Sermon: “Living The Good Life God Made Ready For Us!”
April 12, 2026
Psalm 23:1-6: The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Good Morning Saints, God’s grace and mercy be multiplied to you through our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ!
As a continuance of the Resurrection Sunday Sermon last week, I write this Message from God personally to each one of you (and of course every born-again believer in Christ) concerning your blessed and consecrated life on earth.
I John 3:1-2 states, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
In Verse 1, the Apostle John expresses profound joy when thinking about the Love God the Father has honored every born-again Christian with in an extraordinary, unprecedented, and sacrificial way; by elevating all believers in Jesus Christ finished work on the cross to the status of His own “Children.” Yes dear Saint of God, you are a son of the Most-High God!
While you were yet trapped in sin, Christ died for you, God reconciled you to Himself, made you the “Righteousness” of God in Christ Jesus, He rose again from the dead on the third-day, Ascended on high and by the Spirit of God, quickened you (along with all the Saints) together and made you to sit together with them in heavenly places in Him for eternity. (Rom. 5:8 & II Cor. 5:21, Eph. 2:5-6) To God be the glory for the things He has done!
Praise God, furthermore in II Cor.5:21, the Apostle Paul states that God the Father made Jesus “to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the Righteousness of God in Him.” While Jesus’ sinless-perfect-Life was sacrificed on the cross, God credited you with “Christ’s perfect Righteousness” so that you might “inwardly” (in your born-again heart) bear the express image of Jesus Christ.
God through the sacrifice of Jesus’ Life exchanged your sins, iniquities, and transgression for all times; for Christ’s perfect Righteousness. During this Sermon I will remind you of this great grace of God afforded to you in hopes that this Truth will transform your thinking about who you are in Christ Jesus, and empower you to live righteously in the sight of Almighty God our Father. Saint of God, you are to know that in your sanctified heart, you bear Christ’s image; “Christ’s perfect Righteousness!”
I want you to fully grasp the greatness of the Love of God towards you in crediting you with the perfect Righteousness of Christ. The perfect Righteousness of Jesus refers to His sinless life, complete obedience to God’s Law (Law of Moses), moral purity, which fulfils the requirements of divine justice on behalf of Humanity, and humble submission to God in bearing the sins of the world in His own body, whereby He suffered the penalty of sin for you on His cross.
Throughout Jesus’ Life on earth, He never sinned in thought, word, or deed; perfectly loved God, His neighbor, and enemies. Because of His perfectly Righteous Life before God, God the Father by Covenant (Matt.3:17) made Jesus heir and co-equal with Himself in all things in existence seen and unseen, above and beneath the heavens and earth; Jesus often testifying that He and God the Father are “One.” (John 8:58, 10:30, 14:9-10, & 17: 21)
Furthermore, because of Jesus’s perfect Righteousness, Christ explained at John 5:19, and related other teachings that His Words and Actions were completely synchronized with God the Father. Meaning He acted in perfect obedience and alignment with the Father’s Will and Nature. His “Oneness” with God signified a total, voluntary dependence on the Father rather than acting on His own authority.
Jesus’ Life Performance is not merely an example for you to follow but has been imputed (credited or counted) to you (and all believers) because you believe the report of the Gospel. You now enjoy equality, (Oneness) with God, just as Jesus Christ has Oneness with God the Father. My, my, my, while you may still struggle with sin, or some particular strong-hold of sin in your thought-life, your “positional standing” before God is one of perfect, unchanging Righteousness, because within your sanctified heart, you have been baptized/immersed/clothed in the perfect Righteousness of Jesus Christ! Praise God, Jesus has stripped off and done away with your soiled sin-drenched grave clothes and clothed you in His perfect Righteousness!
