November 26, 2024

Thanksgiving

October 22, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: because His mercy endureth forever.
I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me, and set me in a large place.
Psalm 118:5

We are about to enter that ever-so-busy and often hectic season—the holiday season.  It is hard to believe that the holiday season is already back.  It seems like we just rung in the New Year. Yet, here we are again.  Life goes on.  Now back to the holiday season.  In our family you could pretty much say that the holiday season starts for us at Halloween, even though it is a holiday.  There is one major important holiday between Halloween and Christmas that is possibly losing its footing in this modern era—Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is the time to give thanks to the Lord for the many blessings that He has given us through the year and throughout our lives.  The Pilgrims started the holiday for this very reason. They were thankful that the Lord had brought them across the Atlantic Ocean safely.  They were thankful for the blessings that the Lord had given.  They were thankful for the mercy the Lord showed them in helping them survive that first year in their new land.

Noah did something similar when he left the ark:

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal
and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Genesis 8:20

 Noah gave thanks to the Lord for choosing him and his family to survive the great flood that covered the earth and caused massive destruction. He gives thanks by building the altar and sacrificing (which was the norm in Noah’s time) animals to the Lord.  The Lord saw this, and He decided not to destroy the earth with water again.  He blessed Noah and his family from then on.

Just as Noah and the Pilgrims gave thanks to God for their survival and their provisions, we should, too.  We should not just observe it in November, but we should give thanks every day for the blessings that God has given us.  Being thankful for God’s love and standing with Him will bring us many blessing through our lives.

*****

 Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your blessings.  Thank You for giving us the life we have. Thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to bring us back to You.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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Not a Part of This World

October 16, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbors, but mischief is in their hearts.  Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavors:  give them after the work of their hands; render to them their desert.  Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of His hands, He shall destroy them, and not build them up.
Psalms 28:3-5

Is it just me, or does the world seem like it is going downhill?  I have a fairly good memory, and thinking back to when I was a kid, I don’t remember so much violence being reported or so much backlash against Christianity.  To me, things were better in the 80’s and early 90’s.  I am not going to try to figure out what is wrong with this world.  There are just too many answers to why.  However, it is all part of God’s plan.

It is amazing that God was already predicting and telling through His chosen writers what would be happening during our times. God already knows what He is going to do.  We may not know what that is, but the main thing is that we stay on God’s side.  It is hard not to get mixed in with the crowd of people who are going against God’s will and helping to self-destruct the human race.

God calls on us not to mix with those who go against His will.  After a long simmering period, God destroys those who do not follow Him or obey His commands.  Our God is slow to anger, and our world is slowly but surely angering Him.  Natural disasters are on the rise.  Economies are collapsing.  It is only a matter of time.

However, God does not want us to get mixed in with this group.  He wants us to stay on His side. He warns us to stay away.  The Israelites mixed in with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Both were destroyed.  Those who did not choose God were destroyed.  Sadly, our world is becoming more and more like a modern Sodom and Gomorrah.  Eventually, it will all be gone. In order to get to the Kingdom of God, we must follow God’s will.  We should not want or yearn to be part of the coming destruction.

* * * * *

Dear Heavenly Father, “Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance: feed them also, and lift them up forever” Psalm 28:9.  Be with us through this rough time as the world turns against You.  Keep us strong and faithful. In Jesus name.

Amen.

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A Shield

October 10, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord: He is their help and their shield.
Psalm 115:11

Watching a group of 5 to 7 year old boys at football practice can be an eye-opening experience. It is an experience when hindsight is 20/20.  Our vision at any time is never perfect unless you’re just blessed with almost 20/20 vision.  No human could be blessed to be that perfect.

Now back to that football practice…. Imagine that the boys are lined up in two lines facing each other…one behind the other…for a simple football drill—we’ll say tackling.  Two boys, who happen to be brothers, are facing off.  The bigger one has the football.  He runs over little brother and pushes him to the ground, and little brother starts crying.  The next player in line behind the big brother sees what happens, and he just shuts down.  He won’t do a thing.  He refuses to even try because he is scared that he will get hurt.  What is a mother to do when this happens at every practice?

Like I said, hindsight is 20/20. Mom has to remember that the boy is a young, young five.  He has never done this before.  He is a scared little five year old who has no idea what he is doing, AND he wants his daddy because daddy knows what is going on.  Mommy doesn’t know because mommy grew up a girl with Barbie dolls, books, and everything sugar and spice.  Equate this to being scared, alone, and confused.  You have no protection.  You have no one to lean on.

