March 18, 2026

He Is

March 24, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

In Genesis, He’s the Breath of life.  In Exodus, the Passover Lamb.  In Leviticus, He’s our High Priest.  Numbers, the fire by night.  Deuteronomy, He’s Moses’ voice.

In Joshua, He is salvation’s choice.  Judges, Law Giver. In Ruth, the Kinsman-Redeemer.  First and Second Samuel, our trusted Prophet. In Kings and Chronicles, He’s Sovereign.

Ezra, True and Faithful Scribe.  Nehemiah, He’s the Rebuilder of broken walls and lives. In Esther, He’s Mordecai’s courage. In Job, the Timeless Redeemer. In Psalms, He is our Morning Song.

In Proverbs, Wisdom’s cry. Ecclesiastes, the Time and Season. In the Song of Solomon, He is the lover’s dream.

He is, He is, HE IS!

In Isaiah, He’s Prince of Peace.  Jeremiah, the weeping Prophet. In Lamentations, the cry for Israel. Ezekiel, He’s the Call from sin. In Daniel, the Stranger in the fire.

In Hosea, He is forever faithful.  In Joel, He’s the Spirit’s Power.  In Amos, the Arms that carry us.  In Obadiah, He’s the Lord our Savior.  In Jonah, He’s the great Missionary.

In Micah, the Promise of peace.  In Nahum, He is our Strength and our Shield.  In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He’s pleading for revival.  In Haggai, He restores a lost heritage. In Zechariah, our Fountain.

In Malachi, He is the Son of Righteousness rising with healing in His wings.

He is, He is, HE IS!

In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He is God, Man, Messiah.  In the book of Acts, He is the Fire from heaven. In Romans, He’s the Grace of God. In Corinthians, the Power of love. In Galatians, He is Freedom from the curse of sin.

Ephesians, our glorious Treasure.  Philippians, the Servants’ Heart.  In Colossians, He’s the Godhead Trinity.  Thessalonians, our coming King.  In Timothy, Titus, Philemon, He’s our Mediator and our faithful Pastor.

In Hebrews, the everlasting Covenant.  In James, the One who heals the sick. In First and Second Peter, He is our Shepherd.  In John and in Jude, He is the Lover coming for His bride.  In the Book of Revelation, He is King of kings and Lord of lords.

He is, He is, HE IS! 

The prince of peace, The Son of man, The Lamb of God, The great I AM, He’s the Alpha and Omega, Our God and our Savior, He is Jesus Christ the Lord and when time is no more He is, HE IS!

 

~  Sing this song with me as our prayer and worship today.  ~

~ Written by Jeoffrey Benward & Jeff Silvey / Performed by Aaron Jeoffrey ~

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 

During the first night of our Whiteboard Small Group Study, everyone was asked what their favorite verse was.  Then this brought about speaking about the books of the Holy Bible and being able to repeat them in order.  The person leading the group remembered this song. He said it was his favorite and how it shows how God has/is faithful to all who would and do believe.

What a great song to be able to play for our unbelieving friends.  I pray that it ministers to you as it did to me.

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Cradle Me (Patsy’s Lullaby)

March 23, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Cradle me in midnight mercies
Fill me with Your day starlight
Adorn me with thanksgiving
Strengthen me with might
Guide me with Your holy kindness
Into yet another day
Lead me on to glory, Jesus
In Your everlasting way

Through valleys, through darkest night
You guard me, speed my enemy to flight
Be the lifter of my head in sorrow
Mend my broken heart today
and heal up my tomorrow

Pillow me with Your Presence
Comfort me in Your holy rest
Surround me with your angels’ songs
Sleep safe in Your shelter of my Father’s arms

~  Sing this song with me as our prayer and worship today.  ~

~Lyrics by Patsy Clairmont / Melody and Arrangement by Mandisa and Ron Rawls~

Have you listened to this beautiful lullaby yet?  If not…please do; go ahead…we’ll wait right here for you.

So beautiful…so calming…just as a lullaby should do!  A lullaby, by definition, is a song which quiets; and in particular, quiets babies.  This song does just that for me!  And why?  For one, the tune—the melody—is written in such a way that it evokes peaceful feelings.  And the instruments that were chosen to play this peaceful tune…the cello, the piano, violins…all communicate to our sense of hearing in a gentle way.  Along with the instrument of Mandisa’s beautiful voice!  All of a God-inspired design. But mostly I think it is the words that are sung that communicate Truth that calms and settles our minds and hearts.  These are encouraging words, for sure, but not in a compelling or powerful manner. Rather, they encourage in a comforting way that causes one to feel safe and sheltered.

