November 19, 2024

Walk in Obedience

July 19, 2014 by

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They also do no iniquity: they walk in His ways.
Psalm 119: 3

Walking with God requires us to obey the Word of God.  Abraham was blessed because he obeyed the Word of God when He wanted Abraham to sacrifice Isaac.

And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him,
Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,
and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering
upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
Genesis 22:1-2

The Angel acknowledged Abraham’s act of obedience.

And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said,
“By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this
and have not withheld your son, your only son,
I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring
as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore.
Verses 15-17

The second time Abraham was told where to go and he went there. Guess what? God blessed him with many things and he prospered.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in His law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither;
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
Psalms 1: 1-3

Believers take Abraham as their Father of Faith according to Romans 4:16.  You will realize that He did not come into being our Father of Faith just like that but he stood on the Word of God and loved to meditate on the Word of God and do as the God’s Word required.

Remember Psalm 119:105…

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

We can’t walk righteously and be blessed if we divert ourselves from His Word. Let us stand upon the Word of God and do as it is required of a Christian like you and me.

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Father, we thank You for the word that comes to us at the right time.  We pray for Your spirit to dwell in us all the time; for us to walk in Your ways and do as You want us to do.  We pray for forgiveness for the times we have done it our way and ended up messing up.  Forgive us all our iniquities.  May Your presence be with us always.  Give us a heart to make more time to meditate on your Word and do as you wish.  In Jesus’ name, we pray.  Amen.

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Psalms 119:1-5

July 18, 2014 by

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Blessed are those whose way is blameless,
who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,
who seek Him with their whole heart,
who also do no wrong,
but walk in His ways!
You have commanded Your precepts
to be kept diligently.
Oh that my ways may be steadfast
in keeping Your statutes!
Psalms 119:1-5

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One Thing

Written by Charlie Hall/ Performed by Jared Jensen

Single-minded, wholehearted, one thing I ask
Single-minded, wholehearted, one thing I ask

That I may gaze upon Your beauty, Oh, Lord
That I may seek Your Holy Face
That I may know You in an intimate way
And follow after You all of my days

All of life comes down to just one thing
and that’s to know You, oh Jesus, and make You known

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Thank You

July 17, 2014 by

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Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to the law of the LORD.
Blessed are those who keep His statutes
and seek Him with all their heart—
they do no wrong
but follow His ways.
You have laid down precepts
that are to be fully obeyed.
Oh, that my ways were steadfast
in obeying Your decrees!
Psalms 119:1-5

I remember growing up and receiving praise from a parent or teacher…that is one of the best feelings out there!  I see the delight in my children’s eyes when I thank them for listening, and when I let them know how much I appreciate their good behavior.  Even as adults we enjoy hearing “Way to go!” when we are recognized for doing well.  This is what God is doing here.  He is praising those who are blameless, those who follow His direction, and those that obey.  Now, He isn’t condemning those who may not be doing these things.  This is a sign of His unconditional love!  This verse wasn’t followed by a reprimand; it is a special message to those who are intentional in following Him, intentional in their obedience.

David ends this particular passage with these words:

You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.
Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!

David is stating his intentions—his desire to be obedient.  God didn’t simply tell us to listen to Him.  He has given us detailed instructions on living life.  He gave us an entire ‘how-to’ book, a manual for life.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your instructions, for the ‘how-to’ guide that You have made available to us. Like David, I pray that we are steadfast in obeying Your commands and unwavering in following Your instructions. In Jesus’ Name I pray, amen.

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Stay On Course

July 16, 2014 by

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You’re blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
You’re blessed when you follow His directions, doing your best to find Him.
That’s right – you don’t go off on your own; you walk straight along the road He set.
You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it.
Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set.
Psalms 119: 1-5

I am human. I have freewill to do what I please and I’m imperfect when I stand alone. Psalms 119:1-5 talks about ‘staying on course’; some translations use the word ‘blameless.’   Thinking about being blameless can be overwhelming—depending on how you decide to look at it. If I try to be blameless with no help then, yes, I am going to cry. If my blamelessness is dependent on a perfect God then, He’s got it taken care of.

I prefer the translation using “stay on course” because this deals directly with my freewill. I can choose whether I will tithe or help a person in need when I have the means or listen to the beckoning of the Holy Spirit. I can choose to read my Bible or not.

