At the time that today's Scripture was my latest major revelation, one day, during my devotional time, I was itching to adjust my work schedule into a more efficient order, when I came across this quotation in one of my readings: "Each day, do first things first; the reason people don't reach their goals is because they want to do second things first."

Oops! A "Holy Spirit nudge" perhaps? Yes, it definitely was! At that time, I was in the process of breaking the old habit of attaching undue importance to routine work and my so-called "efficient order"; mine, not the Lord's! I wanted rid of the habit of starting my day with the practical "Martha" chores, instead of with our Lord Jesus. So before adding the new quotation about doing first things first to my treasure box, I added today's Scripture beneath it as a reminder of my latest revelation and desire to continually seek first the kingdom of God; not second or third, but first.

With excellent reason, I wanted to firmly establish the new habit of reading the truths of God's Word, along with quotes from my collection. Both had become like receiving a personal daily letter of loving assistance from our gracious Lord, which was helping me keep on the track of successful, victorious Christian living.

By "successful, victorious Christian living" I mean that generally in believers' lives, when we take the instructions, precepts, principles, and promises in God's Word literally, and then commit to do our best to apply and obey them faithfully and consistently, we are in a God-pleasing position, which brings us to qualify for His promises. When God's fulfilled promises are obviously evident in our lives, that is what I mean by "successful, victorious Christian living".

Romans 14:17-18 – God's kingdom does not consist of what a person eats or drinks. Rather, God's kingdom consists of God's approval and peace, as well as the joy that the Holy Spirit gives. The person who serves Christ with this in mind is pleasing to God and respected by people. (GWT)

"Our activity for Christ should grow out of our intimacy with Him. Worship first, work second. That is the most efficient way to serve Him and we are more likely to earn His commendation when everything we do is out of love for Him." – Selwyn Hughes, from Spoken From The Heart

In this particular case, the good news is that through doing first things first and consistently seeking first the kingdom, righteousness, peace, and joy of God in every situation through the leading of the Holy Spirit, He brings us to that wonderful promise that "all these things shall be added to you."

Matthew 6:31,32b – Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?" … For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. (NKJV)

The good-news-fulfilled promise is the perfect provision of everything we need from our all-knowing Father God, in the here and now, and forevermore. Hallelujah!

Luke 12:32 – Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. (KJV)

Prayer: Praise You, Jesus Lord, for Your precious Word to us, which, as we are willing, always leads us by Your Holy Spirit into all Your truths about successful, victorious Christian living. Thank You that You never fail to love us graciously through any of our slips and failures, but always offer Your all-powerful hand to raise us up into Your perfect precepts and promises. Amen and Amen!

Initially in my early church life, I'd be most uncomfortable when anyone preached on the above Scripture. I didn't believe that I could attain to Jesus' love for every Christian in and outside my church. No, not me!

Oh, my, was I right! Acts 4:12b says, "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." (AMP) In the same vein, there is no other love by which we can obey Jesus' commandments to love and forgive one another as He loves and forgives us — continually.

But Jesus came to renew my life, to give me His resurrection life and nature. Even though He knew of my heart's unbelieving condition at that time, He came into my heart just the same. Such grace! Only He and I know how very much I needed His love and forgiveness.

So for me, it has been this initial revelation truth: His amazing, forgiving love, grace, mercy, and compassion, which kept filling my heart and soul, that gradually softened, settled, and expanded within me a strong belief in the possibilities and desires of His love. Then came a new willingness to open up enough to allow a trickle of Jesus' loving, forgiving nature out to others.

God's Word gradually becomes His nature in us. Then we have the spiritual energy to overrule our flesh and let His love flow.

1 John 5:3 – For the [true] love of God is this: that we do His commands [keep His ordinances and are mindful of His precepts and teaching]. And these orders of His are not irksome (burdensome, oppressive, or grievous). (AMP)

As the desire increased to obey Him, so the tiny trickling of love graduated to an easy flow, which amazed and delighted me. Gradually, week by week, I found myself more comfortably conforming to and agreeing with the Lord's commandments. My reticence began to change into tentative confidence with people; standing back turned into approaching; a mere smile extended to a touch, a hug, listening, interacting, inquiring, helping, inviting, empathy, caring, overlooking, forbearing, and forgiving in Jesus' love.

I so thoroughly enjoyed this effect on others and myself that I persistently nagged in prayer to be an open, free-flowing channel of Jesus' love, and these days, I'm still persistently nagging to become a consistently gushing, overflowing "river" of Jesus' gracious forgiveness and love, as He ever is to me and to us.

