March 15, 2026

Answering the Caller ID

October 26, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness:
Thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress;
have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer.
Psalm 4:1

Do you have caller ID?  Most everybody does.  It is one of those digital advances that most people cannot live without these days.  It is a way of identifying who is calling you.  You can decide whether or not to answer the phone when it rings. You can decide whether to answer the phone if you don’t know who it is. If you miss a call, you can go back and see who called. Then you can decide whether or not to call that person back. You can ignore tele-marketers and bill collectors. Caller ID has certainly made it easier to ignore those we don’t want to talk to when the phone rings.

As humans we can select who we call and whose call we answer here on earth. However, when it comes down to it, there is one call that we are supposed to answer no matter what. The caller ID is our heart being tugged at by Jesus wanting us to accept Him as our Savior. It is a call that should be answered every time.

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Romans 10:17

By answering the call of Christ, our faith is strengthened and fortified. Our spirit is healed. Our heart becomes stronger in the Lord. We begin to strengthen our faith and fortify it through listening to Christ and practicing what He teaches us. We strengthen ourselves through our relationship with Him. When we answer Christ’s call, God hears us. We become blessed even more.

God blessed us when His Son sacrificed Himself on the Cross for our sins. He showed us mercy. Jesus brought us closer to God by shedding His blood. God heard the call to be saved from death. He gave us a way to be reconciled with Him. All we have to do is recognize His call on our internal caller ID—our heart—and accept the gift that Jesus gave on the Cross.

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Dear Heavenly Father: Thank You for calling us to You. Thank You for giving us an internal caller ID to recognize Your spirit and love. Thank You for strengthening us and fortifying us. Without our own internal caller ID, we would ignore You and not listen. We would be facing an eternity of fire instead of an eternity filled with love and Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Merciful, Merciful, Merciful God

October 25, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

 The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love.
He will not always accuse us or be angry forever.
He has not dealt with us as our sins deserve
or repaid us according to our offenses.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His faithful love toward those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has He removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
For He knows what we are made of, remembering that we are dust.
Psalms 103:8-14 HCSB

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What a merciful, merciful, merciful God
What a merciful, merciful, merciful God
What a merciful, merciful, merciful God You are
You are

You are so gentle
You are forgiving
You hold me close to Your heart

When I am distant
You show me mercy
You bring me close to Your heart

Written by Terry and Randy Butler/ Vineyard Music

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Pumpkin Chia Pudding

October 24, 2014 by

Pumpkin Chia Pudding resize

It seems like when we turn the calendar page to October, we all mysteriously start craving PUMPKIN!   I am not immune.   However, I didn’t want to make a big sugar bomb, so I searched around for something to satisfy the pumpkin craving and not spike my insulin.  Bingo:  Pumpkin Chia Pudding!

If you’ve never made chia pudding, now’s your chance.  I love it – the texture is a crazy blend of creamy and crunchy—like tapioca with attitude!  I make it with coconut milk, but you can try another nut milk or soy milk if that’s your thing.  This was ready to eat in an hour, and tastes just like pumpkin pie.  What more can you ask for?!

Pumpkin Chia Pudding

Ingredients:

  • 1 can full-fat coconut milk (about 2 cups)
  • 1/2 can pumpkin puree (about 1 cup, or use one cup of roasted and mashed pumpkin)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or combine cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves)
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
  • 1/4 cup chia seeds

Directions:

  1. In a blender or food processor, blend the coconut milk, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla, and honey together.
  2. Pour into a Tupperware container with a tight-fitting lid, or a very large jar with a lid.  Add the chia seeds and Shake!  Shake!  Shake!
  3. Refrigerate.  After another hour, shake again!  If it’s cold, go ahead and eat it!  Garnish with a little whipped cream if you like.

