December 25, 2024

Staying in the Presence

January 27, 2015 by

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Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow,
because tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34 HCSB

One of my favorite quotes is…
“Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do,
but it doesn’t get you anywhere.”

We look at the past and worry about what has happened.  We look to the future and borrow trouble worrying about what will happen.  Neither is helpful…and neither gets us anywhere.

How many times have you heard the phrase “One day at a time…”? Hundreds, maybe even thousands?  It sounds trite but it is exactly what we need to do—take one day at a time.  But HOW do we do that?  By staying in His Presence. Philippians 4:6 gives us the best advice and provides step-by-step instructions for staying in His Presence.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.
Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done.

When we quit worrying—and instead—tell God everything, we shift our burdens to Him.  Psalm 55:22 (NLT) reminds us to “Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you.”  He will take care of us.  He is in control.  All we need to do is ask.  That is where telling Him what we need comes in.  John 11:22 (AMP) says “And even now I know that whatever You ask from God, He will grant it to You.” (BTW – God already knows what we need, but He likes to hear us ask.  It opens a conversation with Him.)

As we begin to thank God for all He has done, it causes us to reflect back on our life.  Psalm 77:11 (NLT) encourages us to recall what He has done and remember the miracles He has performed in our lives.

But then I recall all You have done, O Lord;
I remember Your wonderful deeds of long ago.

In reflection, we can see all the times God has been there for us…we see His mighty hand at work…we recall His great grace, His faithfulness, and His unending love.  Then we know with assurance Who holds our future.

Psalm 85:9a (AMP) states “Surely His salvation is near to those who reverently and worshipfully fear Him….”  When we remain in His Presence, we have no need to worry.  He knows the plans He has for us…plans that give us hope (Jeremiah 29:11).  So let’s stop the worry and enjoy this day in His Presence.

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Tomorrow Is Another Day

January 26, 2015 by

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Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Matthew 6:34

“Tomorrow is another day!”  For those of us who have watched Gone with the Wind (…watched it several times), how often do we remember hearing Scarlett O’Hara utter those words?  Whenever she is faced with a problem she can’t solve right then and there, she says she will think about it tomorrow.  She pushes it off until the next day.  She refuses to face it right then and there.  She knows that she has other problems to face during the rest of the day, and that tomorrow is another day.  It must be nice to put things off until tomorrow.  Scarlett was always putting her faith in what the next day would bring.

We should be thinking about what is in front of us today.  We should not be putting it off until the next day.  We are not promised tomorrow.  Our last moments could come at any time.  Our unfinished problems become someone else’s to handle when we don’t take care of them ourselves.  We have enough to worry about in one day.  We should not pile today’s worries onto tomorrow.  That will only make tomorrow, which should be a better day than the one before, worse.

Scarlett, however, is a fictional character.  A character in a book and a movie.  She can place her worries on the next day and the next and the next.  Through the words on the page and pictures on a screen, she will never die.  Yet, we are mortal.  We will die one day.  Worrying about tomorrow does not help us enjoy life.  Trying to shove our worries for today onto tomorrow will only makes the problem worse and dampens the next day.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
Hebrews 11:1

For those of us with strong faith in God, we do not have to worry about today or tomorrow.  God has everything in control.  We cannot see what tomorrow will bring.  We do know what will happen tomorrow if we have an appointment or something else scheduled.  However, we do not know what will happen around those planned parts of our day. We cannot control what will happen during the day.  Only God can.  Through faith we know that tomorrow will be there. Through faith, we hope and pray that we will see tomorrow. Faith gives us the certainty that what we can’t see or touch really does exist.  Unlike Scarlett, we do have to live in the here and now.

 *  ~  ♥  ~  ✞  ~  ♥  ~  *

Dear Heavenly Father: Thank You for worrying about tomorrow for us.  Thank You for being our Rock and Foundation.  With You we can tackle whatever is thrown at us today and prepare for the next day.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Heal Me, O Lord

January 24, 2015 by

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A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse—after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak.  For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.”  Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.  Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?”  And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”  And He looked around to see the woman who had done this.  But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.

