Flourish

Love you all, praying for you,
 
I just love God’s Word.  It gives secrets. It tells you how to get to good! It tells you how to flourish!  What does it mean to flourish?  To open, to expand, enlarge or shoot out, to thrive, to grow luxuriantly, to increase and be prosperous.  Psalms 52 – But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God.  (Where His presence dwells, that place of worship, where He reveals himself and all of His glory and truth and love.)  Then it tells you how.  I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.  I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good.  I will praise you in the presence of your saints.  The first secret of flourishing is the word “but” – something easily glossed over, like ‘therefore’, but it indicates a change, something different, an exact opposite – that which distinguishes one thing from another.  Different from what – the verses (and example mentioned prior) David was exposing the deceitful tongue which loves evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking truth, which loves every harmful word… But.  David rejects this – He does the opposite.  He rejects any harmful word - this is the Fear of the LORD!  The beginning of flourishing.  Hating evil, refusing to speak any harmful word.  Instead, He is like that olive tree flourishing in the house of God.  So to flourish.  1) Fear God  2) Be in His house and His presence  3) Trust in His unfailing Love.  You grow your trust through your PRISM time in His Word, and Obeying what He tells you in His plans for you each day.  So you do it, so He can prove himself faithful again and again – trustworthy, it’s how your trust grows.  See the PRISM Topic – Trust! And your trust will grow 4) I will praise you forever for what you have done.  If Praise becomes your practice – you will flourish. The list of what He’s done in others and in your life, is enough for you to praise Him forever.  5) In your name I will hope, for your name is good.  His Name is everything He is, was and will be, everything He did and does and will do, everything He said, is saying and will say – which is what He will surely do – that’s His Name.   In Your Name I will hope – It’s worthy of your hope.  Praise the Names of God and the Jehovah Names of God – as a start to putting your hope in His Name.  And every time you obey – He moves and adds to His Name – your obedience helps you know His Name by experience.  You put your hope in God with your Words – just like David just did.  See PRISM Topic- Hope, and your hope will increase!  Speak it – like David it’s how you put your hope in God.  6) I will praise you in the presence of your saints.  There is a power in corporate worship and praise, don’t neglect it.  It’s how you flourish – with others in the body of Christ – giving Praise to His Name.  Praying that you will Fear God, Choose His house and His presence, practice praise, hope in His Name, and praise Him together – so you flourish in His house, so your life will expand, increase and prosper.  All glory goes to Him!  And eternal blessings come to you. 
 
Love you all,
dad