Treasures for the Soul

David mentions in Psalm 101 that he would not set before his eyes anything that’s worthless, and a perverse heart should be far from him. He knew well which truths to set before his eyes. In this age of information, we must also learn to choose which contents to put before our eyes. When we learn to guard our mind, our spirit can reach a new level. Colossians 3 teaches us to seek the things that are above. We really need to replace wrong thoughts with good ones, so that we can win the victory and be filled with enjoyment.

Psalm 16 is a psalm by David. It also symbolizes how the Lord lived before God throughout His whole life. He set the Lord always before Him. That means He thought of God always. His mind was filled with God and His precious truths. Through psalms, we can see that in David’s life, he always waited on God and was always living towards God, and he always set God’s love before his eyes. Psalm 27 mentions that David desired one thing, that is to dwell in the house of the Lord and to gaze upon His beauty all the days of his life. This should also be our daily lives. For example, we sing the ‘diamond hymns’ (“Who affects the Father the Most”, and “Love Like a Rainbow”) every day. We can also apply Bible verses personally to ourselves. And let our minds be filled with the Lord and His love throughout the day.

We were created and born again to be in love with God. The Bible often talks about the importance of love. For example, in Psalm 90, it says that we need to be satisfied in the morning with His steadfast love. In 1 Corinthians 13, it also mentions that love is the greatest. It’s so precious that God is the origin of love. He loves us so much. As mentioned in 1 John 4, “We love because He first loved us.” And in Jeremiah 31, it says that He has loved us with an everlasting love. It’s even more precious that it’s this love that draws us. When we are drawn by the Lord and enter into the personal love of the Infinite One, we can overcome the schemes of the enemies. We don’t need to compare ourselves to others, because we know what’s the most precious, which is to be in love with the Lord.

Psalm 90:2 says, “...from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” And Psalm 103 says that the “…love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him”. We are enjoying God’s eternal love. We are His first love. We are the most wonderful in the whole universe because God created us according to His own image and gave us a spirit. We will encounter sufferings and difficulties on earth. It’s very precious that in spite of all these situations, we would still choose to love God.

The Lord is our all-knowing, all-loving true Beloved. He knows all our needs. He has had compassion towards us since eternity past. He also prepared all for our needs, even to the point of becoming a Man to accomplish salvation for us. He sees our loving heart towards Him. The Lord really desires for us. Our meditation is sweet to Him. In Song of Solomon 7:10, the darling sees that she’s her Beloved’s. She also sees that the beloved loves her and desires for her. This illustrates the spiritual growth of a believer, that he sees and experiences the Lord’s love and desire. We are indeed the Lord’s eternal, most-beloved darling. We attract and capture His heart the most.

Satan is the father of lies. He continuously uses false doctrines and concepts in this world to affect us. We definitely need the truth. We should know that we have no more sin, and that God loves us the most. The Bible records the failures of men, such as David’s and Peter’s, to help us not to have any shadows. The Song of Solomon chapter 5 mentions the weakness of the darling. The darling represents a believer. Even in such a condition, the Lord still calls her “My perfect one.” We need to use our faith. Once we rely on the Lord, we can stand up immediately and become more than conquerors! It is important to realize how the Lord perceives us, and not to rely on ourselves only.

Satan is the accuser and slanderer. He makes us feel that we are not good enough. He also misleads us into thinking that God does not love us the most. The Holy Spirit uses the truth to pour God’s love into our hearts. Therefore, we should pursue Him and use the truth to resolve the problems in our minds. We should also know that God loves us. In addition to listening to messages, we ought to draw near to God. This gives Him room to work in us. It’s so precious that one of the things the Lord did after His resurrection was to remove the shadows in the disciples’ hearts.

We should see the true image of God, understand His love and His delight in us. As written in Zephaniah chapter 3, God rejoices over us with gladness. Jeremiah chapter 31 says that God loves us with an everlasting love. He continually draws us to Him. He pursues us so that His eternal purpose can be fulfilled. The Lord said when He was lifted up from the earth, He would draw all people to Himself. May our hearts be deeply drawn by Him every day.

The devil uses a lot of false teachings such as original sin, and various wrong concepts in this world to mislead us into thinking that God has reservations in His love towards us. Man failed because of his doubts in God’s love. We need to be transformed by the renewal of our mind. To do so, we must trust in God’s word, and use His word to replace the wrong concepts in our minds and thoughts. Listening to the gospel and believing in the Lord resulted in a glorious change in our life. However, we need to continue to pursue and understand the truth clearly, so that we are full of faith and have no doubt in God’s love. We should also know that God is our all-knowing friend. Hence, our spirit will be set free, full of desire to draw near to Him, and our spirit will rise up and be victorious.

Satan has disrupted the relationship between man and God from the beginning. It’s written in Genesis how he tempted Adam and Eve. It’s also written in Job how he accused God and man. Satan uses many misconceptions, accusations and shadows to make us think that God does not love us the most. We are in a spiritual battle, therefore, we must use God’s word to help ourselves and strive to stand against the devil. Moreover, we need to be assured that God loves us the most.

