John 8:28-33 – “Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things.  29 And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”  30 As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.  31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”  33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, ‘You will be made free’?”  NKJV

I suppose one of the most relevant questions of today is “What is Freedom?”  It is possible to have something without understanding but it is impossible to enjoy it to the fullest and use it best without knowing what it is.  During the summer I saw a T-shirt that read:  “Butterflies are Free”.  Well duh, they are free but only free to be butterflies they are not free to fly to the moon.  Today we have millions concerned with ‘freedom’ but very few are truly asking, ‘What Is Freedom?’ Few are asking, “If I had freedom what would I do with it?” 

I believe the question of Freedom was addressed in the scripture I referenced in my text and it reveals just how confused people were then and I believe now as to WHAT freedom really is.  Imagine the response of the Jews: “We have NEVER been in bondage to any man!”  Are you serious?  I guess your memory or knowledge of history is corrupted for your people had been in bondage numerous times and were then in servitude to the Romans.  They were being ground under by the heel of Roman Imperialism.  I believe their response is a reflection of how little many understand about FREEDOM.  Here Jesus gives us three affirmations that explain freedom.

GOD’S PURPOSE FOR MAN IS FREEDOM…

Some think it is the absence of restraint but that could and likely would lead to anarchy not freedom.  Imagine no guidelines as to which side of the road to drive on and one could do whatever they pleased.  I can see anything but freedom in that scenario.  FREEDOM is the privilege and power to become all that God has designed and desired for you.  It is the opportunity to fulfill your potential in life.  You were born with incredible potential for you were created in the ‘Image of God’.  He gave us the Bible which is a Book of Freedom.  Jesus said inn John 8:34 – “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.”  The verb means in the habit of practicing sin.  When we accept Jesus we have freedom from guilt, the punishment and judgment of sin.  We have freedom to grow and become like our Lord Jesus Christ so God’s purpose for man is FREEDOM!

GOD’S METHOD FOR FREEDOM IS TRUTH…

There are two forces at work in our world one of darkness and the other of light.  Satan is a liar as Jesus identified in John 8:44.  Satan uses lies to bring us into bondage and that bondage leads to destruction whereas God uses truth to bring us to freedom and freedom leads to fulfillment of the purposes of God in our life.  In Genesis 3 the devil suggested that Adam & Eve could be ‘as God’ offering them freedom with no responsibility and that does not exist.  We have truth.  Jesus is truth.  The Word of God is truth. The Spirit of God is truth.  The truth makes us free!

GOD’S REVELATION OF TRUTH IS JESUS CHRIST…

John 8:36 brings this home powerfully, “If the Son, therefore makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”  He came, in the flesh, to a nation that was in political bondage but even worse spiritual bondage and brought them freedom spiritually.  How do we ‘know’ Him who is truth?  His Word, His Presence, His Spirit.  We must come to ‘know’ Him and that implies an intimacy that is far beyond casual acquaintance it is KNOWING and He said, “If you continue in My word, then you are my disciples indeed…”  We must obey Him.  Our responsibility is to KNOW Him and He opens the door for that reality.

The more you become like the Lord Jesus the more it releases your potential so the more you  become like and manifest Him the more you experience freedom and the more you experience freedom the more you release your potential.  Freedom is life controlled by truth and motivated by love and bondage is life controlled by lies and motivated by selfishness.

            So as you walk into greater freedom may the Lord bless and keep you is my prayer!

Job 14:1 – “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.”  KJV

That is a mouthful Job but so incredibly true!  I don’t recall where I heard it but heard about a little boy leading his sister up a steep mountain path which was very difficult.  She complained and complained saying, “This isn’t a real path it’s all bumpy and rocky.”  He said, “Sure sis, but the bumps are what you climb on.”  Great attitude!

Reflecting on Job’s statement and the many Bible references to difficulty in life would lead one to ask, “What do you do with the bumps on the path of life?”  How do you handle difficulty?  When I read some of the accounts in the Bible of the incredible difficulty many had reaching the Place of Promise in God I find it nothing short of amazing and often feel shame in my own heart for my complaints.

Abraham did not become a great man of faith instantly he had to walk out some incredibly paths to reach that place where his faith was accounted to him as righteousness.

Remember his life:

• Upon arrival in Canaan there is a famine.
• He has trouble with his nephew Lot.
• War breaks out and he has to fight.
• Received bad counsel from Sarah and Ishmael resulted.
• Finally he receives his ‘son of promise’ only to have God tell him to offer the boy up as a human sacrifice.