These words bring reminders to me of some of the phrases about sleep and peace that are written in the Book of Psalms.

In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for You, Lord, alone
make me dwell in safety and confident trust.
Psalm 4:8

By day the Lord commands His steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.
Psalm 42:8

In the Scriptures, we are told time after time, of the ways in which God guards and protects and blesses us. I love the promises given to us in Psalm 91.  Here are just three of them:

Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my Refuge—
No evil shall be allowed to befall you (1), no plague come near your tent (2).
For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways (3).
Psalms 91:9-11

God’s heart is to care for us now…while we still live in this ever-changing world, on this earth that is diminishing and daily being destroyed by the ways of man.  And He accomplishes this in ways that show us how perfectly He will care for us throughout eternity!  He wants us to be assured that He can be trusted to provide all we need…and that we, ourselves, cannot do this successfully on our own.

It is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late,
To eat the bread of painful labors;
for He gives to His beloved <blessings> even in his sleep.
Psalm 127:2

So learn of His promises, fill your heart and mind with the Truth , and meditate on God and His faithfulness to provide. Praise Him and thank Him and bless Him!

Because Your loving-kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.
So will I bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My whole being shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness;
and my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips
When I remember You upon my bed and meditate on You in the night watches.
For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice.
Psalms 63:3-7

Perhaps tonight when you lay your head down, you will remember the words of this beautiful song, and will sing “Pillow me with Your Presence…comfort me in Your holy rest.”  May you “Sleep safe in the shelter of your Father’s arms.”  God bless you and keep you…and give you peace (Numbers 6:24-25).

 

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Blessed to be Obedient

March 23, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

We have now entered the season of Lent.  For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in light of His Words.  ✞ ♥

During this season, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, we have chosen to focus our devotionals on Jesus’ instructions and admonition communicated in Matthew chapter 5—the Beatitudes.  Jesus said, “Blessed are…” and He went on to give instruction as to how to be “blessed.”  To be ‘blessed’ is to ‘be happy, or to be envied.’   Truly for the Christian, we ARE blessed—oh, how very blessed we are!  Those who observe our lives should clearly be able to tell that we ARE blessed—and that we KNOW it! ✞ ♥

Please consider Jesus’ instructions along with us.  We pray that our words will encourage you and spur you on to be prepare your hearts for the joyous celebration of His Resurrection!  ✞ ♥

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Matthew 5:5

This verse brings to my mind many old sayings that I heard as a child…

  • “Do unto others as they would unto you.”
  • “Turn the other cheek.”
  • “The early bird gets the worm.”

There are so many others that I learned, but it is the first two that pop into my mind when looking at Matthew 5:5.  To be meek is to fear God and obey His Word.  It is to live for Him.  It is already knowing that when Jesus returns that it will be God’s children who will inherit the earth.  They will receive the full blessings of God and Jesus when they step into God’s Presence for eternity.  We receive blessings here on earth but, as children of God, the blessings will be greater and throughout eternity.

In today’s world it is hard to be meek. There are many temptations in this world. With our busy lives it is hard sometimes to separate the world from our godly lives.  However, there are ways to bring the two together—

–  live in the world but don’t be of the world.
–  live as if this is just a stop on a long trip home
–  live as if we are already directly standing before God.

For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth:
and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Isaiah 65:17

By being God’s children, we will see the new heavens and the new earth when Jesus returns.  If we are meek, we are obeying God.  We are living for God.  When we come into God’s presence, we will forget about the old earth and what it is like now.  We will live in God’s glory and worship Him on the new earth.  We will be living with Him for eternity.

We should live our lives here on earth as if we are already living in God’s glory.  This is one definition of being meek in God’s eyes.  Those who serve God will be eternally blessed upon the return of Christ.  This old world will die away, and just like a person being reborn, the earth will be made anew and the old forgotten.  We should be exemplifying this to the world.

