March 15, 2026

Remembrance

September 16, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogoSome days I am disappointed with the present state of my life.  Left unchecked this emotion runs rampant through my mind and affects my interactions with others.  Negative is the word I would use to describe the veil that clouds my mind when I am disappointed.

When I am disappointed I always have two choices: to continue on the downward spiral or get refocused.  It’s important that I don’t dismiss this emotion, thinking it’ll just go away, because disappointment leads to discouragement and discouragement stops me dead in my tracks.

Let all that I am praise the Lord,
may I never forget the good things He does for me.
Psalm 103:2

What better way to refocus than with remembrance?!

The Lord has brought me through so many ill circumstances, working them in my favor and came to my defense more times than I can count.  The Lord has given me plenty to remember.  Plenty to hold on to.  I simply have to choose to remember…to praise His goodness.  Once I do this, I can easily remember that God has a plan for me!  He’s always had a plan.  What I see may be a mess, but given to God he can turn it into something magnificent.  And I pray I never forget this.

* * * * *

Father, thank You for reminding me that any disappointment I face in this life—whether it be a specific event, an area of my life, or just life as a whole—that Your grace and goodness can drown out this emotion.  Thank You that if I will allow You, You can make sense of and redeem my circumstances.  You are the mighty Redeemer.  Help me to remember all of Your goodness when I am tempted to grab hold of disappointment and self-pity.  In Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

My Help and My Deliverer

September 13, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

Let all those that seek and require You rejoice and be glad in You;
let such as love Your salvation say continually, The Lord be magnified!
[As for me] I am poor and needy, yet the Lord takes thought and plans for me.
You are my Help and my Deliverer. O my God, do not tarry!
Psalms 40:16 and 17

OK, please raise your hands up, everyone who has cried out to God like this….  OK, now hands up—raised in praise—everyone who has cried out to God like this KNOWING that He is your Help…He is your Deliverer…and that He will not tarry.  Oh, how we love to praise Him for His goodness, His grace, His help; yes?

There are days when we are feeling so very poor and needy…days when it takes effort, sometimes great effort, to continue to confess the truth that the Lord DOES take thought and DOES have plans for us.  God knows this; He knows we struggle.  He encourages and revives us with His promises.

For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord,
thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil,
to give you hope in your final outcome.
Then you will call upon Me,
and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you.
Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity]
and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.
I will be found by you, says the Lord…
Jeremiah 29:11-14

These are such sustaining promises made to you and me by our Faithful, Trustworthy God.  Have you ever considered memorizing God’s promises?  What an incredible weapon to have at your disposal—the Word(s) of God that He is faithful to bring to pass!  Either of these groups of verses that we have considered today would be wonderful to have at the ready in your memory…for those times when you are feeling poor and needy.

And so I ask you…

Do you seek Him and require Him?  Then rejoice and be glad in Him!

Do you love His salvation waiting expectantly for His return?  Then say, ‘The Lord be magnified!’

* * * * *

Oh, Lord, we totally and completely recognize our great need for You!  And we know, we absolutely know, that You are our Help and our Deliverer!  Thank You, Lord, for the comfort of these promises!  We rest in You!  Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Tender Mercy

September 12, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

The other day, one of my precious children was irritable.  He didn’t want to sit down for breakfast.  He didn’t want to be touched.  He didn’t want anyone to talk to him.  He didn’t want to go to the potty.  He didn’t want his Pull-Up changed.  He just wanted to be left alone.  (I just wanted him to be happy.)

So, I left him alone and just watched him.

Eventually, he began to follow me around. When I decided to sit down, he walked up to me and said, “I sit.”  I knew what he wanted.  He was waiting for me to sit and cross my legs….

He had been less than loving to me earlier.  He didn’t want anything to do with me, then.  I didn’t get a “good morning!” or even a smile.  All I got was an irritated response to everything…even when I was trying to comfort him!  How rude!!  Did his behavior deserve my kindness or love?