Obviously it got better but those are some of the problems he encountered.  At what point would we have said ENOUGH!

How about Joseph and his rocky road to the place God ordained him to ascend.

Remember his life:

• Pampered by his father.
• Hated by his brothers.
• Sold as a slave.
• Falsely accused and then forgotten in prison.
• Apparently forsaken by the Lord.

Finally he rose to 2^nd in command in the most powerful nation on earth and used to preserve the ‘Seed Line’ of the Savior in the nation of Israel.

How about men like Moses, Paul, David, Daniel and others?  They refused to complain about the road and roughness.  They accepted the trials and difficulties as stepping stones to the Promise not signs of being forsaken and that is a significant difference!

Many have or feel like quitting thinking that it is no use why continue?  Why doesn’t God just remove the stones and make it easy for us?  Frankly I am convinced if He did most would never climb to the top for truly the bumps are what we climb on and at least a motivation for us to press on and in.  In Psalms 91 there are eleven kinds of dangers listed such as war, snakes, sickness, terror by night, arrows by day and more and God promises to PROTECT FROM THEM ALL!  God has given His angels charge over us to keep us from bruising our feet on the bumps or stones.  They are stepping stones not stumbling stones!  So lift up your heads and rejoice for GOD IS IN CONTROL!

            May The Lord be with you and bless you as you go through this day!

Jeremiah 29:11 – “For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.”  NASU

As we begin the year 2015 there are many unknowns and uncertainties but Jeremiah addresses it perfectly in His word from the Lord.  God knows!  There is no uncertainty with God!  He is not gripping the banister of heaven looking out over creation with ‘white knuckles’ saying, “What am I going to do?”  NO!  He knows His plans and they are good.  Paul address that in Romans 8:28 when he informed us that ‘all things WORK TOGETHER for our good’ not that all things are good but the compilation of them in God’s hands is good.  Jesus address the heart of the Father in Luke 12:32 when He made us aware that it is His Father’s ‘good pleasure’ to give us the kingdom and therefore we should not face today or tomorrow with fear but confidence.

It does not matter if you have achieved greatness in the eyes of man or find yourself wondering what your destiny and purpose is – – God has a plan and He knows it.  It is a plan that is for your good and the good of the kingdom of God.  It is a plan that gives you a future, hope and purpose.  It should bring excitement and anticipation to your heart.  Even if you do not see it now it lives in the heart of God.  I do not know what 2015 will bring politically, financially, physically, emotionally, relationally or spiritually and while I do not know about tomorrow I know the one who is in charge.  I cannot walk on water but I know one who can.  I cannot save a soul but I know one who can.  I cannot see the future clearly but I know one who can.  I cannot see the end from the beginning but I know one who can and I have confidence in Him.

Many make New Year’s Resolutions on January 1^st each year and that’s fine but I prefer to renew my commitment to God and daily seek His guidance.  I’m not into turning over new leaves but seeking Him to turn my heart.  As David cried in Psalm 51 my heart cries for God to ‘create in me a clean heart, renew in me a right spirit and never take the Holy Spirit from me.’  If I have the comforter walking alongside, a clean heart and a right spirit then no power of hell can hold me back for I am more than a conqueror through Jesus.  If I am walking in the peace that passes human understanding I can face the uncertain future with a calm certainty that gives me peace that disturbs the devil.

Today is the beginning of a year that I believe will involve much change in our world.  I sense that there is going to be significant movement on the political, financial, and religious scene.  I do not know all of what that will be but I sense that there will be a dual occurrence of God’s grace and glory and the unleashing of attacks inspired by hell itself.  There will be casualties and conquests.  There will be failures and successes that will touch the entire world.  The church will see what could be described as a shaking by some and revival by others.  There are forces at work to completely obliterate the church but it will not succeed.  There will be a visible church and an invisible one.  2015 will be a transition year politically, economically, and spiritually and for those who have an ear to hear they will hear that still small voice giving directions as to what path to take.

I am excited about this New Year more than I have been in at least ten years for I sense that the plans God has for His people are about to be moved to a new dimension.  So as you enter this New Year enter it with a heart full of hope and a willingness to walk in the light as He is in the light.

           God bless you richly is my prayer!