As God incarnate, Jesus’ Righteousness is not just a high standard of human behavior, but the Absolute, perfect Righteousness of God Himself! You see, this divine Righteousness is considered if you will, a “Foreign” or “Alien” Righteousness, because it comes from outside of Human existence, intelligence and might; and from faith in the Holy King Jesus Christ Himself; rather than being earned through personal effort so that no man can boast. (Eph.2:8-9) Thus, in your relationship with God, for all eternity, God relates to you on the basis of Christ’s Righteousness.
At Titus 3:4-8, Paul wrote this encouragement to you, and all the Saints of God, so that you would embrace and adopt it as a faithful confession without wavering:
4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.
In Verse 7, Paul says you were justified (made Righteous) by God’s grace through faith in the finished works of Jesus Christ on the cross, so that you should be made an “heir,” according to the hope (plan/expectation) of God’s Promise of “eternal life.”
We learned last week that God Promised “eternal life” before the foundations of the world. (Titus1:2) Paul says you are to make this a faithful saying, “Constantly,” you are to affirm with all the Saints, saying: “I am the heir of God, according to His Promise of eternal life God made before the world began!” God made you the Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, so that you would be an heir according to His Promise of eternal life before the world began.” You are to know that through Jesus Christ, you are an heir/inheritor of all God Promised regarding eternal life before the foundations of the world. (Rom. 8:29-30 & Eph.1:3-7)
Recall from last week the glorious honors God predestinated and preordained concerning you; before He made the world, space, and time. God in His Omniscience:
(1) Fore-knew you and Loved you, and knew that you would believe in and love Jesus Christ,
(2) God predestinated you to be His child (son of God),
(3) God foreordained that you would be molded into the image of Jesus Christ, and share inwardly His likeness.
(4) God called you, justified you (acquitted you of all sin, guilt and shame, made you Righteous, thereby putting you in right-standing with Himself.)
(5) God also glorified you, whereby He raised you to a heavenly state of being, blessed you with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, made you holy and blameless in His sight, and adopted you into the Royal Family of God wherein you are accepted in the beloved.
(6) God predestinated that you would be His own handiwork in which He has prepared “good works” for you to do, which lead to the “Good Life” God prepared for you to live in; preset-pathways for you to walk in to live in abundance all the days of your life.
Regarding the aforementioned honor (6), See Ephesians 2:10, Amplified Bible. Paul wrote:
For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].
When you received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, you became this “new creature” (in your born-again heart) in Christ ordained and made ready to be used of God for “good works” prepared before the world began; God having charted your Christian course/journey to do these good works and live the “Good Life” He prearranged for you! God regenerated your heart with the perfect Righteousness of Christ to enable you to do good works, to walk and live in these divine pathways, and live the Good Life.
In fact, in daily living, the Holy Ghost has been given to you to lead you (your thought-life and actions) into the perfect Righteousness of Christ abiding in your heart. To “help” synchronize your outer-man with the inner-man which is filled with Christ’s Life and Righteousness, which is your life. (Col. 3:3-4) At John 16:7-15, the Apostle John detailed the Words of Christ’s announcement of sundry tasks the Holy Ghost (Comforter) would have in bringing into manifestation for your life, the foreordained Promises of eternal life; including reproving, teaching, and correcting you in “Christ’s Righteousness;” as God’s Holy child.
To, throughout your Christian journey, the Holy Ghost chastening your human character and performance flaws, specifically with the goal of leading you to repentance and spiritual growth, and not condemnation. To openly and directly point-out error, expose sin, and showing disapproval of wrongful behavior and performance; but rooted in love and a desire always for your betterment! The Holy Ghost acting on your behalf, like a close-dear friend offering honest though sometimes difficult feedback. And, yes Saint of God, do not forget Hebrews 12:5-7:
5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
Praise God, the shere beauty of our walk with God in Christ Jesus in the Promise of eternal life and all of the wonderful honors and blessings bestowed upon us before the world was formed, requires “complete faith and trust in God,” to receive of Him. For neither you nor I, or any other person in the world by human intellect, experience, or might know of God’s divine Plan for the “Good Life” He prearranged for us to live in, but God.
Isaiah 55:11 states: “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.”