It’s not always easy to stay on course. Life happens even with the best of our intentions. Do not be discouraged by your “humanness” though (we all have some). Even some of our favorite people in the bible had to deal with their “humanness:”

  • The disciples were tired at Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46)
  • David was bored and ended up with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11)
  • Moses got frustrated and disobeyed God by striking the rock (Numbers 23:1-13)
  • Cain got angry and killed Able (Genesis 4:1-16)
  • Abraham and Sarah got impatient with God (Genesis 16:1-4)
  • Peter was scared and denied Jesus (Matthew 26:69-75)
  • Peter got distracted on the water (Matthew 14:30)

Oh, how thankful I am that I serve a God who is perfect in all that He does! He even came up with the perfect plan to make me perfect in His eyes through Jesus Christ. “Humanness” is nothing compared to the Cross. Don’t get me wrong, we still have self-control that needs to be exhibited when our “humanness” rears its ugly head, but to know that we don’t have to strive for perfection lightens the load of living significantly.  Stay on course.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Lord, help me to stay on the path that you set out for me.  Amen.

 

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Following Him

July 15, 2014 by

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You’re blessed when you stay on course,
    walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
You’re blessed when you follow His directions,
    doing your best to find Him.
That’s right—you don’t go off on your own;
    you walk straight along the road He set.
You, God, prescribed the right way to live;
    now You expect us to live it.
Oh,  that my steps might be steady,
    keeping to the course You set;

Psalms 119: 1-5 (The Message)

As David encourages us, we will be blessed as we stay true to following God. Just like our relationships, we are to keep pushing forward for understanding. When we study His word, God is faithful to speak to us as we ask for understanding.

We see families sacrificing their time for a child’s dream or passion. What if we could turn that kind of commitment into serving our Lord? There are hurting people out there that need to know God’s unconditional love. We do our best. And God sees our efforts. As long as our intentions are to honor Him, we will be blessed.

God did not give us rules to restrict our living, He gave us rules to protect us. But because we have the nature of Adam, we sin. Then He gave us Jesus. Jesus lived life on earth as an example of perfect living. Jesus loves his Father and was obedient unto death on that horrible Roman cross.

 

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Following The Rules

July 14, 2014 by

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Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to the law of the Lord.
Blessed are those who keep His statutes
and seek Him with all their heart—
they do no wrong but follow His ways.
You have laid down precepts
that are to be fully obeyed.
Oh, that my ways were steadfast
in obeying Your decrees!”
Psalms 119:1-5

As children, we are taught right and wrong from the beginning. Our parents do their best to teach us right from wrong. Sometimes we follow their teachings—and sometimes we don’t. That is called being human. If we followed their teachings and never got into trouble then we would be perfect and in Heaven with God right now. Unfortunately, we are born into sin and therefore follow human nature until we accept Christ.

Our parents lay down rules so as to give us boundaries to follow as we grow up. If we do not follow them, then there are consequences. I know a person (I will not name names) who got a whipping with a flip-flop from his mother because he thought he could get what he wanted by pitching a fit even though he had already been told ‘no’ and the reason why. I received a spanking for asking a cashier at Arby’s for a quarter to play the video games at the restaurant even though I had already been told ‘no’ by my mother. Just as the little boy did not respect his mother, neither did I—and we both paid for it.

This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man,
blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.
Genesis 6:9

Just as parents set boundaries for their children, God does so for His children. He blesses those that follow His teachings and listen to Him. He saw Noah this way, and Noah was blessed with his life and the gift of helping to repopulate the Earth when God destroyed the world in the Flood. Noah had a relationship with God. This relationship saved him in more ways than one and blessed him among men. He obeyed God and was blessed.

God blesses those who follows His teachings and laws. He blesses those that enter into a relationship with Him. We should seek to follow God’s laws and teachings. We should open our ears and hearts and eyes to Him from the time we wake to the time we sleep every day. We are blessed to have a loving Father who takes cares of us and blesses us in any way imaginable.

