Luke 11:9-13   And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

How much more!  How much more is God than even the best of men?  The literal verse 9 says, "Keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking".  Never stop seeking God, never stop spending time communing with Him.  How much more of Him do you want in your life?  Tell Him.  Then keep on spending time with Him, in His Word and in prayer.  Focus your life on Jesus and watch Him change you from the inside out.

1 John 5:3   For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

We tend to separate love from commandments.  We don't see rules being a key to love.  But true love is in the context of God's law.  It is only when we trust and follow Him that we discover love.  But His commands are not a burden.  He loves us more than we could know.  In fact, the only way we can love Him or anyone is because He first loved us.

Psalm 27:4   One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after:  that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

In the movie City Slickers, a character named Curly said that everyone is seeking after one thing.  When asked what that one thing was, he said that you have to find it for yourself.

What is your "one thing"?  David's one thing was to live in God's presence always.  To never leave the One who has promised to never leave or forsake you.  Jesus said that we are to abide in Him as a branch abides in a vine, staying attached, drawing life from Him.

And that's the one thing worth living and dying for.

Hebrews 3:13-14   But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

We share in Christ together as we come together in His name.  It is critical that we spend this time together in order to encourage each other, challenge each other and draw each other closer to Christ.  That is why Hebrews 10:24-25 says, "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

2 Corinthians 14-16   But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.

Whether you are following Christ or not, there is an aroma that you leave with people.  I don't mean perfume, cologne, sweat or body odor.  Are you so in love with Jesus that when you walk into a room, people sense Jesus in you?  That is the way to draw people to life in Him.  Think about it.

Philippians 1:6   And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.        

Have you ever had a project that you never finished?  So have I.  But God never will.  Everything He says He will do...He will.  We can trust Him to finish what He has started in our lives.  Isn't that good news!

2 Timothy 3:16-17    All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Why is all Scripture to be used for teaching, correcting and training in righteousness?  Because it is breathed out by God.  Even though men wrote the words, God is the One who wrote it on their hearts and placed it in their minds.  He is the reason why the Bible's end result is that the man or woman who follows God through His Word "may be complete, equipped for every good work."

Daniel 4:3   How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders!  His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation.

A pagan king declared this about another King that he had just met.  Nebuchadnezzar had just experienced the power of God, and his natural reaction was to proclaim that His is a greater kingdom, and He is an all-powerful eternal God.  

Today that same God is still with us.  He is Immanuel - God with US!  He is still the same powerful God that He was then.  He still desires to show His power and love in your life just as He did for that pagan king.  There is only one thing He needs from you.  Say "Yes" to Him.  Ask Jesus to transform your life into everything it was meant to be.  Begin the new year with a new life in Jesus.  Make 2020 the year of living abundantly!

Luke 2:9-12   And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.    And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 

There were two signs given to the shepherds.  The Shekinah glory of the Lord shone around them.  This glory had not been experienced since the days of Ezekiel 600 years earlier.  It signified the presence of God being among His people.

The second sign was finding a baby wrapped up and lying in an animal's feeding trough.  It too was was a statement that God is with us.  But now He was with us as a human as well as God.  From then on, He didn't just understand our circumstances, He experienced cold, hunger, pain and poverty.  He laughed, cried, and mourned.  He went through life as any other human.

And yet, He was still God.  God with us.  Immanuel.  He will always be with us, no matter what we face.  We can trust Him with our very lives.  What signs do you see in your life that God is with you?  Are you trusting Him to carry you through the situations you face?

2 Corinthians 3:18   And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.

​Think about this verse.  We see Jesus face to face, "beholding the glory of the Lord", and when we choose to live in that grace, He transforms us one degree at a time.  His glory becomes our glory.  And we become more and more like Jesus.  What a wonderful promise!  What a glorious gift!