“Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord” (KJV; Ps 124:7-8a). “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb 12:1b-2a).

As children of God we have been removed from the kingdom of satan and conveyed into the kingdom of God (Col 1:13). We have escaped from the fowlers snare but satan still tries to ensnare us with sin (1 Peter 5:8).

Matthew tells us that if we seek God’s kingdom first all the blessings of God will be ours (Matt 6:33). How do we lay aside those sins that hold us back, how do we pant and thirst after God (Ps 42:1-2), seeking his kingdom? Well, John’s gospel tells us that God’s word (Jesus) is truth and the truth will make us free (John 8:32).

Receiving the freedom and blessings we have in Christ is no more complicated than spending time in his word and believing the truth can work in our lives and bring freedom and blessings. “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection” (Phil 3:10). So: “rest in the Lord” today, in his word and: “wait patiently for him” (Ps 37:7), cast your cares on him (1 Peter 5:7) and allow him to work in your life.

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Psalm 92:12-14 (KJV) is very encouraging: “The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing”.

According to these verses we are going to flourish. We will have long, useful and fruitful lives. Not only that but we will grow old gracefully and still be fruitful, loving and contented in old age. Now that is a promise. However, all this is dependent on something, which is found in verse 13. It says "planted in the house of the Lord, they shall flourish....". Does that mean we have to live in church all week? I don't think so. What this means is that we need to be in the presence of God as much as possible and then all these wonderful promises will be manifested in our lives. Being in God's presence doesn't mean you have to spend all day on your knees; you can be mindful of his nearness while you are at work, shopping, doing chores or whatever. We can fellowship with God wherever we are and whatever we are doing. We can flourish as God promises every day.

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A BLOG by Norman and Jean Rawlings, authors of the book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”. Check out our web site for information on our book and more encouraging Bible based blogs. Fill out the: “contact us page” on our website and in the comments section REQUEST A FREE COPY OF A CHAPTER FROM OUR BOOK, click here: www.onthewayinlove.com    

A glorious early summer morning just leads me to want to praise God and thank him for all the blessings he pours on us daily. We should all have thankful hearts (Ps 95:2). We have only to look around us to see the blessings of God in his creation (Rom 1:20).

Every day when we wake up we need to thank God for life, family, loved ones and for God’s love, mercy, forgiveness and presence in our lives; how blessed we are. When each of our children were born I was always reminded that we are: “fearfully and wonderfully made” by the hand of our mighty God (Ps 139:14; KJV). He cares for us, each one of us (1Peter 5:7).

We are told to: “enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise” (Ps 100:4) and to: “come before his presence with thanksgiving” (Ps 95:2). God created our earth and he saw that it was good (Gen 1). He made us to fellowship with him (Gen 3:8-9).

The bible tells us that every good thing comes from our heavenly Father: “with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning” (James 1:17). He designed us to live the life that he does, an abundant life (John 10:1). He is so faithful and he desires and is so worthy of, our thanks and praise. As we give thanks and praise him our worries disperse and we are lifted into His presence (Ps 100:4; Ps 22:3). Spend some time today thanking God and praising Him.

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A BLOG by Norman and Jean Rawlings, authors of the book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”. Check out our web site for information on our book and more encouraging Bible based blogs. Fill out the: “contact us page” on our website and in the comments section REQUEST A FREE COPY OF A CHAPTER FROM OUR BOOK, click here: www.onthewayinlove.com    

"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." (Gal. 6:7b; KJV.) The Bible has plenty to say about sowing and reaping; in Matthew 7:2 Jesus was teaching his disciples and he told them not to criticize others because: "with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again”.

According to this principle then if we sow love we will reap love, if we sow forgiveness we will reap forgiveness (Luke 6:37) and so on. The same principle is applied to what we hear (Mark 4:24); the amount of time we put into attending to the word determines how much we will receive from it. It also applies to finances; In Luke 6:38 Jesus tells us that if we give it will be given back to us in the same measure with which we gave.

In 2 Corinthians. 9:6 Paul wrote that we can either give sparingly or bountifully but that is also how we will reap. These scriptures are all telling us the same thing. Jesus, our supreme example, sowed his life so we could become children of God and enjoy everlasting life

I encourage you today to sow into someone’s life and enjoy the blessing that comes from that.

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A BLOG by Norman and Jean Rawlings, authors of the book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”. Check out our web site for information on our book and more encouraging Bible based blogs. Fill out the: “contact us page” on our website and in the comments section REQUEST A FREE COPY OF A CHAPTER FROM OUR BOOK, click here: www.onthewayinlove.com    

In Revelation Chapters 2 and 3 Jesus gives warnings and promises to the 7 churches. As we read them we can see that they are timeless and speak to us today.

He warns concerning losing our first love, our love for and obedience to Jesus. Jesus warns against sexual immorality and idolatry or things that became idols in our lives and cloud our love for Jesus. If we don’t guard against these influences we can become like the dead church of Sardis, where worldly influences had crowded out the things of God.

But now for the good news. My goodness me I can hardly write it down it’s so exciting. Let me try to summarize. Jesus said that the faithful would receive rewards when we go to be with him in heaven. He talks about a crown of life, walking in victory in an intimate relationship with Jesus, completely forgiven and vindicated. Jesus will honor us, we will be God’s possessions forever, ruling the nations with Jesus and sitting with him on his throne. We will eat from the tree of life and dine with Jesus; protected and dressed in white.

Our names are written in the book of life and Jesus says to the Father, these are mine; these are ours. Wow, that should brighten your day up. The world around us has nothing for us; let’s keep our eyes on Jesus. The rewards are awesome, if that’s a strong enough word!

Please pass this on. All rights reserved.

A BLOG by Norman and Jean Rawlings, authors of the book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”. Check out our web site for information on our book and more encouraging Bible based blogs. Fill out the: “contact us page” on our website and in the comments section REQUEST A FREE COPY OF A CHAPTER FROM OUR BOOK, click here: www.onthewayinlove.com