The Crown of Life

Believers in Jesus Christ receive the crown of life. Let’s remember that before Jesus came, God had made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Jesus came so that the Gentiles might also be saved, and that atonement might be made for the sins of all of mankind. Jesus is the Lamb of God, and he was the perfect sacrifice for all of mankind. (see John 1:29, 36)

Believers are not promised an easy life in the Bible. We are warned in 2 Timothy 3:12 that those who desire to live godly in Jesus will suffer persecution. We must stop and realize that the enemy would not be attacking Christians so desperately if we did not possess something of great value.

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. (Jas 1:12 NIV, emphasis added)

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer for ten days. But be faithful, even if you have to die, and I will give you the crown of life. (Rev 2:10 NCV, emphasis added)

Trials of various types test a Christian’s faith, develop endurance in their lives, and help develop spiritual maturity in them. We can all read in 1 Peter how Jesus responded to persecution:

Although he was abused, he never tried to get even. And when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he had faith in God, who judges fairly. (1 Pet 2:23 CEV)

The Lord will give every believer the sustaining grace that they need to go through such trials victoriously. We just need to hold onto our faith in God and in His ability to uphold and sustain us spiritually, mentally, and emotionally through persecution.

Let’s consider how we can stand firm in our resolve to continue speaking the Word of Life boldly, even under the threat of persecution.

Before persecution begins, we must prepare for it by cultivating the Word of God in our hearts. This means that we memorize various passages from the Bible and review them regularly to make sure we retain them.

Scripture teaches that we carry the Word of God in two places: in our mouths, and in our hearts (see Romans 10:8, and Deuteronomy 30:14). Remember this vital truth: Whenever persecution attempts to silence the Word that is in our mouths, it is the Word that is in our hearts which will sustain us.

We carry the incorruptible Seed of the Word of God in our mouths and in our hearts, and we cannot begin to fathom the fruit that will come from that Seed. Hold fast to the Seed that has been sown in your hearts, brothers and sisters! It will uphold and sustain you, along with the very real presence of the Prince of Peace who never leaves us. Glory to God!

LOVE

As we know, 1 John 4:8 teaches us that God is love. The love of God gives us stability and assurance in our faith. It surrounds us and upholds us in our daily lives. But God’s love accomplishes many other things as well.

Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. (Pro 3:3 ESV)

We need to write God’s steadfast love and faithfulness upon our hearts, and one way of doing that is to memorize Bible verses about Him and His love. His Word is truth.

Mercy and truth preserve the king, and by lovingkindness he upholds his throne. (Pro 20:28 NKJV)

God’s lovingkindness actually supports, maintains and sustains His throne. Wow! What an idea worthy of meditation.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; ²and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. (Eph 5:1-2 NASB)

We should walk in love, allowing it to motivate us, to lead us, and to flow from us towards other people. As we live in this way, we are being transformed by the example of our Lord and Savior.

If I give away everything I own, and if I give over my body in order to boast, but do not have love, I receive no benefit. (1 Cor 13:3 NET)

As 1 Corinthians reminds us, without love for God, for ourselves and for others, we have received nothing. This is quite an enormous truth to wrap our thoughts around, so take some time in the weeks to come to meditate upon today’s topic. God bless you.

Guard Your Faith

How would we guard a treasure? Would we put it in a bank deposit box; a secret vault; or in a guarded safe? Naturally, we would do all that we could to protect our valuable property.

What about protecting our spiritual treasure? Are we just as diligent? Do we value it properly as we should?

What is our spiritual treasure? It is our saving FAITH in Jesus Christ which gives us new life on earth and an eternity in heaven with the Lord—where we will receive a crown. We’ll be in eternal blissfulness in the splendor of God’s presence.

So what does the Bible say to us?

Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. (1 Cor 16:13 NIV)

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Tim 6:12 ESV)

I have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. (2 Tim 4:7 CEB)

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. (Eph 6:10 NIV)

In life hardship and heartaches come our way but, thanks to Jesus, we are never defeated, never without hope, and never alone because our lives are in the hands of God. He is our defender and protector.

