I've been meditating on verses that talk about dwelling in the Lord or living in the Lord or abiding in the Lord... and the importance of doing so. John 15:7 lets us know that if we live in the Lord, if we abide vitally united to Him and His words remain in us and continue to live in our hearts, we can ask whatever we will and it shall be done for us.

Today I read Lois sharing her thoughts on Psalm 37. She inspired me. So, I too popped down to Psalm 37. Verse 4 gives us one of the most wonderful promises in the Word... one, that many Christians often joyfully quote: "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart."

This verse can be the greatest blessing or the worst curse... as when we realize that we receive from the Lord what we desire secretly in our hearts... we realize that not all things in our hearts are good! Traditions are hidden in our hearts... negative words that were spoken about/to us in our youth might still be unconsciously hidden deep in the secret recesses of our hearts... limiting thoughts about ourselves are hidden in our hearts... negative visions that we might have developed, for some reason, are hidden in our hearts... unforgiveness... bitterness... hurt... sickness... lack... etch.

Sometimes we sincerely go to the Lord and cry to Him in our needs (which I think is the first warning signal... as when we cry/plead/beg, we do not really believe that the Lord wants to help us), not realizing that we still harbor wrong thoughts in our hearts - and receive into our lives according to those wrong thoughts. (I do not mean we shouldn't cry in front of the Lord when we are hurting or we shouldn't pour our hearts out before Him... we definitely should, but I am talking about having deep-rooted wrong attitudes in our hearts that hinder our prayer-answers). We consider prayers those petitions that we lift up unto God during our time of devotion, but in reality the thoughts of our hearts are also prayers. ...bummer!

I think Psalm 15 is one of the most powerful eye openers, saying: "Lord, Who shall dwell [temporarily] in Your tabernacle? Who shall dwell [permanently] on Your holy hill? He who speaks and thinks the truth in his heart... He who does these things shall never be moved."

The book of John constantly exhorts us to dwell or abide in the Lord: "Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing." (15:4-5)

How do we dwell in the Lord? John 1:1 says that the Word of God and Christ are one and the same... so, we dwell in the Lord by dwelling in the Word of God. In order for us to receive our needs met supernaturally - having God as our provider, protector, healer, helper in any situation - we need to have the Word of God deeply rooted in our hearts. When we meditate on the Word, we allow the Word of God to sink from our minds into our hearts, thus replacing unbelieving thoughts with faith thoughts... replacing hate thoughts with love thoughts... sick thoughts with well thoughts... low self-esteem with confidence in Christ...

As faith only resides in our hearts, God can't give us anything that is in the contrary with our heart faith. No wonder Joshua 1:8 exhorts us to meditate on the Word day and night! ...promising that if we do, we will make our way prosperous. Everything starts with choosing our thoughts.

In Proverbs, over and over again, God almost begs us to fill our hearts with the Truth of the Word... knowing that our lives - especially the quality of our lives - depend on it: "My son, forget not my law or teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years of a life [worth living] and tranquility [inward and outward and continuing through old age till death], these shall they add to you. Let not mercy and kindness [shutting out all hatred and selfishness] and truth [shutting out all deliberate hypocrisy or falsehood] forsake you; bind them about your neck, write them upon the table of your heart. So shall you find favor, good understanding, and high esteem in the sight [or judgment] of God and man." ...yeah, good life sure depends on having the Word of God deeply rooted in our hearts!

Proverbs 4:23 calls us to: "Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life." ...God calls us to GUARD our hearts with all vigilance... "guard" meaning to protect or hide... "vigilance" meaning careful attention being given to a situation, so that we notice any danger or trouble that there might be (BBC English Dictionary). God alerts us to protect our hearts so carefully that we would notice any danger or trouble approaching and immediately hide our hearts from it.

We can notice danger only when we know what the Word of God terms danger. Everything that opposes the Word of God means danger to us... for if we choose to dwell on it and entertain it in our thoughts or keep it in front of our eyes, it means less faith in our hearts. God actually exhorts us, day by day, even moment by moment, to reject everything that would harm the faith of our hearts.

