“I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fufil all my will” (Acts 13:22-23; KJV). What was it about David that allowed the Lord to say these words about him? David had a great zeal for God (1 Sam 17:45). He was teachable, humble and feared God (Ps 25). David trusted God and had great intimacy with him (Ps 27). David loved to praise his God (Ps 34:1), desired righteousness, (Ps 51) loved God (Ps 63) and prayed and cried out to his heavenly Father (Ps 143:1). As we see in our main text, David was also obedient to the will of God.

David was; however, human and fell into the sins of sexual immorality and even murder in his affair with Bathsheba (2 Sam 11). However, when confronted by Nathan the prophet he repented and God forgave him (2 Sam 12). “And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.”

We should look to the life and attributes of David, a mighty man of God. We should also be encouraged that God regarded David’s strengths and forgave such great sin. God loves us and will forgive us just as he did David. Be exhorted and encouraged.

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“This Book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success” (Josh 1:8-9; KJV).

In the old Testament men and women lived under a law they could never completely keep, but God was merciful and blessed them when their hearts were right toward him. This was their relationship with him.

Now, if we have given our lives to him, we have Christ in us (Gal 2:20) and through his death we were justified (made just as if we had never sinned) (Rom 3:24). We are new creations in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17), we have his forgiveness (Eph 1:7). We no longer live under the law, driven by the dictates of the flesh, but by faith we live in obedience to God as the Spirit leads us (Rom 8:1-2). We are redeemed (purchased at a great price) from the curse of the law, poverty, sickness and death (Gal 3:13). God has adopted us as his children (Rom 8:15), he is our Abba Father (Daddy). He has taken us out of the power and authority of darkness into his wonderful kingdom of light (Col 1:13-14). We are more than conquerors in Jesus (Rom 8:37).

Let’s commit to grow into all God has for us. If we press into him, he will work in us through his word and power to change, transform, use and bless us (James 4:7-8; Phil 1:6).

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“That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world" (Phil. 2:15; KJV). The devil would like us to think that our lives as Christians are not making much of a difference in the world and that we are certainly not seen as bright lights. However, we need to go by what the word says, not what the devil or anyone else says.

According to the verse above we are not just lights in the world but bright lights. That is a fact because it is the word (Bible) . We never know how many people we may be impacting each day, whether by our smile, our words of encouragement or deeds of love.

However, there are ways to make our light shine more brightly - by spending more time with the Light of the world (Jesus) for starters. In the gospel of the apostle John the first chapter and verses 14-16 we see that the Word or Jesus are one and the same and came to earth as a man. In verses 1-3, we read that the Word was present at creation and that everything that was made was made by God the Father through the Word. The more time we spend in the Light (Jesus, the Word) the more our light will shine in and through us. Our Bible is the written Word of God. So, get in that Bible and: “let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. 5:16).

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We hear much about the importance of the word, faith, prayer, praise, the fear of God, obedience, humility, repentance and the need for change in our Christian walk and so we should. But God’s cardinal commands are to love him with all our heart, soul and mind and our neighbor as ourselves (Matt 22:37-39). Jesus gave us a new command that we love each other as he loves us, by this he said the world would know we are Christians (John 13:34-35).

In the great love chapter of the Bible (1 Cor 13:1-13) the apostle Paul wrote that without love we are nothing. He clearly emphasized that of faith, hope and love the greatest gift was love (1 Cor 13:13). The Greek word for love that is used dominantly in the New Testament is agape; God’s unconditional love and the love that we are called to love with. First Corinthians chapter 13 defines this love for us, take time to meditate on it.

The bible says God’s love is in us, poured in by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5). God demonstrated the extent of this love by allowing Christ to die for us (Rom 5:8). We are called to love with our words (Eph 4:15); words that come from our hearts and are spoken in love. But love has to go beyond our words to actions, our deeds (1 John 3:18); love must be demonstrated; just as faith is not faith without corresponding actions (James 2:17). Think how you can share God’s love today; a gentle encouraging word, a kind spontaneous action.

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In the apostle Marks gospel, chapter 5, is an important lesson on faith. It is a story of Jairus, a synagogue ruler, and his daughter, who was dying. Jairus had beseeched Jesus to come and heal his daughter but on the way to his house they received news that the girl had already died. Then it says that Jesus overheard the news but ignored what was said. In fact, he replied to Jairus: “Be not afraid, only believe” (Mark 5: 36; KJV). There are times when we need to do the same. People may bring us negative reports and talk doubt and unbelief when we are trying to operate in faith. This is when we need to do what Jesus did in the story above and ignore the contrary reports.

Hang around people who are full of faith and who will encourage you to keep believing. As Jesus said to Jairus, just keep believing regardless of the situation because God said: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isa 55:11). God is also alert and active watching over his word to perform it (Jer 1:12). In other words, if you are standing in faith on a promise from God’s word, in his Bible, it will come to pass just as you have believed.

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