John 1:29 – “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  NKJV

I want to take an approach that some might call ‘splitting hairs’ in this devotional and address what Jesus did on the cross when He sacrificed His life for us.  He died for THE SIN of the world.  Notice that this is singular not plural and deals with SIN not acts.  What was the SIN of the world?  Again, some will consider this ‘splitting hairs’ and declare that Jesus died for our sins and He did but His specific purpose on the cross was to take away THE SIN that separated man from God.  The SIN that separated mankind from God initially transpired in the Garden with Adam and Eve’s rebellion, disobedience and electing to move God from the center of their universe to a peripheral position and elevated self to the center replacing God they became a god unto themselves.  We call that THE FALL of man and it was when the first Adam, by his choice and action gave the devil ‘legal ground’ to become the ‘god of this world’.  Jesus came to negate that and satisfy divine justice so that man could be ‘redeemed’ or ‘bought back’ from the control of the devil and a door for restoration opened so man could once again be reconciled to God.

Sometime I fear that we spend too much time on ‘sins’ or commissions of wrongful acts rather than the root condition of the heart where SIN has separated us from God.  Jesus came so that SIN would be taken away and a door to the Father opened.  Does that mean that He does not forgive our ‘acts’ we call sins?  Of course He does and that is part of the package but the root is SIN that SEPARATED which is the condition of the heart in rebellion.  I had someone tell me that man is basically good and drifts from God and I would suggest to you that the Bible identifies man, since the fall, as depraved and bent toward evil needing a Savior.

All have sinned and come short of the glory of God!  There is none good, not even one!  It is by grace we are saved and that not of ourselves it is the gift of God!  Isaiah tells us that our righteousness is as ‘filthy rags’ in His presence and Jeremiah advises that the heart is ‘desperately wicked’.  Psalm 51, Psalm 58 and Ephesians 2 all reveal that we are born ‘dead’ in transgression and sin as unregenerate man and in bondage to sin.  We are told in 1 Corinthians 2 that man (lost man) loves darkness rather than light and in verse 18 declares that man rejects the gospel as foolishness.  That is a heart condition and that is what Jesus addressed on the cross first and foremost.  When He said, “It Is Finished” He was declaring that Redemption for mankind had been won and the price paid to redeem us.  He went on to declare in Luke 10:19 that He has given us ‘authority’ over all the ‘power’ of the devil.  Paul declares in Colossians 2 that Jesus made a public display of the devil, triumphed over him and put him to open shame as He disarmed the devil.  His work on the cross is completely complete we have access to the Father!

It is my view that too often we focus on the acts a person commits rather than the condition of the person’s heart.  You may get someone to ‘clean up’ their act and act like a Christian but if you have not dealt with the heart condition they are only clean on the outside and inside a sepulcher full of dead bones.  Jesus, the Lamb of God, came to die that our HEARTS could be transformed.  The heart is what God is after.  I equate it to fishing you first catch the fish then clean them not the reverse.  God focuses on the inward (heart) while we tend to notice the outward (acts). 

            May God be with you as you go through your day!

Luke 21:19 – “By your patience possess your souls.” NKJV

I wonder how many who read this have difficulty ‘waiting?’  The inability to wait is an indication of a lack of patience.  Most in today’s modern world have zero tolerance and demonstrate almost no patience, most of the time.  We want what we want yesterday or sooner!  I believe that patience is a character quality that God desires to develop in our lives and is not a spiritual gift.  It is learned then developed and is a process.  It would be like praying for patience and saying, “Lord give me patience and I want it right now!” 

In our technological, fast food, instant everything world we find it virtually impossible to be patient.  How can we possibly teach the oncoming generation the art of ‘waiting’ when we cannot?  I heard about a man that became so angry at dinner over seeds in grapes and laid down the law to his wife that there would be no more grapes with seeds in the house.  She let him rant then asked, “Do you know why the seeds bug you so?”  He sarcastically said, “Of course when I bite into one of them it spreads through my mouth and ruins the taste of the grape.”  She said, “NO!  It is because you are too impatient to dig them out first.  The grapes with seeds actually have a better flavor but they take more time to enjoy!”  I think that is us too often!  We are too busy with busyness to enjoy that which God has provided.  We have such an aversion to waiting that we say, “Let’s do something if we do it wrong!”  WHAT?  That is impatience not progress.

Waiting is a natural and normal part of life and is part of the maturation process whether we like it or not.  We face yellow and red lights as much or more than we see green ones.  Waiting is learning to ‘rest’ in God instead of fretting and worrying.  It is to recline in the arms of God and trust.  It is a skill that is learned not a gift deposited in us.  You can ‘fake’ waiting.  We’ve all done it.  We were a shambles inside but plastic on the outside with our mask on.  We appear peaceful but inside we are a raging storm.  Fake it till you make it won’t work long term!