Psalm 91 - my daily prayer - explains really well how things work in the spirit realm. The psalmist beings: "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]." When we dwell, abide, live in the Word of God, we shall remain stable and fixed in every situation. This is because we no longer depend on the outward conditions, but we KNOW the Truth in our hearts and are ONLY moved by the Truth. We know that our outward conditions are just temporary and we can easily change them through the Word. We also know HOW to change them through the Truth:

"I will SAY of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!" When the Truth is firmly rooted into our hearts, we SPEAK the Truth. Matthew 12:34-35 confirms it: "Out of the fullness (the overflow, the superabundance) of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man from his inner good treasure flings forth good things, and the evil man out of his inner evil storehouse flings forth evil things." ...notice that THINGS come out of our hearts... if we need some things, we first have to believe those things in our hearts! Now, when we speak words of faith, we mobilize God to move on our behalf, as verse 3 continues:

"For [THEN] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. [THEN] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler..." When we speak the words of faith, we release the power of God to move on our behalf. It is actually easy to speak words of faith when we have time to think about what we need to say. It is easy to speak the words of faith during our prayer time... but when things happen suddenly and we need to speak words of faith, oftentimes what comes out of our hearts and mouths are fear words. So, in order to speak faith words in times of accident or trouble, we must have put those words into our hearts long ahead of time. ...this gives a much more clear perspective as to why God tells us to DWELL in His Word!

"You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day... Only a spectator shall you be [yourself INACCESSIBLE in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked." When our hearts are rooted in God, we are INACCESSIBLE to evil.

Verse 9 confirms the reason of such supernatural protection: "Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your DWELLING PLACE, there shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent." In verse 14 God Himself says: "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness - trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never]."

We have to KNOW some things in order for us to be protected and receive God's promises for us! Having hidden His Truth in our hearts and having had personal experiences of God's faithfulness, mercy, love and kindness, we have strong confidence in Him. "Because he has set his love upon Me", describes God the person who is so blessed. What does it mean to love God?

We all have said: "I love God"... and I know we all have meant it with all our hearts... though the Bible has a clear definition of what it means to love God. Jesus said in John 14:23: "If a person [really] loves Me, he will keep My word [obey My teaching]; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home (abode, special dwelling place) with him." We can tell God as much as we want, that we love Him... but He knows that we truly love Him when we keep His Word, obey His teaching. This is God's personal definition of us loving Him... so, we all can see whether we truly love Him.

But when we do, it does not matter whether we are new Christians or mature Christians, if we keep His Word that He is teaching us at present... and He is always teaching us something... then we are truly delighting in Him... and thus He is able to indeed give us the good desires and secret petitions of our hearts.

God is good! He is perfectly good... there is NO evil in Him and He desires with all His heart to give good gifts to us - His precious children - but He too is limited by spiritual laws that rule this universe. He is teaching us through His Word HOW to live in His good blessings - ALL the time! When we take time to learn from the Master, we will be filled with His Wisdom that brings us humongous blessings (read Proverbs 3 and 4)... yep, indeed, we are growing from glory to glory... having constantly more to learn, having greater heights to rise to... a life of learning - the best life of all :-)

Many, many blessings to You all,

For the past week I have been reading and meditating in John 13-15. I love those chapters in the Gospels. I think they are so powerful. I have especially meditated on John 14:27 above. Just reading this verse over and over again, fills me with peace.

Yesterday, one of my friends said something that made me think. LaNell (an American lady) went to a dictionary to make sure she correctly understood the meaning of some words in the verse she was meditating on. So, I though, right, I too will go to the BBC English Dictionary to make sure I correctly understand the meaning of each of those words. I know what they mean, but when I read the expanded translation of each word in English, the Truth of Jesus' Words sinks in better.

Jesus commands us to not allow our hearts be troubled nor afraid. The dictionary says that when we are troubled, we are worried because we have problems. Again, Jesus commands us to STOP allowing ourselves to be agitated. My dictionary says that when we are agitated, we are so worried about something that we are unable to think clearly or think calmly. Jesus commands us to STOP allowing ourselves to be disturbed. When we are disturbed, we are extremely worried or upset about something. Jesus commands us not permit ourselves to be fearful and intimidated. When we are intimidated, we are afraid of other people, not having confidence in ourselves. Jesus commands us not to permit ourselves to be cowardly and unsettled. When we are cowardly, we are easily frightened and avoid doing dangerous or difficult things. When we are unsettled, we cannot concentrate on anything, because we are so worried.