Jeremiah 29:11 states: For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Jeremiah 10:23 states: O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.
Dear Saint of God, for a few minutes take stock of your life and ask yourself these questions: [Prior to this meeting,] What do you consider to be the “good-life?” How have you gone about pursing the “good-life?” Are you living what you would consider to be the “good-life?”
Social scientists say that most people in America define the "good life" as a combination of strong, meaningful relationships, financial stability, and good health.
They perceive the Good Life generally as a balance between experiencing happiness (comfort and joy) and having a sense of purpose or meaning that is typically achieved through productive work, personal growth, and community- connection. Interesting, a Gallup 2021 Poll of Americans found, while 77-percent of people indicated they feel happy and 71-percent feel healthy, but only a minority (9-percent) feel they have attained their full, personal definition of a “good life,” which often included financial comfort, a home, and health. Additionally, a Gallop 2026 Poll reports only 6 of 10 Americans believe they will be better off over the next five-years than they are today. This is the worst estimate of good-life sentiments among Americans since the Covid-19 Pandemic.
In counseling Christians and other people down through the years, I have heard folks describe the “Good Life” they aspire to achieve as having close connections with family, friends, and community as paramount. Consistent with the findings of social scientists, they talk about having financial security and stability; having enough income to cover needs, reduce stress, and enjoy some leisure (e.g. vacations). Among high-priorities, they seek health and well-being as having good physical and mental health for themselves and family. Purpose and fulfillment sought after through engaging in work or activities that they feel meaningful is important; activities that allow for expression, and contribute to others. They also desire freedom and control to have the ability to make personal choices and have autonomy, and enjoy work-life balance.
Honestly speaking Saint of God, which I hope you will be, does this description of what other people think of when they think of the “Good Life” match your idea of it? For you Saint of God, is the “Good Life” about attaining: Meaningful relationships, financial security and stability, health and well-being, purpose and fulfillment in work and other activities, and freedom and control in making decisions?
Notice that the majority of the people in America surveyed described the “Good Life” as essentially being happy, healthy, and the attainment of temporal things like financial security and home property. There was not a single mention of God and having and enjoying a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. There was no mention of the “Good Life” involving the attainment of God’s Promise of eternal life made before the foundation of the world. Living the Good Life to many people is all about “self-satisfaction,” and not a deep and unfeigned desire for God’s Will and Plan to be done in their lives.
Americans, including many born-again Christians, thoughts and ways are infinitely lower and meager than those of God; as far apart as the Third-Heaven is from the depths of hell. Now, Saint of God look closely at the Word “GOOD LIFE,” and with Holy Ghost enlightenment, learn that it is the “GOD LIFE!” A truly fulfilling “good” life is only found when it is rooted in, and centered around, God. We must learn that “good” is only temporary, superficial, and fleeting without God Almighty in our lives!
Let me offer to you a short and sweet definition of the “Good Life.” The “Good Life” is having “God’s Life” living through you so that He may be glorified in the earth!” In other words, having Jesus Christ’s perfect Righteousness living through you is the Good Life! Most Christians have never seriously considered this Truth, have you?
Praise God, rightly we should say: Jesus Christ is the “Good Life,” as He alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life! (John 14:6) Also, examine II Corinthians 5:15, in which Paul asserts that Christ died on the cross and rose again from the dead so that we might “live” unto Him: “and that He died for all, that those who live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him who died for them and rose again.”
Furthermore, as recorded at Deuteronomy 30:20, God told Moses and the children of Israel, “He was their life and the length of their days.” Israel was instructed to love the Lord, to obey His Voice, to cleave to Him, so that they might dwell in the Promised Land which God swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give also to them.
My brother or sister in Christ, God wants you to understand the central “Pathway” to the “Good-Life” is through loving the Lord, obeying His Voice, and cleaving to Him; knowing that God will bring you into pre-set Pathways to do foreordained good works, and live the Good Life God prearranged from the foundations of the earth for you to walk in. Isaiah 1:19 states, “If you be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.” Do you see how God’s Thoughts and Ways are infinitely higher than Mankind’s thoughts and ways about attaining the Good Life?