O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord: He is their help and their shield.
Psalm 115:10

We have the protection of the shield of God to protect us.  God protected the Israelites as they escaped Egypt.  He separated a sea for them so that they could escape.  He put up a fire barrier to buy them time to flee to the other shore.  God provided the Israelites everything they needed as they wandered in the wilderness.  God protected David during his reign as king.  As long as we trust, fear, and love the Lord, we have His protection.  When we accept Jesus as our Savior, we are given the Lord as a shield from the evil in this world.

Just as those little football players have helmets and pads for protection, we have the Lord as our shield for our protection.  We don’t have to be like scared children who are doing something new because we have God as our shield.  God is our Protector. God is our Savior.  God is our Help and our Shield.

Hindsight 20/20:  Mommy should have made son wait an extra year before letting him play football.  Lesson learned.

* * * * *

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for being our Shield, our Protector, our Savior.  Without You, we would fall with the rest of the world.  May Your shield bring strength as we live day to day. In Jesus name.

Amen.

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Seek and Rely

October 1, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

O God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee:
my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee
in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
To see Thy power and Thy glory, so as I have seen Thee in the sanctuary.
Psalms 63:1-2

 

God wants us to seek Him. I try to seek Him everyday-from the time I wake to the time I go to sleep. I often fall asleep praying because I talk to God until I fall asleep. My soul thirsts for God on a daily basis. However, that human side of me still exists. When I face trials or things happen beyond my control, I still try to take control. I often feel that if I can control it then it will turn out like I want it. I am wrong every time.

 

God uses His power and glory to keep us with Him. I often find that if I just turn things over to Him, the situations I can’t really control—but try to control—will turn out the way that He has already determined.

 

When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.
Because thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice.
Psalms 63:6-7

 

All I have to do is turn things over to God, and life will turn out as God has it planned. He is not leaving me and never will. It just feels like it when I try to control things that I already know that I can’t. When I do realize that God has control, life is much better. I just have to think and remember that God is in control, and that He already knows the outcome. I just have to rely on Him to deal with the pressures and things I can’t control during certain situations.

 

God wants us to rely on Him no matter what the situation is. A situation gets worse when we don’t because we as humans try to fix it ourselves. Relying on God is the only way to fix a situation—He already knows the outcome. We as humans need to seek God and thirst for Him during our times of blessings and needs. This way we get the full attention of, and relationship with, our God.

 

* * * * *

Dear Heavenly Father, we come to You today because we thirst for a relationship with You. We long for You, and we have seen Your power and glory. We pray that You help us through the hard times and bless us in the good.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

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Do Not Be Ashamed

September 27, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

Let the people praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You.
Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us.
God shall bless us, And all the ends of the earth shall fear Him.
Psalms 67:5-7

Praise God—no matter what.  Praise God in times of happiness, sadness, and strife.  We should praise God all the time—no matter what is going on in our lives.  Praising God in our daily lives and routines lets God know we are His.  It also lets those around us know that we have chosen God over the desires and temptations of the world.

We are living in troubling times.  God has been taken out of almost everything we would like to do or where we go.  There are many people who feel that God needs to stay in the home and the Church and are pushing for laws to prohibit God in public places.  But God did not create us to hide behind closed doors to worship Him.  We were created for open worship of God.   When we praise God through our work and our actions…people see it.  We can influence those around us by being the light that God has made us to be.  By doing this, the earth increases her yield to God.

God blesses those who follow Him and do what He commands.  If we spread His Word and show others what He has done for us, God will bless us in ways that we can never imagine later on—earthly AND heavenly. The ends of the earth shall know God and come to fear Him if we spread His Word and increase the earth’s yield.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation
to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16

We must not be ashamed to praise God.  Praising God is one way of spreading His Word.  The disciples praised God during their time with Jesus.  Then, as Jesus had commanded, they spread Jesus’ message about salvation.  Their work has continued through thousands of years because those who chose to follow Jesus picked up where the disciples left off when their time on earth was over.  They were not ashamed; and so we should not be either.   We should spread God’s word through praise and other actions that glorify God.

* * * * *

Dear heavenly Father, thank You for Your blessings.  We praise Your name in all we do.  We pray that our praise and our actions will lead others to choose the gift of salvation that You have so freely and lovingly given.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

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Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?