Explore, experiment, enjoy! — Dana

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

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He Still Speaks to Us

October 24, 2014 by

encouragementbloggraphicromans15

Then Moses said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up there.”
Exodus 33:15

In one translation (TLB), the verse actually says, “For Moses had said, “If you aren’t going with us, don’t let us move a step from this place.”  Moses had a great relationship with God. In fact, the Bible says that He would speak to Moses ‘face to face’.  Moses did not actually see God’s face, but He and Moses were extremely intimate.  They spent a lot of time with each other, like real good friends.  Exodus 33:11, “The Lord would speak to Moses…as a man speaks with His friend.”

I am sure that Moses had the utmost respect for God.  I’m sure that Moses didn’t talk to God like we talk to each other.  Yet it says that God was speaking like a friend.

Do you know that He still does that today? And let me ask you this: Are you so in love with Him that you don’t want to take a step without God?  {I am.}  Every morning I ask God to go  before me.  To go to the store before Me and guide my every move.  I need His Presence. For in His Presence there is peace and hope and love and joy!  And the list goes on….

God still makes promises to us today, just as He did to Moses. God also sent mighty angels to go before Moses and the Israelites and show them the way to the place that God had promised them—the Promised Land.  God promised Moses that He would succeed.  Moses wanted more of God.  See, Moses didn’t just want the victories that God was giving Him.  He wanted God more than anything.  To me, this is a challenge for all of us today.

See, sometimes, we focus on what God can do for us instead of what we can do for Him and how much we love Him.  Instead, we should want more of Him and His closeness.  Would you give up those victories for communion with Him?  Think about that for a minute….  I would trade it all for the relationship and the talks we have and the closeness I feel with Him.  He is our Creator and He is our everything.

Do you know Him?  Or perhaps have you moved away from Him and are having a hard time finding your way back?  Let me guide you today in a prayer that will change your life forever.

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Dear Heavenly Father, I know I am a sinner.  I know that I need forgiveness. Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me and for taking my sins away.  I know that I will live in eternity with You.  Help me to open my ears and eyes to more of You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

If you prayed that prayer with us today, will you let us know in the comment section?  We would be honored to pray with you and for you; and answer any questions you may have!

Filed Under: encouragement Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Our Compassionate, Merciful God

October 24, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and plenteous
in mercy and loving-kindness.
Psalm 103:8

There is one word in this passage that stuck out to me—compassion (or merciful). In verse 8, we read that the Lord ‘is compassionate’ (merciful) and in verse 13, it says that He “has compassion” (or mercy or pity). I often find it so very helpful, when studying the Scriptures, to read a particular verse or passage in a number of different Bible versions. (Do you find that true, too?) It always brings about a more complete understanding…at least to me. I would like to let you experience this in reference to one of the verses in the section we have been focusing on this week here on the Seeking Him devotional blog. My favorite version for studying is the Amplified Bible version; so I’ll start there…

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and plenteous in mercy and loving-kindness.

NIV
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

NLT
The LORD is compassionate and merciful, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.

ESV
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

NASB
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.

KJV
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.

HCSB
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in faithful love.

ISV
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, patient, and abundantly rich in gracious love.

ASV
Jehovah is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in lovingkindness.

DBT
Jehovah is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness.

Webster’s
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in mercy.

YLT
Merciful and gracious is Jehovah, slow to anger, and abundant in mercy.

Each of these versions (and, of course, there are more!) communicate basically the same thing…but some add just a further bit of information or inflection.  After reading through these, I was left praising God Who is ‘compassionate and merciful and gracious’ and abundantly rich in steadfast, unfailing, in loving-kindness’!  How great is our God!!!

The Strong’s concordance uses the following words to biblically define ‘compassion/merciful’ as used in verse 8:  to love, love deeply, have mercy, be compassionate, have tender affection, have compassion. And listen to this tidbit of insight:  this word (rachuwm, pronounced ‘rakh-oom’) is used only 13 times throughout the OT and

Here is the very first occurrence of this word in the Bible.