Umm, in Christian Circles, we have a knack for quoting Bible Verses which align us completely with God’s foreordained Plan for our lives, but thereafter, we fail to whole-heartedly embrace and follow the Plan. For example, often believers quote Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” But most Christians have not yet surrendered their whole-beings to trust God with directing their comings and goings in all aspects of life? How about you?
Everything you are currently doing in life should be in consultation with God, according to His Wisdom and at His behest. That is of course if you have committed to completely yielding to the perfect Righteousness of Jesus Christ in your heart, in obedience to God. The Holy Ghost would continually lead you into the Pathways prepared by God for you to walk in, and do good works ordained by God, and reap abundant harvests of the Good Life God has prepared for you. Obedience to God’s Word always yields both spiritual and temporal (material) blessings without the sorrows of the world attached to it.
God desires to direct your footsteps into the pre-set Pathways He prepared for you to take before the foundations of the world. Within the Pathways, your Heavenly Father has reserved good things to satisfy all of your temporal and emotional needs, and that every human being needs to obtain total life-satisfaction. However, since you do not know what these Pathways are, nor how to find them on your own, you must trust God with your whole heart that He alone knows the way you should go in life, and acknowledge (recognize) God’s Authority and Presence in every aspect of your life; completely depending on Him through the Word of God and Holy Ghost to reveal, and direct your footsteps into the Pathways of Righteous living.
As you walk in God’s Pathways, the Holy Ghost will reveal and compel you to do “good works” prepared before the foundations of the world, and give to you a supernatural life full of an abundance of spiritual and material wealth. Since the day you were born-again, God has been calling you to walk in these Pathways, but perhaps you like most Christians have ignored, neglected, or half-heartedly chosen and decided not to trust God and walked in them.
God has given you the Holy Bible and the Holy Ghost as the guides for leading you into Pathways and good life destined for you and your seed (children) to receive. God having made plain in the Holy Scriptures that Jesus Christ is the “way, the truth, and the life and that no man comes to the Father but by Him.” (John 14:6) Consider also that at Proverbs 3:1-4, King Solomon pinned:
My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
I share with you now dear Saint, God’s “Main Pathway” to the Good Life prearranged for you to walk and live in. You have not been far at all from the Pathway, in fact you are in it! You just have not yet been well-informed of its supernatural Power to bring you into the Good Life God ordained and prearranged for you. This Main Pathway has a sure “destination;” and expected end, and that is the transformation of your whole-being into the likeness of God in Christ Jesus. Where your life (spirit, soul, mind of the soul, and physical body) is totally submitted to God in worship of Him alone and Christ becomes magnified in you, in life and death!
The Main Pathway is: Yielding your whole-life as an “Instrument of Righteousness unto God;” (Rom. 6:13) whereby your sole-ambition becomes doing the Will of God and finishing your Christian course in honor and glory of God. When you came to Jesus, did you not declare: “Lord I am yours, use me as you see fit. You are the Potter and I am the clay, mold and make me into whatever you want me to be!
At Matthew 16:24, Jesus Christ is recorded as saying to His disciples, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” Jesus’ foundational call to radical discipleship requires total surrender of one’s own agenda, self-denial, and willingness to face shame or death to follow Him. It represents abandoning self-interest to adopt Christ’s, rather than just being filled with worldly lusts, cares, and enduring daily burdens.
As you submit your whole-life as an Instrument of Righteousness to God, God will reward you with length of days, long-life, peace, joy, divine health, prosperity, and security with angelic protection. (Ps. 91:11,16 & Heb.1:14) You will not lack any good thing in life! Truly, in God, He has the Plan for the Good Life that you could never imagine or hope to attain by and through your own carnal efforts!
My God, Psalm 84:11-12 states:
For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.
