Steps to a Life of Faith and Fullness Reference:  Psalms 37:1-9 There are seven words in the above reference that stand out as steps into the blessed life of faith and fullness. 1. Verse1: “Do not fret.” Do not fret because of evil doers nor envious of the workers of iniquity. Psalms 73.3; “For I was envious of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” But, we must not fret about these things. We must not get hung up over things we do not have and spend our time fretting over people who work unrighteousness or over the things they possess. Hebrews 13:5; “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have.” I1 Timothy 6:6 “ Now godliness with contentment is great gain.” Do we want to gain thins or a life of goodness? Since we must leave the earth just as we came into it, a life of contentment and immortal hope is far better than earthly gain. We need to be thankful for the little things knowing that Paul tells us in Roman 8:28; “and we know that all things work together for good to those who love God.” 1 Corinthians 3:21-23 reminds us that all things are ours and we are Christ’s. Our duty then, is to serve Christ and not to fret about the things of the world. 2. Verse3; “Trust” in the Lord , and do good.” Trust is faith and faith is an active grace. So place your trust in the Lord and be active in doing good. Hebrews 6:12 tells us; “that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” These qualities are essential to steadfastness and must be found in those who inherit the promises. Trust implies confidence. So, if we possess this trust or faith in God and Christ in a real way, then a readiness to rely on the Lord will exist in our lives. We need to fill our days with doing good and maintain that kind of an attitude when we are not involved in physically doing something. We don’t do this to gain trust in God but when we place our trust in Him the doing good will be the result. Of course when we fill our lives with doing good, our trust will grow and grow enabling God to do more and more and perhaps greater and greater things through us. 3. Verse 4 ‘Delight yourselves also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” We cannot delight in Him unless we believe that He is the giver of every good and perfect gift. He will not only give us the desires of our heart that we openly ask for but the secret petitions as well. Will God hold anything from us? Yes, but He will not withhold anything that will be profitable or beneficial to us. In Philippians 4:6 we are told to “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” When our relationship with God is right, we don’t in the least need to have distressing anxiety about anything. But, we can take delight in the Lord and lay our case before Him and trust Him to do all things well. 4. Verse 5: “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and he shall bring it to pass.” When we have perfect trust and delight in the Lord, what is surely to take place? There will surely be a commitment of ourselves, our ways, and our purpose to Him. We deliver ourselves over to him for safekeeping. When we do this, our experiences become learning situations, in which we can glory and praise God. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 5:7; “Cast all your anxieties on Him, for He cares about you.” Regardless of the situation we find ourselves in, if we will remember our commitment to Him and trust Him, He will surely show that He cares for us. Many times we will find ourselves able to conclude the situation in a way that will very obviously bring glory and praise to God. Other times we will l learn from the experience in a way that will prevent th4e recurrence of a similar situation and that my every well help ourselves or others praise and glory God in a great way. But, our commitment has to be there. 5. Verse 7; “Rest in the Lord.” This rest is the result of a wholehearted commitment to the Lord. Isaiah 30:15 tells us that “in quietness and confidence shall be your strength.” You see the battle is not ours but His, if we are in the right relationship with Him. We need to realize and accept that and wait patiently for Him. We don’t need to be so fretful and distressingly anxious about things that concern us but recognize the battle is not ours alone and “Rest in the Lord.” 6. Verse 8; “ Cease from anger, and forsake wrath.” Wrath and strife are the works of the devil and the flesh. One of these works is outburst of wrath as we learn from Galations 5:19-20 and we must refrain from it. Ephesians 4: 31, Paul tells us “Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.” These are plain, everyday duties of life and the keeping of them is essential. Anger and wrath can only bring about evil. When we become angry and fretful about anything, if we are not careful our spirit ceases to act with God’s spirit and evil is born. Proverbs 25:28 tells us that “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, and without walls.” Many times when we become angry we lose self-control and, of course, this leaves us open to all kinds of things, which are against Christ and ourselves. A Chines proverb says: “If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow.” 7. Verse 9: “ Wait on the Lord” After we have committed all to Christ and have ceased from our will and way, we are in danger of growing weary in well-doing. This, of course, is possible but we must not allow it to happen. Endurance is so important! Hebrews 10:36 tells us; “For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise.” We must wait patiently on the Lord. If we do, our strength will be renewed. The victory will be ours and the reward will be worth the effort. If we could make these seven things an active part of our daily lives, surely we could live the blessed life of faith and fullness. (All Scripture references are from the New King James Version of the Bible) ------Baxter Deadmon