November 21, 2024

Aware Of Being Thankful

November 18, 2015 by
seekingHimthanksgivinggraphic

 Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Psalms 136:1-3

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Two weeks ago, one of the ladies I volunteer with on Thursday nights came in asking for prayer for her husband. He has leukemia and has received a bone marrow transplant. He is now in remission but is having  infections from his compromised immune system. In his most recent emergency room visit, they discovered nodules on his liver. He was to have a test the next day to determine if the cancer had spread. We all gathered around her and one of the young women prayed such a powerful prayer filled with God’s authority to take this disease captive and acknowledging that our bodies are not made to be diseased.  We all declared his body would be healed and that no cancer would be present.  How inspiring that was!  The following Saturday, I received a text from the wife saying the test was negative!  She gave praise to her heavenly Father for His faithfulness as did all on the text!
Think about this: If we are praising God with our mouth, can we speak words of criticism of others without a check in our spirit?  I think not. Everyday, every morning, before our feet touch the ground, we should give thanks to God for a new day, a new opportunity to praise and serve Him.  As we do this, our hearts will change, we will grow stronger in our faith walk. We will develop the courage to speak and declare God’s words over any and all situations.
With reference to Psalms 136:1-3, Matthew Henry’s Commentary states, “Whom we must give thanks to him that we receive all good from, to the Lord, Jehovah, Israel’s God (v. 1), the God of gods, the God whom angels adore, from whom magistrates derive their power, and by whom all pretended deities are and shall be conquered (v. 2), to the Lord of lords, the Sovereign of all sovereigns, the stay and supporter of all supports; (v. 3). In all our adorations we must have an eye to God’s excellency as transcendent, and to his power and dominion as incontestably and uncontrollably supreme.”
God is in control. When things do not seem to go the way we want, we need to stop and ask God if we are going our way, or His. Have we asked God what He wants us to accomplish for Him? It may not be easy. We may have to make sacrifices to achieve His way, but I imagine the rewards will be far better than anything else we could ever have imagined on our own.
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Father, we give You all the praise, honor and glory!  You are the reason we are here.  You have the ultimate authority in our lives.  You, Who put rulers in place, and can remove them.  Father, lead us, let Your Holy Spirit direct our paths when we seek Your will for our lives. Forgive us when we are prideful and forget to ask You.  Teach us to wait, be still, and listen for Your guidance.  Father, we forgive those who have wronged us; and, in so doing, we receive the blessings You have for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen!!!
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Soul On Fire

May 25, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

God, I’m running for Your heart
I’m running for Your heart
Till I am a soul on fire
Lord, I’m longing for Your ways
I’m waiting for the day
When I am a soul on fire
Till I am a soul on fire

Lord, restore the joy I had
I have wandered, bring me back
In this darkness, lead me through
Until all I see is You

Lord, let me burn for You again
Let me return to You again
And Lord, let me burn for You again
And let me return to You again

Third Day
Mac Powell, Tai Anderson, Mark Lee, David Carr,
along with Brenton Brown, Matt Maher

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Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.
Psalm 51:12 AMP

“To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul’s paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too easily satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart” – A. W. Tozer

This song has been stuck in my head for weeks.  I finally gave in and decided to use it for my blog.  Why was I so unwilling to write about it?  I am not sure.  I want to believe I am longing for His ways instead of my own. But perhaps I am not….

We are all pursuing something.  We are chasing after dreams and desires, seeking to secure the things we are passionate about.  Sometimes pursuing our own goals and pursuing God become mutually exclusive.  We run hard after success and security.  And sometimes along the way we lose our joy and our passion for God.  We become consumed by obtaining more worldly wealth and lose sight of our eternal wealth.

Why do we waste our time running after things that will never satisfy us?  Too often it takes a disaster, a tragedy, a major loss or failure for God to regain our attention.  It would be so much easier on us if we would continually seek revival in our souls…if we made a conscious decision daily to run hard after God.

Matthew Henry stated,
“Wherever there is true grace there is a desire for more grace.”
King David put it like this,
“My soul follows hard after You: Your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:8)

We should be hot on the heels of God—earnestly, and expectantly, seeking Him.  It requires effort and endurance on our part but the rewards we reap cannot be counted or contained.

Maybe this song has been stuck in my mind as a personal reminder to be running after God’s heart.  Maybe it is to bring me back from my worldly wanderings and restore the joy that can only be found in an intimate relationship with God.  Perhaps this song will remain in my mind and in my heart until I, again, have a soul on fire.

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Lord, please help me return to You again.  Restore my joy, let it abound in me.  May I daily run hard after Your heart and may Your right hand uphold me.  In Jesus’ name, Amen – it is so!

