"The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord." (Psalm 37:23 KJV)

 God's personal guidance

One of the great benefits of being connected to God is the personal guidance you can expect to receive from Him. His Holy Spirit "guides you into all truth". (John 16:13 NIV). He has a way of bringing truth into any situation as He reminds us of His Words. (John 14:26). As we read and study Scriptures, and it gets into our minds, the Holy Spirit brings appropriate Scriptures back to our remembrance at just the right moment to bring needed comfort, guidance and truth into every situation as needed. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105 KJV).

"Do everything without grumbling or arguing,so that you may become blameless and pure, 'children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.' Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky." (Phil. 2:14-15)

This promise starts off with a command to do EVERYTHING without grumbling or complaining. That's a tall order, actually, because "everything" means, well, it means EVERYTHING! And, that includes a lot of possibilities.

Small and large! 

It includes little things like traffic annoyances, or someone being a little rude to you on the phone. And, it includes big things, like major automotive repairs, dealing with difficult family members, being pulled over for a traffic violation, or even having to work for a difficult boss.

 Blameless and pure!

But this command comes with a wonderful payoff promise: "so that you may become blameless and pure, 'children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.'"

 You stand out!

When you live a self controlled life, and you resist the temptation to react negatively to life's difficult and challenging situations, you STAND OUT from the crowd, many of which are part of "a warped and crooked generation".

Here is the beautiful promise for your positive reaction to life's negativity: "Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky." That makes it all worth it! And, that's a great promise to aspire to!

"But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." (Eph. 2:4-7 KJV)

Rich in mercy! 

This promise starts off by saying God is rich in mercy and loved us even while we were "dead in our sins" and he "quickened" us (quickened means, to be made alive) together with Christ. And he saved us by His grace ("grace" means undeserved favor). And, on top of that, he has "raised us up, together with Jesus, in heavenly places". You can read back one chapter to understand that Christ is seated far above all authorities and powers (and, so are you in Him!) Eph. 1:22, "Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else-not only in this world but also in the wild to come." And, when you understand this truth, you can have great confidence! "Greater is He who is in you (Jesus) than he who is in the world (the devil).  (1 John 4:4). And, "I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13). Any way you look at it, you are empowered by Him! And, He even explains why, "That in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus."

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you." (John 15:5-7 KJV)

You get to choose! 

This promise has both positives and negatives, and you get to choose what part you get. Jesus says He is "the vine" and you are "the branches". If you will abide in (receive, obey, follow, adhere to) Him, something wonderful will then happen, you will "produce much fruit". But, on the other hand, (the negative part) if you do not abide in Him, you will wither, die, and you will be "cast into the fire!" So, it's a no brainier, abide!

And another wonderful promise is added at the end of this passage. Jesus said, "if my Words abide in you, ask what you will and it shall be given into you". This promise tells you how important it is to have the Word of God abiding within you and what it will do! It will allow you to "ask God what you will, and it shall be given to you!" Wow, what a promise! Another no brainier about what to do.

 Learn to cling!

Understand that what Jesus is saying to do here is not really difficult! Simply, abide in Him (cling to the branch, so to speak) and then have His Word abide in you.

No downside! 

Actually, when you think about "abiding in Jesus," there just isn't a downside to it! Fruit is produced in your life, when you sow, and what you ask for, you will get! Not a bad deal at all.

 The old oak tree!

As I was pondering this passage about abiding in the vine, I remembered an unusual old oak tree that grew near where I lived as a child. It did not drop its leaves in the fall like other trees did.  Instead, its old dead leaves just hung onto that tree all winter long. But, not to worry! Because, in the Spring, when new life started to flow up within and through the trunk of the tree, into all the branches, and into every twig on the tree, the old dead leaves just fell off, and were replaced with beautiful new buds and leaves! In exactly the same way, as we abide in Jesus, those old, hard-to-budge sins that we sometimes deal with as human beings, just like those old dried leaves on the oak tree, just fall away, as the Holy Spirit flows into and through us and produces, "the fruit of the Spirit."(Gal. 5:22-23). And, I cannot think of a better way to deal with such things.

"Be still, and know that I am God!" (Psalm 46:10 NLT)

 No need to worry!