* ~ ♥ ~ ✞ ~ ♥~ *

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for welcoming me into Your family.  By being obedient to You and following Your direction, I am being (at least in one way) meek.  Please stand by me as I live for Your glory and try to be a good example for others.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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

It Is Well – Matthew 5:4

March 22, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

We have now entered the season of Lent.  For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in light of His Words.  ✞ ♥

During this season, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, we have chosen to focus our devotionals on Jesus’ instructions and admonition communicated in Matthew chapter 5—the Beatitudes.  Jesus said, “Blessed are…” and He went on to give instruction as to how to be “blessed.”  To be ‘blessed’ is to ‘be happy, or to be envied.’   Truly for the Christian, we ARE blessed—oh, how very blessed we are!  Those who observe our lives should clearly be able to tell that we ARE blessed—and that we KNOW it! ✞ ♥

Please consider Jesus’ instructions along with us.  We pray that our words will encourage you and spur you on to be prepare your hearts for the joyous celebration of His Resurrection!  ✞ ♥

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 
Matthew 5:4

~  Music and lyrics – Horatio Spafford / Performed by Selah  ~

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

Surrender

March 21, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

 

We have now entered the season of Lent.  For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in light of His Words.  ✞ ♥

During this season, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, we have chosen to focus our devotionals on Jesus’ instructions and admonition communicated in Matthew chapter 6—the Beatitudes.  Jesus said, “Blessed are…” and He went on to give instruction as to how to be “blessed.”  To be ‘blessed’ is to ‘be happy, or to be envied.’  Truly for the Christian, we ARE blessed—oh, how very blessed we are!  Those who observe our lives should clearly be able to tell that we ARE blessed—and that we KNOW it! ✞ ♥

Please consider Jesus’ instructions along with us.  We pray that our words will encourage you and spur you on to be prepare your hearts for the joyous celebration of His Resurrection!  ✞ ♥

You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you.
Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
Matthew 5:4 MSG

One of the major issues that I had with God, an All-Knowing Sovereignty, is how the world could be so messed up—if God truly were in control, then how did things get so out of whack and why didn’t He do anything about it!  Why did it seem that this all-knowing, all-powerful and all-loving God had no interest or control of the world He created.

When I questioned why should I trust a God that didn’t seem to care about me and my life, the Holy Spirit replied, “You don’t care about Me and what I’m doing.”  I paused and thought about it.  The truth was I didn’t care about God and what He was doing; all I cared about was what He could do for me and that He make my life exactly the way I wanted it. Me!  God wasn’t about anything bigger than being my personal genie.

If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it.
Matthew 10:39

The Lord opened my eyes by pointing out that He was not the problem—I was.

You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you.
Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
Matthew 5:4

I have always been worried about being “too normal” or “not me” anymore.  When I felt the Lord tugging at me to give Him my all, I hesitated.  I knew that obedience would mean that I would be changing.  I was afraid that if I let God change me, then I would no longer be myself and would instead be some robot lacking personality.

I can laugh about it now, but then, I was truly frightened!  I have come to realize that the changes God wants to make in me are simply Him pulling outward who He truly made me to be inwardly.  Before society and life touched me, God knew me.  Before I ever labeled myself ugly or unworthy God knew me and that is not who He planned for me to be.

Giving God that which we hold dearest leaves room for us to be embraced by God because there’s more room for Him!  I have grown so much thanks to my obedience to the Lord.  (Please know it’s a daily thing!)  And I love the me that He is showing me that He made me to be—His workmanship!

* ~ ♥ ~ ✞ ~ ♥~ *

Thank You, Lord, for making me who I am.  Thank You for caring about me and loving me and teaching me.  Let me forever and always make the daily decision to make more room for You and surrender my life to You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Roasted Vegetables with Buttermilk Herb Sauce

March 21, 2014 by

Roasted Vegetables with Buttermilk Herb Sauce Resize

Did you have a fun and festive St. Patrick’s Day?  We didn’t do too much to celebrate.  (I have a little Irish in me, but no freckles!)   I did make a cabbage dish on Monday, leaving me with half a head of green cabbage.  I love roasting wedges of cabbage, but I wanted something a little more assertive, so I decided to make an herb dressing for them.  Add in some other roasted veggies, and I came up with this recipe for Roasted Vegetables with Buttermilk Herb Sauce.

Buttermilk is not something I grew up with, so I can’t really say much about it.  It does have a pleasantly sour taste that adds complexity to baked goods (think pancakes) and sauces.   If you add a lot of dill and pepper to this recipe, you’d have something very close to ranch dressing, but without all the chemicals and preservatives in bottled or packaged varieties.  I used parsley because that’s what I had but I’d like to try it next time with a big handful of tarragon.  If you grow your own herbs, this is the perfect canvas for trying new flavor combinations!