Well, basically, He commands us to STOP worrying. It is tough to not worry when there is a difficult situation in our lives... yet it is up to us to make the decision to worry or not to worry. When we are worrying, we have made a choice to let this certain problem eat up our peace. The truth is that we won't, in any way, be able to solve the problem by worrying about it. We won't find the answer by constantly thinking about it. It is just a very, very bad habit that we picked up somewhere along the way and it has stuck with us. Well, it is time to develop a new habit - to achieve and keep the peace.

Jesus died for us so that we could have the peace - His peace. His peace covers every area of our lives. Isaiah 53:4-5 says: "Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole."

Jesus Christ HAS ALREADY BORNE ALL our griefs, sicknesses, weaknesses, distresses, sorrows and pains on the cross for us. He has done away with all those burdens once and for all... and yet, we still take them upon us and drag them around! He was wounded and bruised and beaten up, bearing it all only because He knew that He would bring us peace and well-being through it. God did away with all those curses through Jesus' death and resurrection. Christ paid the price for our peace with His own blood. Peace is not a natural thing. There is no peace apart from Christ. But we, in Christ, have been given the supernatural peace. It is ours.

God's peace is extremely powerful. His peace covers absolutely everything that we would need in our lives. I mean, think about it, God wouldn't command us to keep the peace when we had something important missing from our lives. We couldn't have peace if we did not have good health or food on our tables or shelter or clothes. No, God's peace involves absolutely everything that we would need for our lives.

Isaiah 53:5 says that "the chastisement needful to obtain peace and well-being for us what upon Him." He paid the price and bought perfect peace and well-being for us. The world cannot have peace as Matthew 10:13 says that "Peace [is freedom from all the distresses that are experienced as the result of sin]." Where there is sin, there cannot be peace.

Worry is sin. Although Christ has paid the price for us to have constant peace, it is up to us to keep the peace. The devil is forever after our peace. He knows that as soon as he can get us out of peace, he has got us into sin and on his ground... then we are an easy prey to him. Worry feeds fear. Fear is an open door to the devil... just as faith is the open door to God. God is able to move through our faith and the devil is able to move through our fear. Fear and faith cannot exist in the same place at the same time. Whether we are in faith or we are in fear. When we are worrying, we are in fear or on our way there.

It is so, so easy to get into fear and worry... because most people around us live in fear... and fear is contagious. One of my close friends recently said to me that it seemed like everything went so smoothly in my life. I had never thought that someone looking from aside would come to that conclusion... as it doesn't seem to be smooth to me. I honestly work pretty hard at keeping myself in faith and in peace and in joy. It does NOT come naturally to me. I take time daily to build my faith through the Word. I take time daily to fellowship with the Lord. But then again, people do not see the work behind the scenes. It truly is work... but it is the work that influences every single area of my life and moves me towards success in every area of my life. When I am faithful to take this time with the Lord, I become stronger and more immovable in my faith. But when I become slack, I soon fall on my face in some area. I do. And I admit, at times I do become slack... and soon after that I am on my face... having to start to climb up again.

As I've known how good it is to be safe and secure in the promises of God, filled with peace and joy, strong in faith, when I lose it even a bit, I want it back fast... so, I do not stay down. Though, I am aware that there is much more to this awesome peace than I have yet experienced in my life. One of my very favorite verses, Psalms 34:5 says: "They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces shall never blush for shame or be confused." It is the ONLY way to keep the peace - to look to Him and to keep looking to Him.

"Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear? For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all. But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides. So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble." (Matthew 6:31-34)

Someone said it so well: "when we worry about something in the future or dread something, it is like doing it twice or thrice or even more times." So true, isn't it! We are not living in this day, taking care of the matters of this day, but we are living already in the dreaded situation... going through it many times before we actually come to it. Worry does not solve anything. Unfortunately so often we are so used to worrying that we do not even notice it. When we are not used to living in the peace of God - having NO worries in our minds - we do not even know that we do not have the kind of peace that Christ died to obtain for us. When we have completely peaceful 10 minutes, then we do start noticing the difference between the complete peace and our natural state. Then when we train a bit more and stay longer in the Word and in the fellowship with the Lord, we achieve a longer period of complete peace and we feel the difference more clearly. When we manage to have complete peace for an hour or longer at a time, the difference grows even more vast. Finally we start loving those times of complete peace so much that we try to stay in this peace longer... and complete peace means NO worried thoughts at all or thoughts about what we need to do next.