And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed,
The Lord! the Lord! a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, and abundant in loving-kindness and truth.
Exodus 34:6

Almighty God declared Himself ‘…the compassionate and merciful God…’ during His encounter with Moses on Mount Sinai.

No doubt God had already proven Himself VERY compassionate, merciful, and gracious towards the children of Israel!  Remember this is the account where He allows Moses to redo the two tablets on which had been the commandments which God had written and given to Moses.  (Here’s a link to go read this passage.)  While Moses and Joshua were up on the mountain receiving God’s commands, the people had chosen to turn back to their idolatrous ways and had made a golden calf and were worshipping this idol.   Upon his return, Moses became so disgusted and angry with them that he threw the tablets on the ground and broke them to smithereens!  (NOT good!)  Moses pleaded with the Lord and interceded on behalf of the Israelites.  And ‘the compassionate and merciful God’ relented and gave them yet another chance to repent and obey.  This shows the magnitude of the Lord’s mercy, compassion, and grace!

So what does this mean to us…some 3,000+ years later? It means everything…because God does not, can not, will not change. He is the same “God of compassion and mercy…slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness” as He was then.

For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed…
Malachi 3:6

I pray that each of us would hold fast and cling to this truth, and give much praise to our great God Who is the God of compassion and mercy!

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Here is a link  if you would like to study this verse and the usage of ‘compassionate/merciful’ in describing the Lord God Who IS oh-so-very merciful and compassionate.

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Come To The River

October 24, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

I’m torn between myself and Your Truth
These cursed memories, forever seeping through
My thirst for myself left me wanting more
‘Til I found myself facedown on Your shore

You say, Come to the river
Oh, and lay yourself down and let your heart be found
You say, Come to the river
Drink from the cup I pour and thirst no more

My restless heart led me astray
To my selfish pride I became my own slave
But You placed a thirst in me with no drink in sight
‘Cause I could not see ‘til I saw through Your eyes

Songwriters: Allen Salmon, Rhett Walker Canipe / Performed by Rhett Walker Band

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Have you ever been caught in this place?  “Torn between yourself and His Truth”?  I know I have….

This song has such powerful Truth in it.  A restless heart can lead you astray and to selfish pride you will become your own slave.  WOW!!!  Powerful words to consider….  Let’s see what God says about pride.

The pride of your heart has deceived you,
you who live in the clefts of the rocks and make your home on the heights,
you who say to yourself, ‘Who can bring me down to the ground?’
Obadiah 1:3

A prideful heart leads to a restless heart where you can be lost to yourself.  When my heart is restless I must come to the river and drink from the cup of living water where I will thirst no more.

I love how this excerpt from this woman’s website describes God’s love penetrating a restless heart.  She writes:

“That’s the Trust He’s asking of me, to let His love, as deep and endless as the ocean, to hold me up, to let the wellspring of His heart meet my deepest needs.”

(http://www.arestlessheart.com/)

This is the very trust that God is asking of you and of me, too.  That the “wellspring of God’s heart will meet my deepest need.”  Once we know and embrace the love of the Father towards us we can then be satisfied in our deepest needs and we will thirst no more.

But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again.
It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.
John 4:14 NLT

God is calling us to come and drink from the endless river where we will thirst no more and let Him fill us up.  So many times in life we try and fill up those empty places with other things that will never satisfy us.  They aren’t meant to…only God can fill the empty places of the heart until we are completely satisfied.  Will you let Him?  The choice is ours.  He is waiting with open arms for us to take the first step. So He can tell His daughters how precious and valuable we are to Him.

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Heavenly Father, may my restless heart never lead me astray to where I become my own slave.  May I choose to drink of the Living Water where I will thirst no more.  In Jesus’ name!!  Amen!!