I served the sauce over roasted cabbage wedges and roasted golden beets.  Here is a list of other vegetables I think this would taste good on:  carrots, leeks, green beans, baked potatoes, and Brussels sprouts with bacon.  I served this with balsamic-glazed salmon last night, and you know what?  The sauce went great on the fish too!  I had a little sauce left over, so this morning I used it to make chicken salad for my husband’s lunch.  Find your own way with this delightfully green and springy sauce—start here!

Roasted Vegetables with Buttermilk Herb Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 4 beets
  • olive oil
  • 1/2 head green cabbage
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 3 tablespoons plain yogurt
  • 4 green onions
  • handful of fresh herbs:  use parsley, tarragon, dill, or a combination of these
  • 1 clove garlic or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • squeeze of lemon if desired (I used a big squeeze – okay, two big squeezes!)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400*F.  Prepare the beets for roasting:  Wash them and remove any greens from the top.  In a large rectangle of aluminum foil, place the beets, root tip facing up, in the middle.  Drizzle with a little olive oil, maybe a tablespoon total.  Wrap up the beets in the foil and place in a pie plate or Pyrex bowl.  Bake for one hour or until they give when you push on them.  Set aside to cool.
  2. While the beets are baking, prepare the cabbage: Cut out the core of the cabbage, then cut the cabbage into 4 wedges.  Place them on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle each wedge with about 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil.  After the beets have been in the oven for half an hour or so, add the cabbage.  Bake for about 15 minutes, then flip them over and bake again for about ten minutes.  (The time will vary depending on your oven, your cabbage, et cetera.  You want the cabbage to get golden and a little crispy at the edges, but not too dark!)
  3. While the vegetables are cooking, combine buttermilk, yogurt, green onions, herbs, and garlic in a food processor.  Taste it…need more garlic?  Go ahead!  Add salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon if you like and blend again.  Taste to make sure it’s yummy, and then put in the fridge until ready to serve.
  4. Skin the beets:  once they are cool enough to handle simply slip the skins off with your fingers.  If you are using red beets, you may want to wear gloves, since they will turn your fingers pink!
  5. On each plate, lay down a wedge of cabbage and a beet cut into quarters.  Serve the hot veggies with the cold buttermilk herb sauce.

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

To view even more of Dana’s unique recipe, you can visit her at Frugal Girlmet!

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Only Name (Yours Will Be)

March 21, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Yours will be the only Name that matters to me
The only One Whose favor I seek
The only Name that matters to me

Yours will be the friendship and affection I need
To feel my Father smiling on me
The only Name that matters to me

Yours is the Name, the Name that has saved me
Mercy and grace the power that forgave me
And Your love is all I’ve ever needed

When I wake up in the Land of Glory
And with the saints I will tell my story
There will be one Name that I proclaim

Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, just that Name

~  Sing this song with me as our prayer and worship today.  ~

 
~  Performed by Big Daddy Weave / Words and Music by Benji Cowart  ~
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 
Jesus.  The Name that calms storms and heals the sick and raises the dead to living. The blind could see again just by believing in Him.  The woman at the well carried Living Water home with her so she never would thirst again.  And Lazarus, he rose from the dead, just as our Savior would one day.  Jesus.   Doesn’t saying His name just calm you?

His Name is the name that we should seek above all.  Do you know that He experienced everything on earth that we do?  I’m not saying that He sinned, I’m saying that He lived here and walked here and saw the same hurts and sickness that we do.  God sent Him to pave the way for us.  And to experience the same powers that He had.  Of all the things of this world, nothing else matters except our relationship with Jesus, the Son of Man, the Son of God.  Jesus is the difference between life and death.  He is the difference between Christianity and all other religions. You must accept Him in your heart and have a relationship—a day to day speaking, and loving, relationship with Him.

Do you see His beauty?  Do you feel His presence with you?  As it says in this song, His name saves.  His name forgives and shows mercy and grace.  He so readily loves and so readily befriends all.  He is Jesus, friend of sinners.  He is the “I Am.”  We all will live with our Heavenly Father forever, because of Jesus.  He ate with tax collectors.  His own brother didn’t believe in Him and yet Jesus loved him so.  His own disciple betrayed Him, yet He broke bread with them and gave thanks, knowing that His own Father would have to turn His back on Him.  Don’t you want to love like that?  If so, then let’s do this together.  Let’s start now, preparing our hearts for His coming.  While we are here, let’s love each other.  Let’s get our hands dirty and get in the middle of life with each other.  There are plenty of onlookers but not enough team members!  Let’s ask God to empower us to truly turn it all over to Him and start fresh.

