November 25, 2024

God Our Strength

August 28, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Sing for joy to God our strength, shout aloud to the God of Jacob!
Psalm 81:1

Jacob is an excellent example of a man who knew God gave him strength.  In times of trouble he called on God who helped him overcome the challenges.  He had run away from Esau and met Laban (his uncle who also became his father-in-law.)  He worked for 14 years to get his best wife.  In all those years Jacob endured painful circumstances through his God who gave him strength.
We can also do the same through Christ who strengthens us. We can trust God for His strength.

Blessed are those whose strength is in You, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.
Psalm 84:5

In Psalm 89:21, God is saying, “My hand will sustain him, surely My arm will strengthen him.” This promise is for you and me. God’s promises are Yes! and Amen!  Let us embrace this truth that His arm will strengthen us.

It is about 2-3 weeks now I have been down with pain inside me due to feeling not favored, and not loved, etc., due to failing in my exams many times in the same subjects.  I could not even stand in prayer because of the pain and disappointment.  But I am here to tell you that I had an encounter with God, Christ Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in their Trinity—Who confirmed to me that this is not the end of the world…and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And that God REMAINS God…He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

At first it wasn’t making sense, but later I came to realize that “NOTHING can separate me from the love of God” and so, with that feeling, I am up again. I may have been dropped down but not knocked out!!

I beseech you, my dear friends, we need to give it all to God in prayer and in Jesus’ name. And He WILL answer us. And give us His strength when we are weary. He gives strength to our weak souls.

  *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Father, I thank You for Who You were, Who You are, and Who You will be forevermore. You are such an awesome God, the Creator of the universe. The heavens and the earth are full of Your glory. Holy are You, Lord! We glorify Your Holy name. May we always find strength in Christ Jesus Your son. May He give us the strength we need to carry on! We need You more than ever before. Dwell in us always because on our own…we cannot make it. Let Your joy be our strength. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen!!!

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

God’s People

August 3, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Know that the Lord is God
It is He who made us and we are His,
we are His people the sheep of His pasture.
Psalm 100:3

This is spiritual knowledge that He created us.  We did not make ourselves.  We are His. And the people of His pasture.

There are times that we, as Christians, tend to forget who created us by:

  • Doing our own things in our own ways thinking we can do without Him when we cannot
  • Worshipping our jobs, our husbands, our businesses, etc. We tend to praise more the material things without attaching it to the steadfast love of our Creator, the One Who made us.

If God was able to create us, is He not the Author of what we call ‘wisdom?’  He gave us this gift of wisdom, too, for us to be able to add or sum up things for our daily living.  And yet sometimes when we prosper, we forget all of this and start praising ourselves, our husbands, our jobs, etc.  Have we ever thought what would happen if our husbands were to die, and we don’t have jobs and the businesses we work for collapses.  God will still be God…all things will pass but He will still remain.

The Word (in verse 3) is saying that we are the ‘sheep of His pasture.’  We are His very own. G od is our good Shepherd; if we are of His pasture then we can lack nothing.  He is able to take us to the green pastures (Psalm 23), He will lead us beside the still waters.  According to Philippians 4:19, He is able to provide to the sheep (you and I) by His riches in His glory.  What shall we then lack?  Nothing.  We have everything in our God.

He even supplied us salvation through our Savior Jesus. Without the Cross of Calvary we would have been dead by now, I guess.

We are God’s people (Luke 1:17 and Acts 15:14 and also Titus 2:14) who He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do for them what is good.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Knowing that we are God’s people, shall we pray:
Dear heavenly Father, hallowed be Your name, in all the earth You are known to be a Great God, the great I AM, Mighty Warrior, great in battle.  We worship You for who You are, dear God.  You are a loving Father and to You be the honor and glory!  We feel loved more today for we have been reminded that we are Your very own and that You care for Your very own.  However, Lord, we pray for forgiveness for sometimes we have made You too small in our lives.  May You wash us with hyssop; let us be clean from all iniquities.  Bless us and bless us indeed!  Enlarge our territories, Lord.  Knowing You are there to provide makes us boast in You!  Be glorified!  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!

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

Exaltation

July 30, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Be Thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: let Thy glory be above all the earth.
Psalm 57:11

God must be exalted.

Why do we exalt Him?