September 17, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies,
Psalm 103:3-4

Remember learning in school the six following pronouns/questions:

Who? What? When? Where? Why? and How?

Have you ever stopped to wonder about these six questions when it comes to your relationship with Christ?  The questions are relatively simple to answer:

  • Who: Jesus Christ
  • What: Ultimate Sacrifice
  • When: Over 2000 years ago
  • Where: Calvary, Galgotha….the place has many names
  • Why: To redeem God’s children…to bring reconcilation between God and His children
  • How: Nailed to the Cross

But, Christ does more for us than to reconcile us to God.  As Psalms 103:3-4 has told us, we already know the answers.  Jesus heals us of our iniquities.  He heals us of our diseases.  He has redeemed our lives from destruction.  He loves us no matter what we do.

As we go through our lives, we deal with many trials and tribulations on a daily basis.  At least the thought of WHO forgives us, heals us, redeems us, and loves us is a comfort in this turbulent world we live in.

For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him:
As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Psalms 103:11-12

The Lord shows great mercy to those who love and fear Him. For those of us who have personal relationships with Christ, we can be comforted in knowing that He loves us and forgives us no matter where we are at.  Once we accept Jesus’ gift of love and eternal life, we are forgiven forever.  We no longer have to worry about our past.  We have a new lease on life.  We are going to live forever with our Healer and Redeemer.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

* * * * *

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your healing, Your forgiveness, and our redemption. Without You, we would be nothing. We would have nothing.  Thank You for Your comfort and the many blessings You give us on a daily basis.  In Jesus ‘ name,

Amen.

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Showing Christ and Being Christ-like

September 11, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained lips, as you know, O Lord. I have not hidden Your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.
Psalms 40:9-10

When we accept Christ, we are supposed to tell it to the world.  One way to do this is through baptism.  But what about after that?  Have you ever stopped and wondered about “after acceptance and baptism?”  I have often wondered about it myself.  We are supposed to show the great congregation, which is not just the church but the world as well, that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  We are not supposed to hide Him away within our hearts, as many today would like us to.  We are charged to spread the good news about Jesus and the eternal message of hope and love He brings to us.  In today’s world, it is often a fight to share the message and show our faith.  But, it does not necessarily mean showing our faith verbally.

In 1st Timothy, Paul writes to his young colleague Timothy on how to fight the good fight of faith:

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, Godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:11-12

Paul writes that, to show the world that you are a child of God, we (just like Timothy), should pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. We are to be Christ-like in our actions.  Verbal communication about our love for Christ are not enough.  We must also show it in our actions as well.  Christ loves us, and He loves everybody in this world.  Jesus knows that He is not going to be accepted by all.  He even warned His disciples that His followers would be persecuted because of Him.  But Jesus still expects us to act Christ-like even during persecution.  Jesus expects us to be like Him—no matter the time or the place. We are not to conceal Him at anytime.

* * * * *

Dear Lord, You are my Savior.  You are my Lord.  I accept You in this time of persecution and peril.  Please be with me as I share Your message and Your love with those around me. In Jesus name.

Amen.

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Today, Tomorrow, and Eternity

September 6, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

Come, my children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,
keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.
Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.”
Psalms 34:11-14

Have you noticed how unruly and ungodly our own culture, society, world, etc., have become?  It is slowly degrading everyday.  It makes me wonder what kind of world my grandchildren (if my kids decide to have kids) will see.  Faith is being attacked from every angle.  God and Jesus are being taken from the public eye while other faiths can keep themselves out in public view.

Yet, if you look around, there are still plenty of people who fear the Lord.  The Lord will teach those who are getting rid of Him that they should fear Him.  The final punishment will be one that they probably can’t even imagine because they have not been taught how to fear the Lord. The Lord is perfect.  And the Lord is jealous…as the Israelites found out many times before.

The Israelites turned from God many times.  They ended up in slavery in Egypt.  Cities were destroyed because they became intertwined within the cultures that had accepted the Israelites into theirs.  Sodom and Gomorrah paid the ultimate price—complete destruction.  If we continue on the path we are on today then our culture, society, world, etc., is looking at its own destruction from God’s power soon.  Jesus will return for God’s children, and the end will come.

