Matthew 7:7-8   Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

The literal translation tells us to keep on asking, don’t stop seeking, knock until your hand is too raw to knock anymore.

​In other words, pray with audacity, and don't quit!

Pray with faith that God hears you, loves you and wants His best for you. Nothing can be better than that!

Psalm 17:8-9   Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings, from the wicked who do me violence, my deadly enemies who surround me.

Psalm 57:1   Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.  

These are prayers for protection from enemies & from the storms of life.  God loves us, and He cares for us as His children.  He protects us from the evil one.  But we don’t just hide in the shadow of God’s wings to be safe.

Psalm 36:7   How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings. 

Taking refuge in shadow of God’s wings is the place where we encounter God’s love.  Yes, He protects us, and guards us from evil.  But He also lets us feel His heartbeat when we are under His wings.  We hear His heart, we feel His protection all around us, and we hear His voice telling us that He loves us.

And this love and protection is not just for today, it's forever.

Psalm 61:4   Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings!

There is one more thing we receive when we choose to live in Christ's love, under the wings of God.  Joy!

Psalm 63:7   for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.  

Mark 10:43b-44   ... Whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.

That was a shocking statement.  To be great, you need to serve, and to be first, you must put yourself last.  But it's hard to be humble.  Did Jesus give us an example to follow?

In verse 45, Jesus said, "For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

When Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, Judas included, He was leading by example.  He said that they (and we) should do as He did.

What did He do?  He humbled Himself, He became a servant, and He gave His life as a ransom for you and me.  He died in our place.  What more could He have done?

Matthew 26:6-7   Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. 

Mary gave a gift of great value.  She also gave of herself.   When Mary came to the feet of Jesus, she took the place of a slave. When she undid her hair (something Jewish women never did in public), she humbled herself and laid her own glory at His feet. When she broke the alabaster box of perfume, she gave the best she had. It was a public, sacrificial and lavish gift.
She gave a very precious perfume that came from the Himalayas in northern India. It came sealed in an alabaster box, and it was to be opened only on special occasions. The perfume itself was worth 300 denarii, 11 months wages, and perhaps Mary’s entire life savings. It was the best she had, and she gave it all to Jesus.

What have you given to Jesus?  Have you given sacrificially?  Do you give out of your surplus, or do you give all you have?

Do you give your surplus of time?  Or do you willingly, out of love for Jesus, give of yourself even when it is inconvenient, when you would rather be doing something else?  Mary humbled herself by kneeling at the feet of Jesus, letting down her hair and giving the best of her possessions and the best of herself.  What will you give Jesus?  Will you give Him your life?

Paul said in Philippians 1:21:    For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

He also stated in Galatians 2:20:  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

He gave Himself for you.  Will you give yourself for Him?

2 Corinthians 5:21   For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Not only did Jesus die on the cross in our place, but He BECAME our sin.  He chose to experience hell in our place.

Why?  So that we may be righteous, holy before holy God.

Have you chosen to accept this gift?  Come to Jesus today!

Mark 8:34-35    And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. 

Mark 10:42-45   And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.  For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus, the greatest among us, became our servant.  If we want to walk with Him, we too must serve, especially in times of uncertainty and fear.  If we are truly going to follow Jesus, we need to humble ourselves.  You don’t become a servant simply by deciding to.  Service comes from the heart.

As John the Baptizer said in John 3:30,   “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

1 Corinthians 15:36b
What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

That is true when the dead are raised with Christ, but it is also true right now.  In order to grow in Christ, we need to die to ourselves.  We need to become dead to the sin that stops our growth, and to live instead in the life of Jesus.  Then we need to grow up in our walk with Jesus.  Don’t be like the people who received the letter we call Hebrews.

Hebrews 5:12-14   For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.  But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

The Bible is NOT talking about gaining more knowledge here.  The Bible is talking about “experiencing” the knowledge you already have. It is talking about “training yourself” to practice “the word of righteousness.”  It’s talking about striving to be pure, holy, set apart for Jesus.

Where are you on God's growth chart?  Do you need to be set apart for Him?  Do you see spiritual growth in your life?  Spend time in His Word and ask Him to help you grow to spiritual maturity in Him.

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 

People in Peter's day were saying that God isn't real, because the world just keeps going on as it always has.  Peter explained that God is real, and He's not being slow.  He's being patient.

God's desire is for everyone to be saved.  Not everyone will be, because being saved means submitting your life to Him.

​Have you submitted your life to God?  He is waiting for you.

Matthew 7:15   “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

Jesus told us there would be wolves in sheep's clothing, and that they would infiltrate the church.  Even though they would look, act, sound and smell like sheep, they would be hungry wolves ready to destroy the work that God is doing in our lives.

They would appear to be telling the truth, but they would really be lying.

How can you tell the truth from a lie?  Search the Scriptures.

Acts 17:10-11   The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.    Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

Be like the Bereans.  Don’t take anyone’s word, mine included, without examining the Scriptures for yourself.  Hold each one’s words up to the scrutiny of God’s Word and see if it stands as the truth before holy God.

John 8:12   Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Jesus is the light of the world.  We know that.  We were once in darkness, but following Christ, the light of the world, results in us having the light of life within us.

Jesus made another statement that seems similar:

John 9:5   As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 

Jesus qualified his statement.  He is the light of the world for as long as he is in the world.  We know that Jesus will always be the true light, but he made a shocking statement when he gave the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 5:14-16   “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Jesus called us the light of the world.  He handed the torch off to his followers to carry on the work of being the light.  We have his light within us, and we are called to shine the light of the world into a dark and desperate world.  Paul put it this way:

Philippians 2:14-16a   Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life …

How can we shine the light of Jesus into our dark and desperate world?  The first step is to hold fast to the Word.  Hang on tightly to Jesus and keep looking into the Word of God.  There you will find all you need to light your way.