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Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your laws and teachings. Thank You for blessing those who follow You. You care for us and gave these laws to set boundaries that will protect and bless us. Thank You for Your love and kindness and mercy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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The Plea of an Honest Heart

July 13, 2014 by

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Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are the undefiled
(the upright, truly sincere, and blameless) in the way [of the revealed will of God],
who walk (order their conduct and conversation) in the law of the Lord
(the whole of God’s revealed will).
Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are they who keep His testimonies,
and who seek, inquire for and of Him and crave Him with the whole heart.
Yes, they do no unrighteousness [no willful wandering from His precepts];
they walk in His ways.
You have commanded us to keep Your precepts, that we should observe them diligently.
Oh, that my ways were directed and established to observe Your statutes
[hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them]!
Psalms 119:1-5 (AMP)

These five verses speak of God’s Holy Word. Every verse mentions “His way,” “the revealed Word of God,” “the law of the Lord,” “His testimonies,” “His precepts,” “Your statutes” and they tell us a lot about ourselves. Look at the first and last verses…notice the contrast?  Verse one speaks of being blameless and undefiled. The last verse is a plea from a desperate heart. We try to keep “His statutes” but, being human, sometimes we fail.

Take a closer look at verses 1 and 3. Verse 1 states that “the undefiled (the upright, truly sincere, and blameless)” are blessed. These people “do no unrighteousness [no willful wandering from His precepts]” according to verse 3. These verses are hard to put into practice. They set the bar high. They convict us.

However, verses 2 and 4 offer a glimmer of hope. If we “seek, inquire for and of Him and crave Him with the whole heart”, if we “keep Your precepts, that we should observe them diligently,” if we strive toward doing and not just hearing, then we honor Him. And, with His help, we succeed.

Ahhhhh…but verse 5. Verse 5 shows us right where we need to be.

“Oh, that my ways were directed and established to observe Your statutes [hearing, receiving, loving, and obeying them]!”

This is a heartfelt prayer from the depths of our soul. It is a yearning for all we desire to be—for all God created us to be.

Do you feel shame when you read verses 1 and 3?  I do. It pricks my conscience when I reflect on my failures and His ultimate act of grace. I have a past strewn with sin, littered with mistakes, and filled with bad choices. Since we are not blameless and undefiled, does that mean we are not blessed?  No.

1 John 4:17 tells us “as He is, so also are we in this world.” Jesus is blameless, undefiled, and perfect and that is how God sees us. God looks past our mistakes and sees our heart. He sees the desires of an honest heart; and our desire for a right relationship with Him.

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Father God, we lift our hearts up to You, knowing we are not blameless or undefiled. We are so thankful that through Your mercy and grace You see past our imperfection and into our hearts. Thank You for the gift of Jesus that makes us perfect in Your sight. May we always desire to hear, receive, love, and obey Your revealed will for us. In the precious name of Jesus we pray, Amen – so be it.

 

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Afflictions and Deliverance

July 11, 2014 by

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As I read Psalm 34, I noticed a recurring theme. Take a look at these four verses:

Verse 4
I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears. (NLT)
Verse 6
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. (AMP)
Verse 17
The Lord hears His people when they call to Him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. (NLT)
Verse 19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. (NASB)

Do you see it?  Freedom, salvation, rescue, deliverance…that’s the theme I saw.  But “who” is our Deliverer and from “what” are we being freed?  I love the use of the word “afflictions” in the NASB version of verse 19. Other translations use the words “troubles, adversities, and evils.”   ‘Afflictions’ encompasses our fears, our troubles, our desperation, our helplessness, our brokenness our wounds, our pains. Every trial, every struggle, every adversary and enemy is bound up in the word affliction. That is “what” we are being rescued from—our afflictions. From the small annoying molehills we face daily to the gigantic, seemingly immovable, mountains of tragedy and despair.

“Who” rescues us and saves us from these afflictions?  The Lord is our Deliverer.  The Lord hears our cries, listens to our prayers when we seek Him. Let’s face it, on our own, we are often incapable of finding our way out of a cardboard box.  Right now I am in the midst of a struggle.  In the grand scheme of things, it is a molehill kind of struggle.  But it has left me feeling bereft and abandoned.  I cannot find my own way out of that box.  In fact, at times it seems I have placed the box over my head and am encased by it!  Yet, Psalm 34:2 says if I “boast only in the Lord” then even in my helplessness I can take heart.  Doesn’t it make your heart happy that the Lord promises to hear our cries and our prayers?  He alone can provide deliverance from our afflictions.  Tony Evans sums it up this way:

“Prayer is the hand of faith that transfers the promises of God into the realities of life.”

All we need to do is call His name to put it into motion.

 *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Father, we thank You for always being there when we seek You, for hearing the cries of our hearts. You alone are our Deliverer. Our hope and salvation comes from You. You have freed us from every fear, every trouble, every affliction and we are eternally grateful. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen—so be it.

