I love the Psalms; reading one a day is a good plan. David really shows his love, fear of and heart for God in his poetry. In Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24 David humbles himself before his God and cries out that his heavenly Father would search his heart for any wickedness and show him how to walk in godliness.

As with David, we cannot do this and walk the walk on our own; o how we need God in our lives. In Romans chapter 2 and verse 15 we learn that our born-again spirits, hearts or consciences will show us if we are right or wrong, if we allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate and strengthen our spirits with the word of God. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26; KJV).

Get in the word, ask God to make the word come alive to you (what we call revelation) by the Holy Spirit as you read and meditate. Allow the spotlight of God’s word to show you where you need to change so you can draw ever closer to God. Remember it is not in our own strength but it is God who shows us the way and empowers us to change and be more like him (Phil 1:6). “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6). Lord, flood us with your presence, your Holy Spirit today and have your way in our lives. Be blessed today.

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I encourage you to read Ephesians chapter 4 and verses 11 through 16 today. In this section of the Bible Paul describes the ministry gifts that Jesus gave to the Church: “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers” (v11). These giftings were provided to equip us all for ministry and to help us grow and mature in our Christian walk. Notice we are all to be ministers of the gospel; have you ministered God’s love and light to anyone today? Verses 12, 13 and 16 emphasize growing in unity and building up the Body of Christ, the Church. We are the Body of Christ and in verse 16 we note that we are to be properly joined together, in unity, all doing our part so that the Church grows and is effective. Unity in the early Church brought thousands of converts and great power for signs wonders and miracles (Acts 4:32-33). In our passage in Ephesians, God directs us to grow up (v14 and 15), so we don’t stay as spiritual, children tossed about by the things people say and do that are not of God.

Please do notice that Paul tells us to speak the truth in love (v15). Love permeates the Bible so it must be important. Finally, verse 13 always blows me away. Paul tells us we can grow to be perfect and to have all the fullness of Christ in us. Don’t be discouraged, I don’t know about you, but I am not there yet and Paul did not claim to be either (Phil 3:12). However, let’s keep allowing the word and the Holy Spirit to enable us to grow. Just think what God has for us, how he wants to use you. Press in today, be built up, seek unity.

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“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16; KJV).

We associate this scripture with Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, paying the penalty for our sins. But it is also important to remember that Jesus came to this earth born of a woman under the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:35). He is not a distant deity that cannot identify with our earthly, fleshly, struggles. He surrendered his deity to become a man on earth with flesh and blood just like us (Heb 2:14). The word says he had to made like us so that he could minister to us in our earthly state (Heb 2:17). He was tempted in every way but without sin (Heb 2:18; Heb 4:15). To minister on this earth, he had to be filled with Holy Spirit, just like us (Luke 3:22).

Isn’t it encouraging that Jesus knows what we go though in our lives; He knows our struggles, God is quick to forgive (1 John 1:9) and is always there to help. He calls us to be holy, godly and perfect as God is perfect (1 Peter 1:16; 1 Tim 6:11; Matt 5:48). This may seem a tall order to keep. However, he gave us his word to guide and enable us and the power of the Holy Spirit to reveal his word to us and to achieve that perfection (John 14:26). He never left us alone, he is always with us and in us and nothing will ever separate us from his love (Rom 8:39). Remember, not even Paul the apostle claimed perfection (Phil 3:12); it is a process of growth that we will still be involved in to the day we depart this earth. Be encouraged today, we can do all things though Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13).

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There are always so many areas in our lives that we feel a need for God to change. Often, we get frustrated with our lack of progress. It is easy to want to try to do the changing ourselves, with our own effort but this does not work. We need to cooperate with God and allow him to do the doing.

So, what do we do? Well the word says the only work we need to do is to believe (John 6:29), to have faith; without faith we cannot please God (Heb 11:6). How does faith come? Well, we all have faith (Rom 12:3) but our faith grows by hearing the word (Rom 10:17). Everything in God’s kingdom is by faith, not human effort. If we want to be all God wants us to be, to be changed, then we need to be radical for him. God’s word is truth (John 17:17) and he tells us that if we know the truth it will set us free in all areas of our lives (John 8:32).

God talked to us through Moses and Joshua about being radical with the word. Moses said God’s word must be in our hearts. He said to teach it to our kids all the time, he said to write the word on our gates and doorposts (bathroom mirrors?), to bind it on our hands and hang it before our eyes (Deut 6:6-9) (have it on our computers?). Joshua said the word should always be in our mouths, we should meditate it day and night (Josh 1:8) (have it playing in the car?). Now that’s radical. But see what Joshua also said would happen if we were radical about the word. He said that saturating in the word would cause us to do the word (be changed) and that we would then have success and prosper. Wow, I want that, how about you? Let’s do it. Let’s rest in God’s love (Matt 11:28-30), do our part and see God work in us, through us and on our behalf. Have a blessed day in the word.

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“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” (Ps 92:12-14).

According to these verses God’s children, his righteous ones, 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 and contented in old age. Now that is a promise!

However, all of this is also dependent on something, which is found in verse 13. In verse 13, we see that the condition is that we have a heart’s desire to be planted in his house and flourishing in his courts.

Does that mean we have to live in church all week? I don't think so. What that means is that we need to be in the presence of God as much as possible and then all these wonderful promises will be the result of that. 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 need that desire for a close relationship and intimacy with him.

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