If we are honest with ourselves, we admit that we do not have enough time of complete peace in our days... or at least that there is greater peace available for us. We need to work at it... and yes, it truly is work... but it pays great dividends. Hebrews 4:11 exhorts us to: "Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell]." Israelites did not believe the promises of God and they died in the wilderness, instead of entering their Promised Land. God warns us not to make the same mistake. He has put a Promised Land ready for each of us. He is ready to take us there... but we need to walk by faith. In Isaiah 7:9 (Living Bible) God says to us: "You don't believe Me? If you want Me to protect you, you must learn to believe what I say." ...or If you want Me to help you, you must learn to believe what I say.

The moments of complete peace are the moments when our thoughts are on the Lord. The Bible talks about DWELLING in the Lord. Wow! That is something! That means LIVING CONSTANTLY with our minds on the Lord, on His Word, His promises. Colossians 1:13 says: "[The Father] has delivered and drawn us to Himself out of the control and the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of the Son of His love."

We do not have to live like the world lives any longer. God has delivered us and transferred us into the kingdom of Christ. There is NOTHING missing in His kingdom. When we learn to depend on His kingdom, His promises, rather than looking at our situations and being moved by them, we will have nothing missing in our lives. God promised us in Matthew 6 that HE KNOWS all the things that we need. We do not need to worry about them. We can find promises in His Word that cover every one of our needs... and we need to learn to depend on His promises. That is why God exhorts us in Joshua 1:8: "This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success."

God wants us to have good success in every area of our lives. Matthew 6 says, that ALL things shall be given to us when we seek God first. Joshua 1 confirms it, by telling us to meditate on His Word day and night, in order to make our way prosperous. See, it is work! We are not used to meditating on His Word day and night... but this is what brings us success. We need to let His Word, His promises to sink into our hearts and push out the wrong ways of thinking and acting that keep us in bondage. Sure, it is so opposite to what the world does. The world works harder and harder to achieve more... but we do not live like the world lives. We live according to the principles of the Kingdom of God. Our success depends on us putting God first and throughout the day keeping our thoughts filled with His Word.

"God is Love" (1 John 4:8) and "Perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18) and as God and His Word are ONE (John 1:1)... so, reading the Word and meditating on the Word casts out all fear and worry from our lives. Our faith can only work when there is no fear, no doubt, no worry. The Word drives it all out and fills us with faith... and we are ready to receive whatever we need to receive from the Lord. "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." (Romans 10:17) When we keep our minds filled with the promises of God, depending on those yet unseen promises, and speak those promises out of our mouths - for faith comes by hearing ourselves confessing the promises of God - we let faith to take root in our hearts. It is this faith that brings the promises of God out of the unseen realm into the natural realm. Those promises are all there but we have to take them by faith.

"But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]." (Hebrews 11:6)

Many, many blessings to You all,

I listened to Jesse Duplantis last night sharing an interesting story from the time he was not yet a preacher... or even saved. He used to be a life-guard. He knew how to save people from drowning and he knew how to teach people to overcome their fear of water and learn to swim. He said that there was a really large lady who used to come to the pool with her kids. She let her kids learn to swim but she never went into the water herself. She said she was afraid of water. So, Jesse Duplantis told her that he could teach her to swim. Finally she agreed to let herself be taught. He and the lady got into the water and she got totally panicky. She grabbed Jesse who was much, much smaller than her and pushed him under the water. Jesse knew that she won't let go of him, but would drown him and then drown herself, unless he would drag her in turn under the water... for then she would start reaching for air and let go of him. That is exactly what happened. As soon as she let go of him and got her head above the water, she panicked again, grabbed hold of Jesse, and trying to lean on him, she pushed him under the water. Jesse had to again drag her under the water in order to be released from her grasp. Finally she got worn out. She looked worried, when she screamed to Jesse: "You dragged me under the water!" Jesse then shouted to her: "I am your life-guard. I know how to save you. I know how to help you. I will not let you drown. I will teach you how to swim and get rid of the fear of water."