You probably have heard the story from the Korean War era where some American GI’s rented a house and hired a young Korean to clean, cook, and do their chores.  He had an unflappable positive attitude and was always smiling.  They played tricks on him, nailed his shoes to the floor and he just pulled the nails out and kept smiling. They put grease on the stove handles and buckets of water over the door to soak him and he just kept smiling with never a complaint.  Finally they felt guilty and told him, “We want you to know that we are never going to trick you again.  You have such a great attitude we are ashamed and won’t do it anymore.”  He looked at them and asked, “No more nail shoes to floor?” They assured him no more.  He said, “No more sticky on stove?”  They assured him no more.  He said, “No more buckets of water on door?”  They assured him NO MORE!  He was satisfied and said, “Okay, no more spit in soup.”

If you want to read a beautiful passage on patience read Psalm 62.  We need to learn to ‘wait’ for God to direct our steps.  We need to learn to ‘trust’ God to provide for our needs.  We need to learn to ‘wait silently’ in ‘stillness’.  We need to ‘wait’ in stability and confidence.  They that ‘wait’ upon the Lord renew their strength and we could all use renewed strength from time to time.  We need to mount up with wings as eagles. We need to be able to run and not be weary and walk and not faint.  That comes from WAITING ON THE LORD!

So instead of hurrying into your day pause a moment and ask God to help you learn to wait!  Blessings as you go through your day!

Matthew 18:21-22 – “Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.“ NKJV

If you will notice from verse twenty-three forward Jesus relates one of the incredible parables about ‘forgiveness’ and/or the lack thereof.  We have the ‘king’, the ‘servant’ he forgave and the ‘servant’ whom this servant refused to forgive.  In verse thirty-two when the king finds out about this he summons the unforgiving servant and said, “You wicked servant!  I forgave you all that debt because you begged me.”  Incredible!

I have learned that in Christianity or Christian circles so often the claim to spirituality fails miserably on the forgiveness front.  We are to forgive ‘just as…’ but here we see something of what is involved in ‘forgiveness’ and ‘unforgiveness.’  We read this story with a Western mentality and miss some of the revelation provided.  The coinage is important for they do not speak in dollars and cents they talk about talents and denarii so we must wrap our heads around a society over 2,000 years ago and hear what they heard.  They are hearing it from one of the most astounding story tellers of all time, Jesus.

The servant is brought before the king and owes ‘ten thousand talents’.  We have little concept of talents and/or denarii so what does that equate to for us?  10,000 talents = 6,000 denarii and the average worker earned about 6 denarii a week.  It would take 1,000 weeks (20 years) to earn 1 talent but this is 10,000 x 1000 weeks.  What is Jesus saying?  The debt was impossible to repay.  In fact the annual taxes for Judea, Galilee, Samaria, Pariea and Idemoea were only about 800 talents total and this man owes 10,000 talents.  Can you feel this?  The man pleads for an extension and the king refused to give an extension but rather ‘released’ and ‘forgave’ the debt.  It is important to see both words in this context.  The king let the man go free.  However you have to understand that debts do not just go away so in a real sense the king paid the debt and it was an incredibly costly act of benevolence on his part.  The wages of sin is death and Jesus paid our debt!   This is more than just an act of benevolence that can be causally passed over it is astounding!

This servant apparently missed the awesomeness of this act of the king for we find him confronting another who owed him 100 denarii.  Comprehend this if you will 100 Denair is 1/600,000^th of the debt the other was forgiven.  100 denarii is a sizable debt but payable.  If you converted 10,000 talents into nickels it would take 8,600 men carrying sacks of nickels weighing 60 pounds each.  If they walked with about 3 feet between them the line would be 5 miles long but if you take 100 denarii and convert it to nickels you could carry it in your pocket.  Are you catching this? 

The debtors used the identical words asking for patience one was forgiven an unpayable sum and the other refused patience for a payable sum.  When we forgive, we release or we have not forgiven!  We unlock the prison and let them walk free for we are releasing them to God!   Likewise when we refuse to forgive we ‘put them in chains’ and in so doing bring to ourselves incredible hurt.  There will never be a moment peace as a result we cannot retrieve that which is owed and the wound festers and grows.