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Through It All

July 10, 2014 by

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I will bless the LORD at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the LORD;
The humble shall hear of it and be glad.
Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
And let us exalt His name together.
Psalms 34:1-3

Work…
Husband…
Home…
Soccer practice.    Dance practice.    Basketball practice.
My school…kid’s school…
Running here.   Running there.   Running everywhere.

This would make a great Dr. Seuss poem, now that I think of it, but in reality it is just part of my weekly to-do list. Constantly moving…and my brain constantly working. And I know that other women out there have this schedule and then some. We are a generation of women on the move. I say this to point out that when we are always moving we may, at times, forget to praise the Lord because the busyness takes over.

Last night I was folding laundry. I laid back, sighed, and was about to voice a complaint…as I often do when the piles are taller than my head! But this time I thanked God for the clothes I was folding and for the people who wore those clothes. The situation could be different—I could have no clothes to fold, no dishes to wash, no practices to taxi kids to, no life in me to live.

Life tends to entice us to complain, and other people motivate and model to us how to gripe and groan. But as children of the Most High we have the ability to move past this. We have the ability and the gift of being able to praise God continually—through good, bad, busy, and slow.  Through all of life.  So ladies, through life and all that it brings, let us exalt His name together, and let us praise Him for all He does in our daily comings and goings.

 *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Let’s Pray:  Dear Heavenly Father, through all we see in our day, we can forget to thank You for what You do. The word continually means all the time—driving, walking, drinking coffee, cheering our kids on…continually. Thank You for the gentle reminder through David. Lord, I pray that we practice intentional praise, and continual praise.  In Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

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Knowing When…

July 9, 2014 by

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I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad.
Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together!
Psalms 34:1-3

Many Bible versions carry an introduction to Psalm 34, similar to this: “A psalm of DAvid when he feigned madness before Abimelech, who drove him away and he departed.”  How many of us could act deranged, as David did? I would think it would be hard to carry out. But David had the forethought to act crazy and get out of his precarious situation. We may think that we would not be creative enough to get out of dangerous situations but we all are. We have lived life enough and have friends whom we have watched get themselves out of trouble.

David talks about blessing the Lord and praising Him. What does that look like to you? Do you think you can do it? It takes practice and conscious thought which will turn into unconscious actions. Speaking scripture, praying, especially when someone enters your thoughts, and relying on the Holy Spirit, our Helper, will enable us to pray and praise continually. If you are like me, you get started and then forget. Do not be discouraged. God understands and is waiting patiently for us. Practice, Practice, Practice.

“My soul makes its boast in the Lord” (verse 2). Have you had a miracle in your life? Each of us have circumstances in our lives that could have broken others. But because of our faith in our Lord, we have overcome. We have turned from victim to survivor! We can boast in our Lord, for He has been faithful to place people in our lives to lift us out of that pit. However, if you are currently in a time of testing or trial, keep your eyes fixed and focused on God. As Psalm 46:1 states: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”  Know, feel God’s Presence, seek Him when you become desperate. The Bible records in several different books the words of God assuring us He will never leave us. In the Old Testament, when encouraging Moses, God assured him he would not be alone (Deuteronomy 31:5-7). When Joshua took over after Moses died, God assured him that He would be with Joshua just as he was with Moses. (Joshua 1:5). And in the New Testament, Paul reminds us to keep ourselves free from the love of money and to be content with what we have because of God’s promise in Deuteronomy (Hebrews 13:4-6).

Corporate worship. We can receive the joy of the Lord when we praise and worship Him by ourselves. But there are times when we are to share our joy and become encouraged by participating in worship as a group with like-minded people. Philippians 2:1-3 says:

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.

Coming together to worship and praise allows opportunities to fellowship with each other. Often we get stuck in our own world and tend to not see others who are suffering and who need a caring touch, an encouraging word, or just a smile. Today, find that person. Even one who appears odd. Show them God’s love a few times and see if their demeanor changes. They may be odd because of walls placed to shield them after years of hurt, disappointment, and resentment. Who knows, you may be their angel.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Father, help us to be more like Your servant David. Allow the Holy Spirit to show us areas to shine in others lives and where we need to let Your light shine in us! Help us to leave our pain, resentment, disappointment, any negative thought at the foot of the Cross where Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice so that we may be free. Thank You for loving us and grafting us into Your family. We love You and praise Your name today and forever more!  In Jesus’ name, Amen!!!!

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