Romans 5:5 – Such hope never disappoints or deludes or shames us, for God's love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit Who has been given to us. (AMP)

As we commit willingly to Jesus' love filling our hearts, we'll ever have sufficient supply to flow out to others, and we will accomplish His every intended purpose in His Church and His created world. We will!

Prayer: Thank You, Jesus Lord, that You have so honoured and commissioned us to love in Your name. Thank You for Your exceedingly abundant love, grace, and holy nature, which we ever need to obey Your Word and to accomplish Your kingdom purposes during our lives in such a time as this. We do not have to "miss it". In Your victorious name, thank You. Amen and Amen!

Frequently through my Christian journey, education, and wrestlings, the changes the Lord has wanted to bring in my life have turned out as a bungee jump in reverse: no risk to my life at all, but rather leading higher to more abundant life!

Eventually, whenever I've looked up to our Lord in surrender and repentance, and let myself float, instead of resisting, He has pulled me higher and closer to Himself, and convinced me of His higher purposes.

As a bungee jumper surrenders to gravity and trusts in the bouncy rubber cord attached to his ankles and an immovable anchor, so we, as our Jesus Lord calls us to take a leap higher in Him, must surrender, trust, and believe in His able, drawing, catching arms.

Years ago, one such beautiful, life-changing, bungee leap upwards occurred for me in church, when for the first time, the Holy Spirit turned my praises into glorious, adoring, reverent worship of Jesus:

John 4:24 – God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. (KJV)

Revelation 4:2 – And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold, a throne was set in the heaven, and one sat on the throne. (KJV)

In those moments, I wasn't merely following the congregation or the service order as I usually did. Amazingly, I was taken spiritually into the courts of heaven. I saw and heard my King, and I so longed to remain there with Him. Even if I had died right then, it wouldn't have mattered. Tears streamed, and my heart cried silently as I fervently wanted Him to "search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." (Psalm 139:23-24 KJV)

Beautifully, King Jesus obliged my desire to remain with Him like this, but I didn't die, and I didn't bungee-bounce back down either. Instead, I was assured by His gentle voice and His Word that He wanted me to live for Him, and that I could come in this worshipful way any time without physically dying.

Romans 12:1b – Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer. (GNT)

From that time, I so desired everything I did to be as an offering of worship to Him, because He had revealed to me that with a contrite, worshipful heart, neither sin nor Satan can ever draw or tempt us away from our Lord Jesus Christ's holy presence and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

It's not the only way, of course, but reverent praise and worship is another life-changing biblical principle that frees us from the repetitive temptations of sin and Satan, which all of us can adopt and choose to live in.

Yes, our Lord Christ graciously forgives each of us as we fail and repent. Yes, He mercifully encourages us to forgive ourselves and each other. As He calls us higher or as we seek to be higher in Him, yes, He repeatedly helps us to bungee jump upward, both to stand and to kneel in grateful, reverent worship in His holy-of-holies presence, which "leads to life"!

James 4:8a – Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (NKJV)

Prayer: Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the glorious unction and holy joy that worship unto You brings, and ever leads to life abundant. Thank You, our perfectly worthy and gracious King of kings and Lord of lords, that by Your Spirit and truth, our lives can be free, well-pleasing, soothing, fragrant offerings of worship and close fellowship with You. Amen and Amen!

After a few weeks of repeatedly throwing kitchen peelings, food scraps, waste, and various animal manures on the top of the other rotting vegetation on my compost heap, it is frequently necessary to open up the heap to merge the smelly surface rubbish into the depths of the richly formed nutritious soil lower in the heap. The compost then looks better and smells better, plus its top loamy product is fruitfully useful for increasing the growth of the plants in my garden beds.

Like my compost heap, of myself, of my godless carnal nature, I have mucked up, messed up, and missed too many marks to count. I've run away, been astray, and totally lost my way. I've lived an unrighteous life and been deservedly pig-penned so often that I must have appeared and smelled as unattractive as my garden midden compost.

Yet while I and the rest of the world were still in this sinful condition, our Lord loved us and died for us. This is God's marvellous love and grace in active demonstration, isn't it?

In every one of His multifaceted ways in our individual lives, our wonderful, loving God of grace drew us to repentance and belief in Christ Jesus, His Son, and then bestowed upon us His spotless garments, presenting us to Himself, fresh and new in His righteousness, through faith.

Philippians 3:9 – And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. (NKJV)

Romans 10:10 – For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation. (AMP)

We became His. He made Himself ours in His loving grace.

No matter how badly we've mucked up, messed up, or missed the mark, whether it be many yesterdays ago, a while back, just yesterday, or today, we can know that because we have received our Jesus by faith, as we stand before Him, He sees us in the very righteousness of God.

