November 18, 2024

The Bible as a Teacher

September 29, 2014 by

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Since my youth, O God, You have taught me and to this day I declare Your marvelous deeds.
Psalm 71: 17

David had to recount throughout his life what had been happening to him.  How he has excelled in life, how he has been protected, etc.  And he came to a point of realizing that it was not about him but that the Lord was with him always.  And so it is for us today to have a recount of our own lives.

How does God teach us?

He teaches us through His very own Words in the Bible.  And the Bible is the true book where the wisdom of our wise God is revealed.  God spoke the Word and breathed into it and it became life.  We thank God for the Word that is life today.  The Word that is changing our lives for the best disciples.

I have learned in life that I can only learn better as long as I study much. Learning is a process which goes step-by-step.  Looking at myself I have passed through a nursery school (kindergarten) through a higher level and now a profession in my field.  All this is achievable through teachings, studies etc.

And so the Word of God teaches us—from a Sunday School kid and now a born-again Christian who is not merely born again but also a disciple of Jesus Christ.  In Isaiah 8:11, “ The Lord spoke to me with his strong hand upon me warning me not to follow the way of this people, he said….”

Why does God teach us?

• So that we can walk in the right way: Isaiah says His God instructs him and teaches him the right way. Isaiah 28:26
• That we may know what God have freely given us: We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit Who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. I Corinthians 2:12
• That we know the truth that is in Jesus : Surely you have heard of Him and were taught in Him that is in Jesus. You were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. Ephesian 4:21-22
• Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you for you yourselves have been taught by god to love each other. 1 Thessalonians 4:9
• All these teachings urge us to appreciate the marvelous deeds God has done. 1 John 2:27

Let us be Christians who are not only mouthing the words but rather renewed in our minds and able to study the Word of God and observe to do what it says we should do. Joshua 1:8.

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Father, we thank You for Your Word. You’ve give us the grace to be true disciples that are willing to be taught by a great teacher.  In Jesus’ name, I pray.  Amen.

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There Is Still Power in the Name of Jesus

September 28, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

O God.
Let me proclaim Your power to this new generation,
Your mighty miracles to all who come
Psalm 71:18b NLT

Let me confess a couple of things before I get started:
-My blogs are about things God is showing and teaching me that I hope will touch you too.
-I went about writing this blog backwards. I started with an idea and God showed me the Scripture.

I was watching a video this morning and God thumped me upside the head and asked, “Are you paying attention?” I have included a link to the video (see below) but here is a brief outline:

Samuel Rodriguez is asked to pray at a secular event in Washington, D.C. When he arrives, he finds out a Universalist, an Imam, and a Rabbi have been asked to pray as well. He is given a choice where in the order he would like to pray…and chooses to go last. After he prays there is clapping for 4-6 minutes. When asked why the people kept clapping he states, “There is STILL power in the Name of Jesus!”

Let me ask you something—Do you proclaim Jesus’ power? Do you pray like you believe in His power?
This is where God was drawing my attention. I have not been praying like I believe in the mighty power of His Name. Then when I saw Psalm 71:18 I knew this was something I needed to research and write about.

Jesus Christ

  • His is the Name above ALL names
  • Angels fall prostrate at His Name
  • Every knee shall bow at the Name of Jesus
  • His Name causes the dead to rise
  • His Name makes demons tremble and flee
  • His Name gives sight to the blind, makes the lame walk and heals the sick

Best of all, Jesus’ is the only Name that can wash us white as snow and make us acceptable to God – “…by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name” (John 20:31 NLT).

In Matthew 28:18 AMP, Jesus tells us, “All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”  John 13:3 NIV says “…the Father had put all things under His power…”  That is the ultimate power!  We have been given access to that power. We are to use it when we pray and proclaim it loudly for all to hear so the next generation knows there is still power in the name of Jesus.

All hail the power of Jesus’ Name.

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Lord Jesus, we are so thankful for the power of Your Holy Name. Remind us of that power continually so that we may use it to bring You glory and honor. May we lift our voices to proclaim how the power of Your Name is alive and at work in our own lives. In Your precious and Holy Name, I ask this, Amen – it is so!