I thought it was so, so good! As soon as Jesse told the story, I thought, goodness, we do the same thing to Jesus! He is our Life-Guard! He is our Savior. Jesus KNOWS how to save us! Jesus KNOWS how to help us. He will not let us down... and yet, we do not trust Him. Instead of letting Him do His job and allow Him to teach us "swim", we start struggling and "pushing Him under the water". When this happens, Jesus has no choice but to "pull us under the water too", so that we would relax and allow Him to save us. But when we "get under water", we get shocked, thinking Jesus has left us and is not going to help us... so, we start our panic-filled struggle again, in order to survive... accomplishing just the opposite!

Our "under water" moments are the ones when we take matters into our own hands, thinking that He won't help us... all the while He is trying to teach us what we need to do in order to come out of our challenges victoriously. When we learn to swim, we are taught how to keep our heads above the water and how to move in the water. We do all the work, but we need to do it according to the instructions. Sure, we can try to swim without right instructions, by jumping into the water and starting to move our hands and legs whichever way comes naturally to us. We would be struggling so hard to keep our heads above the water and we will tire ourselves very fast. When we don't have any strength left, we start to sink, swallowing water. All we manage to do, is keep our instructor busy saving us from drowning... instead of allowing him to teach us how to swim.

Jesus is with us every step of the way. He knows the right way for us. He teaches us through His Word. There is an answer to every single problem under the Sun, in the Word. We can find it when we take the time to learn to know the Lord through His Word. We have also been give our very own instructor to live right within us - the Holy Spirit, Who leads into all the Truth. That is why people, who seek the Scripture without the help of the Holy Spirit, consider it foolish. They simply cannot understand the Truth without the Instructor. We need the Holy Spirit to lead us to the right answer through His Word... or if the answer is not clearly in the Word, the Holy Spirit can still minister the answer to us... when we allow Him to.

Just as it is much, much harder to swim, when we have not first allowed the instructor to teach us each movement, following the instructions perfectly... so also, it is much, much harder to find the right solution to our challenges, without taking the time to quietly listen to the instructor, following His instructions perfectly.

Isaiah 30:15 says:"For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning [to Me] and resting [in Me] you shall be saved; in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength." When we become still and listen to Him, He will show us what to do. Our salvation is in our trusting confidence... and our trusting confidence comes from us learning to know the Lord intimately and personally.

John 1:1 says: "In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself." When we take the time to read the Word of God, we take the time to fellowship with the Lord Himself. God and His Word are one. It is not enough to just take the prayer time daily, we need to take the time to read the Word of God. We need to allow our natural thoughts to be replaced by God's supernatural thoughts. When we get His thoughts into our minds and hearts, we also hear His instructions much more clearly. We start to clearly distinguish between our thoughts, the enemy's thoughts and God's thoughts.

God's Word, when it sinks into our hearts, gives us life, it leads us to make right decisions, it keeps us, defends us, protects us; it gives us favor and good understanding; it promotes us and brings us honor; it delivers us from difficulties and prolongs our lives; it prospers us... and gives us life worth living (Prov. 4:4-10; Prov.3:1-4). Proverbs 3:5 teaches us: "Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding." In order to get God's answers, that are our salvation, we need to give up our own solutions, surrendering them to the Lord and being willing to seek for His Truth.

Matthew 6:33 is the verse we all know by heart, and yet so often we do not follow the deep Truth behind those Words: "But seek (aim at and strive after) FIRST OF ALL His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and THEN ALL these things taken together will be given you besides."
When we obey the command to seek Him FIRST OF ALL daily, we will literally be given everything we need besides. God has the answer to each of our challenges... but He needs us first to be able to hear His voice. We hear His voice when we get His thoughts into our minds, through His Word.

I still remember so well how some years ago my mom and other share-holders of a travel agency knew that the company's director was defrauding them... but they did not know how he did it nor did they know how to prove it. This worried my mom a great deal and she thought a lot about it. Finally she decided, I can't figure it out anyway, I'll read the Word of God. She did not expect it, but as soon as she obeyed the command to seek the Lord FIRST, instead of dwelling on a problem, she got the answer. The Holy Spirit revealed to my mom - while she was reading the Word of God - the exact way their director was cheating them. They would have finally figured it out, but it would have taken them months of hard work to go through all the paperwork. Yet, God knew the answer all along... and when my mom put Him FIRST, He was able to show her the answer.