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Mercy

October 23, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness.
He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him.
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Just as a father has compassion on his children,
So the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him.
For He Himself knows our frame;
He is mindful that we are but dust.
Psalms 103:8-14

Can God love us anymore than He already does?  Yes, He could.  When we surrender all that we have to our Lord and King, He would love us greatly.  All we need to do is live in Him and walk daily.  Is this easy?  No, it is not.  Do you feel like you are properly equipped to live life on your own?  Not always.  I feel sometimes, even with the Bible as a guide, that I miss what God has for me.  I know God is there. Sometimes I feel that I have stumbled upon what I should do by accident. Sometimes, I have felt that I got it right and even hear God’s voice, in a whisper, tell me so.

When I make myself be quiet and sit outside to hear nature…to listen to the wind…I can hear him.  And it is hard to sit still.  I have to tell my mind to be quiet, to be still, to not run down the long laundry list of things that I need to do.  That is when I can relax and meditate on the good He has done in my life.  That is when I can see where He has proctected me, even when I did not see or know what He was doing. But then I have chosen to have faith in my God.  I have chosen to know that He is supreme and my Ultimate Protector.  I have chosen to know that He is my Shield and my Rock.

 

 

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Remind Me, Dear Lord

October 23, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

All the things that I love and hold dear to my heart
Are just borrowed they’re not mine at all
Jesus only let me use them to brighten my life
So remind me, remind me, dear Lord

Roll back the curtain of memory now and then
Show me where You brought me from and
Where I could have been
Just remember I’m a human and humans forget
So remind me, remind me, dear Lord

Nothing good have I done to deserve God’s own Son
I’m not worthy of the scars in His hands
Yet He chose the road to Calvary to die in my stead
Why He loved me I can’t understand

Just remember I’m a human and humans forget
So remind me, remind me, dear Lord

Songwriter: Mrs. Dottie Rambo / Performed by Vocal Union

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Oh, if only we WOULD remember what God has done!  The blessings, the healings, the provision, the miracles, the deliverances, the protection, the guidance…along with all the love and grace and mercy!  But, like the song says, ‘but humans forget…’.  And so we ask our compassionate and kind ABBA Father to ‘remind me…remind me, dear Lord!’  I think there are any number of ways that God reminds us of all that He has done…is doing…and will do.

One of God’s greatest gifts to us (in my own opinion) is providing the Holy Spirit…the Helper, the Comforter. While Jesus was preparing His disciples for leaving them, He told them of God’s plan. One thing He said was,

“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. But the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.”
John 14: 25 and 26

Jesus promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit would help them remember what He had taught them. The disciples had seen all that Jesus did and heard all that He had taught.  And, since we too are disciples of our Lord, the Holy Spirit can help us in the same way.  As we read and study the Scriptures, we can trust that truth will be placed into our hearts by the Holy Spirit as we are taught.  He will convince and convict us of God’s will, and remind us when we stray from it.

The Holy Spirit does so much for us!   True, He does plant truth in our hearts, convince us of God’s will, and remind us when we stray from it…but the responsibility to DO—obey—is ours.  He reminds…we obey.  He guides…we follow.  He helps us…we do what is right.

So, while we surely can (and should!) ask for God’s grace in reminding us through the Holy Spirit’s working in our hearts, I do think we should be responsible to remind ourselves, too!  A few things that I have purposed to do so that I am reminded are:

  • daily Bible reading

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips;
meditate on it day and night,
so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.
Joshua 1:8

  • listening to praise and worship music

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

  • spending time with other Christians

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works,
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together,
as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another,
and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24 and 25

  • having Scriptures up as decorations in our home

And these words which I am commanding you this day
shall be [first] in your [own] minds and hearts;
[then] you shall whet and sharpen them so as to make them penetrate,
and teach and impress them diligently upon the [minds and] hearts of your children,
and shall talk of them when you sit in your house
and when you walk by the way,
and when you lie down and when you rise up.
and you shall bind them as a sign upon your hand,
and they shall be as frontlets (forehead bands) between your eyes.
And you shall write them upon the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:6-9

{I would love to hear of ways that you remind yourself about our awesome God!}

Oh!  And here is a great list of 10 BIG daily reminders:

  • God exists
  • God loves you
  • Jesus died for you, and the Father has now bound himself to give you only good things.
  • God sees you as perfect
  • That is because of Jesus’ perfection…not yours
  • You will die
  • You will live forever in the new heavens and the new earth
  • For now. you are an exile on the earth
  • Nothing on earth is truly worth putting your hope in
  • You have no right to be unhappy

(Follow this link to read the entire article this list was taken from.)