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You Are My Strength Psalm 71

September 27, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

I will come in the strength and with the mighty acts of the Lord God;
I will mention and praise Your righteousness, even Yours alone.
O God, You have taught me from my youth, and hitherto have I declared Your wondrous works.
Yes, even when I am old and gray-headed, O God, forsake me not, [but keep me alive]
until I have declared Your mighty strength to [this] generation,
and Your might and power to all that are to come.
Your righteousness also, O God, is very high [reaching to the heavens],
You Who have done great things; O God, who is like You, or who is Your equal?
Psalms 71:16-19

You are my strength
Strength like no other
Strength like no other
Reaches to me

You are my hope
Hope like no other
Hope like no other
Reaches to me

In the fullness of Your grace
In the power of Your Name
You lift me up
You lift me up

Unfailing love
Stronger than mountains
Deeper than oceans
Reaches to me

Your love O Lord
Reaches to the heavens
Your faithfulness
Reaches to the sky

Singer/Songwriter – Reuben Morgan with Hillsong United

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An Infinite God

September 25, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

I will exalt You, my God the King;
I will praise Your name for ever and ever.
Every day I will praise You
and extol Your name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
His greatness no one can fathom.
Psalms 145:1-3

God is so great. God is so good. God is great all the time. It is hard to fathom just how far-reaching God’s greatness is—it is infinite. Infinity is hard to imagine because it never ends. It is often too hard to imagine infinity. There is no way to put an end to it.

For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; He also is to be feared above all gods.
1 Chronicles 16:25

God has been here before any of us were ever born. He created the universe, the world, humans—everything. His reach is infinite. His reach is so infinite that He is able to send His Son to be with us no matter where we are. His reach is so infinite that we cannot hide anything from God. He knows everything and sees everything. God’s reach is so infinite that it is amazing and scary at the same time. It is amazing that our God knows us so well.

He is so great that God deserves praise every day. His greatness and love make Him worthy of eternal praise and love. Once we are in Heaven with God for eternity, we will have the chance to praise Him for eternity.

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Dear Heavenly Father, we praise You for Your infinite love. We praise You for Your greatness. Without You, we would be nothing. You have our best interests in Your mind and sight, and we are thankful for that. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Perfection

September 24, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Great is the Lord and highly to be praised;
and His greatness is [so vast and deep as to be] unsearchable.
Psalm 145:3 AMP

These two Scriptures echo the unsearchable greatness of God:

Who does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number…
Job 5:9 AMP

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unfathomable (inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)!
And how untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)!
Romans 11:33 AMP

Ok…I admit it…I am a word nerd.  When I read Psalm 145:3, two words stuck out – greatness and unsearchable. So I researched each word to see how it was defined in Biblical times.

Unsearchable:  infinite, deep, incomprehensible, untraceable, vast. But when I looked up greatness, one word kept reoccurring—perfection. God IS Perfection. Which is something we continually strive for but cannot attain. In others words, God is described as ‘infinite, incomprehensible, untraceable perfection’.  I cannot even begin to wrap my mind around that.  I love the question that is asked in Job 11:7 (HCSB):

Can you fathom the depths of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?

Job 26:14 (AMP) asks it this way:

Yet these are but [a small part of His doings] the outskirts of His ways
or the mere fringes of His force, the faintest whisper of His voice!
Who dares contemplate or who can understand the thunders of His full, magnificent power?

We will never be able to conceive the riches of God’s greatness or His perfection.  We tend to define God by our limited experiences and our own point of view.  But God is so immense that we will not discover His full magnitude this side of Heaven.  Yet as we continue to seek Him, He continues to reveal Himself to us.

You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jeremiah 29:13

Hebrews 11:6 says “He rewards those who sincerely seek Him.”  Amazing! God continues to reveal His greatness and His perfection to us when we sincerely seek Him.  He is more than worthy of our praise.  But we will never be able to glorify Him with as much praise as He deserves because His perfection is beyond what our feeble minds can comprehend.  But the more I seek Him, the more He reveals of Himself to me and I praise Him more.  As I grow in knowledge of who God is, I am able to honor Him with more and more praise.

