November 24, 2024

Following The Rules

July 14, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to the law of the Lord.
Blessed are those who keep His statutes
and seek Him with all their heart—
they do no wrong but follow His ways.
You have laid down precepts
that are to be fully obeyed.
Oh, that my ways were steadfast
in obeying Your decrees!”
Psalms 119:1-5

As children, we are taught right and wrong from the beginning. Our parents do their best to teach us right from wrong. Sometimes we follow their teachings—and sometimes we don’t. That is called being human. If we followed their teachings and never got into trouble then we would be perfect and in Heaven with God right now. Unfortunately, we are born into sin and therefore follow human nature until we accept Christ.

Our parents lay down rules so as to give us boundaries to follow as we grow up. If we do not follow them, then there are consequences. I know a person (I will not name names) who got a whipping with a flip-flop from his mother because he thought he could get what he wanted by pitching a fit even though he had already been told ‘no’ and the reason why. I received a spanking for asking a cashier at Arby’s for a quarter to play the video games at the restaurant even though I had already been told ‘no’ by my mother. Just as the little boy did not respect his mother, neither did I—and we both paid for it.

This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man,
blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.
Genesis 6:9

Just as parents set boundaries for their children, God does so for His children. He blesses those that follow His teachings and listen to Him. He saw Noah this way, and Noah was blessed with his life and the gift of helping to repopulate the Earth when God destroyed the world in the Flood. Noah had a relationship with God. This relationship saved him in more ways than one and blessed him among men. He obeyed God and was blessed.

God blesses those who follows His teachings and laws. He blesses those that enter into a relationship with Him. We should seek to follow God’s laws and teachings. We should open our ears and hearts and eyes to Him from the time we wake to the time we sleep every day. We are blessed to have a loving Father who takes cares of us and blesses us in any way imaginable.

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Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your laws and teachings. Thank You for blessing those who follow You. You care for us and gave these laws to set boundaries that will protect and bless us. Thank You for Your love and kindness and mercy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Glorify God

July 8, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

I will extol the Lord at all times;
His praise will always be on my lips.
I will glory in the Lord;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt His name together.
Psalms 34:1-3

Glorifying the Lord in our current age is becoming harder and harder. Technology, money, and other ways to keep up with the “Jones,’” is starting to take more and more time away from just about everybody. It feels like we need more time in the day to just accomplish three or four things on our daily to-do list. (This does not include the regular 9-5 job.)  Many of us are losing precious time with our families and our Lord because of everything that we are letting take us away from them.

However, we can find ways to glorify God during the day. We can pray anytime we want. It is part of the freedom of living in the U.S. This past weekend (Fourth of July) my family started what will hopefully become a new tradition for us of taking a week (maybe two weeks after talking with the reservation lady) to spend the holiday at Wind Creek State Park in Alabama. (If you ever need a nice place to go camping, we highly recommend Wind Creek State Park.) We caught up on some much needed family time. With my husband’s job, along with my work and school schedule, too, it is hard to fit in time as a family. It is hard to find time for God every day, but we pray every day and try to read a verse or two together. Life is hectic, but God can still be glorified in it.

Glorify God in your work. Glorify God in your family time. Admire His glorious work in you and around you. Be thankful for the blessings He gives you. In the blink of an eye, it could be over. Glorify the Lord at all times—through thankfulness, praise, prayer, and devotion.

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Dear Heavenly Father: Thank You for Your blessings. We praise You with each action. We will praise You through our lips and heart. In Jesus name, Amen.

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Freedom

July 4, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv
The Star-Spangled Banner (final stanza)

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

I never knew how long The Star Spangled Banner was until I looked it up last week.  I was actually wondering if God was mentioned anywhere in the song.  You always hear just the first stanza sung at many events.  The complete song is four stanzas long.  The last stanza (as posted above) does refer to God.  So, two of my questions were answered: 1) Truly, how long is the anthem? 2) If there is more than 1 stanza, is God mentioned anywhere else in the song?

I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.
Psalm 119:45

Our forefathers sought a life of freedom from oppressive governments and to be able to worship freely as they pleased. They did not want to have to answer to one particular “denomination” as we now call all the different types of worship in Christ. Our forefathers wanted to be able to live a life where they would be free to seek the Lord and live unoppressed by the monarchy. They found it in the land that, following the American Revolution, would become the United States of America.

For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty;
only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Galatians 5:13

For those of us who were blessed to be born here, or blessed to become citizens here through naturalization processes, we have been called to liberty. We are called to be free from the wants of the flesh. We are supposed to love one another and serve another in the eyes of God. God brought us to this free nation, and we are to serve free from the sins of the flesh. We are to use our liberty from oppression to serve God.

