“The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing” (Zeph 3:17; KJV). Wow, what an encouraging scripture. God is in our midst; the very center and heart of our lives. He saves us and quiets us with his love. The word for save here means to liberate, deliver, rescue, defend, preserve and keep safe; this covers all aspects of life. He quiets us, causes us to be at peace, at rest and still in his amazing love.

But the most exciting part for me is that he rejoices over us with singing. When you study the words joy, rejoice and singing used here, they show us that our God and father is so excited and full of love for us that he leaps and dances with an infectious joy. God spins around in violent emotion over us, he shouts over us with a shrill high-pitched sound, with joy, rejoicing, gladness and laughter.

In other words, he is so happy and in love with his children that he goes ballistic over us. But then I thought, how do we praise him and express our love for him; do we do it in the same way he shows his approval of us? Let’s commit to praise our God as he deserves; let’s put pride aside and let her rip. We have so much to praise and thank our God for. Get up and get expressive in your praise for God today.

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“He that wins souls is wise” (Prov 11:30; KJV). “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, who need no repentance (Luke 15:7; KJV).

If heaven gets that excited about soul wining then we should to. Sometimes we can get very intimidated by the thought of sharing our beliefs with others. Well, start small and work up, this can make it easier and once you’ve started you will get excited about it. Challenge yourself to do something to witness each day and as you do, it gets easier. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matt 5:16). First of all, let your light shine. Make sure the life of Jesus on the inside of you shines out in all you do and say; smile real big. “Put on charity”, as we read in Colossians 3:14. Leave tracts in restaurants, at checkouts and with people you come across. Let your speech be full of grace and seasoned with salt (Col 4:6). Take every opportunity you have to share why you are the way you are; to share about what God has done for you.

God says we should walk in wisdom toward non-Christians and redeem the time (Col 4:5). In other words, look for opportunities to share Jesus with people. Don’t worry, God will give you the words to say (Matt 10 :19). Get excited about sharing: “Do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Col 3:23). This verse means we should take our eyes off our worries and shyness and witness for and in obedience to God and he will bless us and the outcomes. Go fishing today (Mark 1:17).

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“Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ, our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Cor 5:6-7; KJV). Leaven or yeast is used here to compare the power of sin with leaven. We have been justified or made righteous in God’s sight, by the sacrifice of Christ at the cross; he redeemed us or paid the price for our sins (Rom 3:24).

But we do still sin (1 John 1:8)?  Just a tiny bit of sin, if it is not rooted out, can cause a huge amount of damage to us and others. A woman added leaven to 3 measures of meal and the whole of the meal became leavened or affected by the yeast (Luke 13:21). Jean makes our bread at home and we calculated that she adds 1 part of yeast for every 320 parts of finished baked bread; that yeast is powerful stuff to be able to cause that whole loaf to rise. Jesus warned of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy; they taught the law but did not obey it (Luke 12:1). They leavened the whole of Israel with their sin. As children of God, sin damages our fellowship with him as there is no sin in God (1 John 1:5). Sin clogs the channels between us and God. Sin also hurts our relationships with each other.

Ask God to show you sin in your life, be quick to repent and ask God’s forgiveness for your sins; he will forgive (1 John 1:9). As we deal with sin in our lives, we can walk closer and closer with God and enjoy more and more of the full life he lives. Don’t get condemned, this is something we all have to grow in; but the results are wonderful. Remember God loves you where you are but he calls you up higher to grow in him. 

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The other day I was reading in the eighth Psalm and verse 5, where king David wrote about man, that God has: “crowned him with glory and honour” (KJV). Well none of us are earthly kings or queens so it’s nice to think that we can still wear a crown. However, I got thinking about CROWNS and realized that the Bible actually contains a lot of verses about crowns.

King Solomon taught about wisdom that she will give us a: “crown of glory” (Prov 4:9). In Psalms it is recorded that the Lord: “crowneth the with lovingkindness and tender mercies” (Ps 103:4). Wow, crowns of glory, honor, beauty, loving kindness and tender mercies.

Let’s take a look in the new Testament. If we love God and stand up under tests, trials and temptations we will receive: “the crown of life” (James 1:12). The apostle Peter, in addressing leaders in the church, promised them an eternal reward: “the crown of glory that will not fade away” (1 Peter 5:4). God has saved a crown of righteousness for Paul and all of us as Christians that we will receive at the second coming of Jesus or when we meet him at our physical death (2 Tim 4:8). If we live for Christ and endure the pressures and sufferings of this life, we will reign with Jesus in the life to come (2 Timothy 2:12).   

Praise God. I don’t know about you but that sounds better to me than having a worldly king or queen’s crown.

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P.U.S.H until something happens. I saw this on a sweat shirt and liked it. This doesn’t mean we have to keep asking God for the same thing over and over again. Once we have asked, we stand in faith, believing, praising and thanking God for what we have asked for until we see the victory in the natural with our eyes.

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24; KJV). What this mean is that when we pray, we must believe that we have received the answer to our prayer, even though the actual manifestation in the physical realm may not appear immediately but may take some time. However, in the interim, we must stand and maintain our faith because: “faith and patience inherit the promise” (Heb 6:12).

As I was thinking about this it reminded me of the story of the paralyzed man and his 4 friends who wanted to bring him to Jesus so he could get healed (Mark 2:3-12). As you know, they couldn’t get into the house where Jesus was teaching because of the crowds but they were determined and full of faith. They let their paralyzed friend down through the roof. The apostle Mark wrote (Mark 2:4): “so when they had BROKEN THROUGH, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay”. They had to work hard to break through the roof, and they weren’t about to give up till they got him to Jesus.

The woman with the issue of blood, described in the gospel of Luke the physician, (Luke 8:43-48) pushed through a huge crowd to get to Jesus; driven by her faith. In her condition she would have been regarded as unclean and could have been stoned for being out amongst people with a bleeding condition.

How determined are we as Christians to seek Jesus, or pray and believe till we get results? Again, in Luke’s gospel, (Luke 11:10) we read: “For every one that asketh receiveth”. I encourage you to be persistent and don’t give up but pray in faith until something happens, until the expected result manifests.

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Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to others.