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Colossians 1:10, “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.

We are to be fruitful in every good work. 

Good works are an important part of the Christian life. How do I know – because God refers to them often in the Scriptures.  We all know that God judges man, looking on his heart.  He looks at  the motivation of why he does the things that he does.  But, God knows that man judges men by their outward actions.  What you DO speaks volumes about who you are.  What you DO speaks volumes concerning God’s influence in your life.

Matthew 5:16 seems to sum up the importance of good works in the Christian life.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” When others see your good works, they will see God working in your life, and that will ultimately bring glory to Him.

Never forget that what you do reflects on God – for good or for bad. Colossians 1:10,  “Being fruitful in every good work,”  is saying, that our lives should be productive and filled with good deeds so that we can bring glory to God.

Our motivation each day should be to let others see God in us through doing good!

Isaiah 43:2, “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee:  when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”

 In this verse God is promising His presence in the life of His people.

“I will be with thee..”

After making this statement, God goes on to list some pretty harrowing circumstances – deep water – and fire.

Basically. God is saying that–no matter what hardships or circumstances you are facing in your life, you do not need to be afraid because He is going through them with you.

I quote Isaiah 41:13 frequently in my mind, “For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.”

These two verses fit nicely together. God not only promises to be with us in all the problems of life but He promises to hold our right hand as we go through them.

Notice that there is no promise here of our not having problems or hardships – only that we need not fear them or be overwhelmed by them. God will be with us to help us through all of them — no matter how serious they are.

Claim these promises of God and there will be peace in the chaos of this life!

I John 1:4, “And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.” 

God wants us to have joy in our lives. Wow – what a great thing!  God loves us and desires for us to be happy even while we are living in an unsettled and sinful world.  This is an amazingly comforting truth.

The dictionary defines ‘JOY’ as an intense or elated happiness, a source of great pleasure. Now we often misinterpret this truth and put a completely different spin on it.   We can read into this verse that God does not want us to have any hardships or problems in our lives.  Everything  in life will be smooth and easy.  WRONG!  Freedom from conflict isn’t what God is promising.  What He does promise is that if we keep our eyes on Him and believe that He is in control of all that happens in our lives, we can be happy and have joy in spite of all the problems.

It seems that the disappointments and hardships of life can so often cause us to be down in the dumps emotionally. The ‘whys’ of life can seem to be overwhelming at times.  Why does everything seem to be going wrong, why am I sick, why can’t I pay my bills, why ____________you fill in the blank.  We all have our own questions that we are tempted to ask God when things are not going well.

Now, I have a challenge for you – instead of the whys, start with the thanksgivings. Not for the problems but for the fact that God is with you and He is in control.  He knows all about what you are facing.  He has promised in Romans 8:28 to work everything out for your good.  He has a plan and a purpose.  Remember, I Thessalonians 5:8 , “In everything give thanks”.

It is God’s desire for us to be thankful. Look through the problems and see God.  Believe He is working even when you cannot see it. THIS IS TRUST IN ACTION.  This is the faith that will bring joy to your life – even in the most trying of circumstances!

1 Corinthians 15:57, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Beware of victories. (Huh!)  I love a victory.  It means that things have gone right and are good.  We have seen God work and we are on the mountain top.  Life is great.  So…why in the world am I putting a damper on this wonderful experience?

The truth is that during the time of victory we are the most vulnerable. When we are in a valley, we know who we have to depend on.  We seek God’s face and direction.  We are in constant communication with Him because we need and want His help and direction.  But, in the time of victory we can become over confident.  Self can run ahead of God.

Victories are wonderful. Rejoice in them and thank God for them, but remember it is only ONE battle won.  There are more coming.

I know you think I am pouring water on your parade but I’m not. I’m not being negative and down in the mouth.  I am being honest.   It’s important to recall the victories in your life – they will give you the strength and encouragement to keep on keeping on;  just don’t park on them.

1 Corinthians 15:58 goes on to say, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”   Life is full of battles and will continue to be so until the Lord takes us home.  A good soldier rejoices in the battle won but then continues to be steadfast, unmoveble, and abounding in the work of the Lord as he moves on to the next one.