Now, Jesus Christ is the door/gate and the Pathway to God. Remember the Words of Jesus who told His disciples that He is the exclusive Way to God:
John 10:9:
I am the door; by me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and go in and out and find pasture.
Matthew 7:13-14:
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
John 14:6:
I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
God having made your born-again heart the perfect Righteousness of Jesus Christ, your spirit is eager and ready, with the Help of the Holy Ghost, to lead you in the Pathway of Righteousness that leads to the Good Life. Are you following me dear Saint? God has “Anointed” you to walk out your life in the perfect Righteousness of Jesus. You have been made “ready to be used by God” to do supernatural and natural good works along the Pathways of God; just yield your whole-life to Him.
Praise God, to be used mightily of God, you do not need a college degree in divinity, theology, religion, etc. Nor a church-title. Neither do you have to be membered to a Church for many years before embarking in the Pathways of Christ and operating in good works. For the day you received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, God Anointed you with the Holy Ghost and Power to do the works of Christ and greater works as Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. (John 14:12 & Acts 1:8) The key however, is as I said before, you must yield your whole-life to God, put all trust in God and walk by faith in God’s Word.
Along the Christian journey, our job is to trust God and allow Him to do the creative work in and through us as we “walk by faith, not by sight.” Also, the Word of God reveals many aspects of the Pathway to the Good Life, (Ps.119:105 & Prov.3:1-2) while other aspects are revealed to us by the Holy Ghost as we walk in ever deepening fellowship with God. (John 16: 13-15 & I Cor. 2:9-10) And, still other facets of the Good Life will be revealed to us in eternity when we see Jesus face-to-face. (I Cor.13:9-12, 8:2, & I John 3:1-2)
Saint of God, you entered the Pathway (took your first steps) to the Good Life when you heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached, repented of your sins, confessed Jesus Christ as Lord, received water baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Praise God, you called on Jesus, and you were “saved” (Greek word is “sozo” meaning delivered from sin, made whole, healed and prospered) through faith in Him. God’s Paramount Plan was for you to receive “Salvation” as predestined before the world began.
If you didn’t know before, be enlightened now. One of the benefits of being “saved” is God has given to you Spiritual Authority and Power to call forth for yourself, as well as for other’s deliverance from evil, the forgiveness of sins, health, prosperity, and when necessary to take authority over disastrous storms and plagues to protect life and property. (James 5:16-18, I Pet.4:8, & I John 5:16) Additionally, you are called and Anointed to preach the Gospel and lay hands on the sick and they shall recover, to cast out devils, and raise the dead. (Mark16:15-17) Yes, the Good Life God has ordained for you to walk in includes good works of bringing forth from Heaven’s storehouses healings and deliverances and prosperity in times of need for fellow Christians, as well as for those who do not know God.
So pay close-attention to “Times” when you encounter people who are in need of sundry-kinds of help and listen to the Holy Ghost teach you how, by the Spirit of God, to respond to meet and exceed their needs through prayer, laying on of hands, and to offer Words of Wisdom and Knowledge, and Prophecy to deliver them from evil. For as living stones in God’s Household, the Holy Ghost empowers you with unique gifts to profit all. (I Cor.12:7)
Also, most born-again Christians do not know, nor have they believed, that if they will preach the Gospel to the lost and win them to Christ, Jesus has Promised to pay them “wages” and give to them manifold loving relationships with family and friends, as well as multiple houses and lands in this life-time, with persecutions. (Luke 10:7, I Tim. 5:18, & Mark 10:29-30) Yes, the good-works of ministering God’s Salvation to others brings material wealth and substance to you. There have been and will always be countless foreordained-Times when God places sinners in your Pathway for you to preach the Gospel so that God can reward you with wages and other material rewards.
