For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:12-13.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
I want to make your life beautiful, the most beautiful life ever lived and I want to make it that way forever. Not for just an hour, not for just a day, not for just a year, but always, ALWAYS! And there are three ingredients that will make you whole and beautiful that are forever: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love. Love never fails and true love always has the victory for I am love.
But what does it look like for you to have these three amazing ingredients working to make you so very beautiful that your shining radiance will attract all?
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.” Isaiah 60:1-3.
You should already know that I never tell you that you need something or to do something without giving you the instruction and the power to have it and to do it. That is what My grace is all about. So now I will tell you how to constantly walk in faith, hope and love so that you shine like bright lights in the world and shine forever in My Kingdom.
Do all things without grumbling or disputing; so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain. But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with you all. You too, I urge you, rejoice in the same way and share your joy with me. Philippians 2:14-18.
So what is it that makes you shine? Three things that match up with faith, hope and love, and the one all three depend upon and move with is love. And it is My Will for you in Christ Jesus, so let your light shine with light divine!
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.
I talked about these three in the prior Life Lesson on doing My Will but I would like to revisit them with a new perspective and directive. This is one of the only passages in the Bible that you know if you are doing these three things you are in My Will and in Christ Jesus.
You may wonder how these three are the way of living faith, hope and love every day, all day.
- Faith rejoices! Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. It is faith that connects you to My power that moves mountains, raises up the dead, heals the sick, brings in supplies, and builds up the ancient ruins. “Do not fear, only believe, and your daughter will be saved,” My Son told Jairus and it proved true. Nothing is impossible for Me and all things are possible to those that believe that. Once you have found My Word that solves your problem you no longer have a problem but only rejoicing over the outcome.
And that is great faith. You are rejoicing over My promise that sustains you to stand strong until the dust clears and My promise is realized in your life. You call this a miracle, I call it My Will being done on earth as it is in Heaven.
Faith works by love. All faith in My goodness to you and the keeping of My promises comes from knowing and believing in the unconditional love I have for you as manifested of what I have done for you in Christ Jesus.
- Hope is prayer. Constant, confident prayer. You pray because you hope. Hope is a confident, unwavering expectation of good.
For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” . . . so that by these two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:13-14; 18-20.
The virtue of hope is not what the world calls hope. The hope of the world is uncertain but is like a wish that something may happen but a doubt that it will, it causes you to beg and doubt. It wavers in strength and commitment. That is not Bible hope. Hope is knowing My Word will come to pass and it is faith and patience combined to stand strong when the result is not immediate.
Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
And it is worked out as to the details of the plan in the prayer of hope. It is writing the vision down and running with it, even if it should delay.
Then the LORD answered me and said, “Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay. Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by faith. Habakkuk 2:3-4.
And hope does not disappoint.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:1-5.
- Love gives thanks to the beloved in everything. Love is thankful. And it is love that never fails. Thanksgiving is the catalyst to your miracle, to My Will being done in your life and upon the earth. The voice of thanksgiving, as Jehoshaphat and the army of Judah discovered, brings wonders! By thanking and praising Me you put your affairs and possessions into the Kingdom realm and out of the flesh realm where they can be stolen. You enter My gates with thanksgiving and there is no other way. What you are thankful for you obtain and keep.
Here are the top three showing you how to be but there is more to delve into of why I tell you it is My Will for you in Christ Jesus to do these three things constantly and consistently until it becomes your habitual way of being. It is a lifestyle and it contains the hope of your calling.
What is the reason I tell you to do these things?
- Rejoice always. Why do I tell you to do this? CONSTANT REJOICING RESULTS IN CONSTANT REJUVENATION AND RESTORATION.
I fill your days, and your mouths, with good things so your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:5. A joyful heart does good like a medicine. With joy you will draw water from the springs of Salvation (Yeshuah) and it will put a wellspring in you that leaps up to eternal life. The fountain of life is the river of delights in My house, drink deeply and in My light you will be filled with light, giving health and youth.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with joyful shouting; Then they said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.” The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad indeed. Psalm 126:2-3.
You will notice when the prodigal son came home the father had a celebration that brought rejuvenation of the relationship and of the son and restoration of all he had lost. And there is celebration in Heaven over the return of a lost sinner for it reinstates relationship and provision.
Even those who are not believers who are studying the human body have found that rejoicing, especially laughter that comes with rejoicing, boosts your immune system and can take down cancer and other diseases. Excessive crying and mourning takes down you immune system and opens your door to disease and damage to your organs and to your brain. Depression dries up your bones causing serious damage known as osteoporosis. Excessive torment and blame can bring on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease as the brain shuts down to protect itself from constant tormenting thoughts in the mind.
Rejoicing puts you on the Highway of Holiness where there is no evil thing and healing is overflowing.
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. . . A highway will be there, a roadway, and it will be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean will not travel on it, but it will be for him who walks that way, and fools will not wander on it. No lion will be there, nor will any vicious beast go up on it; these will not be found there. But the redeemed will walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD will return and come with joyful singing and shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads. They will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Isaiah 35:5-6;8,9-10.
