THE NUMBER ONE

This one is easy:

Jesus said:  Love the Lord your God

with all  your heart and with all your soul

and with all your mind.

This is the first and greatest commandment.

He went on to say:

And the second is like it:

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Then:

All  the Law and the Prophets

hang on these two commandments.

Adding in Luke 6.31:

Do to others

as you would have them do to you.

This is the heart of God's loving desire for us, isn't it?

Love Him.  As He loves us.  Know Him.  To know Him is to love Him, isn't it?   We can read--search--the Scriptures and find knowledge and understanding of our Father's love.  The Holy Spirit will reveal the Father in and through the Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus.  2 Corinthians 3.18 and 4.6 tell us that we are transformed when we see the glory of God in the face of Jesus.

We can see this glory as  we read the Old Testament and realize that what is said of God (Ex. 34.6-7; Ps. 103) is to be seen in the Gospels in the Lord Jesus.  Also, what we see in the Gospels about Jesus is true of the Father.  Jesus said that what He did and said was exactly what He saw the Father do and say.

When we read Scripture with prayer to see the glory of the Father in the Son, the Holy Spirit will open our eyes to see wonderful things.  Then when we "walk" with the Holy Spirit in meditation on what He has shown us, He writes these things into our heart and we are lifted into the heart of God.  In this way, God enters our hearts with eternal life-giving, life-changing power.

When God's love begins to fill our hearts (Romans 5.5), we will return that love with our heart, mind, soul, and stength.  When love for God fills our hearts and flows up toward God, it will also flow outwardly to our "neighbors"--our families, friends, church, and the acquaintances and strangers that the Lord passes by us. 

OUR LIFE IS HIDDEN WITH CHRIST IN GOD

The entire life of the huge oak tree is "hidden" in the acorn, just as all the possibilities of a human life is contained in the union of sperm and egg.

Of course, there will be many factors affecting both the tree and the person, but how it all turns out is the outgrowth of the incredible tiny start of the acorn or sperm/egg beginning.

So it is with the life which we have in Christ.  So it is with the life Christ brings to us when we are "born again....of the Spirit."  (John 3. 3-5)  In that spiritual moment of  "crossing from death into life" we are "sealed" by the Holy Spirit and become "new creations" destined "to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

All that will ever be is implanted within us.  Day by day, as we send the roots of our heart and soul deeper and deeper into knowledge of and love for the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit changes us--heart, soul, mind, body--from the deepest levels within us.  These changes are evident in the "fruit" of grace working holiness and righteousness into our motives and thoughts, our behaviors and our words.  Day by day we become more and more like our Lord Jesus Christ. 

The "Christ is us," like an oak tree in an acorn, reveals Hismself in and through us and we become a "shelter in the time of storm," to others as He is to usw.

Day in and day out, night and day, the Holy Spirit unveils and releases the power of this life, Christ's life within us, today, every day, forever and ever, for we will never exhaust the potentials with which He has endued us.

This life and all its powers and potentials is within us and is at work this very moment, today--"now is the time of God's favor,  now is the day of salvation."  (2 Cor. 6.2)

FROM PROBEM TO PRAISE

I love You, O Lord, my strength.

Psalm 18.1

Psalm 18.1-3 tells us of the salvation and deliverance we receive when we come to Him with specific needs and requests:  "I am saved from my enemies." V. 2 gives us several ways to "visualize our place and time with Him for this help.

Vv. 4-6 gives us an an example of calling to Him in serious difficulties, as Paul spoke of "I dispaired of life" in 2 Corinthians 1 and found strength in times of weaknesses when facing criticisms, oppositions, hardships, and difficulties (2 Cor. 12.9-10).  It is for wisdom, power, grace for growth in knowledge and understanding, encouragement, and comfort that we come boldly to the throne of grace for help in times of need, with courage, confidence and freedom.  (Hebrews 4.16; Ephesians 3.10)

Vv. 7-15 speak o the poswer that God releases in our behalf.  When we are seeking God's grace to empower us to  persevever and overcome the adversities of our lives, the4 world is really and truly changed by God's intervention in our behalf. We are changed, becoming wiser, stronger, and better.  We become a bigger and better person.  We have more light and salt.  We become a more powerful influence on others for restoration of the kingdom of God on earth.  We are difference and begin immediately begin making a difference on earth, in the lives of other people.  The creative and explosive power of God does great and mighty things within us and become greater and more mighty people, things  beyond what we can ask or think.

Vv. 16-19 describe deliverance.  Our God will reach down from on high, take hold of us and draw us out of deep waters and disasters (Psalm 40 calls this  "miry pits;" 23--"the valley..."). He rescues us from circumstances too overwhelming for us. 

HERE IS THE "FORMULA" (Psalm 32.8;Ephesians 1. 1-13; Ro. 12.1-2) FOR GRACE IN THESE THIMES OF NEEDS:
When we face these kind of "impossible" situations, we  need only find a place of refuge where we will immediately find the peace of God settling  into our souls.  Jesus tells us we will have these experiences as we follow Him, but, not to fear, for He has overcome all the world can throw at us. As peace settles us down and we look to Jesus or help (Heb. 4.16) and begin to search the Scriptures for directions and steps to take, the Lord begins to help us to see issues in an entirely different light.  His word gives us directions for His path for our feet (Palm 119.105).  We gain courage and confidence.  With hope from the promises He gives us, we Begin to trust and obey and He supplies grace and power for our deliverance.

Vv. 30-36 assures us that if we will follow His FORMULA, and the leadership of the Holy Spirit step by step, the Lord will reward us with more than we can dream.  Job is our example for this.  He arams us with strength and makes our way like His--"perfect" (James 1.2-5).  The time we take to be with the Lord--(Abide," "Wait," Is. 40.31; Psalm 27.13-14; Jer. 29.11-14)--will supply all our needs with wisdom and strength to be a oak of righteousness for the display of God's spendor and majesty (Is. 61.3).

Vv. 37-45 is simply a review, and therefore a forecast for us!, of what God does for those who trust and obey Him in these times of affliction.  Our responsiblility is to prayferfully describe our situation as we see it, read Scriputre looking for the HOly Spirit to show us how and what God sees and then trust and obey what He tells us to do, step by step.  Such as outcome of vv. 37-45 is the promise of God for all who will do so.

Vv. 46-50 Celebration now and forever to the praise, honor, glory, wealth, and thanksgiving to God for ever and ever. Amen.  Revelation 4, 5, 7, et al.