The second step along the Pathway to the Good Life is through progressive “Fellowship” with Almighty God Your Father. Saint of God, think of your relationship with God as a Parent and child. In the natural, a Parent does not disclose the intricate details of adulthood to an infant, as it is not possible for the young child to grasp the complexities of adulthood. The Parent naturally adapts their communication to match the child's current cognitive and emotional capacity, and the child totally depends upon the Parent’s instruction for living. As the child grows and matures, the Parent exposes the child to higher learning and experiences in life to prepare them for independently living, responsibilities, and accountability in living in the world as an adult.
In like manner regarding your relationship with God the Father, as a baby born-again Christian you must be nourished and admonished in the Word of God; fed patiently and skillfully with the sincere milk of the Word to enable you to grow, (I Pet.2:2) and overtime as you draw nearer to God in worship and fellowship, you grow in faith and mature and can handle the deep-meat (deep spiritual Truths) of the Word.
More and more God’s Plan for your life is revealed, and you come to “know” and “understand” the True calling of God on your life; that is to be continually conformed to the image of Jesus Christ predestined before the world began. God moves you from faith to faith, and glory to glory, by transforming you into Christ’s likeness through the Holy Ghost, making His perfect Righteousness your conscious reality. This spiritual progression unveils Christ within you, enabling you to behold His glory, walk in total assurance, and see His divine plan unfold for your life and family and the world. (Rom.1:17 & II Cor. 3:18)
You are to build upon the elementary/tutored works of Christ (the working of miracles, signs, and wonders) to stewardship over the mysteries of God and His Kingdom; secret things belonging to perfection in Christ. (Heb. 6:1-3 & I Cor. 4:1-2)
Umm, your spiritual growth in God in Christ Jesus being similar to the way God dealt with Abraham, detailed by Moses, in the Book of Genesis. The account of God’s dealing with Abraham (originally Abram) in Genesis is a profound biblical illustration of “patient, step-by-step training in trust,” leading him from a novice to a seasoned patriarch who trusted the Covenant Promise with his whole-heart. This process spanned about 25-years, focusing less on instantaneous perfection and more on the, at Times slow, development of complete and unfeigned faith. At Genesis 17:1-2 Moses writing about Abraham’s call by God to spiritual maturation stated:
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.
And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
In this Passage, God the “Almighty God” (El Shaddai, the all Sufficient One) Commanded Abraham at age 99 saying, “walk before me and be thou perfect” (blameless) to initiate an everlasting Covenant; promising to multiply his descendants. This mandate was a call for Abraham to live in a state of habitual faithful awareness of God’s Presence in his life, to maintain integrity, and to fully surrender his life to God’s Covenant Promise of Isaac, and descendants that would come from his loins to produce the Messiah, who would serve as the blessing for all families of the earth who trust and believe on His name.
Saint of God, as you grow deeper in your relationship with God and mature, the Holy Ghost helps you to come into a state of habitual faithful awareness that your seed (children) in their generations, shall come to know Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord, to receive His perfect Righteousness, to be filled with the Promise of the Holy Ghost and live their lives in submission to Christ. (Acts. 2:39) God taking from that precious gift of the Holy Ghost imparted into you, and impregnating them with the same Spirit of God!
Yea, Isaiah 54:13 states, "All your children shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children." Saint of God, one of the greatest ambitions of your heart is to live to see all of your children “saved.” For truly, a core manifestation of the Good-Life is knowing that through Jesus Christ, your seed belongs to God, shall be instructed of God, and they shall have the Lord’s “Peace” flowing through their lives into the lives of many others; because you have learned through a deep and abiding relationship to place all your trust in God, like faithful Abraham.
The Third step in the Pathway is “Obedience.” At I Samuel 15:22, the Prophet Samuel told King Saul, “Obedience is better than sacrifice.” Meaning God prefers obedience to His Commandments over empty rituals or sacrifices. God requires loving and true worship (faithful duty to His Commands) and not hypocrisy filled with lip service. As we remain in fellowship with God the Father, we begin to understand that He has called us from the foundations of the world to a life of “submission” to His Will and Word. (John 14:15, 21, I John 3:24, & II John 1:6).
