Have you read Psalm 139 recently? You should, it is so encouraging and brims with God’s love for us. Let’s look at some of what King David wrote for us in this Psalm. God knows us, our thoughts, and our words before we say them; he understands us and all we go through. He knows where we are, we cannot hide from him and he will never leave us or forsake us (Heb 13:5).

He formed us before we were born; we were: “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps 139:14; KJV). God designed a plan for each of our lives. We are his workmanship (Eph 2:10). Workmanship in that verse can be expanded to mean work of art or his poem. Our Father thinks only good for us: “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jer 29:11). God desires to hem us in and guide and direct us into all he has for us: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths” (Prov 3:5-6).

We need to still ourselves before God and hear his voice (Ps 46:10) so we can walk in his ways. His ways are perfect and only living the life he has for us will satisfy. We need to stop our strivings in the flesh, cast our cares on him (Peter 5:6-7), draw near to him (James 4:8) and allow his fullness (Eph 3:19) to flow through us. Now that’s abundant life (John 10:10).

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"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life" (Ps 23:6; KJV). These are familiar words to most of us. Goodness in the Hebrew, in this verse, means something good, prosperity or happiness. Mercy refers to God’s great love and grace extended to us.

So, what would goodness and mercy include? I believe it would be all of God's blessings, such as love, forgiveness, guidance, provision, healing, protection and deliverance, to name just a few. The word follow is very interesting, it means to hunt or chase after; so, you could say that God will hunt us down to give us goodness and mercy.

“And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God” (Deut. 28:2).  Yes, you read that correctly, the blessings from God will overtake us.  In the book of Proverbs chapter 10 and verse 6, we read that: "blessings are upon the head of the just" and similarly in the apostle Paul’s letter to the  Ephesians he wrote: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph 1:3).

God obviously wants to bless us so get ready for God's blessings to chase after you today. However, for every promise of God there are always some requirements placed on us, he did say above that we should listen to him and presumably obey (Deut 28:2). We should also walk justly or in a God like manner (Prov 10:6).

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So many who claim to be Christians these days live non-transformed, powerless lives that do not differ much from those of non-Christians (2 Tim 3:5). Why is this? In Acts 1:8 we read that we will receive power when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. The apostle Peter wrote that in Christ, his power has given us: “all things that pertain unto life and godliness” (KJV), access to all his promises and the power to change to be more like Christ (2 Peter 1:3-4).

It is God who works in us to do his will (Phil 2:13). We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13) and God will complete the work of transformation that he began in us (Phil 1:6) at salvation.

The answers to our question as to why so many Christians do not change and grow in their Christian walk is given in our passage above from the apostle Peter’s second epistle. The power to change, grow and receive comes from truly knowing Christ (the word) and his promises and receiving the Holy Spirit to saturate our lives (John 8:32; Acts 1:8).

We know Jesus by pressing into his word and allowing the Holy Spirit to bring us revelation (John 14:26). As we receive revelation of and faith in his word, then the power of God is released to bring change and to allow the word to work in our lives. However, we have to do our part and that is to give God and his word first place (time) in our lives and our days.  I can guarantee you that the results are wonderful. Cozy up to God in his word today and let him envelope you.

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In Genesis, the book of beginnings, we read that God spoke his word to bring about creation (Genesis 1). Think about this for a minute; it’s so easy to read and not get the full impact of God’s word in this account of creation. God spoke through the prophet Isaiah that his word does not return void but accomplishes his purpose (Isa 55:11). God also said to the prophet Jeremiah: “I will hasten my word to perform it” (Jer 1:12; KJV) Are we getting the picture? Gods word has power to achieve what it states it will.

The apostle Peter had been fishing all night and caught nothing (Luke 5:5-7). However, at Jesus command he lowered the fishing nets again and caught a huge number of fishes. A centurion in Luke 7:7 told Jesus to just: "say in a word, and my servant shall be healed”. The servant was healed. There is no doubt that God's word is very powerful

King David said that God had magnified his word above his name (Ps 138:2). God's word should be our delight according to Psalm 1:2 and if we meditate on the word we will flourish (Josh 1:8). Meditation is a re-speaking of the word; it is not just a mental activity.

We should give great respect and attention to the word and line up our thoughts and decisions with the word. Speak the word over your circumstances and watch things change for the better. For example, if you need healing, find scriptures on healing and speak them over your body, command your body to lineup with God’s word, claim that healing. Believe healing is yours and experience the power of God’s word.

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In Mark 10: 46 - 52 we have the wonderful story of Blind Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus sat by the road out of Jericho begging and heard that Jesus was passing by. He cried out to get the attention of Jesus and would not be quietened by the crowd. As soon as Jesus called him Bartimaeus threw off his outer garment (which symbolized that he was a beggar) and came to Jesus. When Jesus asked him what he wanted he immediately asked for his sight and he received it right away.

So, what do we learn from this story? Firstly, Bartimaeus was determined, he shouted in a loud voice to get the lord’s attention (the word for "shout" in the Greek used here can also mean "scream"). He was also persistent, no one could shut him up. He was determined not to let his miracle pass him by. Jesus, in asking Bartimaeus what he wanted, challenged the blind man to make a specific request: “Lord, that I might receive my sight” (v 51). Jesus commended the faith of Bartimaeus and acknowledged that it was his faith that made him well (v 52). What a wonderful miracle, Bartimaeus received his sight but was also liberated from begging and given a new start to his life!

Jesus is still saying to us today, "what do you want me to do for you"? Make a specific request in faith. Believe God for your miracle today. Jesus is no respecter of persons; he will respond to you just as he did to blind Bartimaeus.

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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.