Hebrews 11:6 promises: "He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]." God literally rewards us by helping us out in other areas of our lives, when we earnestly and diligently seek Him out. Had my mom not been in the habit of reading the Word daily, the answer would probably not have come so fast. Fortunately she had learned that she needed to renew her mind with the Word daily... but as she had a serious problem, she took extra time to read the Word... and God rewarded her faithfulness.

Each time we have a new challenge in our lives, we need instructions on a new level. We can't submit to the temptation to worry about a matter, instead, we need to be quiet and study the Instruction Book, allowing our personal Instructor to teach us and lead us. When we walk with Him, we will never be in the dark in any area of our lives: "He said, I am the Light of the world. He who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is Life." (John 8:12)

When we do not get the answer right away, we need to keep reading the Word and wait. We can't assume that the Lord expects us to save ourselves... for He has promised: "Yes, let none who trust and wait hopefully and look for You be put to shame or be disappointed" (Psalm 25:3) and "I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and He inclined to me and heard my cry." (Psalm 40:1)

It is so much easier for the Lord to lead us and guide us and speak to us, when we are calm and on the same wave-length with Him. Even when we have no challenge at a moment, we can't spend less time in His presence. He wants to talk to us. He wants to fellowship with us. He wants to get us ready for the coming challenges. He does greatly reward those who faithfully seek Him FIRST daily... for He is faithful to His promises.

Many, many blessings to You all,

I hope You are all doing well and enjoying the Summer to the fullest! ...or winter in Australia :-) 10 days ago I returned a from my two-week vacation. For me there is one place on earth, where I truly rest and relax - my family's Summer house on the island of Saaremaa. It is my little heaven on earth. I so love to take my parent's little dog Joosu, and roam the endless forests and fields and meadows. I so love to wake up in the morning... correction, afternoon... and step right out on the lawn, where my mom's countless flower-beds display their colorful beauty and the delicate bucket of their intermingling scents fills the air. Wow! I so love to walk to the sea through the old, winding dustroad, hemmed with ancient, moss-covered stone fences. I love the super-long midsummer nights, when it hardly gets dark at all. I love to take my camera and start snapping pics of all this breath-taking beauty, that the pure wonder of nature and the nostalgia of the memories of past generations, has to offer. It all is pure joy. I get so rejuvenated by it.

This is my little heaven on earth... if a heaven on earth could be a physical place... instead, I believe, that heaven or hell is a place in our hearts. Whatever we fill our hearts with, creates heaven or hell in our lives. Beauty is all around us. Every day is filled with little wonders for our enjoyment and delight... if we just take enough time to look for them and even a short moment to enjoy them. Such little joys of life and the ability to enjoy them, rejuvenate and refresh us... they keep us healthy and young - body, soul and spirit.

Research reveals that 75% of all doctor's visits are stress related. This shows the kind of life-styles we are leading. We need to learn to de-stress daily and enjoy the beauty and the good in our lives.

Actually, I believe, that the greatest joys of our lives, are the people and things that are already in our lives... people, that we so often take for granted - our spouses, our kids, our parents, our siblings... Too often we are so used to those people, that we no longer take the time to enjoy them and see the wonder in them. But it is there... if we choose to see it and appreciate it. And hey, there is a great catch that goes with appreciating others - they will immediately appreciate us more too... and we have contributed to a happier and healthier life for both of us!

Going back to Summer and some of the unpleasant things that go with it, like flees and bugs, I would like to share with You a few tips for a greater enjoyment of this wonderful time of a year:

Natural Itch Relief

Master Herbalist Susun Weed recommends a simple, very effective and chemical-free remedy against mosquito bites, flea bites, and other summer itchies:

Osha Root Tincture (which may be ordered online or found in your local natural foods store) is the best remedy for allergic reactions caused by poison ivy and bug bites EVER. Simply apply tincture directly, and sparingly, to the affected area and allow to dry.