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Slow to Anger…Quick to Love

October 22, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
nor will He harbor His anger forever;
He does not treat us as our sins deserve
or repay us according to our iniquities.
Psalms 103:8-10

As a parent, I often find it hard not to grow angry or frustrated when my kids do something (or keep doing something) after I or their father have instructed them not to keep doing whatever they are doing.  I love my kids.  I love them to the moon and back.  I am usually slow to anger.  However, after a stressful day, I find that I am quicker to be angry than usual.  That is all part of being human.

Know this, my beloved brothers:
let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;
for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.
James 1:19-20

God is the perfect example of what a loving parent should be.  He is:

  • quick to hear and patiently listens to our requests and confessions
  • careful in His answers to our prayers
  • patient, loving, and kind
  • puts up with a lot from us, but yet He still loves us

We, as humans, are not in any way getting the punishment or rejection that we deserve.  Many of us have rejected our heavenly Father, but He still does not punish or reject us.  He loves us in a way that we will probably never understand. Thanks to Jesus we will not receive the punishment that we deserve for sinning against God.

God does not harbor His anger His children.  He does not hold a grudge—like so many people do.  He does not hold our sins against us.  Instead, God forgives us and loves us.  He welcomes us back with open arms and helps us learn from our mistakes.

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Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for being slow to anger and always loving. We are so thankful that You do not hold a grudge against us. Your love is wonderful and compassionate. Because You love us so much, we do not have to worry about the wrathful punishment that awaits those who have rejected You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Busted Heart

October 22, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Winter has come back again
Feels like the season won’t end
My faith is tired tonight
And I won’t try to pretend
I’ve got it all figured out
That I don’t have any doubts
I’ve got a busted heart
I need You now
Yeah I need You now

Hold on to me
Hold on to me
Don’t let me lose my way
Hold on to me

I am the wandering son
Enough is never enough
I keep chasing the wind
Instead of chasing Your love
I’m screaming out Your name,
Don’t let me fall on my face
I’ve got a busted heart
I’m in need of a change
Yeah, I’m desperate for grace

Broke Your heart a thousand times
But You’ve never left my side
You have always been here for me
You never let me go
You never let me go
Don’t ever let me go

Winter will come to an end
Soon the season will end
I surrender tonight
You meet me right where I am

 

For King&Country (Joel and Luke Smallbone) along with Ben Glover, Jenna Torres

      *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~   ♥   ~   *

Are you in a season where you are tired, weary…and ready to give up?  I am in that very season right now.  Maybe you can relate…the season when life is coming at you in all directions and the darkness is closing in and it is hard to see the light….

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens,
and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28 NLT

When the unexpected things happen and life starts closing in and it is hard to find our way that is the very moment when we need to run BOLDLY to the throne of Grace.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence,
so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hebrews 4:15 NIV

He is always there waiting with open arms to meet us right where we are at.

So be strong and courageous!
Do not be afraid and do not panic before them.
For the LORD your God will personally go ahead of you.
He will neither fail you nor abandon you.
Deuteronomy 31: 6 NLT

Life is hard and unexpected things in life will happen. He is our Strength. We only need to put our hope and trust in Him and not the things of this world.

These things I have spoken unto you, that in Me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 KJV

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Heavenly Father, thank You for Your grace and mercy in our time of need.  Thank You that when we are about to lose our way and our faith is tired you meet us right where we are at.  Thank You, Lord, for holding on to us and never letting me go. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!!!

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