Lord, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me.
Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me.
Psalm 40:11

Have you ever had a moment when your behavior was, nicely put, less than stellar?

  • Peter did…when he denied Jesus three times in one night.
  • Paul did…when he was zealously busy persecuting Christians.

Yet, God extended mercy, forgiveness, love and kindness to both men.

We need to be careful how we behave when we are in a funk, but we also need to be forgiving of others who treat us poorly—because they are in a funk. No, it is not your fault they are unhappy, but we don’t need to take these moments personally. Don’t hold it against them! We are all imperfect human(s).

Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him.
Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement.
So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him.
2 Corinthians 2:7-8

What happened with the little boy?  Not one ounce of any hesitation was present—I sat and crossed my legs in less than a second and was ready to hold and snuggle him.  The thought of denying him his request to be comforted, never came to my mind.

I pray I can be as understanding with adults.

* * * * *

Lord, thank You for being so merciful.  Teach me to extend this same mercy to those around me. Help me to choose to not be offended when others are rude to me, and help me to be kind when I am feeling irritable.  I want to love others, even in their less than stellar moments.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Look to God Alone

September 10, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods.
Psalm 40:4

Only in God can we find true joy and happiness in this life—complete fulfillment! Jesus said this: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

God created in each of us a desire to know Him.  No one will ever be satisfied who tries to fill that void with any kind of substitute.   No person, activity, or thing can fill that void.

When I look and see how the worldly “rich and famous” have such a huge following, I am burdened.  First, I am burdened that many in our society who have reached the pinnacle of having achieved much are often empty because they don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus and are chasing after money and material things.  Secondly, I am burdened for those who follow these “stars” so closely as if they are trying to find someone who they can attach themselves to because they see the rich and famous as being “great” or perhaps seeing them as “greater” than they see themselves.  May I shout this?  “Put your trust completely in the Lord ALONE!”

Let’s not look to the proud—who chase after fulfilling the desires of self and pleasing self.  To follow them in such a way is to look toward those who turn aside to false gods.  And to chase after those people is to replace Jesus as top priority which He alone deserves.  Chasing after anyone other than Jesus is to allow the pursuit of false gods in your own life!

Friends, direct your love, trust, and pursuit toward the ONE AND ONLY great God Who came to earth as man, lived a perfect and sinless life, died on the Cross for our sins, and rose again to be a living Lord and King!

Pray to God to protect you from casting your eyes toward false gods and to give you a keen sense of awareness of what He desires for you.  Be aware of the Holy Spirit’s leading.  Is He asking you to turn off the TV at times?  Are you to stop reading magazines which cause you to idolize “superstars”?  Do you need to be careful when you talk to others about how wonderful people are to the point that you put people on a pedestal?  All people will disappoint you, but Jesus never will disappoint because He is God—and He is God alone! Let us always be mindful that our complete trust should only be in God.   People are…simply people.

* * * * *

Lord, help us always be aware that You are God alone!  Let us keep our eyes focused on You, knowing that You alone sit on the throne in our hearts as King of kings and Lord of lords!

In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

God is Trustworthy

September 9, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
Psalm 40:1

Sometimes we are so impatient.  We want everything yesterday!  But we fail to wait upon the Lord when we demand that everything happen when we want it to happen and in our appointed time.   Isaiah 40:31 tells us that those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.  God’s timing is always perfect.  He is never late, and He is never early.  He may not act according to our schedule, but He is always right on time.

We should not be mad at God when things are not going our way.  Rather we should be delighted in Him always. We delight in the Lord by spending time with Him on a daily basis despite the problems we are facing—by reading the Word; by praying in the Holy Spirit; by building ourselves up “on our most holy faith” (Jude 20); and by speaking in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19).  The nearer we draw to God, the bigger He becomes in our sight.  And the bigger God becomes to us, the smaller our problems in this world seem.