  • He is a great God who created the heavens and the earth. His supremacy is beyond our imagination. He must be glorified.

Be exalted O God above the heavens and let your glory be over all the earth
Psalm 108:5

  • He is Holy.

Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool, He is holy.
Psalm 99:5

  • He is my God in whom I trust. For He is faithful and loves us unconditionally.

You are my God and I will give thanks; You are my God and I will exalt You.
Psalm118:28

  • He has done great things. You know God has done so many great things in our lives. We are alive today because of His grace and mercy and favour, protection. He must be exalted for all this.

And in that day you will say,
“Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name.
Make known His deeds among the peoples;
Make them remember that His name is exalted.”
Isaiah 12:4

Lord, You are my God;
I will exalt You and praise Your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
You have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago.
Isaiah 25:1

  • He is a God of justice and covered with righteousness. And this righteousness it was imputed in us when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

The Lord is exalted for He dwells on high, He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.
Isaiah 33:5

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Lord God Almighty, we exalt You for You are proved to us to be a Great God.  No one is like You, Lord.  Wonderful, faithful, righteous, glorious, You are!  The Lord that loves unconditionally and Who judges with justice.  We exalt You in everything.  Let us dwell in You…for in You there is no darkness.  We exalt You!  In Jesus’ name, I pray!  Amen.

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

Caring Father

July 21, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him?
For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels,
and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
Psalms 8:4-5

This psalm expresses the amazing honor that God has for mankind. It shows that we as humans were purposely created. And God values us. We were created in His own image and He breathed into us making us living souls.

In Genesis 1, God honored us by making us to rule His creation but man failed God. However even when we failed He did not leave it like that. He went ahead to send the One Who was to come and die for us. He gave us His only Son Jesus to die on the Cross. A shameful death but He took it and paid the highest price for us. What a caring Father we have who doesn’t want His children to suffer…He loves us!

We are made as heavenly beings (which in this version it says “angels”). So we are angels here on earth and blessed people whose sins were paid for.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Father, we thank You for Your care, we appreciate Your love for we know You sincerely and deeply love us. Even though we were yet sinners Christ died for us and paid the price for us. Be glorified in all the earth! How excellent is Your name! In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen!

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

Walk in Obedience

July 19, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

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.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

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.

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

EXALTATION

July 7, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

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

The writer of this psalm praises the Lord for a miraculous deliverance from great trouble. His testimony encourages all afflicted believers to believe that they may also experience the goodness of the Lord.

As we exalt the Lord we express our gratitude to Him for all that He has done. Praise and thanksgiving are basic elements in the believers life.

We must thank the Lord through His Son Jesus morning and evening for salvation, for His love and grace, and for His faithful guidance and care. We should express our gratitude for the Word of God and for His spiritual gifts.

We need to exalt God despite the circumstances we are facing. Just thinking of His wonderful deeds…hey!!! A song of praise should start on our mouth. And it feels good even to us as worshippers…what more for the One being exalted? I guess it is time we make a decision to exalt God since it is supposed to be a believer’s lifestyle. Praising Him and giving thanks in the name of the Lord Jesus.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Lord, I thank You for all that You have done in our lives. We exalt You because You are a great God. We shall exalt You as long as we live. Be glorified Lord in Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen!!!

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

Godly Fear

June 30, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him,
upon them that hope in His mercy;
Psalm 33:18

Our hope in God leads to a manifestation of godly fear in us.  With His offer of hope, God only asks us to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  When we make a decision to choose Christ, godly fear then begins to manifest in us as we mature in Christ.

Godly fear is the outward evidence of a Christian’s hope in God’s mercy.  When we truly place all of our hope in God, it becomes a fervent emotion filled with godly fear.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever.
Psalm 111:10

King David said that God’s watchful eye is on you even when you can’t see the path He has you on or the direction He wants you to take. This thought is repeated in 2 Chronicles 16:9:

For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth,
to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.

God’s eyes are constantly looking to protect, sustain, and bring us through the difficulties we encounter every day. Our heavenly Father desires to bless our lives, so He watches for that moment when we are particularly needy.

Generally, fear and hope are thought to be in conflict with each other; but in the Presence and worship of God they are found side by side in perfect and beautiful harmony. And this is because in God Himself all apparent contradictions are reconciled. Righteousness and peace, judgment and mercy, holiness and love, infinite power and infinite gentleness, a majesty that is exalted above all heaven, and a condescension that bows very low, meet and kiss each other.