Yes, we still need to repent often; we need to ask God's forgiveness; and we need to forgive others so that we are forgiven, according to His Word. However, as we remember, Jesus suffered so greatly, dying on the cross so that through faith in Him, by His ever-marvellous, loving grace, we are permanently, eternally adorned in righteousness.

We can know and live successfully in the "good news" of His eternal Word:

Psalm 92:12 – Righteous people flourish like palm trees and grow tall like the cedars in Lebanon. (GWT)

Psalm 37:29 – The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell in it forever. (NKJV)

Psalm 146:8 – The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. (NKJV)

Prayer: Thank You, eternal, precious Lord Christ, for all that You make available to believers. We can dwell in, move in, and have our being in You. For Jesus Lord, it is Your very self that You have made available to us through Calvary. We ever thank and worship You, as we remember this. Amen and Amen!

In a few previous devotionals, I've testified to the Lord's merciful and various healings in my life, for which I gratefully praise His ever-gracious name. Indeed, every merciful healing from our Lord Jesus of every kind in our lives is exceedingly precious, and is according to His eternal Word and purposes.

But the greatest healing of all is that before we are born again of Jesus' Spirit, we are all spiritually dead and spiritually blind, without hope of recovery, healing reconciliation, relationship with God, or seeing His kingdom. But now, through our belief in Jesus Lord and obedience to Him, amazingly, we are healed, rescued, redeemed, and restored to see Him clearly. Through His love, we have all received so much healing to our spirits, souls, emotions, and bodies by Jesus' amazing power, plus the many gracious forgivenesses, transformations, lifestyle changes, renewed minds, and so very much more, for which to praise and thank our Lord, including the wonderful gifts of His Holy Spirit Who leads us into all truth with needful spiritual insight. So, through this Easter season and beyond, let us use these healing changes and gifts to see, to "Behold the Man!" — to remember our Saviour Lord's sacrifice, and to bear witness to the extreme price paid by Him for all believers, and indeed for the whole world.

As we behold our Lord Christ, first in the Gethsemane garden, can we see His love-filled heart, brimming over with sorrow and grief so burdening Him that the bloody sweat bathes His body and drips to the ground? Can we see Him mockingly attired in the purple royal robe with the exceedingly painful, deeply stabbing thorn-crown adorning His head?

Then can we see ourselves alongside Him as He struggles under the awkward shape and crippling weight of His ruggedly-made cross, climbing the people-crowded, ascending way to Golgotha?

Dare we behold our Saviour Lord on the Calvary mount as the rough nails are hammered so cruelly into His loving hands, and into His beautiful, obedient feet that took Him far and wide to bring the "good news" of life eternal, healings, forgiveness, deliverances, and the raisings of the dead, of people's spirits, souls, and bodies?

Can we bear to see our suffering Lord's agony as He bore so willingly all the griefs, diseases, and sins of the whole world, including mine, including yours, because Father God "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life"? (John 3:16 NKJV)

His sockets are out of joint; the rivers of blood are constantly oozing down His face from the pressed-down crown of thorns on His royal head; the bloody water spurts from the open wound in His side. Has His Father now forsaken His Son as all hell surrounds Him, Jesus our Saviour, bearing all our iniquities, sins, and separations from God? Yet, we hear the voice of all grace and mercy beg for the forgiveness of the people, the perpetrators of such agony of spiritual and natural death!

Has there ever been such ravishing aloneness thrust upon such a godly, holy, righteous, obedient one: such grief, heartbreak, and unequalled agony of soul?

Beloved in Christ, as we behold our Jesus Lord thusly, through our God-given spiritual eyes this weekend, perhaps we will want to reaffirm in refreshed zeal and resolve to love Him much more dearly and follow His Word much more obediently, with heart-filled thanks for the privileged blessings of our abundant salvation life, our callings, to His truths!

Prayer: Loving Saviour, how we adore You in all Your love, grace, and mercy, displayed unmistakably through Your sacrificial crucifixion, "who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2b NKJV) We desire so very much to live in the completeness of all You wrought and bought for us. Thank You, precious Lamb of God. Amen and Amen!

In exactly the same way, we need to learn, and sometimes relearn, the important basic principles of Christian daily life if we are to be fruitful. But these basic principles in God's Word are not only for our earthly life; our education in Christ Jesus' ways is forever. So we need the most solid foundation of His teachings for His eternal purposes as well.

Hebrews 13:15-16 – Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise — the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. (NIV)

In my beginning basic foundation, at first take, the phrase "offer to God a sacrifice of praise" was deeply puzzling to me, because all the praise hymns and choruses, and the freedom to sing out, clap, and raise our hands, arms, and feet in dance and praise, according to the many descriptions in the Psalms, were so wonderfully enjoyable in our church, that it really didn't feel like sacrifice to me at all.