This week was the first week of Spring.  It’s time to do some cleaning up and cleaning out; and it’s time to plant some new seeds.  And when you’re ready to give in or give up, or when life is so hard and you just can’t breathe—just whisper His Name, Jesus. It still calms storms!

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * 

Let us pray:  Dear Lord, we praise You for who You are.  We thank You for sending Your Son to walk before us in life and prepare the way for us.  Thank You for Your Word that documents His every move, from birth to death and every miracle in between.  Oh, how we are blessed!!!  Thank You that we can call on You in every situation and You are right there.  Because of Your Son, we are never alone and never will be.  We will forever walk with You and we have been given life abundant, full of joy, full of peace, full of grace, and full of You!  Thank You for the journey…for the wild ride that’s called our life.  Help us to prepare our hearts for Easter and to never take His death for granted.  For it’s in His name we pray, Amen.

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Where Are They Headed

March 20, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

We have now entered the season of Lent.  For many Christians, Lent is taken as a time of preparation for the celebration of Easter where God miraculously redeemed mankind by resurrecting His Son from the dead. It is also a time to consider what Jesus said and did; and how we should be living in light of His Words.  ✞ ♥

During this season, here on the Seeking Him devotional blog, we have chosen to focus our devotionals on Jesus’ instructions and admonition communicated in Matthew chapter 5—the Beatitudes.  Jesus said, “Blessed are…” and He went on to give instruction as to how to be “blessed.”  To be ‘blessed’ is to ‘be happy, or to be envied.’   Truly for the Christian, we ARE blessed—oh, how very blessed we are!  Those who observe our lives should clearly be able to tell that we ARE blessed—and that we KNOW it! ✞ ♥

Please consider Jesus’ instructions along with us.  We pray that our words will encourage you and spur you on to be prepare your hearts for the joyous celebration of His Resurrection!  ✞ ♥

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 
Matthew 5:4

When you’re driving down the road, do you wonder about the people in the passing cars? What are their stories? Where are they headed?

When you leave the grocery store pushing your buggy, do you see all the people silently walking in the parking lot and wonder what their stories are?  I do. I even wonder if they are in some kind of pain masked by doing routine tasks.

Immediately after September 11th 2001, people engaged in conversation more easily and were so willing to help each other—even perfect strangers.  We didn’t even have to live where planes crashed into towers or the Pentagon to feel that we were all in this together.  A tragic situation had occurred, and we were united together.  We mourned the loss of so many lives.  We hurt together as a nation.  We easily reached out to each other.  And now, almost thirteen years later, we quietly walk in different directions again.  But shouldn’t we be thinking about engaging with others more than we do since none of us knows what each day holds?  Tragedy could happen at any time.

When the World Trade Center towers fell that day and so many lives were lost in New York City and other lives were lost at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and still others in a barren field in Pennsylvania—all of those were enormous, sorrowful tragedies especially for the loved ones left behind.  We were all saddened that each and every one of those lives ended that day, and our hearts hurt for those who loved them so much!  But I hope you will understand when I say that a far greater tragedy than leaving this earth early or unexpectedly is leaving this earth without a Savior!

My heart is burdened for those who don’t know Jesus as their personal Savior.  Life is hard at times…even when you DO know Him as Savior.  (I can’t imagine life without Him!)  But for those who come to death without having believed, received, and trusted Jesus as their Savior (having asked Jesus to forgive them of their sins and knowing He took their place in dying for their sins on the cross) before they take their last breath, they will enter into a horrific place called hell where they will be separated from God for eternity.  (See Luke 16:19-31.)   I wish that for no one!

To those who are saved, let us mourn and be broken-hearted for those who do not know Jesus!  Let us pray for them!  And let us engage in conversations with them as the Holy Spirit prompts and leads us.

On September 11th 2001, many kissed their loved ones good-bye that morning not aware they would never see them again.  Perhaps it’s time to start having important and urgent conversations with the people we know and love.  To decide to have a relationship with Jesus and to be forgiven of your sins is the most important decision one could ever make!  (Please see Ephesians 2:1-10.)

Do you know where your family, friends, and others are headed?

If not, let’s pray that we all start talking about Jesus with them!

* ~ ♥ ~ ✞ ~ ♥~ *

Dear Lord, we praise and love YOU!  Let our hearts be broken for those who don’t know You yet.  Guide us in when and how you may call us to approach them and in what to say. Help us start talking.  Let us use the power of Your Word and let us say it with love, as it will provide truth.  Prepare the hearts of those who speak and of those who hear.  In it all, You will lead us, love us, encourage us, wipe our tears – if need be, and comfort us.  Thank You!  In Jesus’ precious Name I pray, Amen.

