Sometimes when I listen to amazing music I am moved, I imagine that the composer must have been inspired by God. I realize that I am not merely listening with my physical ears but with my heart, my spirit. So often we listen but we do not hear; we look but we do not see. Why is this? It’s because we only hear with our physical ears and see with our physical eyes (Isa 6:9-10).

We need to see and hear as God himself does, with our spirit, our heart (1 Sam 16:7; Luke 24:32). This is when God can speak to us Spirit to spirit (Prov 20:27; Rom 8:16), through his word (John 14:26; Rom 2:15), through people (Prov 11:14), his creation (Rom 1:20) and music he inspires; this is when we can be truly changed. How often we do not change when we hear so much of God’s word and see and hear so much of him but only with our physical ears and eyes.

For a few moments in our busyness we need to try to focus on God, on heaven, and leave our soul to rest. Allow God to arrest you, envelope you in his peace and love you, speak to your heart and change you from glory to glory, holiness to holiness. I encourage you to close your eyes, listen to some of your favorite music, gaze at a beautiful picture or simply enjoy the beauty of God’s creation and meditate on the goodness of God. Allow him to speak to you and truly impact and change you. My, how the church needs truly changed Christians, people sold out for him. 

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“That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col.2:2-3; KJV).

This is part of a prayer that Paul was praying for the Colossians; his heart’s desire was for unity in love and that they would have a desire to know Christ more. This is a prayer we can use today for our own lives, it’s also a good prayer to pray over others too.

To know Jesus more is certainly my desire. Of course, we don’t want to just know Jesus more for what we can get out of him. But nevertheless, as verse 3 says, when we do get to know Jesus we also tap into his wisdom and knowledge.

The apostle Paul desired to personally know Jesus more (Phil 3:10). If this is your heart’s desire then make these verses your confession today. And how exactly do we get to know God better?  Well, let’s allow the apostle Paul to show us: “I press toward the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14). How do we press? By spending time in his word, in prayer and in his presence.

Sound familiar?

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Sometimes life is sweet; everything goes according to plan, life is good. However, we all know that that is not always the case. Sometimes life can just get too much, things don’t seem to work out and you just feel like giving up. If that’s you today I want to encourage you with a few scriptures.

“In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33; KJV). “But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:57).  “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ” (2 Cor 2:14).

These last 2 verses tell us to be thankful; not for   the challenges you are facing but despite them. Everything may look very bleak in the natural but we can be thankful that we serve a mighty victorious God for whom nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37). From our verses above we see that with Christ Jesus we are victorious, triumphant over all the works of satan (Col 2:15). “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil 4:13).

If you are in the valley today, keep confessing these verses because they are the word and the word is the truth whether you feel victorious or not. Confessing the word will build up your faith (Rom 10:17). How long should you keep confessing them? Until you experience the victory.

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I encourage you to read from John’s gospel chapter 13 and verses 1-17 today. This is a wonderful passage where Jesus teaches us humility and servant hood. Jesus showed us his supreme confidence in his relationship with his Father in verse 3. This allowed him to humble himself and show his amzing love for his disciples in washing their feet.

God calls us to serve (Mark 9:35) and we can only humble ourselves and do that if we know who we are in Christ. We are his sons and daughters (2 Cor 6:18), joint heirs with Jesus (Rom 8:17) and seated in the heavenly places with him (Eph 2:6). Nothing can ever separate us from his love (Rom 8:35). In that confidence we can walk in humility and serve.

In our passage above from John’s Gospel, Peter protested that Jesus should not wash his feet (v 8); but notice Jesus’ response. He said that if he could not wash Peter’s feet, Peter would have no part with Jesus (v 8). We have no part with Jesus if we do not have a servant’s heart. Jesus established servant hood as a mark of the Christian for all time (v 12-15); he demonstrated it for us.

In the word we are told that if we humble ourselves God will exalt us (1 Peter 5:6). We are told that we are called to serve and that in serving we will find greatness (Mark 10: 43-45). Look for ways to serve people today; this pleases the heart of our heavenly father.

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"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). If we had any doubt of God's love for us this verse should dispel it. As we know it is by no means the only verse in the Bible that talks about this. In Psalm 18:19, king David wrote that God is pleased with us and delights in us, this is repeated in Isaiah. 62:4.

It seems quite amazing that the omnipotent God should take delight in us mere mortals but that is what it says so we must believe it. According to Isaiah 43:4 we are precious in God’s sight. And the prophet Malachi records that we are God's jewels (Mal 3:17).

You might ask well, did God have anything written like that in the New Testament? I am glad you asked that question! “For we are his workmanship” (Eph 2:10). The Greek word for workmanship can also be translated as his poem or work of art. God also loves us so much that he sent Jesus to die on a cross for our sins (John 3:16).

If you have low self-esteem or are feeling unloved meditate on these verses until you get a revelation of God's great love for you. You will then be confident enough to reach out to others with the love of God.

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