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I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever

January 19, 2015 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

Over the mountains and the sea
Your river runs with love for me
And I will open up my heart
And let the Healer set me free

I’m happy to be in the truth
And I will daily lift my hands
For I will always sing
Of when Your love came down

I could sing
I could sing of Your love forever

I could sing of Your love forever
I could sing of Your love forever
I could sing of Your love forever
I could sing of Your love forever

Oh I feel like dancing
It’s foolishness I know
But when the world has seen the light
They will dance with joy like we’re dancing now

I could sing of Your love forever
I could sing of Your love forever
I could sing of Your love forever
I could sing of Your love forever

 

Singer /Songwriter: Martin Smith along with Delirious 

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As for me, I will tell about Him forever; I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
Psalm 75:9 HCSB

I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever!
Psalm 89:1a NLT

“…For we must, in every thing, in every state, give thanks; thus we must glorify the Lord in the fire. We think, when we are in trouble, that we get ease by complaining; but we do get more—we get joy, by praising.”

– Matthew Henry

It is so easy to complain, isn’t it?  We feel things aren’t going our way or things should be different or things should be better.  I agree with Matthew Henry…we do get more when we praise God than when we complain. When we choose praise, we stop being a Debbie Downer and our joy is suddenly bubbling to the top.

When I feel the urge to complain, I need to look back at what God has done and trust Him for today. Look at Psalm 52:9 (HCSB) “I will praise You forever for what You have done. In the presence of Your faithful people, I will put my hope in Your name, for it is good.”  As we look back over what God has done for us, we should feel like dancing.  Psalm 68:4(AMP) tells us to “Sing to God, sing praises to His name, cast up a highway for Him Who rides through the deserts—His name is the Lord—be in high spirits and glory before Him!”  We are to be in high spirits before our Lord!  And 2 Chronicles 20:21b (HCSB) gives us this reason (as if we need one!)

Give thanks to the Lord, for His faithful love endures forever.

God is good.  His faithful love does endure forever.  We have much to be thankful for so let’s nix the complaints.  Instead, let’s dance and sing of His love forever.

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Abba, thank You so much for You faithful, never-ending love that endures forever, regardless of what we have done or will do.  Let us sing praises to You and be in high spirits before You so that we may bring You glory.  In Your Holy name I ask this – Amen, so be it!

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What IS Joy?

December 18, 2014 by

gchSHadventjoygraphic

As I began to study JOY, one question kept coming to mind – what is joy?  The more I researched…the more frustrated I became.  Oh, there is LOTS of information out there about joy.  Most of the information is very vague and I wanted concrete.

Then I stumbled across Rick Warren’s definition of joy:

“Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life,
the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be alright,
and the determined choice to praise God in every situation.”

I love that!  Joy is a ‘settled assurance…a quiet confidence’ in God.  Lexham’s Bible Dictionary defines joy as “a natural result of having received salvation.  Joy comes on account of what Christ has done, irrelevant of whatever circumstances are happening in one’s life”.

Psalm 92: 4 (NLT) puts it like this,

You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me!
I sing for joy because of what you have done.

When I recall all He has done for me, I can look forward to what He will do with assurance and confidence. I trust Him.  That is true joy.  According to Matthew Henry, “From a joyful remembrance of what God has done for us, we may raise a joyful prospect of what He will do.”

As I continued to think about what Christ has done for me, two things came to mind:

  1. He has given me a future
  2. He has given me hope

Jeremiah 29:11 (HCSB) states “I know the plans I have for you”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope….”

And Psalm 16:11 (HCSB) says “You reveal the path of life to me; in Your presence is abundant joy; in Your right hand are eternal pleasures.”

Happiness is often associated with joy.  Joy is so much more than being happy. Happiness is a temporary emotion while joy is an attitude, a state of being. Happiness often comes from external situations or material things. The joy of the Lord is found within and gives us strength no matter what we are experiencing.  Joy is the result of our choice to trust Him.

That’s where I find my joy – in Him alone.

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Father, thank You for being the source of my joy. You are my Strength and my Portion forever. Remind me when I struggle that joy and happiness are not the same thing. May I always look to You and recall all You have done, and will do, in my life. That is my true joy. In Jesus’ name I ask this – Amen, so be it!

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Breaking Brass Gates and Busting Iron Bars

May 26, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

May they erupt with praise and give thanks to the Eternal Lord
in honor of His loyal love and all the wonders He has performed for humankind!
He has broken down the bronze gates and severed the iron bars that imprisoned them.
Psalm 107:16 The Voice

Ever feel hesitant to do God’s will? Sometimes we are reluctant to follow the directions of God because all we see before us are the brass gates and iron bars blocking our way. The Amplified Bible shares Isaiah 45:2 this way:

I will go before you and level the mountains [to make the crooked places straight];
I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron.