There is indeed a fear that has torment, but it is cast out entirely by perfect love. But there is a fear that is found in the very heavens. Let us in our waiting ever seek “to fear the glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD” (Deuteronomy 28:58).

The deeper we bow before His holiness in holy fear and adoring awe—in deep reverence and humble self-abasement, even as the angels veil their faces before the throne—the more His Holiness will rest upon us, and the soul will be filled to have God reveal Himself.

The deeper we enter into the truth “that no flesh glory in His presence” (1st Corinthians 1:29) will it be given us to see His glory. “The eye of the Lord is on them that fear Him, on them that hope in His mercy” (Psalm 33:18).

The true fear of God will be so far from keeping us back from hope!  Rather it will stimulate and strengthen it.  The lower we bow, the deeper we feel we have nothing to hope in but His mercy.  The lower we bow, the nearer God will come and make our hearts bold to trust Him.

 *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

LORD, we trust in You today, even when we cannot discern Your Presence to direct our path. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

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

God Our Refuge

June 24, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Bring my soul out of prison, so that I may give thanks to Your name;
The righteous will surround me, for You will deal bountifully with me.
Psalm 142:7

According to the title, this psalm was written by David while “in a cave”—probably when he was on the run from King Saul.  If you recall, Saul and his men pursued David with the intention of killing him (for the whole story, see 1 Samuel 18 ff). T his was clearly a very difficult time in David’s life, as one can tell from this psalm.  He is greatly troubled, and it seems had no friends, nowhere to run, and his life was in danger at every moment.  His enemies laid traps for him; he was overwhelmed and desperate.  And yet he knew the Lord was on his side, and it was to the Lord he turned with his supplications, crying out his troubles to Him.  He recognized that the Lord is his “Refuge” (verse 4) and his “Portion” (verse 5).  He asked the Lord to heed his cry, and to deliver him from his persecutors.  Notice that David doesn’t suggest to God any particular method of rescue, or way of dealing with those who threaten his life.  He just wants God to deliver him.

In verse 7 (or verse 8 in the Hebrew text), David gives the reason or purpose behind his desire for deliverance: “…so that I may give thanks to Your name”—for the purpose of exalting the name of the Lord.  David didn’t want glory for himself.  He didn’t want revenge on his enemies, nor did he want to prove a point to his persecutors.  All he wanted was deliverance—a mighty act of God that would chase away his fear, raise his spirits, and cause his heart to well up with praise and thanks to the Lord.

In the second part of the verse, David expresses his confidence that God’s overwhelming provision for him will be shown by his being surrounded by the righteous.  I want us to pause at the first part of verse 7, though, and take note of the motive behind David’s request for deliverance.  How many times when we’re feeling oppressed or wronged do we seek vindication for its own sake?  We want those who wrong us to be shown their error, and we want the satisfaction of seeing them grovel for our forgiveness, or being humbled in some way.  How often do we ask for deliverance simply that we might have yet another reason to praise and give thanks to God?

Too often, in situations like this, we don’t seek the glory of God, rather we seek our own glory. We want to be elevated above our situation, and above those who brought the situation about. We want to overcome at the expense of others…not so that God’s name will be praised. May David’s example be a reminder to us to lead God-centered lives, where we are truly seeking after Him, His honor, and His glory, in all that we do and ask for.

 *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Lord, we pray for Your guidance as we are making the decision to seek after You where You are always found. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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

Praising God Everywhere

June 15, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Praise the Lord!
Praise, O servants of the Lord,
Praise the name of the Lord.
Blessed be the name of the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
The name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations;
His glory is above the heavens.
Who is like the Lord our God,
Who is enthroned on high,
Who humbles Himself to behold
The things that are in heaven and in the earth?
He raises the poor from the dust
And lifts the needy from the ash heap,
To make them sit with princes,
With the princes of His people.
He makes the barren woman abide in the house
As a joyful mother of children.
Praise the Lord!

Psalm 113

The whole of Psalm 113 describes three of my favorite things:
1. We are called to praise God
2. Praise celebrates God because He is beyond compare
3. God’s grace

We are called to praise God. (Read verses 1-3.) Verse one states, “Praise the Lord!” This is an imperative, meaning it is a command we are to obey.