God is trustworthy to take care of all our anxieties. We have to patiently wait and rely on Him. Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.”  Many Christians try to be self-sufficient.  When they have a problem, they try to figure their own way out.  For example, if they need finances, they think of family members or friends they can borrow money from.  But instead of trusting in our own strength and wisdom, we should rely upon God…and trust Him to solve our problems.

Draw near to God and rely on Him for your strength.  Rely on the Spirit of God within you.  The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you (Romans 8:11).  He will quicken your mortal body, give you wisdom, bring you peace, comfort you in times of trouble, and help you in every situation!

God listens to our prayers always.  Even at times when we pray not according to His will, He still hears and answers us—in a way He feels is best  for us at that time.

If we patiently wait upon Him we will:

  • sail through no matter how deep or dark the situation is; God can turn it around
  • be lifted up and be established
  • come to a place of confidence and security

* * * * *

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for You are a caring, trustworthy, loving Father.  You take care of our hearts—however we may have wronged You by doing things our own way before coming to You.  Please forgive us and restore unto us the joy of our salvation.  Thank You for who You are in our lives.  In Jesus name we have prayed.

Amen!

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Broken Hearts

September 5, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;
and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.
Psalm 34:18

When your heart is broken, you have a debate before you…. Should you leave the pieces of your heart there and start over or should you pick up the pieces and mend them together again.   Actually, God is the only Potter mentioned in the Word.  He is the only one that can take our spiritual lives, break them, and put them all back together again.  But what about natural things, like our feelings being hurt, or close relationships going sour?  Should we try to mend those things and put them back together?  Well, this is where we as believers sometimes miss the mark.

We want to put things back together all the time and make things work, even when it may not be God’s will for us to do so.  That is why He told us to “cast our cares upon Him” (1 Peter 5:7) and “seek ye first the Kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).  His Word is telling us that, when we are broken by natural things and hurt in the flesh, we should cast these things to the feet of Jesus so that we can find out His will for it.  No matter how much it hurts, you must give it to God.  Of course, hurting is no fun and being hurt by people that are close to you is even more painful; but God sees all and knows all and, if you take the time to give it to Him, He can ease the pain.

God never told us to mend/heal our hurt hearts (like many popular preachers are saying today—”claim it”).  Perhaps we go to these spiritual rallies feeling like we can fix it all because the speaker said some general stuff that happens everywhere, and then you are charged a financial fee before it will happen!  We must remember that our cares, our concerns, our hurts, should be given to God so that HE can sort it out and properly “direct our path” (Proverbs 3:6).  Don’t listen to a generalized, motivational message about your personal turmoil or trial.  Only God knows the purpose, the plan, and the outcome of it.  Seek HIM first and you will find the answers and the direction to proceed.  Endure the pain…trust in Him…and know that it will stop hurting.  Remember:

The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart;
Psalm 34:18

The thing we run from is the thing that draws God…troubles are inevitable in life…the joy is that God wants to deliver us from them all!

Consider these Scriptures: Psalms 51:17, Proverbs 3:5 and 6, Hebrews 4:15.

* * * * *

Lord, we thank You for Your goodness and mercy on us.  We give You all the glory and honor for You are the great I AM.  You are Omnipresent—present everywhere; Omniscient—all knowing; and Omnipotent—all powerful!   Be close to us, Lord, and direct our path to the glory of Your name.  Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Magnify the Lord With Me!

September 4, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

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

Don’t you just l-o-v-e to praise God and share with others about how AWEsome He is?!!?  We have a great privilege, my friends!  It is our honor to bless the Lord…to speak well of Him…to praise Him…to boast of Him…to magnify the Lord…to exalt His Holy name together with others.  So many, many ways to do this!   For example, we can:

  • call someone on the phone and say, ‘Praise God!  Listen to what He just did in my life!’
  • text (not while driving though!) a friend telling them about His grace towards you
  • smile at a stranger in the grocery store and say, ‘Look at the abundance of all these wonderful vegetables that God has blessed us with!’
  • look across the supper table to our loved ones and remind them of just how very GOOD God has been to your family
  • echo a praise that a friend has just posted on their FaceBook page
  • dance with a child singing, ‘God is so good…He’s so good to me!’