We’ve been given a treasure, but we need to guard it strongly. The devil wants to destroy our saving faith. He wants to make us doubt in our minds, to confuse our understanding, and to lead us off course to false treasures which have no value whatsoever.

But we rely upon the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is eternal truth, and nothing will prevail against it. As we memorize and meditate upon the Scriptures and remind ourselves of the wonderful gift of salvation that we have received, we will learn how to use our spiritual weapons referred to in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.

Here are just some of spiritual our tools:

We must take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Cor 10:5) – this means that we must monitor our thoughts and reject those that contradict the Gospel. We need to train our minds to remain centered upon Jesus.
Be sober-minded and watchful. (1 Pet 5:8)
Submit ourselves to God and resist the devil. (Jas 4:7)
Put on the armor of God in order to stand successfully against the schemes of the devil. (Eph 6:10-12; Eph 6:14-18)
Authority to tread on serpents and scorpions. (Lk 10:19)
Meditate upon excellent things that are worthy of praise. (Phil 4:8)
The blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. (Rev 12:11)
The Holy Spirit within us is greater than the devil. (1 Joh 4:4)

With these impressive spiritual tools, we are more than able to guard our faith victoriously. Hallelujah!

The Word of God and Healing

How is healing connected to the Word of God? This is a thought that occurred to me and made me interested in pursuing the subject for study and meditation. And for sharing with you!

My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; for they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh. (Pro 4:20-22)

The Scripture passage above tells us to pay attention to God’s Word! Listen to the Word (obey it); and meditate upon the Word. Keep them in your heart which means to memorize them. And the equation is that when we follow this advice, we will find LIFE and this life will be health [healing, medicine] to all of our flesh. It is indeed a crucial point that we, as believers and followers of Jesus, must hear and obey God’s Word.

He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. (Ps 107:20)

Notice that this verse says that God sent His Word, and IT (the Word) healed them, and delivered them from their destructions. Destructions means ruins, devastations or annihilations! God’s Word is alive and active and powerful. (Heb 4:12)

He who is of God hears God’s words . . . (Joh 8:47a)

Hearing God’s Word means listening and obeying it. God says that when we do that, we are “of Him”! We belong to Him and can be recognized as being His children.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It will be health to your flesh, and strength to your bones. (Pro 3:7-9)

Rather than relying upon human wisdom, we must live with a deep respect and regard for God and for His Word. We must depart from evil of every kind, including sin. And living in this way will give health to our flesh and strength to our bones at every age. Hallelujah!

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. (Mt 9:35) If we will live in harmony and obedience to the word of God, using the gift of faith that we have each been given, then we will be empowered to pray for others (just like Jesus did in the above verse) and witness Him heal them right before our eyes. Be encouraged and be bold in the Lord. Glory to God most High!

God’s Counsels

Our Lord has given us His counsel and wisdom through His Holy Word. We can’t enjoy these benefits of salvation if we don’t pay attention to the Bible and obey it.

O Lord, You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, for You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth. (Isa 25:1, emphasis added)

So I gave them over to their own stubborn heart, to walk in their own counsels. ¹³“Oh, that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! (Ps 81:12-13)

So that your trust may be in the Lord; I have instructed you today, even you. ²⁰Have I not written to you excellent things, of counsels and knowledge, ²¹that I may make you know the certainty of the words of truth, that you may answer words of truth to those who send to you? (Pro 22:19-21, underscoring added)

It’s a dangerous thing when man is permitted to walk in his own counsels, according to Psalm 81:12-13, above. Counsels means advice, guidance, assistance, direction or warning.

God’s counsels are blessings in our lives, and we need to recognize this truth. We need to hunger and thirst for His counsels.

The Bible says that God’s counsels are faithfulness and truth. (Isa 25:1) What beautiful and blessed encouragements that the Lord, our God, bestows upon His people!

Faithfulness means truthfulness, reliability, loyalty, and commitment. Truth means reality, integrity, and honesty. What precious blessings these qualities are to all believers who pursue them and desire them!