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

Alive

March 20, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Who but You could breathe and leave a trail of galaxies and dream of me
What kind of Love is writing my story ‘til the end with Mercy’s pen
Only You

What kind of King would choose to wear a crown that bleeds and scars to win my heart
What kind of Love tells me I’m the reason He can’t stay inside the grave
You, is it You, standing here before my eyes, every part of my heart cries

Alive, Alive
Look what Mercy’s overcome
Death has lost and Love has won
Alive, Alive
Hallelujah, Risen Lord
The only One I fall before
I am His because He is Alive

Who could speak and send the demons back from where they came with just one name
What other heart would let itself be broken every time until He healed mine
You, only You, could turn my darkness into dawn, running right into your arms

I am His because He is…

Emmanuel, the Promised King
the baby who made angels sing
Son of Man who walked with us
Healing, breathing in our dust
The Author of all history
The Answer to all mysteries
The Lamb of God who rolled away the stone in front of every grave

~  Sing this song with me as our prayer and worship today.  ~

~ Written by Vicci Martinez and Peter Anders Svensson / Performed by Natalie Grant ~

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What a powerful thought…that God was thinking of you and me!  What kind of Love is writing my story and yours until the end?  The love of the Father is something that I will never completely understand.  The love that loved me unconditionally when I was a sinner.  The same love that loved me out of darkness into His marvelous light.  Do you know the love of the Father?  It is a love like I have never known….

God loves with agápe—the love described in 1 Corinthians 13.  He loves you so much that He sent His Son to die on the Cross for you so that you might have everlasting life. His love is not based on performance.  Christ loves you so much that while you were yet a sinner, He died for you.

God’s love for you is unconditional and undeserved.  He loves you in spite of your disobedience, your weakness, your sin, and your selfishness.  He loves you enough to provide a way to abundant, eternal life.  From the Cross, Christ cried out, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing!”

Because of the Cross and because of Jesus I am no longer led by the old man.  I have been made new.   am a new creation because of Him!

What does it mean to be ALIVE in Christ?

Ephesians 2:1-8 NLT says this :
Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead.  (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)  For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.  God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.

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Thank You, Father, that You have turned my darkness into light.  Thank You for Your unconditional love that won my heart.  Thank You, Jesus, that I am Yours because You are ALIVE!!!  In Your  Name, Amen.

Filed Under: Psalms Hymns and Spiritual Songs Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Find Time for Exercise with a Little Multi-Tasking

March 19, 2014 by

Step by stepWhen there are so many things to do or things we want to do, exercise may become last on the priority list.  However, have you ever considered there are things you can get done while exercising?  Before dropping your workout for the day, think about how you may  find time to exercise with a little multi-tasking.

  • Get Organized

For me, before I can get my home organized, my work and daily “to do” list done, I have to prepare what and how it needs to be done in my head. I cannot tell you how many times I have developed a new plan of doing things after thinking about it during a long walk. I get things done, in my head that would not have been done without exercise.

  • Time with a girlfriend

Do you have that girlfriend who sends a quick message, “We need to get together for girl time?”  Then life gets crazy and there is no time to sit and talk.  Oh, the things we get accomplished when I go for a run with my best friend.

We get to catch up on each other’s lives and I usually get help and encouragement with something I have needed, but had not taken the time to stop and ask.

  • Quiet Time

So often I hear women say they struggle to have daily quiet time with the Lord.  Let me give you a little secret.  Jesus does not just wear sandals, He wears tennis shoes.  I know this because He has joined me so many times for a run.  There have been times when I felt Him and heard from Him the most while praying during a walk right outside my front door.

How would you view your time of exercise if you looked at it as time with God and a way to honor Him?

  • Get Creative

Do you have a job that requires creativity or volunteer where someone is looking to you for inspiration? Taking a walk can be an opportunity to clear your head and get inspired with new ideas.  Perhaps you struggle with being productive as I do.  If that is the case, bring your phone or a small notepad and pen in a fanny pack and jot down those ideas on your walk.

These are all things that can be done while exercising.  Think of it as a bargain—two for the price of one.  You may be surprised to learn that you can find time for exercise with a little multi-tasking!

 In Good Health,

Crystal

Filed Under: At Home w/ GCH Tagged With: , , , , , ,
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