Deuteronomy 30:19

I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse; therefore, you shall choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.  

The abundance of life revolves around our choice to love God and follow His ways or not. We choose what path we follow. Circumstances will pressure our resolve, but when we focus on the word, it becomes clear that Jesus overcame the world. Do not quite!

Mark 2:4-5

When they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above Jesus; and when they had dug out an opening, they let down the mat on which the paralyzed man was lying. When Jesus saw their (active) faith (springing from confidence in Him), He said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.

For our faith to work, we have to have faith in the finished works of Jesus. If our hearts are convinced from our study of the word, we will speak in faith about our circumstances. Our faith is an active faith relying on the word of God. Faith is a mindset that will not allow the distraction of doubt to enter from the enemy.  

Matthew 13:24-25

Jesus gave them another parable (to consider), saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds (resemble wheat) among the wheat, and went away.  

We can consider our minds and thoughts a field, and our goals are to plant good seeds. However, we get busy and distracted by the world, and the stresses of our life and weeds start to appear. We have to remove the weeds and replace them with the word. Dig up the doubts and fears and replace them with faith.  

Matthew 12:35-36

The good man, from his (inner) good treasure, brings out good things; and the evil man, from his (inner) evil treasure, brings out evil things. But I tell you, on the day of judgment people will have to give an accounting for every careless or useless word they speak. 

If we remind ourselves that our words are creative forces for good or evil and have power, we will be more careful in our speech. If we replace the thoughts with the word and use the authority Jesus gave us, the circumstance would change. We don’t want to provide a more prominent place to the circumstance in our lives than we do to God.

Matthew 9:28-29

When He went into the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe (with a deep, abiding trust) that I am able to do this?” They said, “Yes, Lord.”  Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith (your trust and confidence in My power and My ability to heal) it will be done to you.”

If we receive anything from Jesus, we must have confidence in His power and ability. We cannot doubt but have the deep abiding knowing that what Jesus said in His word is true. When we focus on Jesus and the word, the faith builds, and our answers come.  

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, “I am the (only) Way (to God) and the (real) Truth and the (real) Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. If you had (really0 known Me, you would also have known My Father.  From now on you know Him, and have seen Him.

Jesus was the ultimate example for us of God. Jesus walked on this earth but kept His focus on God and the redemptive plan to save us. Not once did Jesus try to do it Himself without the guidance of God. Jesus knew the source of His power on earth and fulfilled His purpose. 

2 Chronicles 15:2

And he went out to meet Asa and said to Him, “Hear me, Asa and all Judah and Benjamin: the Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him (inquiring for and of Him as your soul’s first necessity), He will let you find Him; but if you abandon (turn away from) Him, He will abandon (turn away from) you.

When God is a priority in our lives, it shows because we know what direction we need to be going. The confusion comes when we keep God in the back seat and not let Him be the driver. If we allow it, the focus becomes more on ourselves than the focus on God. We no longer feel satisfied with our lives. Only when we seek God and His purpose will our needs be filled.

Amos 5:4

For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel, “Seek me (search diligently for Me and regard Me as more essential than food) so that you may live.”

When we diligently seek God in our lives and follow His lead, we learn first that we don’t know it all. Second, when we turn our lives over to God and follow Him, we understand that God can accomplish over and above anything we can think or imagine. Lastly, walking in peace and confidence is the reward for trusting God to care for our lives.

Psalm 139:16

Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were appointed for me, when as yet there was not one of them (even taking shape).

We have a purpose! God wrote our purpose down before our formation in the womb. There is a plan for our lives, and we are essential to God.   Our lives matter no matter where we are and what we are doing. We matter. Our purpose is why our fellowship with God is essential to living out our purpose through His guiding hand.

Proverbs 18:20-21

A man’s stomach will be satisfied with the fruit of his mouth; he will be satisfied with the consequences of his words. Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.  

The deeper the study of the word, the more we realize the power of what we speak. What we say reflects our heart’s beliefs, whether good or bad. If a change needs to come into our life, we must start with our hearts and change our speaking. When we line our spirits up with the word of God, we will experience dramatic changes in our life.