When something negative happens to you (anything!), pause, take a deep breath, and say to yourself, "I do not have to worry about this thing, because He is God! There is nothing greater than Him, and He is able and willing to helpme!"

 Have confidence!

We serve a great big, awesome, powerful, wonderful, loving and caring God, who is more than able and willing to help you with and through ANYTHING! So, with confidence you can be still and know that He is God!

"Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God." (2 Cor. 1:3-5 KJV)

When God gives us His generous comfort, as sometimes is needed, He gives it to us in such measure that we are able to not only be comforted ourselves, but there is plenty comfort left over for us to give the same kind of comfort to others.

 A lesson from mom's sourdough

When I was a teenager I lived in Alaska with my parents in a log cabin. We really "roughed it" in many ways. Mom made a special homemade bread out of sourdough. The sourdough was made from a small batch of sourdough "starter" that she kept in a bag of flour as a small lump. Mom had originally gotten her "starter" from another Alaskan who had kept theirs for years. Each time mom made a batch of bread, she would take a small lump of the sourdough from it and put it into a sack of flour to use the next time. She continued to use that technique year after year, and often gavesome of it to friends when they came to visit so they could make sourdough bread, too.

In exactly the same way, the "comfort that God" gives, is like the sourdough starter and can be used over and over and be shared countless times for others as needed!

"God comforteth us so we can comfort others with the same comfort...." 

And, it will never run out!

"Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised.)" (Heb. 10:23 KJV)

This promise is so simple and direct that you'd have to get some help in order to misunderstand what it says!

 Do not waver!

Hold fast to the profession of your faith, without wavering, because, He that promised is faithful! How simple is that!

How wonderful that We never have to worry about God's faithfulness to His promises, ever! We just need to mix our faith with them and then expect (believe) them to work for us! And they do, every single time! (Heb. 4:2).

"I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:14 KJV)

I heard an old story about a kid who grew up in the back hills of Tennessee many years ago. While walking through the woods one day, he saw a big tree with something carved into its trunk. When he got closer he could clearly read what it said.

"Daniel Boon killed a bear clear up to there!" And next to Daniel's message was a mark.

The odd thing, was that beneath Daniel Boon's mark, there were a few other marks put there by other bear hunters.

Apparently Daniel was very famous for killing such a huge bear, and therefore, whenever anyone else killed a bear in the area after that, theywould drag it up to Daniel's tree and press it up towards his mark to see how their's compared with his. They would then carve their own name and put their own mark under his.

I don't know if the story is actually true or not, but it does illustrate a great point about living for Jesus.

Jesus Himself is the mark that we must press towards!

We are told to "Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ." (Ephesians 5:1-2 NLT)

When you do this, you will be pressing towards the "prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." And, that's a great promise!

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor.15:57 NIV)

We live in a different kind of world in many ways than the one I grew up in. When I was a kid we were taught a strong, clearly proclaimed, work ethic. We were taught at home and at school that we must work to get the things we need in life; that life is tough for those who fail to work, and the world does not owe you a living. And that lazy non-workers were called "bums."

 Many have a victim mentality!

Today, many have the idea that the government owes them a living. The number of people on food stamps and other types of government entitlements is staggering. Many have a victim mentality.

It wasn't always this way! In one of his famous speeches, President, John F. Kennedy said the following: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask instead what you can do for your country."

Things are very much the opposite today!

A few weeks ago while Susan was in a store, I waited for her in the car. A woman saw me sitting there and tapped on the door glass to get my attention. When I rolled down the window she handed me a note. The note said, "I am deaf, anything you can give me will help!"

She was a healthy looking young woman. I asked her if she could read lips? She indicated that she could. I then asked her why she didn't just get a job instead of begging. I told her that I had deaf friends who worked regular jobs. And, I said that she looked plenty strong and healthy to me, and that thereare lots of jobs around that don't require hearing.

When she saw that I wasn't going to give her any money, she moved away from me and immediately approached someone else in the parking lot.

She clearly saw herself as a victim and expected others to feel sorry for her and to compensate her for being a victim of deafness.

I believe as long as anyone sees themselves as a victim of any kind they are in a dangerous mental trap!

The promise at the top says, "He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." We never have to beg when we understand God's abundant provision.

Psalm 37:25 says it best, "I was young and now I am old, yet I've never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread."

Now, that's another great promise!