We come to understand that Jesus Christ is the Author and Finisher of our faith and we trust and depend on His example in living as our compass that lights our way. Jesus, the perfect Righteousness in God said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” (John 4:34)
Christ demonstrated “selfless” obedience to the Father as His Life’s Mission; the “Good Life” to Jesus was selfless submission to God’s Will. (Heb.10:9, Php.2:8, & Rom. 5:18-19) Saint of God can you see now that the Good Life God has for you is “selfless” and “blind” obedience to Him alone? Just as it was for Christ, wholehearted obedience to the Father’s Will, is God’s Plan for your life; predetermined before the world began that you would love Him and keep His Commandments. The Greatest of God’s Commandments is that you love Him with the whole of you (spirit, soul, body and strength) and that you love every person as Christ has loved you. (Gal.5:14)
Yes, the perfect Righteousness of God in Christ Jesus within you demands that you Love God, all people, including your enemies without conditions and limits as Christ loved you. (John 13:34-35) Let the Holy Ghost speak to you right now and examine all of your relationships with the Saints within the Body and Christ, as well with the people of the world and determine whether you are walking in love with all people as Christ loved you.
If there are people in your life that you do not like, hate, have disdain, disregard, despise, or have bitterness towards; you must obey God and love and forgive them and do acts of kindness to them as inspired by the Holy Ghost. The practice of hatred toward another person is the practice of sin called “iniquity.” Walking in hatred paralyzes and keeps you from walking in the Pathway of God: You instead are walking in disorder and dishonor of God and Jesus Christ who sacrificed His Life on the cross for your sins when failing to forgive. As long as hatred is regarded, the faith of Jesus Christ given to you will not work. For “faith worketh by love.” (Gal.5:6)
So take to heart the admonishment of the Apostle Paul recorded at II Timothy 2:19-21 and repent and love everybody on planet earth as Jesus loves you:
Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
When we choose and decide to allow the Holy Ghost to help us obey the Love Commandment with everyone we encounter, we can ask for Jesus to do “anything” we require, according to His Word, and He will do it. (John 14:13-15) Oh Saint of God, what greater and more fulfilling life can any person have than to be so connected with God that petitioned prayers are heard and answered of God?
Moreover, as we choose and decide to love our enemies with forgiveness and acts of unconditional kindness, God “rewards” us. (Matt.5:46) In the Greek Translation, the word for reward is “misthos.” It literally means to pay you “wages for services” rendered. God pays His children “money” and other material good things, when they love their enemies as Christ loves them.
My, my, my think of all the money opportunities missed because we refuse to love and entreat our enemies in ways that demonstrate the Character and Performance of Jesus Christ before offenders. Living the Good-Life ordained for you, has many opportunities for which you are to be hated, despised, deceived, disliked; to in response, love and be as “perfect” as your Heavenly Father. (Matt.5:48) We must understand that not every place within our Promised Land has “palm trees!” Jesus Christ said, that the world hated Him, and that it will also hate you; so rejoice for the opportunity to love those who hate you for great is the reward coming to you from Heaven above as you obey God and love your enemies. (John 15:17-19)
Lastly, the Fourth Step in the Pathway is “Holiness.” God expects for you to live a “Holy” life before Him. From the foundations of the world He chose, called, and made you “holy” and “blameless.” (Eph. 1:3-4) And, when you received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord through His sacrifice on the cross, your born-again heart was “sanctified” and made “perfect.” God put His Laws into your heart, and wrote them on the mind of your soul; and your sins and iniquities He remembers no more. God placed His Word in your inner-man so you would think, talk, and live-like God. This is the New Covenant we have in God in Christ Jesus. (Heb.10:12-17) To help guide our way along the Pathway of Holiness the Apostles gave to us several admonishments and encouragements, and with the Holy Ghost, we can walk in them accordingly in the perfect Righteousness of Jesus Christ.
