Most of us claim to love God and put him first in our heart, or at least this is what we believe to be true.

“Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment” (Matthew 22:26-38).

Jesus tells us that loving God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind is the first and the greatest commandment. But did you know that you could love God with all of these things, your heart, your soul, and your mind, and still not put God first in your heart? Yes, it is truly possible to do both. So many believers love God with all their heart, soul, and mind, yet God does not have first place in their life. We find the reason for this explained in “The Parable Of The Sower.”

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There has always been some question in the minds of most believers as to how God answers our prayers. We have been taught that God is always faithful to answer our prayers, but we have been told that God answers some prayers with a “Yes,” some prayers with a “No” or so it seems sometimes, and other prayers with a “Wait.” Is this really how God answers our prayers? Does he really tell us “No” or “to wait” or is this something that has been created by man to console ourselves when we do not get that immediate, desired answer from God?

For the answer to these questions, let us turn to a prayer by Daniel, who was seeking wisdom on a prophecy that Jeremiah had given to the children of Israel that said they would be held in captivity for seventy years (Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10). The time had passed and it looked like the prophecy was not going to come true, so Daniel prayed seeking revelation from God.

“And whiles I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; yea, whiles I was speaking in prayer, even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation. And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding. At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision” (Daniel 9:20-23).

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Prayer is always an interesting subject because of the many aspects associated with the process. We know from previous discussions, prayer is nothing more than how we communicate with God. We now know that prayer will also strengthen us.

“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything; tell God your needs, and don’t forget to thank him for his answers. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will keep your thoughts and your hearts quiet and at rest as you trust in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7 TLB).

Worrying causes stress and stress causes all kinds of other issues, mainly issues that can affect our health. Instead of worrying about things, we are told to pray about everything. And when we pray, we will experience God’s peace, which will keep our thoughts and our heart quiet and at rest.

“Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (I Thessalonians 5:17-18).

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Each day we struggle with what to believe, questioning whether what we hear is of God or of the devil. While there appears to be some ambiguity in the minds of many about God, we wanted to know who this God is that so many claim to serve. Since we were tired of being tossed back and forth, going this way and that, turned about by every wind of doctrine and teaching of man (Ephesians 4:14), we decided to search the scriptures for ourselves to see what God has said about himself. We found that the God we are supposed to serve tells us to put our trust in him.

“Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit” (Jeremiah 17:5-8).

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One of the biggest enemy’s in “fighting the good fight of faith” is what is called “sense-knowledge.” “Sense-knowledge” is the kind of knowledge that is based on physical evidence. This enemy forces us to concentrate only on those things that can be perceived by our five senses. We only believe those things that we can see, taste, smell, hear, or touch. “Sense-knowledge” requires us to rely upon physical evidence as the motivator for our belief system, which in turn drives our faith in God. By allowing this enemy to grow within us, we in turn, place our trust only in “the witness of the senses or what the senses are telling us.” But is this the kind of faith that God requires of us?

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1).

We know from scripture that faith actually provides substance or assurance and then evidence. There is not a lot of difference between assurance and evidence other than the qualifiers for each of them, which involves hope and realities that are unseen, respectively. Everything in our life that we have learned has come through our five senses or through “sense-knowledge.” However, “the God kind of faith” is not at all perceived by the senses. Faith is actually the evidence of the thing hoped for, the evidence that the thing exists but it is not the thing itself. Faith is the substance or the tangibility of hope. While hope cannot change your circumstances, it can change your attitude about the circumstances. Hope is a goal setter and faith is the way to achieve the goal. You see, we do not need evidence to believe in something that we can physically see, taste, smell, hear, or touch. The thing itself provides the evidence of the thing’s existence. Faith is the evidence that something does exists regardless of the witness of the senses or what the senses are telling us. Again, “the God kind of faith” is not perceived by any of the senses.

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“The good life is the healthful life, the merry life. Life is health, joy, laughter” (Jean Bodlin).

Everyone wants to have a good life, a life that is healthful and merry. Is it possible to have a happy life? What must we do to have a good life?

“The thief cometh not (except), but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10: 10). “Beloved, I wish above all things (I pray in all things) that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (III John 1:2). “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it” (I Peter 3:10-11). “Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof” (Proverbs 18:21). “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh” (Proverbs 4:20-22). “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 (make smooth or straight) thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel (body), and marrow (strength) to thy bones” (Proverbs 3:5-8).

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One of the biggest misconceptions in the world is the belief that “there is plenty of time for someone to get right with God.” So most people put it off and put it off and put it off until, in many cases, “it is too late.” Part of the reason so many put off this “act of getting right with God” is because they love the darkness more than they love the light. People enjoy living in their darkness, living in their sins, doing the lustful things that they are doing more than they want to come to the light.

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants” (John 3:16-21 NLT).

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Recently, we discussed the ministry of reconciliation; the renewing of that relationship that existed with the original man before his fall from God’s grace. In that discussion we found that “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself” (II Corinthians 5:17-19). As God reconciled us back unto himself, he also did one incredible thing for us that many are not aware of; “He no longer imputed our sins against us.” Did you hear what we just said? Almighty God, the one many believers call “Abba Father,” no longer counts our sins against us. How incredible is that? But how is this possible?

“So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). “…by man came also the resurrection of the dead. … even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (I Corinthians 15:21-22).

By one man’s obedience, many have been given the opportunity to be made righteous. By one man’s obedience, many have been given the opportunity to be made alive.

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There is an old cliché (with some variation) that people in many Christian circles repeatedly say, “I’m just an old sinner, saved by grace.” The problem is that they do not realize that this is actually “an untrue confession.” Yes, we said “an untrue confession.” Right this very minute someone is saying to themselves, “But aren’t we all sinners?” To that, we would have to answer “Yes” and “No.” We know it sounds a little confusing and it may sound like we are playing on the wording, but let us try to explain.

In our most recent message, we mention how important the words that we speak are. We mentioned that we have the ability to choose between life and death, blessings and cursings through the words that we speak (Proverbs 18:21). We even mentioned that our very salvation hinged upon words that we speak or confess not to forgo the required believing in one’s heart (Romans 10:9-10). However, keep these thoughts in mind, we shall return to them shortly.

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