Only as we obey the Word and fill our hearts with passages from the Bible will we come to know and understand the counsels of God. As we memorize and meditate upon the Word of God, our faith will be strengthened and we will grow in wisdom. We will become qualified to answer with words of truth when people question us about our faith, or about the Bible.

As we honor and obey God’s word, by diligent search and study of God’s Word, we will sow God’s precious counsels into our own lives and hearts. And the longer we walk with and serve the Lord, the more evidence we will see of this taking place in our lives. And we will grow in wisdom, mercy, and understanding. God bless you!

Keeping a Pure Path

The Bible gives us answers for everything that we need in life, including how to live a pure and holy life. Let’s look to the Word:

How can young people keep their paths pure? By guarding them according to what you’ve said. (Ps 119:9 CEB)

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. (2 Tim 2:22 ESV)

Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. (Ps 119:11 NKJV)

The Word gives us these clear instructions:

We should guard our paths according to the Word of God;
Flee youthful passions and avoid occasions that give rise to temptation;
Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with all other believers who live a holy life unto the Lord;
Memorize the Word of God and hide it in our hearts because the Word that we cherish and honor will keep us away from sin.

These are clear and understandable directions from the heart of God. He has also given each one of us the gift of grace to empower us to do what He has called us to do. Hallelujah!

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God . . . (Eph 2:8, emphasis added)

May God surround us all with His grace, mercy, and love in Jesus’ name. Praise His holy name!

Our Lives Are a Message

Would it surprise you to learn that the life of each and every follower of Jesus Christ is an epistle (letter) to the world?

. . . clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. (2 Cor 3:3)

The word epistle means: letter, communication, or message. Every person who has accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord is a message to the world! The Holy Spirit, who has sealed us for the day of redemption (2 Cor 1:22; Eph 4:30), has been given to us as our guarantee or promise that we are born-again.

I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart. (Ps 40:8)

The verse above teaches us that every human being [saved or unsaved] inherently knows the moral law of God. (Rom 2:14-15) One reason that this is true is that all mankind has been created in the image of God. (Gen 1:27)

Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart . . . (Pro 3:3)

Mercy and truth are bound up in the Scriptures. When we memorize and meditate upon God’s Word, we are cooperating with “writing” them upon our hearts.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Heb 8:10)

The Holy Spirit will bless every believer with grace to enable us to memorize passages of the Bible, thereby putting God’s laws in our minds and sowing it into our hearts. Only the Spirit of the Living God has the necessary power to “write” God’s moral laws upon the heart of a believer. This Bible passage says that God has made a covenant with us to do these things, and also to be our God.

The Lord calls us His people, and what an awesome blessing that is. God bless you!

“I Shall Not Die”

Can it ever be the “wrong” thing to say (along with Psalm 118:17), “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.”?

First of all, how could agreeing with the Bible be wrong to do? Some people will say, “Yes, but I knew a brother who confessed that verse but then he passed away, so it was wrong for him to confess that.” I strongly disagree with this thinking.

Doesn’t the Bible TELL us to hide God’s word in our hearts (memorize it)? See Deuteronomy 6:6; 11:18; 30:14; Job 22:22; Psalm 19:14.

Furthermore, doesn’t Romans 10:8 give us specific instructions?

But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach) . . . (Rom 10:8) When the word is in our mouths, it means that we are speaking it out loud.

This passage from the Bible specifically says that God’s word should be in our mouths and in our hearts. “Yes,” someone might say, “but maybe NOT certain passages of the Word.”

Again, I cannot agree. Doesn’t the very foundation of our faith state that when we accept Christ as our personal Savior and Lord that we have received ETERNAL LIFE?

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (Joh 17:3)

. . . that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. (Joh 3:15)

So for any believer, at ANY time in their lives, to declare that “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord” is completely in keeping with their faith and their lifelong testimony.

It is good to understand and to know that when we graduate into eternity, we shall most certainly be ALIVE, and we shall be “declaring the works of the Lord” forever!

Thanks to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, believers move from victory to victory. So, be BOLD and CERTAIN in your faith, brothers and sisters!

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