If osha is unavailable, here is another helpful itch treatment:

Cosmetic-grade clay mixed with water to make a paste, applied liberally to the affected area, and allowed to dry. As always, consult a health professional before using this or any remedy if you are pregnant, or have compromised or threatened health.

Get Rid of Ants in Your Garden

Ants can be a real pest in the garden. Fortunately there is a simple solution to getting rid of them: In a bowl, mix one cup borax, one cup sugar, and three cups water. Place a loose wad of toilet paper into four different screw-top jars that are about the size of shallow marinated artichoke jars. Pour the mixture into the jars until it is about one inch from the top. Screw the lids on the jars, and with a hammer and nail, make four to eight holes in the lid. Place the jars in areas where you have ants, and watch them line up in rows and march in. Keep away from children.

Protect Your Pet From Fleas and Ticks

Put brewer's yeast or garlic in your pet's food; sprinkle fennel, rue, rosemary, or eucalyptus seeds or leaves around animal's sleeping areas.

Create Your Own Simple Plant Spray Without Harmful Synthetics

To rid your plants of many common pests, gently wipe leaves with a solution of mild soap and water. Or mix the solution in a spray bottle and spray leaves and stems.

I wish You all many blessings and a great Summer,

One of my dear friends has got herself into quite a mess through constant disobedience. She has understood it by now, though, and does sincerely want to get back on the right track. She is taking the steps toward it, but she still wants things to happen fast, overnight. Sure, God can change our lives and circumstances overnight, no problem! HE can do it... but more often that not, He does not do it. God is like any good, loving, committed parent, being more interested in our character change, rather than in our dis-comfort change.

Then there are the dreams in each of our hearts... dreams that we have waited for, for a long, long time. I have such promises from the Lord. He has promised me something and I have stood on faith for His promise to be fulfilled in my life... and yet a month has passed, then a year has passed, then five years have passed, then ten years have passed... and still nothing! Or so it seems!

What do we do? What do we do when we know that God has spoken to our hearts and has confirmed His promise through His Word... and yet a very long time has passed... and still no fulfillment of this promise? What do we do when we have lived in disobedience or ignorance (due to our lack of learning to know Him through His Word) and have gotten ourselves into quite a mess... wanting to get back to the right track? What do we do when things do not happen overnight?

We continue to wait in faith! We do NOT fling away our fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward. We have a serious need of steadfast patience and endurance, so that we may perform and fully accomplish the will of God, and THUS receive and carry away and enjoy to the full what is promised.

This verse says that BEFORE we receive what God has promised us, we need to perform and fully accomplish the will of God. God doesn't carelessly dash His promises and gifts out to anyone who wants them. God expects us to do our part. Sure, He does answer every one of our prayers... but not always overnight. When we ask Him for something, often we are not yet in the position to receive it. We need to first grow and mature in order to be able to appreciate the gift and the blessing He desires to give us. Or at times we need to rise to a higher level of faith in order to receive His blessing.

The very first condition for us to receive His blessings and gifts is to surrender our lives to Him. When we have done that, then the next condition is to seek Him FIRST daily (Matthew 6:33). Too often we seek Him when we "have time" to do that... instead of settling this one issue once and for all that He is the number ONE and He will get the best part of our day... every day. When we fulfill those two conditions, we are on the right track and WILL indeed receive His blessings much faster.

Most of God's wonderful promises in His Word go with a condition. Like this one: "IF you are willing and obedient, you SHALL eat the good of the land." (Isaiah 1:19) So, when we have surrendered our lives to Him, we put Him FIRST daily... and OBEY Him every time He tells us to do something - whether through the Word or speaks into our hearts - we are in the position to receive His blessings. God does not bless disobedience.

Have You noticed that sometimes new believers receive God's blessings much faster than those who have been Christians for years. Why is that? I believe that often those young, fresh believers are so in love with the Lord and they have no problem giving Him the first place in their lives and obey everything He tells them to do... which puts them in the position to receive God's blessings right away.