• Who offers praise?  God’s servants
• What is to be praised? His name. The name of God represents who He is. No matter our circumstance we can always praise God for who He is.
• When is His name to be praised? From this time forth…right now!
• How long is He is be praised? Forever
• Where are we to praise God? From the place where the sun rises all the way to the place where it sets. We are to praise God wherever we are and in all places.

Can you think of a time or place where it is difficult to praise God?  Focus on who He is and continue to praise Him!   Two concepts are included in this one illustration about God’s creation praising Him.

First, since the sun rises in the east and sets in the west it means that the Lord is to be praised or recognized as God, everywhere.

Secondly, since the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening it means that God is to be praised all day long, at all times. From the bursting forth of each new day to the slow-spreading shadows of the evening each and every new day is a gift from God’s hand to us. Each and every new morning sunrise has within it a promise of fresh new blessings from the same hand that created the sun.

Through the LORD’S mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23

God’s mercy ensures us that we will not get what our thoughts and actions deserve. Mercy is not getting what we merit. Sometimes mercy comes in interesting packages that are really God’s grace.

A doctor who is a believer had seen an unusually large number of unscheduled patients one morning, and was exhausted. As he sat down for lunch at the hospital canteen, he placed his hands over his eyes, closed his eyes, and thought to himself, “I’ll scream if another patient shows up without an appointment…” Opening his eyes, he saw an elderly woman approach. She said, “You know, I was nervous about coming to this hospital … but now I know this place is okay, because I see that the doctors pray before eating.”

Do you think that was a fresh new mercy from God?  I do!

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Lord, help us realize that praising and worshipping You should be our lifestyle; in Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

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

Corporate Worship

June 9, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness
and for His wonderful works to the children of men!
Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people
and praise Him in the assembly of the elders.
Psalms 107:31-32

From the beginning only God is to be worshipped.

Why do we need to corporately worship? Because He commands it and takes it seriously!

There shall no strange god be in thee neither shalt thou worship any strange god.
Psalm 81:9

For you shall worship no other god, for the Lord whose Name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Exodus 34:14

This is based on a previous command of false worship in Exodus 20:4-5.

You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above
or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.
You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children,
on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me….

God deserves it – 100% He deserves it.  He alone deserves worship—

  • He is The Alpha and the Omega
  • He is absolutely Holy, Righteous, Just
  • He is Love
  • He is our Savior

Worshipping in spirit and truth flows naturally from faith, love, and trust.  God deserves it even when we are facing adversaries for He is the same God—He never changes and what He says He will do shall completely come to pass! Therefore worshipping God should be our lifestyle, He deserves it.

And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying,
Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying,
I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Matthew 8:2-3

And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
Matthew 14:33

You will take note in these Scripture references, some worshipped Jesus for who He was (before He did any miracle); others worshipped Him afterwards.

The twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne
and worship Him who lives forever and ever saying
You are worthy, O Lord to receive all the glory and honor and power.
Revelation 4:10-11

We need it and the world needs it too. We worship God for it benefits us, anything else we worship doesn’t work out to benefit us and, in fact, brings harm. Others worship their jobs, businesses, food, money, other humans, nature, false gods, etc. It never works out. Stick with worshipping the Perfect Being Who loves you and cares about you. It works out a lot better in the end.

Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.” And He answered and said to them, “Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, “Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,” he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you: ‘This people honors Me with their lips, But their heart is far away from Me. ‘But in vain do they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’”  After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, “Hear and understand.  It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”  Then the disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?” But He answered and said, “Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted. Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

Matthew 15:1-14

This passage in Matthew 15:1-14 isn’t all about worship, sisters. There can be those that worship in a way that is completely meaningless. Their worship is in vain. Salvation isn’t about worship; it is about faith, trust, love, etc. Worship flows so naturally from these things that many Christians get a bit confused. Let us worship God in spirit and in truth.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Our dear heavenly Father, we thank You and glorify Your holy Name for there is no other True God besides You. You alone are worthy of all our praise and worship for You are holy, mighty, wonderful, faithful. We pray for the spirit of worship to be awakened in our lives for You deserve it. May our worship be like a sweet aroma to You! We pray in Jesus’ name, AMEN!!

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