For example, I Peter 1:15-16 emphatically declares how you (and all born-again believers) are to conduct yourself in the sight of Almighty God along the Christian journey. Peter wrote:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Also, Paul wrote at Hebrews 12:14:
Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord
Essentially, “Holiness” is living in alignment with God's Will and Values; or we can say it is, “Having One Mind with God.” It involves being "set apart" from sin and dedicated to God's Purposes. It affects thoughts, actions, and speech, requiring a continuous, daily pursuit of “purity.” Holiness is made possible through God's grace through the work of the Holy Ghost. Further, "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14) means that a life dedicated to God, set apart from sin, and transformed by the Holy Spirit is essential to experience God's Presence, doing the works of Christ, and receiving into manifestation all of the precious Promises of God.
The walk in the beauty of Holiness emphasizes that “true faith” produces a changed life (sanctification), not merely intellectual belief. It’s a Life, having been born-again and made the perfect Righteousness of Jesus Christ, lives “righteously” before God and in the sight of all people of the world. Such that your life shows forth brightly the Light of Christ, in character and deeds before others, so that they can “see your good works, and glorify your Father which is heaven.” (Matt. 5:16) You become known among the people of the world not only as a “good man or woman,” but a God Man or Woman!
The practice of Holiness empowers you to live a victorious life of overcoming the temptation to sin, and instead yielding your life to do those things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. Having the power of the Holy Ghost and the Word of God to resist and flee the works of the flesh detailed in I Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5: 19-21, and Colossians 3:5-9 such as:
Sexual Sins: Adultery, fornication (sexual immorality), uncleanness, lewdness/lasciviousness, filthy communications and orgies/revelries.
Religious/Spiritual Sins: Idolatry (worshipping things other than God) and sorcery/witchcraft/palm reading/horoscopes.
Relational/Social Sins:
Hatred, variance/discord, emulations/jealousies, wrath/outbursts of anger, strife/selfish ambition, seditions/divisions/factions, lying, and envying.
Substance Abuse/Excess: Opioid abuse, drunkenness, tobacco abuse, prescription drug abuse, illicit drug abuse, and other addictive behaviors and disorders.
At II Corinthians 3:2-3, the Apostle Paul wrote to his protégé Timothy, and having Christ in you, I also encourage you with the same words:
You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
Dear Saint of God, the progression of the transformation of your life bears the true proof of ministry, serving as living letters from Jesus Christ written on human hearts by the Holy Ghost. These “epistles” are read by every person who comes in contact with you; as your conduct and character progressively demonstrates the reality of the gospel and its mystery kept secret throughout the ages and before the world began. That is, “Christ in you the hope of glory.” And, I am sure on that great day when Christ Returns to quicken and collect the Church, that you will be presented perfect in Christ Jesus, full of His perfect Righteousness in spirit, soul, mind of the soul and physical body. (Col.1:25-28)
So while you, and with all believers in Christ wait on Christ’s Return, put on the whole armor of God that enables you to withstand the whiles of Satan and the kingdom of darkness; with fervent prayer and fasting as directed at Eph.6:10-18.
As the elect of God, holy and beloved, as Paul instructed at Colossians 3:12-16:
12 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;
13 Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.
14 And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
Add to this the advisement of the Apostle Peter, recorded at I Peter 1:5-9, which causes God’s Life to come on your life such that you will lack no spiritual or material good thing:
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
Finally, I write unto you my dear brother and sister in Christ to follow the admonitions of Paul to the Christians at Philippi concerning your holy conduct before the Lord recorded at Philippians 4:6-9:
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
9 Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
The Good Life God has ordained for you to walk in is yours to possess, if you are willing and obedient to yield your life as an instrument to Righteousness: To live according to the Salvation afforded you, to commit to grow deeper in your relationship with God Almighty, to keep and obey His love Commandments, and walk in true holiness. Hunger and thirst after the perfect Righteousness of Jesus Christ and you will be filled-full to the overflow all of your days on earth and in eternity. (Matt. 5:6) Amen, for the preaching of the Word of the Living God.
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