Better is one day in Your courts than thousands elsewhere. Better than thousands of days at Disney World? Or on a tropical island? Or spent riding a jet ski? The psalmist speaks so passionately about how good it is to be living in God’s court, but what does that look like? Should we be physically transplanted to a different location, or, on a more dangerous note, should we all be on the lookout for tree bandits?

By following God’s directions and making choices that honor Him, our lives will become upright and blameless. If you’ve ever spent time living life outside of God’s courts (and we all have) you might have experienced the pain that comes with living for yourself. By choosing to live in God’s courts you are telling God that your life is His.

What we saw at actionchurch in 2014 is that by giving your time, talents, and money to God He can do much more with it than you ever could! Let each of your daily decisions direct your life towards being upright and blameless in God’s court.

¹ How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
² My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
³ Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
⁴ Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
⁵ Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
⁶ As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
⁷ They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
⁸ Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
⁹ Look on our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.
¹⁰ Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
¹² Lord Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.

As a kid, and, if I’m honest with myself, as an adult I have many times tried to pass off my relationship with church and Jesus as just a mildly religious thing I do. Admitting that I believe that God who so loved the world that he sent his only Son Jesus to die for my sins and three days later rise from the dead. And more than just believing that to be true, I now have a relationship with Him!? Just being religious is much easier.

Religion puts us in the position of trying to make God happy. Feed the poor. Pray like this. Don’t break commandments. Do these five things and you will flourish! We are trying to reach out to God to to find our happiness. And here’s the thing, we’re never gonna make it, we will never be good enough! The difference between Christianity and religion is that Jesus has come and is reaching out to us! Attempting to flourish without a relationship with Jesus is just being religious. We love because he first loved us. We feed the poor, pray, follow the commandments because he first loved us. To truly “flourish like a palm tree”, you need Jesus.

¹ “Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
² Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in rich food.
³ Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live;

Isaiah 55:1-3

Would you say that thankfulness is a way of life for you? Or do you only associate it with the one day a year you get to wear stretchy pants to a family gathering? The process of becoming rooted in Christ (by hearing AND doing what Jesus teaches) continues throughout life. As we repeat the cycle, our thankfulness and gratitude should grow.

Paul wrote in Colossians 2:6-7, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.”

By expressing our thankfulness, we give credit to God for everything in our lives. Read the words of of the psalmist and spend some time today thanking God for what He has done and is doing in your life.

Psalm 95

¹ Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
² Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
³ For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
⁶ Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
⁷ For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? ⁴⁷ Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” Luke 6:46-49

In order to flourish as Jesus teaches, our life must be built on a strong foundation. A strong foundation doesn’t keep us from trials and pain, but when inevitable floods arise, we will not be shaken.

How can we build this strong foundation? Jesus says it is not hearing His Word that lays the foundation, but by also doing and practicing His Word in our lives. For example, if you wanted to lose weight you could pin articles on nutrition, save healthy recipes, hire a personal trainer, and buy lots of kale (although I hear that cauliflower is the new kale, go nuts). If you stop there though, and kept about your daily habits you wouldn’t see your weight drop. The key is to listen AND make it your new lifestyle. A spiritual foundation isn’t built overnight, but through your daily choices.

In what ways are you laying a firm foundation for yourself and your family?

^16b Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

Matthew 7:16b-20