There is much ‘unity of the Spirit’ in praising His Name together.  Magnifying God and speaking well of Him crosses all of the silly denominational boundaries that exist.  As the Apostle Paul admonished,

Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called
to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism;
one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Ephesians 4:3-6

We have oh-so-very-much to be thankful for!  We know we should ‘in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus’ (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  Let’s determine today that we will bless the Lord…speak well of Him…praise Him…boast of Him…magnify the Lord…exalt His Name together with others.  Can you only imagine how that will bless Him?!?

Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.  Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 5:18-20

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.  Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, *singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. *
Colossians 3:15 and 16

(*One version translates this as ‘making melody to God with His grace in your hearts!’)

Our lives are filled with the grace and mercy and goodness of our Great God!  As the psalmist wrote here in Psalm 34, ‘I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.’  May I encourage you…me…us to try to be so very aware of His blessings that our praises are bubbling up out of our grateful hearts through our thankful lips boasting of our wonderful Father!  Together may we magnify and glorify the Great I AM! <3

* * * * *

Dear Lord, may You always receive the praise, the honor, the glory, the gratitude and the thankfulness that You deserve!  You are so, so, SO GOOD to us!  We praise You and thank You for Your grace and mercy in Jesus’ precious name.  Amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Praises on our Lips and our Faces

September 3, 2013 by

SeekingHimLogo

Friends, it would be good to read 1 Samuel 21 to understand that Psalm 34 was written on the heels of what took place there.  When David penned Psalm 34 (after acting strangely in 1 Samuel 21) he had a heart’s response of praise and wise insight of how great God is.

Let’s meditate on the first 5 verses of Psalm 34.

No matter where you’ve been, where you are, or where you’re going in this life, on your lips there always should be words of praise if you know God as Lord.  Even in difficulty, the heart turned toward God and His greatness will make praise come forth like uncontainable water overflowing  from reservoirs onto dry ground (for the sake of others who need to hear it, as well as you.)

Even if sadness sweeps in when there’s a loss of a loved one or you have to endure an excruciatingly painful experience, the Presence of God and His sustaining power are with you if you are saved.  You can say and live these words:

I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
Psalm 34:1

Because of the miraculous things God has done by sending His Son to be my Savior and because He has cleansed me from my sins through the sacrifice of His blood, I believe verse 2, knowing that ALL boasting is credited to Him alone:

My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
verse 2

Oh, that others come to rest and rejoice in all God has to offer them and that they too will rejoice in the hope He gives! And, as one chorus, let us lift our lives and words up to exalt Him!

Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together.
verse 3

The Lord has sought me, and in my recognition of great need for Him, I turned and He was there. I was drawn to Him and my faith in Him was real. The stronghold of fear that abounds in this world became conquerable through the power of the Holy Spirit! Faith increased, and fear decreased – all because of the Lord, my God!

I sought the Lord and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.
verse 4

He is with us in the times where fear could overtake us.

Verse 5 makes me quickly think of Stephen in the Book of Acts:

Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.
verse 5

Stephen boldly delivered a long sermon to the Sanhedrin and, at the end, he is martyred.

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God…While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, ‘Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.’ Then, he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.’  When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:55; 59-60

Children of God, like Stephen—with the help of the Holy Spirit—let our faces be covered with His love as we see others…no matter if they are cold, non-responsive, hateful, or, even holding stones!

* * * * *

Dear Lord, let the love we have in our hearts for You spill forth as words of praise on our lips and as joy and peace in our lives and on our faces.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Filed Under: Seeking Him Daily Devotional Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »