition of how great God is and how insignificant you are in this world.

It is a deep understanding that you lack the ability on your own to have a successful day and you need the wisdom, strength, and protection of God.

You recognize the wisdom of the world is foolishness to God and will lead you astray. You desire the perfect wisdom from above that is filled with truth, mercy, and justice.

It is about filling an inner void through prayer, the Word, and listening to the leading of His voice. This will ordain your day and lead you into the path of God.

Following God has nothing to do with religion. It is a sincere desire to live a life pleasing to Him. God wants to take your education, special gifts, and experiences and use them to glorify Him and to give you an abundant life.

God deserves your eternal praise because He has given you an inheritance of all His blessings. He desires to give you more than you ask or think.

The fear of the Lord is extolling God for His greatness, power, glory, victory, and majesty!

 

“Be ready in season and out of season.” 2 Timothy 4:2

The challenge is to walk with God when life seems monotonous and unexciting. This is when it is easy to revert back to living for self with an attitude like “God doesn’t seem to care so why should I”.

Living in the jet stream is exciting and you feel on top of the world. But when there is no jet stream you can easily slip away from God.

When you are in a season of feeling bored with not much activity, seek God out and ask Him to revitalize you with Himself. Look for God in the simple things of life. This is the perfect time to refine your walk with God. Fill yourself with the Word of God and seek Him through prayer and praise.

Conduct yourself as if you are on center stage with the spot light shining on you. The idea is to be consistent with God regardless of the season in your life. Be accountable to God in what you eat and drink, how you spend your time, and your decision making.

God sees everything and nothing is hidden from His eyes. What you do when you are in the valley will mirror your performance on the mountain top.

God is at work at all times in your life! He never sleeps. You may not see Him but trust that He is right next to you!

 

“And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19:12

Elijah was worn out from fighting the enemies of God and was forced to flee into the wilderness to save his life. He sat down under a tree and told God this is enough and take my life.

God had different ideas and sent an angel to feed Elijah and instruct him to travel to Mt. Horeb.

Elijah came into the presence of the living God and saw the power of God at work to create a strong wind, an earthquake, and a fire. Then Elijah heard the still small voice of God.

The point of the story is don’t look for God in the events of the world or seek Him out through signs and wonders. Look for God inside you through His Spirit. Listen for the still small voice of God and follow His leading. Jesus prayed that you would be one with Him even as He was one with His Father.

The key to walking with God is to be linked to Him at all times and to navigate through life led by His still small voice.

When you feel defeated and at your wit’s end, sit down and listen for the voice of God! He will take you to mighty places!

“Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” Galatians 3:11

Bartering with God is a “no win” situation. You might think if you do something to honor God, then God will do something special for you. The concept of obligation on the part of God based on your actions will never work.

The idea of keeping laws or doing works to inherit the blessings of God died on the cross with Jesus. You cannot barter with God to earn His favor.

God has no interest in your sacrifices and offerings. God wants you to live for Him and place your trust in Him for all your needs. This is how you can gain His favor in your life.

Jesus died to give you the gift of eternal life. This is a perfect gift and has nothing to do with work or effort on your part. It is an expression of the love of God.

You can pray to God and seek Him out for all your needs but it is God who ordains your pathway. He gives and He takes. You are at the mercy of God who knows everything about you and determines your destiny.

The most important thing you can do is to make sure you are not obstructing His will with your thoughts or actions. Develop a consistent discipline of asking God to reveal anything in your life that is not of Him and to purify you with His nature. You want to be right with God at all times! This does not assure you of a prosperous life or a lack of problems but will give you the fullness of His Spirit. God will fill you with His love, joy, patience, and peace.

Imagine the flow of life coming to you from God. His hand can reduce the flow to a trickle or increase the flow to a gushing stream. God controls your life and you are at His mercy.

God is steadfast in His ways and will never change. Your only course of action is to have this attitude in your heart; “Not my will but yours be done”. This zealous devotion to God will get His attention!

 

 

 

 

 

“Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me and saw my works forty years.” Hebrews 3:9

What caused God to get so angry with the Israelites and swear they would never enter into His rest? The answer is they strayed away from God and fell into unbelief. They did not understand God’s methods.

God works in unpredictable ways and you will never be able to fully comprehend His thoughts and plans for you. Sometimes it takes a long time for God’s plan to unfold in your life. Moses waited forty years to begin his ministry.

As you wait upon God, you are called to be obedient to Him and have unwavering faith. The Israelites were not content with waiting upon God and did not accept His provisions during their journey through the wilderness. They wanted security and the riches of the land and they wanted it now. They looked to other gods to meet their needs.

You test God when you reject His path and attempt to go out on your own to find prosperity and a secure future. When you take this action you are expressing to God that you don’t believe that He has power and dominion over the heavens and the earth. You are replacing Him with self and pursuing other gods or idols.

God is very jealous! He wants your total devotion to Him. He will test you to determine if you will remain obedient to Him regardless of how long or difficult your journey.

God ordains these journeys through life that sometimes are barren and lacking in His fullness. He wants you to trust Him and stay on course. He will deliver you in His perfect timing!

 

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

Jesus set the example of how to walk by faith. He was sent to earth on a mission for His Father. He could not see the end result but persevered by faith and endured the ridicule, shame, and lack of belief in His name. Jesus kept His eyes on His Father and was rewarded with the gift of joy and the power and majesty of His Father.

Jesus is the beginning of faith in a believer. You hear the Word of God and make a heart felt decision for Jesus. This begins your journey of faith. You learn to trust in the invisible world of God who calls things that don’t exist as if they did.

Your faith begins as a tiny seed but grows as you walk with God and face the challenges of life. Moment by moment, God is at work to strengthen and perfect your faith. Like Jesus, you walk by faith without any evidence or proof. Your hope is in the promises of God.

Faith is living out your life trusting God through the good and the difficult times. Faith is believing in someone bigger than yourself and turning to God for your every need. You draw upon God for wisdom, peace, joy, and strength.

Faith is believing God keeps His Word and will do for you what you can never do for yourself!

 

 

 

“But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2

The most significant consequence of sin is that it separates you from God and causes you to suffocate without the life of God. Sin leads to death and destruction. In fact, God will multiply your sorrows if you hasten after other gods.

If you make the things of the world your priority, this will cause striving, fear, anger, greed, and jealousy. You are trying to do for yourself what God has previously done for you. He gave up His life so you can have an abundant life. This life is a gift from God and can be attained by placing your faith in His Son.

If you live without God, life is superficial and lacking. You will never find His love, joy, and peace. Life lacks meaning because you are neglecting God and attempting to find happiness by drawing upon yourself.

You are basically operating without God and you are denying His Spirit to dwell richly inside you and do more for you than you ask or think.

Life brings many challenges and the world can crush you. Without God, you have no one to fight your battles for you. He is a God of victory for those who seek Him out.

You were designed in the image of God and He desires to fill you with His life. In the big scheme of things, you are just an incomplete, mortal being lacking the ability to achieve an abundant and rewarding life. You need someone much bigger than yourself to bring substance into your life.

Think about it this way! God is holy and pure and He looks down on you and sees that you are unclean and lacking in His qualities. There is a block preventing you from entering into His presence. You can only overcome this block by accepting His Son and asking God to forgive you and fill you with Himself.

 

 

 

 

“He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8

God is holy and will not associate with sin and He calls His people to be holy like Him. If you are a believer, you are a member of the “set apart people” chosen by God. You are to reflect His renown, praise, and glory. You are to be a light touching those living in darkness. You live in the world but you are not of the world.

You cannot participate in the evils of the world and expect God to bless you. You must seek God with all your heart and lead a life pleasing to Him.

God has given you the perfect gift to help you be a role model for Him. Jesus forgives you for all your shortcomings and His Spirit living inside you will lead you into His paths of righteousness and refine you with the character of God.

The admonition on how to please God from the Book of Micah can be only accomplished if you are yielding to God through His Spirit. As a human being, you can never do what is good without God.

If you read the description of what was happening in Israel when Micah was written, you will see the rampant decay and corruption in the society. This is why God destroyed this nation about 150 years after the prophesy. They needed the gift of God that was coming into the world.

Reach out to God! He will never disappoint you