I love those who love me…And those who seek me diligently will find me.
Proverbs 8:17

Here we find that loving and seeking go together. Our relationship with the Lord is between two and not just one. We love Him because He first loved us and we seek Him because we desire to get to know Him and to be with Him. When we pray we also listen and He speaks to us.
As we diligently seek after Him we discover the great riches He has for us, including the revelation of who He is. If we sow to the spirit we will reap to the spirit. I seek Him because I love Him and when I look for Him he shows Himself to me.

But the Lord will be to you an everlasting light
Isaiah 60:19c

Jesus is the light of the world and if we follow Him we will not be in darkness. Darkness represents sin and spiritual blindness. We have been saved by grace and set free from sin and darkness and now we have the light of the Lord.
As we walk in the light we have fellowship with one another. Walking in the light is walking in the truth, in honesty and transparency. Living in His light is living in His love. It is having the knowledge of Christ and the Holy Spirit working in your life and shining out of your life. Jesus has delivered us from darkness and He has brought us into the light. As our light shines it brings glory to the Lord. He is to us an everlasting light and His light is shining through us to a dark world giving light to all who pass by.
1 John 1:5-5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

because he believed in his God.
Daniel 6:23c
Daniel lived a life of faithfulness to the Lord. From a young man till his old age he trusted in the Almighty God. He did not compromise his faith as he served under leaders that were unbelievers. He was a man of prayer and a man who followed the word of His God. The results were God used Him to testify and to be a witness to the power of the Lord. It all came down to the fact that Daniel like Abraham was fully convinced that God was able to do great things. He believed and others could see the miraculous power of God. Daniel witnessed first hand how God delivered him from the lions den. God sent an angel who shut the mouths of the lions, allowing Daniel to come out of the den untouched, he was promoted by the King. It was because Daniel believed in His God.
Do we have this kind of belief? Are we prepared to trust in the Lord and witness his mighty hand? The same God that delivered Daniel is the same God that can deliver us. All we have to do is believe in our God.

death and life are in the power of the tongue
Proverbs 18:21a

The words that we use have the ability to influence people’s lives. We can use them to influence for good or for bad. Our words can build up a life or tear down a life. In the book of James he states that no one can tame the tongue. With the tongue we can start a fire and cause a lot of damage or with our tongue we can lead people to saving faith in Christ that would last for all eternity. This is a very powerful weapon that we have.
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
As we are aware of the ability to influence others let us today begin to impart the grace of God and use our words to build up and not tear down.

Because the Lord loves you…
Deuteronomy 7:8a

We are chosen by the Lord to a special personal relationship and the reason is because He loves us. He did not choose any of us because we were spiritual or because we were religious He chose us because He desires a relationship with us.
God sent His son Jesus to die on the cross because He loved the whole world. The whole world describes all of humanity. We were chosen by God before the foundations of the world. God had been thinking about us for a long, long time. He has chosen us because He is into spending time with us and loving us. It sure is a blessing to know that God chooses me just for who I am and not for any other reason. This makes us very important to Him.
Peter said in his letter that we are a chosen generation and His own special people. What could be more important than being one of God’s special people? 1 John 4:10-11- In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:14

Paul was a man that remained focused on what really mattered and that was Christ. He did not allow his past to weigh him down and he did not live in the accomplishments attained. Instead he chose to press on, to move forward, to look ahead. To press is to follow after, to pursue. Paul was pursuing the upward call of God in Christ.

He had eternity in mind and he had set his mind on things above and not things below. When you focus on life’s troubles and trials you get discouraged and depressed. But when you follow after the call of God in your life and look to Him you find hope and encouragement.

Paul wanted to be more like Christ and he set that as his goal. Today is a great day for us to set Jesus as our goal as we press on and go forward in faith.

He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will be destroyed.

Proverbs 13:20

The advice given from Solomon is wise and worthy for us to heed. We are instructed to choose friends that are wise. Wisdom comes from the Lord and wise men seek their wisdom from Him as they ask for it.  In reading the bible it is evident that it was written by wise men who were accompanied by other wise men that spend time in study and in prayer. 

Paul said in Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”

Consequently, we ought to choose our companions wisely so that we might have good and godly influences in our lives.

Proverbs 8:1

The wisdom of the Lord is available to each and every person. He delights in giving wisdom to His children. The source of wisdom comes directly from the Lord as it says in Proverbs 2:6  for the Lord gives wisdom, from His mouth come knowledge and understanding.

Wisdom is good sense, skillful knowledge and the understanding of that knowledge. If ever we needed wisdom it is today because we face many obstacles and trials in life and we need to know the will and the wisdom of God in order to navigate through life. The great thing is the Lord gives wisdom to us as a gift.

His wisdom is different than the wisdom of the world. The wisdom of the world according to James 3:15-16 is earthly, sensual, demonic, envious, self-seeking and brings confusion.

On the other hand the wisdom of God brings peace and good fruits. We are instructed to simply ask God for wisdom, and He promises He will give it to us as long as we ask in faith. So, let us pray for the wisdom of God today and be ready to receive it, He invites us to have His wisdom.

blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel!

 John 12:13b

Jesus rode into town on a donkey according to the prophecy given by Zechariah, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, Your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.

Israel and all the people were expecting their Messiah to come and they welcomed Him with this exclamation of adoration meaning “Oh Save.”  They were looking for a deliverer and this deliverer was a fulfillment of prophecy. Help was on the way, they were excited and blessed the Lord. But this excitement was short lived as the Pharisees influenced the people to reject Him. He was not a political or a military leader; He was not a worldly king. So Jesus was mocked, scourged, beaten, misunderstood and then crucified upon a Roman cross.  The reason they rejected Him was because they refused to have Him as the son of God. Without faith it is impossible to please God and the Lord is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him. Jesus is not only the King of Israel but He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.  For many this week is known as Holy week,  it is aslo a great opportunity to seek Him and to adore Him. Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Jesus!

So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath…

James 1:19

To be swift to hear is to intentionally listen to the things that others are saying. It begins by hearing the Lord, sitting quiet before Him. Then as you hear others you will not be so quick to respond and to jump to conclusions. Often times there are those that are not looking for quick responses only for a listening ear. One way to train your ears, to listen is to go outside and be quiet and then try to identify all of the sounds that you hear.

Jesus himself said, “He who has ears to hear let him hear.”

If we listen more we will be less prone to wrath. This means we will not get angry as often because the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. Let us pray about being good listeners and hear what the Lord is  saying to us today.