Great is the Lord and highly to be praised…
Psalm 145:3

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No One Can Fathom

September 23, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Every day I will praise You
and extol Your name for ever and ever.
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
His greatness no one can fathom.
Psalms 145:2 and 3

“No one can fathom….”  In life we try to find a reason for everything.  We don’t want any unknowns, we need answers.  Some things will be understood by all (like the greatness of ice cream), some things will be understood by few (like math), and some will be understood by none—like the greatness of God.

There are so many times, even on a daily basis, that I don’t understand why God does what He does for me.  And for others, even those I don’t feel deserve it, and even when I don’t feel as if I deserve it.  So when the words of this psalm say to ‘…extol (or praise) His name for ever and ever’, I don’t find that a difficult task to accomplish.

I accept that God’s greatness is one of those things in life that will not be understood until it is time—until we see Him in all of His glory.  Until this time we are asked to follow simple steps: exalt Him…praise Him…extol His name.  Why? Because.  Because His greatness keeps us going even when we don’t deserve it.  His greatness just is!  We don’t deserve it, we didn’t earn it, but His love for us allows it to flow freely.

No, I cannot say why He does what He does, but I don’t need to.  I know that I need to praise and pray, I need to worship, I need to give thanks…for ever and ever….

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Let’s pray:  Dear Lord, I pray contentment in not knowing why You do what You do. Your greatness is a blessing, Your greatness is inspiring.  Daily You shine upon us, and daily we will say ‘Thank You!’  In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

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Who Am I Representing?

September 22, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

I will exalt You, my God and King,
and praise Your name forever and ever.
I will praise You every day;
yes, I will praise You forever.
Great is the LORD! He is most worthy of praise!
No one can measure His greatness.
Psalms 145:1-3

As I read these verses for our devotional this week, I couldn’t help but ask myself, “Do I exalt the Lord?  Do I praise Him daily?” Sadly, I didn’t have to ponder long to conclude that the answer is ‘no.’  The busyness of life has most definitely taken center stage.  And everything and everyone else has been pushed to the side.  School, work, trying to relax, doing homework, sleeping…because you have to sleep…making life choices.  Life can often get in the way of the most important thing—spending time with God and remembering that my life is meant to be lived for Him with Him.

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other,
or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money.
Matthew 6:24

This also can apply to other areas of your life, such as work, relationship, ministry, or children.   You cannot ‘serve two masters,’ the verse says.  First and foremost, God is to be the center of everything, and when He is we will be fulfilled, and everything else falls into place.

I was quickly reminded of Martha.  Poor Martha was so concerned with what she was doing for Christ rather than being with Christ and putting Him first.

Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted
by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair
to You that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”
But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details!
There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it,
and it will not be taken away from her.”
Luke 10:39-42

I want to please God. I want to live a life for Him. I just pray that I don’t get so concerned with what I am doing and forget about living life with Him.

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Lord, help me to balance living for You, and keeping You in center place in my life.  Amen.

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Unceasing Praise

September 21, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

I will exalt You, my God the King
I will praise Your name forever and ever.
Every day I will praise You and extol Your name forever and ever.
Psalms 145:1-2 NIV

In this psalm I am able to see that we need to praise the Lord at all times despite our adversaries that are in this life.  Ignoring the works of the devil while praising God makes the devil want to give up on us.

What is unceasing praise?

Revelations 4:8 says, “Each of the four creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around even under his wings.  Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come.’

If the four creatures were able to say ‘Holy Holy Holy,’ what more you and I who are created in His very own image—us who were given dominion over the creatures?  He gave us the power over things.  And here the same creatures are saying ‘Holy Holy Holy!’ (How about us?)  I feel ashamed when sometimes a day passes without being able to praise the Lord in the name of being busy.  Praise has to come from deep down in our heart.  It has to be a daily thing to do and a thing that we need to love to do.  Let us therefore choose to praise the Lord at all times.