Notice the king did not intervene it was a matter between servants.  One person with an unforgiving spirit can wreck the local congregation.  Remember Achan?  One man affected the entire nation of Israel.  When I refuse to forgive I am blocking the supply route spiritually to that person and affecting the entire body.  I won’t get into it but if you read the rest of the story you find that the king called the unforgiving servant back in and ultimately turned him over to the torturers due to his unforgiving heart.  The king did not reverse his decision he and his family were not thrown into prison as was first decreed.  No he was handed over to the torturers until the debt was paid which it would never be.  They were Middle-Eastern bill collectors and nasty folks at that.  They came by regularly as a reminder and although he was still in his home and his family not sold as slaves it was mentally, physically and emotionally draining.  He left the other servant in jail so he clearly did not get it.

Here is what I want you to catch in verse thirty-five Jesus said, “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespass.”  Remember the words of the Lord, “Forgive us our debts AS we forgive our debtors.”  Sin is our debt we owe God and it is a debt that can never be satisfied by man.  I owe and have to pay but I cannot pay for you cannot forgive yourself and wipe away sin.  But Jesus comes and forgives us and opens the supply routes so that we can be free.  If I have been forgiven an unpayable debt how can I refuse to forgive pocket change? 

How often shall I forgive my brother?   The message of Jesus was an infinite number of times if necessary remembering our own forgiveness!  You will hurt me if you fail to forgive me but you will hurt yourself even more.  When we forgive we release those we have forgiven and the life flow of God comes to us like a refreshing river.

            May God be with you as you go through this day!

Matthew 16:26 – “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”  NASU

1 Thessalonians 5:23 – “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  NASU

I have had people insist that the church is to be a hospital for the hurting but I want to suggest it is to be more than a hospital. I would like to suggest that being a hospital is not the primary objective but to be a soul spa, gymnasium, rehab center and university of life.  I believe that it is to be a place of healing but beyond that it is to be a place where the spiritual man is developed to its fullest potential.  That, in my view, is not the picture of a hospital.  If we spend all our time doctoring wounds we are not accomplishing the purposes of God.  If we are to be the Glorious Church that Jesus said He was building then we must rise to our full potential and development in Christ.

In the natural a baby has the capacity to interrelate with the physical world through the sense of hearing but for that capacity to become fruitful it requires time and maturity for that baby to understand what he/she has heard.  Each of us requires time and effort to become fully developed and remain healthy naturally and spiritually.  The inner man requires care just like the outer for health and life.

Sadly, sometimes we view success in the church in terms of ‘nickels & noses’ and that will only produce frustration and fatigue not health and life.  Many are dissatisfied with their religious life and experience and I heard one preacher say, “God I believe in you and the Lord Jesus Christ but if there is not any more to this than what I have discovered thus far I’m quitting at the end of the year.”  There are too many people frustrated in their experience.  They are not deliberate hypocrites but do not know how to change or grow.  The Christian walk, to them, is a constant struggle and they end up wearing masks to hide their frustration but inside they are struggling daily.

We like formulas and sometimes substitute them for development and experience.  Christianity cannot be reduced to a formula but requires work, development, commitment and results in growth in the inner man.   Having said all that let me ask the question of the title and address that briefly.  Have you ever really asked God what He thinks of you?  Have you ever asked Him how much you are worth?  Do it now! 

To God you are worth as much as God Himself.  Why or how can I say that?  Simply because worth is determined by the price paid for it.  In your natural life have you noticed that if something is valuable you take much better care of it than something that is inexpensive?  The word in the text is ‘forfeit’ (zemios) not (appolumi) which would be lost sheep alienated from God this is forfeiture and indicates ‘damage’. 

 I want you to quickly consider eight ways for the determination of worth:

• Who made it.
• What was made.
• Uniqueness or Scarcity.
• Personal preference and choice.
• Potential worth or value.
• Price Tag.

             God made you and that in His own image so you are a unique one of a kind original.  God chose you and called you and you are an eternal soul.  Your soul’s health brings practical benefit here and now and you were purchased at a great price – The Blood of Jesus!

So how much is your soul worth?   The Blood of Jesus!   So with that in mind go forth as whose you are and in the worth God has placed on you!  Blessings!

Psalm 91 – – Suggested Reading.

Due to brevity of space I will not give this Psalm in its entirety rather refer to it.  Psalm 91 is a picture of the Place of Victory that God desires His children to attain and live.  Jesus came that we might have LIFE and that MORE ABUNDANT.  He came to redeem us from the curse and bring us to full and total victory causing us to ALWAYS TRIUMPH in Him.  It brings God no glory for us to live beneath that place of promise He purchased for us.