Down the track, however, as the tests and trials came, I found that offering praise continually was not so easy or readily enjoyable, especially when not in a church service. All the same, I believed that if God's Word was teaching us to praise continually, it must be possible for me to do.

I came to understand the meaning of the word "praise": to celebrate, applaud, compliment, magnify, glorify, honour, venerate. And I came to understand where the sacrifice bit comes in. Offering praise to God, when all was not exactly smashing, and I was not where the music, hymns, choruses, and other folks were, meant that I had to discipline/sacrifice my sour, trial-beleaguered self, get up, and "go to church" — at home.

Praise may not be offered in exactly the same way for every church and person, but this is how it worked for me!

In the tradition of my church teachings, even though I had to push myself, I thanked, praised, sang the songs I knew, made up songs, clapped, and raised my hands, arms, feet, in dance, until I felt my spirit, heart, and mind rising above my natural, fleshly, carnal thoughts and feelings. Then as my trials faded out, I would see and feel the great love and significance of the majestic Lord whom I praised.

This ever-so-gradually-formed habit of praising God continually began this way: "going to church" at home. Then slowly, this extended to praising the Lord any time, any place, until eventually, my heart became filled continually with praise to the Lord. For me, the really good news is that of feeling Jesus' pleasure through the praise offering. I'm ever amazed at His fulfilled promises when we trip/apply His principles, "for with such sacrifices God is pleased." (Hebrews 13:16b NIV)

The other "good news" is that to our faithfulness in anything, Jesus adds His strength and blessings. As we use the measure of anything He gives, so He increases our measure and abilities to the point of His derived pleasure and purposes, so that obeying His principles no longer feels like a discipline/sacrifice at all, but a great joy that we don't want to miss!

Psalm 119:164 – Seven times a day and all day long do I praise you because of Your righteous decrees. (AMP)

Prayer: Thank You, Jesus Lord, for every quality, life-freeing revelation from Your ever-faithful and fulfilling Word, which is our privilege to share with others — the "good news" — as we go about in the world as Your living witnesses. It is all joy to offer praise continually, and to testify of You, bringing all the glory that we can to Your perfect, holy name. Amen and Amen!

In 1980, our estranged family reunited after we became reconciled to Lord Jesus. Such mercy and grace! Praise His ever-saving name!

I'd been lovingly warned, but inside and outside, the old farmhouse appeared exceedingly beyond its hundred-year age — every dingy, paint-peeling, ramshackle, slanty, shabby inch of it.

Believing this low-rent accommodation to be only short-term, I bravely smiled at my husband, daughter, and son, who had done their best with it, but dingy, paint-peeling, ramshackle, slanty, and shabby were still the results, along with strangely cute, quirky, and a brand new start for us! We exchanged tentative glances, giggled, hugged, wept, and laughed. We had Jesus in our hearts. We were home together!

Our previous modern home, with its "mod con" (modern convenience) comforts, and our former idolatrous, materialistic lifestyle, were indeed all passed away. We learned that there is always good news in Jesus. He is the "Good News", and for us, that good news has remained. We never again worshipped and strove to have those latest up-market expensive comforts and conveniences. Instead, we learned increasingly to value our Lord's treasured principles, and to "know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." (Colossians 2:2b-3 NIV)

As a family of four, and with our Jesus Lord in the centre of us, we became our true home. That old, falling-down farmhouse was just the shelter in which our true home came to live for the next "short-term" ten years.

We did some cozy improvements, and Jesus' gradual transforming work brought us such a joy, contentment, and fruitfulness, which we had never previously known, as we received wisdom's "instruction in preference to [striving for] silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold." (Proverbs 8:10 AMP)

Of course, along with our Lord's loving ways, were our ways, which necessitated chastenings, trials, testings, and battles fought with Satan and victoriously won through our Lord Christ, plus other downs and glorious ups. All grateful praise goes to our treasure Jesus and His unrelenting pursuit of us.

For all believers, as we choose to work with Him and His will, not striving against Him, Jesus, our perfectly glorious provider, ever makes Himself our very highest earthly and heavenly treasure, both in the here and now, and forevermore.

Matthew 6:19a,20 – Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. (NKJV)

Prayer: Thank You, ever-loving, ever-generous Lord Christ. You provide everything we need for a successful, joy-filled, fruitful life, as we willingly trust, obey, believe, and receive from You and Your Word. In Your glorious name, we thank, praise, and worship You. Amen and Amen!