This blog first published on March 17, 2017.

Mark 9:23, “Jesus said unto him, if thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” 

This theme runs throughout the entire Bible: have faith, believe God, trust Him. Jesus sums it all up in this verse, “all things are possible to him that believe.”

Think about it! What “all things” are possible in your life if you only believe?  It opens a door of incredible possibilities – if you BELIEVE.  Our unbelief, our not trusting God, and our lack of faith keeps us in a little box of accomplishing very little.  Living within the realm of your own abilities is certainly limiting.  BUT, living in the world of FAITH and TRUST and BELIEF;  this opens up a whole new world of freedom and accomplishment.  It makes me wonder what God could accomplish through us if we just believed Him and let Him work.  Wow!  What wonderful possibilities could happen then!

Think about the areas in your life that you may be hindering God from working because of lack of belief. Ask Him to help you to trust Him and to give you the strength to move out for Him.  Ask Him to increase your faith.

(This blog is an excerpt from my book, “I Want to be a Better Me for God”, chapter 18.)

Proverbs 23:12, “Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.”

The word ‘apply’ is an action word. God is telling us here that we are to actively pursue instruction and knowledge.  It’s not to be a casual, hit or miss happening in our lives, but a solid determination on our part to know God better and to seek His direction.

How can we do this? I’m going to share how God has taught me over the last several years to grow closer to Him and increase in the knowledge of His Word.  This truly has changed my life.  I have shared this in more detail in my book,  “I Want to Be a Better Me for God,”  but, here I will only give an abbreviated version.

To start with – you need to read the Bible every day. DUH – Tell me something I don’t already know.  Okay – since you asked.  It is not just reading , it is thinking about and meditating on, what you read.  This is how I do it.  In my book I have a list of verses that go along with the theme of the chapter, but you can pick out any subject that you would like to study- such as trust, love, forgiveness, etc.  Look up a verse and write it out in its entirety along with the reference.  I suggest you get a notebook to use for this purpose.

After you write out the verse, you read it again, and again, and maybe again – asking God to reveal to you the truths in the verse. You may want to look up certain words in the dictionary.  Write out on paper what you are learning.  This is an important part of the assignment.  You must write it out, not just think about it.  This translates into true mediation!  It is amazing how God’s Word will open up for you as it never has before.

The second part of the assignment is to pick out a book of the Bible (any book, you choose) and read at least one chapter a day until you have finished the entire book. I also have a notebook I use just for chapter reading.  Write a quick synopsis of the chapter or pick out one verse that really speaks to you and write it out.  When you have finished a book, move on to another one.

Learn, learn, learn – never stop learning because when you stop learning you stop growing. Not only do you stop growing, but you start sliding backwards.  Seek and embrace God truths because this is how He wants you to live!  I can honestly say that the best part of every day is when I am doing my Bible reading.  I hope that is true for you also.  I challenge you to try this method of Bible study for a month and see if it helps you as much as it helped me!

Don’t forget to ask God to help you in this endeavor.

Proverbs 20:7, “The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him.” 

The 1828 dictionary defines:

Just – in a moral sense – upright, honest, having principles, conforms to the law.  Faithful.
Integrity – wholeness, moral soundness or purity, uprightness, honest, incorruptness.

We have here a picture of someone who cares about his character. He is honest and upright in all his dealings.  He has principles.  Because all of this is part of his inward fiber, we who are observing him, see this in his walk.  The truth is that who we are is demonstrated in how we live.  It starts from the inside.

I think all of us would like to be thought of as people of integrity. This should be a given for those that are Christians.  We need to strive to live upright, honest, faithful, pure, incorrupt lives.  I’ve said this before – and I’ll probably say it again, because it is a truth that we need to be reminded of often – that the world needs to be able to SEE that God has made a difference in our lives.   Everything we do, should be done with the idea of being a good testimony for the Lord.