We praise and serve God for our freedom through different actions. There are those who serve selflessly in the Armed Forces. Let us thank and remember those who are currently deployed fighting to protect and sustain our freedoms. There are those who serve here at home through emergency services or working in some other capacity. Then we also serve our Lord by helping others and our neighbors. This is just part of the liberty that God has granted us. Let us praise Him and thank Him for our freedom. GOD BLESS AMERICA!

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for blessing our nation and giving us the freedom to worship You. Thank You for those who serve to protect that freedom and die for it, if that is their destiny. Thank You for our freedom from the consequences of sin. Thank You for Your love and protection. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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One Nation Under God

July 3, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people He chose for His inheritance.
Psalm 33:12

Over two hundred years ago, the Pilgrims came to this land looking for religious freedom from a government that was persecuting them and trying to get them to worship in an “official” way. Battered by storms and the Atlantic Ocean, they survived the perilous journey to what is now Massachusetts. Then, they survived the new climate and seasons over here. They were even helped by natives who would become known as Native Americans. Eventually the people who settled here would fight the American Revolution, and they would win their freedom from England. This land would become known as the United States of America. Through the centuries, people from many different nations would come to this land seeking the same freedoms and rights that the Pilgrims had been seeking.

Our forefathers were God-fearing people. They prayed to Him daily. They read the Bible. Prayer was allowed in school. Prayer was allowed anytime and anywhere. Our nation prospered. We as a people were blessed. God was with us then, and He is still with us now. He is still our Rock and Protector. He is our Savior and Father. However, there are those out there who want to see God and His blessings leave our nation.

Prayer is no longer allowed in our schools. Groups are fighting to keep baby Jesus and the nativity scene out of town squares at Christmas. Schools are being sued if God is mentioned at graduation. City governments are being sued because they pray before a meeting begins. Political groups are wanting to remove the words “In God We Trust” from our money. We can’t even post monuments to the Ten Commandments without someone raising a stink about the separation of church and state. God eventually punishes the areas of the world that think and act like He does not exist or start to turn away from Him.

As long as we are silent, things will get worse before they get better. There are people out there who are starting to fight back. Parents are starting to cry out for prayer to be reinstated in schools. States are passing bills to allow the Ten Commandments to be posted in state buildings. ‘One nation under God’ is starting to rise again, and it will continue to rise as long as we do not keep silent. Our forefathers were not silent…nor should we be.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for letting us be citizens of the land of the free. We pray that You continue to lead this nation through the coming years and through turbulent times. Lead us to Your blessings and protect us from hard times. Protect our troops as they protect our freedoms, and protect those here at home who protect us on our shores. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Three Wooden Crosses

June 27, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv
There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway
Why there’s not four of them, Heaven only knows
I guess it’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you
It’s what you leave behind you when you go

That farmer left a harvest, a home and eighty acres
The faith an’ love for growin’ things in his young son’s heart
An’ that teacher left her wisdom in the minds of lots of children
Did her best to give ’em all a better start
An’ that preacher whispered: “Can’t you see the Promised Land?”
As he laid his blood-stained Bible in that hooker’s hand

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway
Why there’s not four of them, Heaven only knows
I guess it’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you
It’s what you leave behind you when you go

That’s the story that our preacher told last Sunday
As he held that blood-stained Bible up
For all of us to see
He said: “Bless the farmer, and the teacher, an’ the preacher
“Who gave this Bible to my mamma
“Who read it to me”

There are three wooden crosses on the right side of the highway
Why there’s not four of them, now I guess we know
It’s not what you take when you leave this world behind you
It’s what you leave behind you when you go

Songwriters: Kim Williams and Doug Johnson
Performed by Randy Travis and Josh Turner

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Every time I hear this song I can imagine the story it is telling…

A bus has wrecked. Three people have died—a farmer, a teacher, and a preacher. The farmer left the love of farming to his own son. The teacher left her wisdom to her students. A preacher leaves his Bible with a hooker who then uses it to turn her life around. She reads the Word and turns from her possibly horrible miserable life. She has a young son of her own. She reads those same life-saving words to her own son. Her son would become a preacher….

Now these are some honorable legacies!

We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and His might, and the wonders that He has done.
Psalm 78:4

The hooker in the ballad above did not hide ‘the glorious deeds’ from her son.  She did not hide from him what saved her life. Instead, she gave him the same tools that were given to her by a dying preacher to make sure that her son did not follow the same path the she had.  She got to see a great legacy formed when her son decided to become a preacher. We as parents leave legacies to our children.  They watch everything we say and do, and they learn by listening to us and watching us.

