Can you picture Zephaniah 3:17? It says, “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Psalm 36:8 says, “They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, and You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.” Jeremiah 31:14 says, “I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness, says the Lord.”

We are to emulate the Lord in every aspect of our lives. David wrote Psalm 40. Verse 8 says, “I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart.” Psalm 119:16 says, “I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.”

Verse 47 says, “And I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on Your statutes.” “I will” are two words emphasizing an intentional choice. The Lord delights in us choosing to delight in Him through abiding.

Let’s rehearse the Lord’s choices. Ephesians 1:4 says that He chose us before the foundation of the world. In Genesis 1:26 we read that the Trinity chose to create us in their image for relationship. Jesus chose to die for everyone, because we all sinned.

Note: the fruit from abiding has nothing to do with us. Rather it comes through our intimate communion with the Lord ~  resulting in fruit that glorifies Him alone.

Communing with the Lord is a choice of self-disclosure. We come to Him knowing that He knows our hearts. Nothing is hidden. Here are two lines from a new song. “I lift my unveiled face to gaze into Your face. Face to face I behold You as You behold me.”

We can’t define Infinite with finite minds. John 14:21 says that He reveals Himself to those who love Him. Abiding is communion of Heart to heart. I have found that it is in the crucible of my trials that He reveals Himself in ways I never knew Him before. Such amazing love that He would choose to commune with us.

Have you ever thought about how everything we do is a choice? Every thought and action is a choice. I was communing with the Lord before my day started. I asked Him what fruit is that remains, coupled with the fruit we bear through abiding in Him.

John 15:16 says, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”

Verses 4-5 say, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches, He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Verse 8 says, “By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” Abiding is a choice. Have you made that choice to set aside time to be with Him?

Post flood, Noah got drunk. His son Shem saw his nakedness and told his two brothers. Genesis 9:23 says, “But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.”

That is another great picture of what it means to walk in the light. We do not expose others’ sins to those around us. Proverbs 17:9 says, “He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends.”

James 5:16 says, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” If you are struggling with a hidden sin, seek out a believer that is walking in the light. 

Galatians 6:1 is for us. It says, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness…” Accountability is a huge key to being a victorious overcomer.

1 John 1:5 says, “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” Verse 7 says, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

James 3:14 clarifies those who are not walking in His light. It says, “But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.” Verse 16 says, “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.”

Remember that inner defilement is a disease of the heart. Matthew 15:19 says, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts…” Evil thoughts can be defined as negative dialogue against yourself, others, or your circumstances.

1 Peter 1:22 says, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.” Sincere ~ no pretense.

A deceived person doesn’t recognize that they are. Self-deception is a blind spot. We need God’s word, and those He placed in our lives to be fruit inspectors. James 1:22 says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves.”

Hebrews 3:13 is a great clarifier for us. It says, “But exhort one another daily…lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.” Our hidden sin makes us callous and insensitive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

There are many ‘one another’ verses. We are in the body of Christ. We are individual members that make up the whole. 1 John 1:6 says, “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” Did you notice that self-deception is described as darkness?

Kevin Prosch wrote a song years ago. Here are a few lines. “…Come to the light, come as you are…Take off the mask, give up your pride….” Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the lies you are living in that you don’t recognize.

I started my reading through 1 & 2 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 3:3 says, “For you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?”

The Holy Spirit reminded me that reactions are fleshly. Spirit led responses are evidence of the fruit of the Spirit working in our lives. As you read each one, ask yourself if it is visible to others who are in your life. 

Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” 1 Corinthians 13 is another barometer. Here is another list. Ask yourself as you read each one if those around you would agree that they are evident in your life.

Verses 4-8 say, “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, endures all things. Love never fails…”

I was in Ecuador in 1987 on a short term mission trip. Our team straddled the equator line, where the north and the south meet. Psalm 103:12 says, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

The Lord has chosen to not bring our sins up again. Hebrews 8:12 says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Micah 7:19 says, “…You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

Our sins were paid for by Jesus on the cross. His words, “It is finished!” was a statement proclaiming that the Father’s wrath was fulfilled ~ sin was judged.

As we emulate the Lord, we too are to keep no record of wrongs. If you are still rehearsing the sins done against you, here is my suggestion. Write them down on a piece of paper. Forgive as you have been forgiven, and literally destroy the record. Fulfill His command to forgive ~ wipe the slate clean. Ephesians 4:32. Colossians 3:13.

I grab my magnifying glass when I want to see details close up. It makes something small much bigger. Psalm 103:10 is like a magnifying glass for me over mercy. It says, “He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.”

We know from Romans 3:23 that, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We miss the mark. Think of two dots spaced wide apart. The last dot is a little higher. As you draw a line with a ruler straight across, you will see that the line misses the far dot.

How tragic to live our lives thinking that we are going to heaven because of our good works, only to miss the mark of believing in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.

A verse in a new song called Extravagant Oil Of Joy. “O the wonder. The marvelous wonder and awe. All my sins are cleansed in the power of Your blood.” Hallelujah for His abundant, unequaled, and rich mercy that is new every morning, and endures forever.

Luke 1:78 was part of Zacharias’ prophecy concerning Jesus. It says, “Through the tender mercies of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us.” We are called to exemplify the Lord in every aspect of our lives.

Are you a tenderhearted person? Colossians 3:12-13 says, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering. bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”

Unforgiveness hardens the heart. Ephesians 4:32 says, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Forgiving is not an option. It is a command. 

Tenderhearted means merciful and compassionate. Think of Jesus’ interactions with those who were bound in sickness and every disease. Matthew 9:36 says, “…He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary…”

Physical and emotional pain is exhausting. O Lord, help us to always be moved with compassion for those who are physically and emotionally weary and distraught.