This verse says that this man is walking – or in other words, living , an exemplary life.  The fact is that we cannot do this in our own strength.  The strength to live right can only come from the Lord.  We need to be fed daily from the Word.  We need to keep our hearts right and our minds focused on God.  We need to personally care about how our lives are reflecting on God.  We need to pray for strength to walk in integrity so that we can be a good testimony for the Lord in this sinful, out of whack world!

Proverbs 8:32b, “…for blessed are they that keep my ways.” 

I started out to give the dictionary definition of happiness (another word for blessed) when I realized that this was one word that most of us understand. It’s a good and desired destination where we all would like to dwell – but, how do we find our way there?

This verse gives the answer in a nut shell. This is a straight forward statement that says you will be HAPPY (blessed) if you do what God says.  Simple enough, but there is more implied in this statement than what appears on the surface.  There is a requirement that may not be simple at all. You must keep God’s ways.  In other words, you must DO what He says.

I’ve heard the statement that people follow god’s of their imaginations. In other words, they conjure up what they think that God is like and what He requires of them and then follow it.  Now, this is not what God is talking about.  He is not saying to keep what you think are my ways, but to follow what you know are my ways.  There is only one way to know God’s ways and that is to know the Scriptures.

Christian, you must be in the Word of God – reading, studying, and meditating.   It is such a privilege to have the Scriptures available to us. Don’t neglect to spend time in His word every day.  As you read, look for the verses that express His instructions for life (the Bible is full of them).  Get a notebook and write out the reference and the admonition that God is giving.  This will help you in your mediation and make it clear what God’s ways are.

The God who created this universe has not left us in the dark about how He wants us to live — and better yet, He promises blessed happiness to those that follow His ways.  What a great promise!

I Corinthians 15:57,58, “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”

What great verses of instruction for the Christian. Every word of these verses has a message for us.

• Thank God,
• Be Stedfast, Unmoveable, (don’t budge from what you believe)
• Abound, (do lots and lots for the Lord)
• Work, (put effort and determination into your service for God.)

Do you ever get tired? Giving up, looms on the horizon.  The ‘keep on, keeping on’ part of life just seems too hard.  (Been there, done that.)  But, praise God, He knew this would happen in most of our lives and these verses in His Word are an encouragement to us – a pep talk, so to speak.

Follow through on all of these admonitions from the Lord.   We have the promise of worthwhile results in the end.  All of your labour and hard work will not go unnoticed.  Even though it often seems discouraging because of lack of visible results, we know that God is working.

Remember that it is God that gives the victory. He is the one that is in charge of the results of our labours.   Our job is to do the work He has called us to do and leave the rest to Him.

Everything we do for God is not for nought. We need to – keep on, keeping on – because victory is promised in the end!

Jeremiah 15:16a, “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart;” 

I’m sure that you’ve heard the expression, “Watch out what you say, you may have to eat your words!” Of course, this is not what this verse is talking about.  It’s plain to see here that Jeremiah was expressing a hunger for and a hankering for God’s Word.

We eat because we are hungry. We eat because we have a need for nourishment and strength to meet the demands of life.  Sometimes we eat just because it is pleasurable – some things  taste so good we just want more and more.  This is the way that Jeremiah is relating to God’s Word.  I think all of the above can fit into the category of how we should approach our reading of the Scriptures.

The second statement in this verse also gives us insight into Jeremiah’s heart towards Bible reading, “and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart.” This is the same attitude that we should have when we read God’s Word.  It truly should be a joy to read the Scriptures.  It meets all the needs of the human heart:  it encourages, it rebukes, it teaches, it helps, it instructs, it directs, it comforts – this list can go on and on.

The best part of everyday should be when you are reading God’s Word. Meditate and think about what God is saying and why He put these words in the Scriptures.   You should taste, chew, swallow, and enjoy what you are reading.  Every word is there for a reason – it is information He wants us to know.  The Holy Spirit will help you to understand the things that God desires for you to understand – just ask Him.

It’s through reading the Bible that God shows us that He loves us and that we belong to Him. This truth should cause joy and rejoicing in our hearts – every day.

Happy eating!