Then again, there are times in every one of our lives, when our faith is being put to the test. Shall we continue to believe God and His promise to us, after having had to wait for quite a while... or shall we weary in our faith and miss the promise? Those are the times to especially draw very near to God and hear from Him. Sometimes the answer delays because we are being disobedient in another area of our lives. Sometimes the promise includes other people and God is still be working in them and with them. Sometimes God wants to work on a personality trait in our lives before the answer can come. Sometimes it is the devil who is fighting the promise to be fulfilled in our lives. One of the best Biblical examples of the latter is in the book of Daniel:

"Then he said to me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind and heart to understand and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come as a consequence of [and in response to] your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief [of the celestial] princes, came to help me, for I remained there with the kings of Persia." (Daniel 10:12-13)

So, in order to find out what is our case, we need to seek the Lord daily. He will show us whether we need to correct something in our lives... or we need to keep praying and waiting... or we need to bind the enemy forces in order for the answer to come. That is why we are so dependent on Him. No one else has those answers for us. He alone does and He is ready to tell us everything we need to know... except if our hearts and spiritual ears are not trained to be still and listen to Him, we won't hear Him. 1 Kings 19:12 describes the voice of the Lord as "a sound of gentle stillness and a still, small voice." He doesn't shout commands to us. God is a gentleman... He definitely is GENTLE to us. He doesn't make us do the right thing. He has given us a choice and He stands back and allows us to do our own thing, if we so desire. We will know from the results and from the missing peace in our hearts that we have gone the wrong way. God always leads us through peace in our hearts:

"And let the peace (soul harmony which comes) from Christ rule (act as umpire continually) in your hearts [deciding and settling with finality all questions that arise in your minds, in that peaceful state] to which as [members of Christ's] one body you were also called [to live]. And be thankful (appreciative), [giving praise to God always]." (Colossians 3:15)

It doesn't always make sense to our minds to do what our hearts sense to do... but we should always follow the peace. If we have no peace about a decision, we should NOT make that decision until we get the peace about it. If we go against the peace in our hearts, we will always make a mistake. We need to learn to first achieve the peace through our daily fellowship with the Lord... and then always keep the peace. If we do, we will immediately notice when there is even the slightest unsettling feeling in our spirit...and we will stop going the way we were going.

And then one more thing that I believe we, as believers, very often do - we hope, instead of believe. This is one of the very common blessing delayers. We hope for something sometime in the future, instead of taking it by faith and believing that we have received when we first prayed (Mark 11:22-24), especially when the promise is in black and white in the Word of God. If we only hope for it, we won't get it... for nowhere in the Bible it is written that we receive what we hope for. No, instead the Word says:

"NOW FAITH IS the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. Without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out]." (Hebrews 11:1,6)

Faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed of the things we hope for. Faith gives thanks to God for the things it believes for, ahead of time. Faith believes without seeing. Hope alone is not enough. We need faith to receive. Hope puts the answer somewhere in the future. NOW FAITH IS! Faith is NOW... not in the future. "For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it]." (Mark 11:24) When we believe that our prayer HAS BEEN GRANTED TO US, WE WILL GET IT! Hey, this is the promise of the Living God Himself. If He has said it, then so it is! This verse tells us to BE CONFIDENT. Hebrews 10 tells us to not throw away our FEARLESS CONFIDENCE. What is fearless confidence? It is faith. Faith is fearless confidence. When there is still fear in our hearts, we do not yet have fearless confidence. We need to get rid of fear in order to walk in faith. Faith and fear cannot exist in our lives at the same time. If there is fear, we are not in faith. But, we have a way to get rid of fear.

God says: "Perfect love casts out fear." 1 John also tells us that "God is love." John 1:1 tells us that the Word of God and God are ONE. Which simply means that if we spend time fellowshipping with God, through His Word, fear will be pushed out of our lives. This is the only way we get rid of fear. There is NO other way.

If, in order to receive God's promises, we need to be in faith and God's Word fills us with faith... then no wonder God is telling us to put Him FIRST in our lives daily - this helps our faith to grow and helps us to become fearless in our complete confidence in Him... making us more and more able to receive good things from Him. God is easy to receive from. It is us who block His blessings. God tells us in Joshua 1:8:

"This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For THEN YOU shall make your way prosperous, and THEN YOU shall deal wisely and have good success."

It is US, not God, who decides how great blessings and how many blessings flow into our lives. We make the decision. He has already done His part. He is willing... now we will have to do our part. He tells us what we need to do at any given time.

Many, many blessings to You all... keep the fearless confidence, whatever You are believing for,