Psalm 107:16 and Isaiah 45:2 show us He will go before us and already have those obstacles removed before our arrival. God will make a way through the greatest difficulties we face. He will deliver us from the strongest prison, even if we are imprisoned in sin or consequences of our own making, and make the path straight ahead of us.  Micah 2:13 (Amplified) tells us that Jesus will be our Guide:

The Breaker [the Messiah] will go up before them.
They will break through, pass in through the gate and go out through it,
and their King will pass on before them, the Lord at their head.

Jesus has already broken through the barrier keeping us apart from God, paving the way for our salvation. He will continue to break through every obstacle in the way of our deliverance, our restoration, clearing a path through anyone or anything that opposes us. Nothing can hold us back if God is going before us.

Matthew Henry puts it like this:
“Those will find a ready road that have God going before them.”

Don’t let the brass gates and iron bars before you keep you from moving forward. Take that first step, all the while praising God. Watch Him shatter those gates and destroy the iron bars holding you back.

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Dear Lord, thank You so very much for Your grace and mercy. We are so thankful Your hand is upon us every step of the way. Do not let us hesitate when obstacles appear before. Remind us that You have already removed every obstacle blocking our path as long as we are following You. You are so good to us and we want to bring glory and honor to You in all we do. In Jesus’ precious name we pray, Amen. So be it!

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Mercy Seat

April 1, 2014 by

psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv

In the darkness, where everything is unknown
I faced the power of sin on my own
I did not know of a place I could go
Where I could find a way to heal my wounded soul
He said that I could come into His Presence without fear
Into the Holy Place where His mercy hovers near

I’m runnin’, I’m runnin’, I’m runnin’ to the Mercy Seat
Where Jesus is calling, He said His grace would cover me
His blood will flow freely, it will provide the healing
I’m runnin’ to the Mercy Seat, I’m runnin’ to the Mercy Seat

Are you living where hope has not been
You’re lost in the curse of a lifetime of sin
Well, underneath the illusions, they never come true
I know where there’s a place of mercy for you
He said that you could come into His Presence without fear
Into the Holy Place where His mercy hovers near

Come runnin’, come runnin’, come runnin’ to the mercy seat
Where Jesus is calling, He said His grace would cover me
His blood will flow freely, It will provide the healing
Come runnin’ to the Mercy Seat, come runnin’ to the Mercy Seat
He said that you could come into His Presence without fear
Into the Holy Place where His mercy hovers near

Come runnin’ to the Mercy Seat
Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy on me

I know Your grace is greater than my sin!
You said that Your grace would cover me
Your blood would flow freely it will provide the healing
I’m runnin’, I’m runnin’, I’m runnin’ to the Mercy Seat
Where Jesus is calling, He said that His grace would cover me
His blood will flow freely, it will provide my healing
I’m runnin’, come runnin’, come runnin’ to the Mercy Seat

~  Listen while you read!  ~

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What a great question to ask ourselves today: ‘Are you living where hope has not been?  Are you lost in the curse of a lifetime of sin?  Underneath the illusions, they never came true.’  I KNOW where there is a place of mercy for you…. Sisters, I KNOW this to be the Truth in my own life.

The definition of the word illusion is “…a thing that is, or is likely to be, wrongly perceived or interpreted by the senses.”  It is the lie that is believed.  A lie I once believed that there was NO hope for my past choices…until I discovered the Truth!!  Are you believing the lie?  The lie that there is no hope for you??   As Proverbs 13 :12 tells us “Hope deferred makes the heart sick….”  Sisters, let me assure you there is ALWAYS, ALWAYS HOPE in JESUS!!!  His grace is greater than my sin!

Sisters, come running to the Mercy Seat where Jesus is calling.  His Blood has provided for your and my healing.

He went once for all into the [Holy of] Holies [of heaven],
not by virtue of the blood of goats and calves
[by which to make reconciliation between God and man],
but His own blood, having found and secured
a complete redemption (an everlasting release for us).
Hebrews 9:12 AMP

I love Matthew Henry’s commentary on Hebrews 9:15-22.

The solemn transactions between God and man, are sometimes called a covenant, here a testament, which is a willing deed of a person, bestowing legacies on such persons as are described, and it only takes effect upon his death. Thus Christ died, not only to obtain the blessings of salvation for us, but to give power to the disposal of them. All, by sin, were become guilty before God, had forfeited every thing that is good; but God, willing to show the greatness of his mercy, proclaimed a covenant of grace. Nothing could be clean to a sinner, not even his religious duties; except as his guilt was done away by the death of a sacrifice, of value sufficient for that end, and unless he continually depended upon it. May we ascribe all real good works to the same all-procuring cause, and offer our spiritual sacrifices as sprinkled with Christ’s blood, and so purified from their defilement.

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Heavenly Father, I pray for each and every woman reading this blog that they would not believe the lie that there is no hope for their situation.  But, instead, receive the Truth that there is ALWAYS Hope in You!!!  Thank You for the blood sacrifice so that we may obtain grace and healing.  In Jesus’ name! AMEN!!!

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