Heal me, O Lord
And I will be healed
Save me and I will be saved
Heal me, O Lord
And I will be healed
For You are the One I praise
You are the One I praise

Singer / Songwriter ~ Don Moen along with the Hosanna Music singers

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Week Two…Jesus’ Words on Faith (Mark 5:24-34)

January 23, 2015 by

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 …And there was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years,
And who had endured much suffering under [the hands of] many physicians and had spent all that she had, and was no better but instead grew worse.
She had heard the reports concerning Jesus, and she came up behind Him in the throng and touched His garment,
For she kept saying, If I only touch His garments, I shall be restored to health.
And immediately her flow of blood was dried up at the source, and [suddenly] she felt in her body that she was healed of her [distressing] ailment.
And Jesus, recognizing in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around immediately in the crowd and said, Who touched My clothes?
And the disciples kept saying to Him, You see the crowd pressing hard around You from all sides, and You ask, Who touched Me?
Still He kept looking around to see her who had done it.
But the woman, knowing what had been done for her, though alarmed and frightened and trembling, fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.
And He said to her, Daughter, your faith (your trust and confidence in Me, springing from faith in God) has restored you to health. Go in (into) peace and be continually healed and freed from your [distressing bodily] disease.

Mark 5:24–34 AMP

This week the daily devotions here on the Seeking Him daily devotional blog have focused on Jesus’ words on faith from this record in the Gospel of Mark…

So much to glean and to learn here! Whenever I read or hear this passage, I am immediately drawn to the thoughts and the actions of this woman. She had FAITH…and she acted upon it!

Listen to what Tina, Laura, Cynda, Ann, and Ahmee had to share earlier this week….

In Your Faith, Cynda wrote,

“I got to thinking…if Jesus came
to give us an abundant, overflowing life,
why aren’t we experiencing that kind of life?

I think Mark 5:34a (NLT) holds the key:

And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well.

Our faith must be exercised to have an abundant, overflowing life.  Faith is based on knowing God & studying His words.  Joyce Meyer says “God’s Word is like medicine for the spirit, soul, and body.”  We must apply God’s Word and put our faith into action.  That’s what this woman did.”

❦

Tina reminded us, in Your Faith Has Made You Free, of the courage of this woman who had faith to approach Jesus for healing.

And He said to her, Daughter, your faith (your trust and confidence in Me,
springing from faith in God) has restored you to health.
Go in (into) peace and be continually healed and freed
from your [distressing bodily] disease.
Mark 5:34

“The woman had heard of Jesus’ miraculous healing power and out of her desperation, she knew she would probably die if she did not find someone to cure her…Getting the courage to touch His robe in the crowd, she knew she could get into trouble if found out.  Women were and are still thought of as property.  But Jesus did not rebuff her.  He wanted her to have faith in telling her story to everyone that she was healed just by touching His robe.”

❦

Ahmee reminded us in A Single Choice, of the importance of making choices based upon the guidance of God and God’s Word.

“A single choice can change your life for better or for worse.  Big decisions and small decisions can have catastrophic results.  The choices we make today form our habits for our tomorrows.  The choices we make today influence who will be in our tomorrows.  The choice this woman made (in this passage from Mark chapter 5) changed her life!  For twelve years—everyday—she bled.  She’d tried getting help from doctors, but to no avail.  And she had spent everything she had.   As I read this I wondered if she went to Jesus only because she had run out of other options.  Was it desperation that pulled her to Him?  Is this not so often the case, though? Regardless of why… she still made the choice and that’s the part that matters.

Choose. And make sure they are wise choices.“

❦

In Faith That Brings Peace, Ann posed some important questions regarding making good decisions to step out in faith.

“This lady knew that ‘if only I can touch Jesus’ hem of His garments…all will be well for me.’  She took a step of faith and broke protocols of that time by maneuvering through the crowd and found herself amidst the disciples (men) and touched Jesus.

On its own, it was not proper for a woman to be brushing shoulders with men; she didn’t mind what people would say about her.  All she was concerned with was that she would be healed.  I therefore urge each one of us to be a people of vision.  Let us also ask ourselves these questions below:

  • What is it that we want God to do for us
  • How are we drawing near to Him for Him to help us
  • How much time do we have for God
  • Do we believe He can do it
  • How great is He to heal us and free us from suffering”

❦

And  in Healing Power, Laura shared with us the faith in action of some folks from her home church who are endeavoring to have faith as they go through some hard times.

“One of our church members was involved in a bad car accident this week.  He was in very bad shape.  He was paralyzed from the neck down and was having trouble breathing.  The family asked for prayers….

The power of prayer and faith in God has helped this follower of Jesus to improve.  Faith and prayer is hopefully going to bring this family through this season in their life.  …However, I believe that they have faith like the woman in this record in the Gospel of Mark.  They have been praying, and he is slowly starting to improve (at last update).

To have faith strong as this is a blessing to any family.  Faith this strong can bring the healing power of God to anybody.  This is what Jesus wants from us—full faith in Him.  He wants us to rely on Him.  He died for us…we should all be able to rely on Him no matter the season or the trial ahead of us.”

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