I would like to remind you that when Moses brought the Children of Israel to the place where they could enter the Promised Land and take possession of their inheritance God gave each tribe a prophecy and a promise.  Please take note that for them to possess the promise they first had to dispossess the occupants thereof.  That is important!   Jesus has purchased us the full inheritance but for us to enjoy that promise we must move in and through the Spirit of God and dispossess the one that is camped on our inheritance.

As they came to the borders of the place of inheritance and promise prophecies were given as found in Deuteronomy 33.  Consider them briefly:

• RUBEN (v.6) – – Life with many heirs.
• JUDAH (v.7) – – Sufficiency.
• BENJAMIN (v.12) – – Protection and Deliverance.
• JOSEPH – – (vv. 13-17) – – Presence of God, Holy Spirit, Gifts.
• EPHRAIM & MANASSEH – – (v.17) – – Glory.
• ZEBULUN (v.18) – – Joy
• ISSACHAR (vv.18-19) – – Prosperity.
• GAD (vv.20-21) – – Increase.
• DAN (v.22) – – Authority.
• NAPHTALI (v.23) – – Satisfaction and Favor.
• ASHER (vv.24-25) – – Anointing and Oil.

LEVI was identified as the priestly tribe.  These promises combined translate into a picture of the fullness of life we are to have in Christ as Kings and Priests unto God walking in the fullness of our inheritance.  Just as they faced occupants who were occupying their inheritance there is an enemy that would attempt to prevent us from entering into the fullness of what God has provided for us.  Remember the Bible says ‘resist the devil’ and he will flee.  It did not say that he would automatically leave or leave without a struggle.  We are more than conquerors through Jesus and it is time that we POSSESS the PROMISES in the Power of the Spirit of God and on the Authority of God’s Word.

We need to move into God’s Vision and away from our individual survival visions that tend to prevent us from fully entering in.  Remember the words of Jesus “fear not little flock for it is My Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”   It is time to Possess the Promise! 

May God be with you as you go through your day!

Proverbs 4:20-27 – “My son, give attention to my words;  Incline your ear to my sayings.  21 Do not let them depart from your sight;  Keep them in the midst of your heart. 22 For they are life to those who find them And health to all their body.  23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.  24 Put away from you a deceitful mouth And put devious speech far from you.  25 Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you. 26 Watch the path of your feet And all your ways will be established. 27 Do not turn to the right nor to the left; Turn your foot from evil.”  NASU

In a devotional, space and brevity prevent a full exegesis of almost any passage so bear with me as I attempt to highlight what I sense the Lord would have me convey.  It is my settled conviction that God’s word should serve as our guide in life and practice.  It is as we delve into the precepts and principles taught therein we find a place in God that is lofty in our daily lives.  God never presents lofty precepts and principles attainable only by a privileged few but desires them for all believers.  Those lofty places in the Spirit of God are never based on performance but heritage.  It is because God is our Father!  Here we find some incredible instruction that will lead us into that loftiness in the spiritual realm.

GIVE ATTENTION…

The instruction is ‘attend to’ or ‘do’ the word.  We are admonished to follow the instructions contained herein.  We are to hear, understand and implement them in our lives.  Truth that is not appropriated and applied is knowledge that will ‘puff up’ but will not advance our lives or the kingdom.

INCLINE YOUR EAR…

We are to ‘listen’.  As we learn to listen we find our understanding is illuminated enabling us to comprehend what is being taught, to properly respond to that truth.  It is as we understand that we can truly become a ‘doer of the word’ not just a hearer.

NOT DEPART FROM YOUR EYES…

We are instructed to keep the instructions in the forefront of our minds or in our consciousness.  We know from scripture and science that we become what we behold or what we are continually placing in our consciousness.  It is as we keep the covenant of God steadfastly and continuously in our heart and mind we find our natural response is to obey that instruction.

IN THE MIDST OF YOUR HEART…

Simply allow your spirit man to be so filled with the words of the Lord that you are continuously ‘Spirit-led’.  The encouragement is to allow the word of God to permeate our spirits so that what comes out of our hearts and mouths is God’s Word.

The result of those four things is two-fold as is evidenced in verse 22 – Life and Health.  The writer takes us further in vv. 23-27 with the requirement of carefully watching over our hearts because out of the heart comes life and to avoid deceit from us guarding our words.  He counsels us to keep focused on the prize watching how we live and resist the temptation of straying from our firm commitment.

We can live in the abundant life that Jesus has purchased for us but we will not achieve that place spiritually unless we value the food of the soul the Word of God.  May God be with you as you invest in His word and kingdom!  Blessings!