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea
and all that is in them singing: ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power for ever and ever.’
Revelations 5:13

Praise the Lord forever! In Psalm 35:28 we read,

My tongue will speak of Your righteousness and of Your praises all day long.

The birds of the air are able to praise God; what more you and I?

I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Psalm 104:33

Praise can only done when you are alive. Let us give the best to our Lord now while we are alive. If we die it becomes another issue altogether. Let us make best use of our time to praise the Lord.

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Father, I thank You for Your answers to prayer always and for the revelations each time I come to You. Lord, You are indeed worthy! Glory and honor be unto You. Father, give us the grace to praise You more each day and without ceasing forever and ever.  I pray for an intimate relationship with You, Lord.  Let Your Presence saturate us with Your anointing always.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

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Lord, I Offer My Life To You

September 20, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Your praise.
For You delight not in sacrifice, or else would I give it; You find no pleasure in burnt offering.
My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise.
Psalms 51:15-17

Lord, I offer my life to You
Everything I’ve been through, use it for Your glory
Lord, I offer my days to You
Lifting my praise to You as a pleasing sacrifice
Lord, I offer You my life
Things in the past things yet unseeen
Wishes and dreams that are yet to come true
All of my hope and all of my plans
My heart and my hands are lifted to You
All that I am, all that I have
I lay them down before You, oh Lord
All my regrets, all my acclaims
The joy and the pain, I’m making them Yours
Lord, I offer my life to You
Everything I’ve been through, use it for Your glory
Lord, I offer my days to You
Lifting my praise to You as a pleasing sacrifice
Lord, I offer You my life
Songwriters: CLONINGER, CLAIRE D./MOEN, DON
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Cracks

September 19, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare Your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
You do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
A broken and contrite heart, You, God, will not despise.
Psalms 51:15-17

The words of this Amy Grant song began to play in my head as I read these verses…
We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful, the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah…

I think so often we want to impress God with our performance—with what we do, say, and with our actions—that we forget that our brokenness speaks in volumes.  I don’t fault us for wanting to do this, we want to seem ‘put together’ to those around us, to ourselves, and to God.  We want to seem as if we are in control, following God’s word from “Genesis to the maps”, (as my pastor says).  But life happens. We are humans who fall and we break.  Yes, God does love us when we are doing well, when we are walking in righteousness.  But there is more to daily life than that…when we hurt, when we cry out in pain, when we are broken.

I always think of the story of the shattered pot.  Yes, the pot was a beautiful piece of art when it was whole but somewhere along the way it was knocked over, breaking into small pieces.  From the looks of it, there was no fixing it.  But God takes those pieces and mends them together; He fits each piece back where it belongs.  The difference is not that the light shines through the cracks but God’s light shines through us.  It was something to say that the potter created…a beautiful piece to begin with.  But it is another thing to say that God took something that was thought to be trash and made it beautiful again.  The care He took in repairing it is like the care He takes in repairing us.  Our broken and contrite hearts.  Our broken pieces that others may look at and want to throw away.  When we are broken, we may not want to turn to God.  Perhaps out of shame or pain; there may be many reasons.  But it is during these times when we need to turn to Him the most, when we need to allow Him to touch our broken lives, healing us in ways that will allow His light to shine through our cracks.  This gives Him glory and shows our faith in Him.  Yes, He delights in us doing good because that’s what were supposed to do, but as His Word says in Psalm 51, sometimes, a lot of times, our sacrifice is our brokenness.

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Let’s pray: ‘Better than a Hallelujah’, Lord!  Only You can make our broken into beautiful.  Only you can mend the hurt and pain.  We live in a performance-based society…we’re told that doing good all the time will get us where we need to go.  But You, Lord, open Your arms to our brokenness.  Thank You!  Please touch our hearts and remind us daily to turn to You when we are broken and battered.  Your light will shine through the cracks and display beauty.  Broken and contrite, Lord…this is our sacrifice to You.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

Better Than A Hallelujah
Amy Grant

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