For those of us who fear the Lord and accept His blessings and teachings, the end will be great.   We will see many good days here on Earth, but we will see an eternity of good days in Heaven.   God’s children’s lives are immortal if they have accepted the one true Savior, Jesus Christ.  Just think about these verses:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
Romans 10:9

By accepting the Lord, by fearing the Lord, and receiving blessings from the Lord, we will have many good days here on Earth and in Heaven.  We must turn from evil to good and seek God.  If the rest of the world would do this then maybe there would not be so much disaster and heartache in our world today.  Maybe our children would get the examples they need instead of the ones they don’t need.

* * * * *

Dear Lord, we thank You for our earthly days.  We look forward to the days we will spend with You in eternity.  We believe that Jesus died for all here on earth.  We pray that this message of love and sacrifice reaches everyone.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

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God’s Angels

August 29, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
Psalm 91:11

This verse has been sticking me for the past 24 hours.  God commands His angels to guard us no matter what we do.  Now, it does not necessarily mean that this angel is the angel we all see in pictures.  God’s angels come in all forms.  It may be somebody we know or may be in something that happens.

We have had many accidental deaths in our area over the past few weeks.  I am reminded of one accident where a girl was pulling out of her driveway and was hit by a drunk driver.  She was 18 or 19 years old.  She died.  When the paramedics and firemen pulled her body away from her steering wheel, there were hardly any marks or outward injuries present.  They said it was like one of God’s angels had wrapped their arms around her as she died.  It was like she was hugged and comforted as she entered eternity.  I am glad to know that when I die, or just in anything I am doing, that God will have Jesus or an angel there with me.

God is a refuge and a fortress.  When we are down or in trouble, we should take refuge in our God.  My son is having adjustment issues to kindergarten.  His first day went terribly.  I blamed myself.  See, he has been in daycare since he was 6 weeks old.  I have to work.  It was a family decision.  I blamed myself because I know he is acting out to get attention.  I felt like I had deprived him over the last 5 years.  Thanks to God’s angels (my husband, my mother, and friends whose own kids started kindergarten and had similar days), I was relieved to know that I was not the only one whose kid was having trouble adjusting.  I felt better.  God sent his angels to comfort me and bring me back up from my despair.

* * * * *

God, I pray that You send Your angels to protect us in no matter what we do.  We know that You are our Refuge.  We can come to You no matter the time, place, or situation.  I pray that You send Your angels—spiritual and physical—to us everyday as a sign of Your love and protection.   Amen.

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Children of God

August 19, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

As of this past Saturday, I officially have a five year old son.  We have tried to instill knowledge of God in his life since he was old enough to talk and attend children’s Sunday school.  My husband informed me that our son saw the Bible we used at our wedding (it is considered the family Bible), and it has our names and wedding date are on that Bible.  Our son has requested his own Bible with his name and birth date only printed on the front.  My, my!  He is only five and already asking for a Bible.  Where does the time go?

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Psalms 19:2-3

Time flies…and life flies.  We are busy with work, school, family, etc.  Yet, a five year old boy can stop and ask for a Bible.  Every Saturday night and Sunday morning, a five year old boy can stop and ask if we are going to church.  If a five year old can stop and ask if he is going to church today or for his own Bible then so should we.  We should seek the Lord so we have knowledge of Him. We should pass this knowledge on to those who do not believe.  We should help God place a yearning for Him in our kids and those around us.  Pass the word along.  It spreads the knowledge of God to the ends of the earth.

We should seek God daily.  Noah and Moses looked for His guidance during their trials.  The prophets listened to God, and spread His message upon command.  Jesus commanded his disciples to spread the word and the knowledge of Jesus to the world.  Thanks to the Internet, telephone, airplanes, cars, boats, trains, Skype, etc., we can spread the knowledge of God to every language, nation, and culture in the world.  We can use our knowledge that was passed down from the disciples to spread the knowledge of God.

But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
Matthew 19:14

My son has asked for his own Bible.  I know that is mainly because of having his own name on there, but I also know that he yearns for God.  It never fails that he asks on Saturday nights if we are going to church tomorrow.  I hope that when he gets his own Bible in four and a half months that we can continue to help his yearning grow to the point he becomes a child of Jesus.  We are not going to hinder him or his sister from becoming a child of God.

* * * * *

Dear God, please give us the strength to spread Your word.  Bless us in our work for You.  Be with us as we spread Your word.  Thank You for the tools You have given us to finish the mission You have given us.   Amen.

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