“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15-16). 

We must be presented as approved unto God. Our lives are to be on display as showing evidence of God’s character. How else would the world know that Jesus is alive and the same yesterday, today, and forevermore? It is the life that expresses the truest meaning to Scripture that others are able to read even clearer than the text itself. Their interest prompts them to read on until the Word irresistibly becomes life to them. We direct them to Jesus Christ, the source of all that may be seen in us. He is seen through our every effort. He is glorified through our every deed, and He is edified when we participate with Christ and all who have come to know Him. Ours is to establish His kingdom on the earth as it is in heaven. Those who profess to know but do not know Him bring shame and disgrace to His name. And their pride becomes their shame. But those who know Him have contained in His Word the life that He promises. 

“Jesus answered, ’My kingdom is not of this world… but now My kingdom is not from here’ ” (John 18:36). 

Jesus is the King over all the earth, but His authority does not come from among the earth. The political factions and their divides are not the determinants of His allegiance. Nor is He limited and controlled by the popularity polls of shifting societal opinion. His rule is exclusive to what heaven has ordered and demands. God knows the outcome of every decision that appears to be right but often lacks the stability and character to last beyond even one election year. He allows us to take wild guesses in our attempts to move things forward and afterwards awaits our request to eventually ask Him what He has always known. His kingdom is not of this world but our references are often too worldly. When we come to understand that the true answers and resolve to our most perplexing questions and problems lie beyond this world, we will begin with Him and end with Him. His kingdom comes to invade our own kingdoms. He superimposes over what we had once established when we yield to Him. Otherwise, all that opposes must be dismantled and be replaced with what He originally had in mind. 

“My heart is overflowing with a good theme; I recite my composition concerning the King; My tongue is the pen of a ready writer” (Psalm 45:1). 

The tongue is engaged as a result of the overflow of the heart. As we meditate on the goodness of the Lord, our speech is not restricted to the thoughts that immediately come to mind. There was a buildup of thoughts awaiting expression as Mary, the mother of Jesus, pondered in her heart all that the Angel of the Lord made known to her. When she finally spoke, a bursting forth of praise and adoration began to flow from the deepest recesses of her soul. How many times have we had to strain in offering praise because we have not gathered enough from the Lord’s living water to flow from the innermost portions of our hearts? Yet when we silently wait before Him and allow our minds to slowly reflect upon all which He has done, then when we speak, we will have more to say than time will allow. We must be swift to hear and slow to speak. In hearing what God has said, His Word must be applied to every part of us. Then our tongues will be employed to recite our composition concerning our King.  8

“This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19). 

The waves of adversity will test the authenticity of our faith. Whether we have placed all our trust in God is proven in trying times. Here we cannot rely upon any other person or thing. We have launched out beyond the banks of secure living, and now have placed our lives in the hands of the only One who can safely navigate us through troubled waters. It is the emotions that are first under attack. The mind would consider the safety and security of the harbor. Some would think it would have been much better if they had never launched out into the deep. It is only when we consider the Commissioner of the mission that we may rest assured that none of the things facing us along this journey will take Him by surprise. He is there to protect us and to build within us something of value far beyond what we are at those moments of conflict able to see. To trust the Lord is to love Him with our minds, wills, and emotions. It is to submit what we would otherwise think or feel to Him in prayer that they may also be governed by His Spirit. He will settle us by showing us that He is with us. He will then remind us that the finished product is of far great value than the process itself. 

“For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children” (Isaiah 66:8). 

The travailing of the soul, the sound produced out of excruciating pain is the prelude to birthing. God will allow us to reach our breaking point when it appears as if all is lost, and He has totally abandoned us. Then there is the breaking of dawn. A new day breaks forth on the horizon. What He had shown us prophetically, and confirmed within our souls is brought forth. God is going to do a new thing. He will reveal Himself as He is. No longer must people guess and speculate regarding Him. The divisive opinions of those who mislead will be exposed and opposed. God’s Word and Power will triumph and none will be able to withstand it. Travail is also the intercessory prayer for the lost. When we see the conditions of the world, and if our hearts are not broken over it, we are not feeling with the Lord what He is feeling. He wept over Jerusalem. We must receive the spirit of lamentation as we witness all that is happening in our day. He will give us the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness once we are able to weep with Him. Children will be born into the kingdom of God. It will be more than a decision to join a church or any institution. Salvation will come to our houses when repentance and the prayer of intercession have come to our souls.

“For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light” (Psalm 36:9 KJV). 

Darkness conceals while light reveals. Things are further darkened by darkness while they are illuminated by the light. The Lord speaks His Word in order to guide us through life. His Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We are guided through those dangerous places where the enemy of our souls is lurking with the intent of killing, stealing, and destroying us. We are not walking alone because when we walk in the light we walk with Him. We see together and move in synch with one another. What we see enables us to see more. What we experience together is preparation for what lies ahead. The light that is before us now will lead us to greater dimensions of light. His light is the light of life. A fountain of living water continues to flow in our direction keeping and preserving us. What awaits us is far greater than what we had to abandon. All that preceded was mere preparation for what the Lord has yet to show us. We can trust His guidance and rest in His peace. We must not allow anything to get us off track but know that He knows the way that we must go. And when we safely arrive, we will appreciate every winding curve along the way. 

“I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me” (Psalm 3:5). 

Sleep is like a form of death. When we sleep, we are no longer in control of our thoughts or body. All is as if it is in the grave without a conscious thought but trusting that at the proper time we will awake. Our dreams take us to places we had not traveled before. It is always our desire to have a peaceful rest, thus a peaceful travel to the place that our dreams would take us. Our prayer is that God would protect us when we have no defense. There are the terrors of the night; invaders who may come and interrupt us and invade our homes; calamities over which we have no control; all the things that could happen in the night. The morning of our awakening is like our resurrection. The Lord has sustained us through the night!  As we trust God to keep us through one night in order to see a new day, we must also trust Him for the midnights of life’s experiences. Whatever we are going through in life, we go through it like we are in the darkest of night. But there will be the dawning of a new day when we will awaken fully to the light of His glory and never again lose sight of day. We will step into our dream of Him and see Him as He really is. The Lord will sustain us unto a new day!