As parents it is up to us to leave our children with a good foundation in Christ. We pass our morals and beliefs onto our children through our actions and conversations with them. They then will turn around and pass it down to their own kids. Leaving a godly legacy becomes more important with each passing generation as this world begins to turn from God.

We should not hide these things from our children. In the song the hooker does not hide her life from her son.  Instead, and this is my imagination working, she shares what her life was like to him and reads to him the Bible, which saved her life.  The preacher made sure that the legacy of God continued when he passed his bloodied up Bible to someone who was in desperate need of it.  I like to imagine that the hooker was on her way to a new life, and the preacher was God’s instrument in making sure that she made herself better and left a good legacy herself.  We need to follow this example and leave a good legacy for our own children.

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Dear Heavenly Father, please guide me in helping to leave a Godly legacy to my children.  May they learn how good You are and that You will never leave them. Please protect them and help them build their own Godly legacies.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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Breaking Free of Burdens

June 25, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

I cry to you, Lord;  I say, “You are my Refuge,
my Portion in the land of the living.”
Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need;
rescue me from those who pursue me,
for they are too strong for me.
Set me free from my prison,
that I may praise Your name.
Then the righteous will gather about me
because of Your goodness to me.
Psalms 142:5-7

Everyday people are burdened with many troubles.  I admit that I can claim to belong to this group.  It may be money troubles…it may be stress… it may a little bit of everything.  Yet we all have our burdens.  Sometimes these burdens stretch out for a long period of time, and other times they are very short-lived.  Either way burdens can leave us stressed out and exhausted.  They can leave us feeling miserable.  It can feel like we are trapped in a prison that we can’t escape.

Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you;
He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.
Psalm 55:22

As children of God we should never have to worry about our burdens or let them trap us in an emotional prison.  This just makes us miserable and lets the devil walk all over us.  It lets the temptation to sin gain traction, and then our walk with God will suffer.  If we put our faith in God, we should not let our worries and burdens stress us.  We should be relieved that Jesus is there to take some of the weight off our shoulders.  God already knows how our situations are going to turn out.  He is not going to give us more than He thinks we can handle.

Jesus sets us free from the prison that our burdens make for us when we put our faith in Him.  He loves us, and He is always there to help us when we need it.  He is our Comforter and our Strength.  We should not be afraid to let Him help us handle what is in front of us.


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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for breaking us free from the weight of our burdens.  If not for You, these burdens would crush us.  We praise You for helping us and loving us.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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A Mother to All

June 18, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

He maketh the barren woman to keep house,
and to be a joyful mother of children.
Praise ye the LORD.
Psalm 113:9

In all my adult years, I never thought I would meet anybody who would not want children. Now, I have met women who were not able to have children or who, with their husband, had established their families through other means. Needless to say, of all the women in the aforementioned descriptions, they have all felt blessed and that this is the way God intended for their lives to be led. These women still have homes and husbands to care for, but they also have another calling.

There are some of these women in every church. I know of a few in ours. One of these great ladies works with the children in our church. She finds great joy in her role as their teacher. She teaches Sunday School, children’s choir, creative movement, and much more that involves the children of our church. She finds great joy in fostering the spiritual side of the children she works with each week. She finds great joy in the pursuits of her own family and those of working with our children. God has made her joyful in what she does.

Ladies, whether you have children or not, you are blessed to be put in the position you are in. As mothers, we are blessed with the joy of having a family and taking care of it. Barren women can find joy in helping foster a godly spirit in their friends’ children and the children of the church. Through these roles they praise God through their actions. Children look up to both their parents and their elders for guidance. As women of God, barren women still can find joy in helping with children through doing God’s work.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the women that You have placed in our lives. Without them we could not learn from one another or be good examples for each other…or for our children. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

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Thankful

June 11, 2014 by

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Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness,
And for His wonders to the sons of men!
Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people,
And praise Him at the seat of the elders.
Psalms 107:31-32

My husband and I started trying to grow our family shortly after we got married. Six weeks into our first pregnancy, we got into a huge fight.  Let’s just say that I said some things I wished I had never said.  A short while later, I suffered a miscarriage in the sixth week.  This was so devastating to me and my dear husband.  By the time that the due date rolled around for the miscarried pregnancy, I was halfway through the pregnancy with our son (who would be blessed to share a birthday with one of his maternal great-grandfathers—talk about a great 77th birthday present!).   Needless to say, our son holds a very special place in my heart.