You may sow with tears but you can only reap with rejoicing. You will never have your harvest without first rejoicing over it by faith.
Rejoicing renews your youth and restores the years the devil stole. Sit with Me on My throne and laugh at your enemies. Psalm 2:4. Eat with gusto from the table I set before you in the sight of your foes, as I anoint your head with the oil of joy and your cup overflows with youthful vigor and long life in My house forever. Psalm 23:4-6. Planted in My house you flourish in My courts so that you will bear fruit even in old age, full of sap and very green. Psalm 92:13-15. You enter My gates with thanksgiving but My courts you enter with hymns of praise. Psalm 100:4.
- Pray without ceasing. Why do I tell you to do this? CONSTANT PRAYER BRINGS CONSTANT REVELATION AND IMPARTATION.
It was while in prayer that Daniel received revelation of the Messiah and the time He would come, of the destruction of Jerusalem thereafter, and of the end times. It was in prayer that the plan of salvation was revealed to him ahead of time.
It was in prayer that Elisha would find out the plans for battle strategies for the king and of things to come or present things going on in the earth.
It was in prayer during the night and early morning, and constant consultation of Me during the day that Jesus knew the words to say and the works to do that caused great signs, wonders, healings, and works of compassion that set people free in joy to be the people I made them to be.
It was in prayer that John on the island of Patmos went up to Heaven and saw things that concerned the things to come so you would be alerted and know what is to come in the last days.
It was in corporate prayer of all the people that Jehoshaphat and the people of Judah were given the solution and protection against three enemy armies coming to destroy them that outnumbered them.
It was in crying out to Me in prayer that I gave Moses the answer when the people were being pursued by the army of Egypt.
It was in prayer that Habakkuk got the revelation to write down for future generations to read and run with to the miracle of deliverance.
It was in prayer with Me on Mt. Sinai that I gave Moses the intricate plans for the Tabernacle that contains within it the revelation of the plan of Salvation. And it was in prayer that I gave him the visions and download of the first five books of the Bible, even what happened in the beginning when I created the heavens and the earth.
It was in prayer that Cornelius was told to go and get Peter to learn the Way to Me. And he did and he and all his household got gloriously saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.
It was in prayer that I sent Ananias to heal, baptize, and fill Paul, then Saul, with the Holy Spirit and start him on the road that would be the glorious assignment for his life that would save multitudes to this very day in his life and then by the writings he left behind. And his letters were filled with revelations I gave him in prayer in the spirit.
And it is in prayer that My Holy Spirit, dwelling within you, will lead you, guide you to all truth, and reveal to you the things to come. And He prays with you in humanly inexpressible words that pray out My Will for you in mysteries that are revealed day by day.
Prayer is not something you have to be away from your daily duties to do, though it is good to have times of total concentration on our fellowship, but I tell you to pray without ceasing by always being aware of My presence with you as your helper. Just call to Me in your heart and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things you could not know. I am the one that looks ahead and provides the solution before you encountered the problem, so look to Me at all times and you will always know just what to do. I am with you wherever you are. I am the God who is there. Yahavah Shammah. I encompass your life and I have sealed you in Christ, who is your great good Shepherd.
For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Revelation 7:17.
- Give constant thanks. Why? CONSTANT THANKSGIVING BRINGS CONSTANT MULTIPLICATION AND EDIFICATION.
When before a vast crowd of hungry people Jesus took up five small loaves and two fish and thanked Me for the provision, He put them in My hands and they multiplied and people were edified, so much so they wanted to make Him their King. My Kingdom had touched earth.
When Paul and Silas, after being beaten with rods and chained to the floor in a prison cell sang songs of thanksgiving and praise in the midnight hour the chains flew off all the prisoners and the gates of the prison were opened, and where only Paul and Silas had been believers in Jesus in that prison, now a multiplication of believers took place, the church of Philippi was born, and everyone was greatly edified and I was glorified in a faithful church that never stopped contributing to Paul’s ministry to save souls. And it multiplied back to them as well. Philippians 4:15-19.
The more you thank Me for My benefits, the more you believe, and the more you believe the more you receive. The voice of thanksgiving brings wonders! Thanksgiving for the light even in a dark place shows your faith, hope, and love in Me, but the greatest of those is love for it is stronger than death and will sustain you in any trial for you know Me who has loved you and will bring you through to victory. Love never fails. Love always conquers. So what do you say? THANKS BE TO GOD WHO GIVES ME THE VICTORY IN CHRIST JESUS AND ALWAYS CAUSES ME TO TRIUMPH. And that will multiply the victories in your life and edify those around you to raise them out of the darkness to My marvelous light as well.
I love you and I am thankful for you. Remember faith, hope, and love manifest in rejoicing always (faith), praying without ceasing (hope), and giving constant thanks (love), and just as the greatest is love, so too the greatest catalyst for miracles is joyful thanksgiving.