It is written in Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.” For us, the Lord Jesus was born, lived, and died. Forever He is no longer God alone. Many passages from the Bible tell us how deeply He loves us, such as the Song of Solomon, the eternal covenant established by the Lord, and His sunken wound. Our lives and eternity should be built upon the Lord and His word. The phrase “It is written” appears many times in the Bible. The Lord’s word and promises are our help throughout our life. We deeply believe that the Lord can use all things to help us finish His will gloriously.

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit truly love us very much. The Bible shows us a lot of evidence about this, including the fact that we’re created in the image of God. In addition, the Lord’ became a man for us forever. This shows how closely God can be connected to man even though God is a divine being. We are united with the Lord. When we believed in the Lord, we immediately enjoyed all the blessings of the New Covenant. We became God’s firstborn. God also gives us the Bible, the most precious book. The Lord’s journey from heaven to earth helps us know God in a more concrete way. Therefore, we should not wait till the Lord’s return to understand how much God loves us. In fact, we can experience and know God today, and we can build the church after His heart around the world.

In John 21:15-17, the Lord addressed Peter three times by saying “Simon, son of John.” This shows that the Lord knew about Peter’s whole life and his background. It also shows that the Lord knows all about our lives. What He wants from us is our heart and our love. His desire for us is the same as when He asked Peter, “Do you love me?” Satan will try to destroy our relationship with God by alienating us from God. But God’s love for us is the very flame of Jehovah. It’s written in Luke 22:59-62 that after Peter denied the Lord three times, the Lord turned and looked at Peter. It shows how well the Lord knew about Peter’s situation. The Lord wanted to remove Peter’s shadows. Similarly, there are no more sins or shadows between the Lord and us. We are established by His grace. By faith, we now live every day with Him.

From Luke 22:31-34, the Lord foretold Peter's denial, and He prayed for Peter in advance. He also knew that Peter would turn back to Him again and be able to strengthen his brothers. The Lord was full of hope for Peter. Though Peter fell, the Lord’s personal love for him did not diminish even a bit. Furthermore, it’s written in John how the Lord helped those who had a personal encounter with Him. John 21 mentioned about the Risen Lord, how He prepared a barbeque for the disciples, and talked to Peter. The Lord loved and cared for Peter and others at that time. Today, the Lord’s love and care for us is the same.

It’s very important for us to know how to behold—to see God’s true image and how He treats us. When we come before God, we can first think that He meets us in His steadfast love. Hand in hand, He walks with us. Abba even kisses us with many kisses. Furthermore, the Father meets us with the love which He has loved the Lord, because there is the deepest affection between God and us! We can also consider that God is true. We are God’s love dream. We have the most precious position in His heart. He understands us well and knows all of our needs. It’s so precious that we were created to be the closest to God, and to be in love with Him.

David wrote Psalm 59. Verse 10 tells us that God in His steadfast love will meet me. David knew about God’s affection very well. He asked the Lord for just one thing - to gaze upon the Lord’s beauty for his entire life. We truly need to see the help of God’s countenance. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that God is the mighty one who will save. What’s even more precious is that He will exult over you with loud singing. God’s joy over us is so great that He desires to hear our voice. We will also hear His voice.

One of God’s purposes for creating fathers on earth is to help us understand the heavenly Father’s affection. However, the fathers who have bad examples on earth can cause us to have wrong concepts about God. We ought to know the Father’s true image by His words, and how He treats us. For example, it’s written in the Gospel of John that the Father is seeking true worshipers who will worship Him in spirit and truth. The parable of the prodigal son from Luke 15 clearly shows the Father’s heart. His welcome and acceptance towards his lost son is beyond forgiveness. He throws a party to celebrate his son’s return. The celebration is full of joy, singing and music. In the Lord’s prayer written in John 17, the Lord said He has made known the Father’s name, and He prayed that the love with which the Father has loved Him may be in us.

A lot of scripture talks about the preciousness and importance of drawing near to God. For instance, David only sought after one thing, which was to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord; Enoch walked with God for 300 years; Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to His teaching. This is the good portion, and it’s absolutely necessary. Many Bible passages also tell us that the Lord desires us to draw near to Him. For example, 1 Thessalonians 5 says that we are living with the Lord whether we are awake or asleep. The Song of Solomon tells us that the Lord desires to see our face and hear our voice. One of the blessings of the new covenant is for everyone, from the young to the old, to know God. Drawing near to God is the infinite and endless peak. It’s the one thing that we cannot miss out on in our lives.

Hebrews is a very important book. It tells us that the Lord Jesus is the Son of God. For us, He became a man forever and He offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Hebrews also tells us about His ministry. The purpose of these truths is to help us to come before God. Hebrews 12:22-24 is the climax of this book. This passage mentions New Jerusalem and what is in there. These truths help us to understand what God wants, and our precious identity as the firstborn. It also helps us to mind the things from above and know how to draw close to God, which in turn makes it easier for us to overcome challenges. Knowing these truths will affect our lives and how we spend our time.

A few hymns were sung in the meeting. The lyrics of these hymns are from the Bible verses that talk about the risen Lord wiping away our tears and swallowing up death. He rose from the dead and lives forever. Nothing can ever separate us from Him anymore!