God loves us, and He never leaves us.  He answered our prayers when we tried again.  He answered my prayers when I asked for a boy when I was pregnant. Now most churches do baby dedication on Mother’s Day Sunday.  Of course, since our son was born closer to the end of the year, I missed that round, but I wanted to show God that I was thankful.  So, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we christened our son in our church.  I purposefully asked for that Sunday, so we could give thanks to God and show our thanks during such a thankful season.
We should give thanks to God for all His love and kindness every day no matter where we are at.  By ourselves, we should thank Him through our prayer and our actions.  God loves us, and He loves showing His kindness to us—just as any good and loving father does.  When we are with a group of believers, we know He is with us because Jesus is with every one of us.  We thank Him through praise and worship, bible study, and group prayer.

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Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for all Your loving kindness and wonders.  We praise You and thank You with all our hearts every day.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Sacrifices and Joy

June 3, 2014 by

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Let them give thanks to the Lord for His unfailing love
and His wonderful deeds for mankind.
Let them sacrifice thank offerings
and tell of His works with songs of joy.
Psalms 107:21-22

When one reads the Bible and thinks of sacrifice, they probably think about animal sacrifices to God.  However, most cultures do not do animal sacrifices anymore.  It is, in today’s modern world, an outdated practice in most cultures. Yet there are other ways to make sacrifices for God’s glory.

As parents, we sacrifice our time to raise Godly children.  We sacrifice our time to ensure that our children know who God is when we could be doing something else.  We sacrifice our own wants and wants of the flesh to bring glory to God through serving at church or in other capacities, working in various ministries, etc.  These are  just some ways we do “sacrifice thank offerings”—by giving up our own time to serve Him in some capacity.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing,
so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Romans 15:13

When we accept Christ or witness others accept Christ, we are filled with joy.  We are joyful that one of the lost has found their way back into God’s arms again.  We take that same joy and tell of God’s great works and miracles through song and praise.  We tell of His wondrous life and works with joy to anybody who is yearning to hear His story of peace and redemption.  We become filled with the hope that the Holy Spirit brings us.  We spread this hope and joy and peace through sacrificing our time and selfish human desires to serve and worship God.

“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.
But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead
and is alive again; he was lost and is found.”
Luke 15:31-32

As in this parable about the prodigal son, the father had made great sacrifices to provide for his family.  He gave the one son his inheritance who then squandered it.  But, when that son returned home, the father was overjoyed.  In this parable, we can see God as making sacrifices for us, those who choose to ignore Him and refuse to follow Him.  However, when we come back to Him and accept Christ, He is overjoyed.  We are alive again, and we can tell of the great joy and miracles that God brings us through voice and song.

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Dear Heavenly Father, we are overjoyed that You love us.  We sing with joy of the wonderful blessings You give us and of the miracles You perform.  May we be strong witnesses of Your love and grace.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Breaking Free

May 29, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love
and His wonderful deeds for men, for He breaks down gates of bronze
and cuts through bars of iron.
Psalms 107:15-16

Have you ever been by an iron mill when they are melting iron? If you have ever seen the movie “Rudy” then you at least have an idea about what goes on in the mill.  They are melting the iron down so that it can be used in the production of goods.  Have you ever been to one of those old- timey craft fairs where the blacksmith is working with some type of iron (or other metal)?  He beats the metal into something like a horseshoe or sword—just something that can be used for the good of mankind.

Now imagine an old junk yard.  This junk yard is full of old cars and trucks and just about anything else made of metal that you can think of.  Everything is starting to rust and break down.  There are people out there who go to these junkyards and get parts to keep cars and machinery running.  They use old parts from this rusting junk pile to make something, not exactly new, but to keep it running.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17

God does the same with us when we accept Jesus as our Savior.  He breaks us out of the iron restraints of sin and washes us clean.  He breaks us out of the iron hold of the world and Satan, and He purifies us.  God breaks down our old spirit and molds us into a new spirit that is worthy of His glory.  The old is thrown away, and God begins to mold us into how He wants us to be—pretty much like an ironworker working to make iron usable.

We are a new creation.  We are no longer rusting or going bad.  God has broken us out from an iron-clad prison that was holding us back from glorifying Him.  We are no longer prisoners of sin.  Because God loves us unfailingly, He does not leave us to rot in our sin.  He stays with us—pushing and pulling us out through the broken prison bars.  He never leaves us, and He works with us to accomplish the goals He sets before us.

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Dear Heavenly Father:  Thank You for Your wonderful and unfailing love.  Thank You for breaking us out from the chains of sin.  You have made us new and set goals in front of us that will make us more like You.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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