God corrects those He loves. It’s a truth in life.

Proverbs 3:

11My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline,
    and don’t be upset when he corrects you.
¹² For the Lord corrects those he loves,
    just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights.

God promised Abraham He would multiply his descendents and He would abundantly bless him on this earth. He would be a leader and be powerful if he obeyed God. Abraham did obey God but he lived in God’s promised land of Canaan until he died. He was even buried in the land that he didn’t possess yet. He trusted God and God blessed him greatly. Abraham had a miracle son named Isaac. Isaac followed his dad’s example in living his life. Abraham’s dad didn’t trust. He stopped short. He didn’t obey God and move to Canaan like Abraham.

Isaac also obeyed God. God so greatly blessed Isaac that the King had to kick him out of Canaan because he had become too powerful. People were jealous.

As Christians, because of Jesus!, we are of the lineage of Abraham. When we submit to God and have faith like Abraham, He will bless us in amazing ways with earthly goods, leadership and power. We must prepare and humble ourselves and take on the overflowing blessings of God!

Genesis 26:

26 A severe famine now struck the land, as had happened before in Abraham’s time. So Isaac moved to Gerar, where Abimelech, king of the Philistines, lived.

² The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, “Do not go down to Egypt, but do as I tell you. ³ Live here as a foreigner in this land, and I will be with you and bless you. I hereby confirm that I will give all these lands to you and your descendants,^[a] just as I solemnly promised Abraham, your father. ⁴ I will cause your descendants to become as numerous as the stars of the sky, and I will give them all these lands. And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed. ⁵ I will do this because Abraham listened to me and obeyed all my requirements, commands, decrees, and instructions.”⁶ So Isaac stayed in Gerar.

⁷ When the men who lived there asked Isaac about his wife, Rebekah, he said, “She is my sister.” He was afraid to say, “She is my wife.” He thought, “They will kill me to get her, because she is so beautiful.” ⁸ But some time later, Abimelech, king of the Philistines, looked out his window and saw Isaac caressing Rebekah.

⁹ Immediately, Abimelech called for Isaac and exclaimed, “She is obviously your wife! Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’?”

“Because I was afraid someone would kill me to get her from me,” Isaac replied.

¹⁰ “How could you do this to us?” Abimelech exclaimed. “One of my people might easily have taken your wife and slept with her, and you would have made us guilty of great sin.”

¹¹ Then Abimelech issued a public proclamation: “Anyone who touches this man or his wife will be put to death!”

¹² When Isaac planted his crops that year, he harvested a hundred times more grain than he planted, for the Lord blessed him. ¹³ He became a very rich man, and his wealth continued to grow. ¹⁴ He acquired so many flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and servants that the Philistines became jealous of him. ¹⁵ So the Philistines filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham.

¹⁶ Finally, Abimelech ordered Isaac to leave the country. “Go somewhere else,” he said, “for you have become too powerful for us.”

I speak God’s Word, according to His will, so I have what I say.

I have a strong mind so that I can promptly speak God’s Word in every situation and to show God’s love to others.

~5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

⁷ But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

⁹ Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (Philippians 2:5-9)

~I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

~For God has not given me a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

~⁸ Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things arelovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. (Philippians 4:8)

~ ³ For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not ^[a]carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, ⁶ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. (2 Corinthians 10:3-6)

In Matthew 7, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said you can identify people’s love for God by their actions.

Matthew 7:

¹⁷ A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.¹⁸ A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. ¹⁹ So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.

²¹ “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. ²² On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ ²³ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

About four years ago, I started on a journey. I wanted to pray the wisdom found all through the Bible on the lives of my four adult kids. So I’ve been doing that ever since. Proverbs 2 was written by a man God intentionally placed great amounts of wisdom in his life. His name was Solomon and he was the son of King David. These few verses summarize my prayers for my kids.

Proverbs 2:

I have fond memories of the Sermon on the Mount. When I was getting my Bachelor’s I stayed with a family in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. I would come home at night and walk down red dirt, country roads and memorize it. I wrote it out on spiral bound index card. I would say it over and over to get the three chapters stuck in my brain. Every word Hesus spoke in the King James Version is in red letters because that’s how His words were noted in the KJV.

I got the idea of memorizing large chunks of scripture from a Christian woman on TV mom would listen to in the early hours of each morning. Her name was name was Marilyn Hickey. She was a master of memorizing scripture.

This passage that’s coming up is great. Ask God for EVERYTHING you need and desire. As a Christian, do not break the sacred trust that Jesus gave you when you made Him the boss of your life by asking Him for something selfish and stupid such as something like an expensive Mercedes Benz or a fancy Cadillac. Instead ask Him for things you enjoy and things that will further the spread of God’s love to others.

Matthew 7:

⁷ “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

⁹ “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? ¹⁰ Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! ¹¹ So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.

I love Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Jesus gave us an example of how to pray in it. He also told us how we should go about living for God.

Before the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus said God knows what we need before we ask. Why did Jesus say that right before He told us how to ask God for our needs? I don’t know but those words are comforting to me. I can’t mess up asking my Heavenly Father to help me in my imperfect humaness.

Matthew 6:

6 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. ² When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. ³ But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. ⁴ Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

⁵ “When you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get. ⁶ But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

⁷ “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as the Gentiles do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.⁸ Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! ⁹ Pray like this:

We win today.

Paul said in the Bible that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against powers, against principilaties, against rulers of this present darkness and against spiritual wickedness in high places.

James said in the Bible submit to God, resist the devil and [it is promised] he is forced to flee.

In Psalms, David had enemies and cried out to God to eliminate them. So, at the start of this day, I set a  presidence. The devil and his demons are defeated before this day has begun. I’m prepped for spiritual battle because I’m aware of the spiritual warfare and have already asked God to deliver us from the enemy. I took David’s ancient words and prayed that our enemy is already fleeing.

Psalms 6:

Go away, all you who do evil,
    for the Lord has heard my weeping.
⁹ The Lord has heard my plea;
    the Lord will answer my prayer.
¹⁰ May all my enemies be disgraced and terrified.
    May they suddenly turn back in shame.

God loves us more than He hates our sin.

There are verses in the book of Psalms that tell how He forgives our sin as far as the east is from the west and that His love is for us is infinite. It would a very interesting study to find all the verses that tell of God’s hatred for our sin and also find all the verses about His love. Then compare the amounts. I’m pretty sure the number of verses of God trying to convey His love would outweigh His hatred for sin.

But really, it’s not necessary to try that hard because God made it easy. One of the most popular verses in the Bible is John 3:16. It profoundly, yet simply describes God’s love for every single person He ever made.

Sin simply separates us from God. And He doesn’t want that at all. He made humans so He could enjoy their company. Since God is holy, that is, without sin, He cannot be in the presence of sin.

It’s not necessary to dwell on our sin and wrongdoing. In a miraculous instant, God forgives us when we ask. And then, in all His great goodness, He wants to bless our lives because the amount of love for each of is unfailing, everlasting and immeasurable. He desires to continuously, daily help us to overcome the effects of sin and wrong actions in our lives.

It was prophesied in Isaiah 9:1-2 of the places where Jesus would begin His Ministry.

Matthew 4:

¹² When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. ¹³ He went first to Nazareth, then left there and moved to Capernaum, beside the Sea of Galilee, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali.¹⁴ This fulfilled what God said through the prophet Isaiah:

¹⁷ From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”