November 25, 2024

2014 — A New Year

December 30, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo
Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been remembering what it has been like the past year, and over the past years as well.  I think about all the busy times and down times my family has had, and I remember many things that happened in my childhood. Needless to say, our children’s childhood is turning out much different.

Technology has evolved.  I had cassettes, records, and saw the birth of CDs.  My children have CDs and mp3.  Computers have always been here for them.  Pay at the pump has always existed.  Debit cards have always existed.  Technology has changed but so has the world.

Growing up, Jesus was a more prominent part of most people’s lives.  The Nativity wasn’t attacked.  The Ten Commandments weren’t under attack either.  You hardly ever heard about anything like the current persecution that is occurring today.  About the only thing people couldn’t do was pray in school.

The world is changing before our eyes. More and more people are losing their way and not following Christ. They are living in the world. Many people are starting to ignore God and refuse the good news of Christ. Our world is starting to crumble.

I think of all this, and I do realize that this is all part of Biblical prophecy.  We are living in the end times.  The best thing I can do is to follow Christ with all my heart and try to live as He expects me to do—day in and day out.  Maybe by doing this I can be an example to those who are living in the world but want something that the world cannot give them.

As the New Year approaches, I hope that I can grow closer to Jesus as the world continues to live in chaos.  Life will be busy and hectic.  Time will go by as quickly as it always does, but God comes (as He always should) first.  I will continue to pray.  I hope that all out there can do the same.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~   ♥   ~   *

Dear Heavenly Father: As we begin a New Year, please be with all of us as we continue to go about our busy lives.  We rely on Your strength to keep us going through the good and bad times.  Thank You for Your love and grace.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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2014 – Be Mindful of Distractions

December 29, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

This year has been for me a year of understanding what lack of focus and distractions can do in your life.  Friends, family, laziness, entertainment, illness, work, emotions, and doubt (to name a few) are all things that can be distractions!  The thing about a distraction—it only has power once it has your focus.

However, I have learned that there are things we can do to help prevent ourselves from being trapped by distractions.  Colossians 3:1-2 gives the best advice in regards to distraction.

Since you have been raised to new life with Christ,
set your sights on the realities of heaven,
where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

Simply put, the best cure for distraction is to stay focused on God.  Sounds simple enough, right?!?  If only….

Another way to make sure we don’t flirt with distraction is to make sure that we are doing the things that we already know we are supposed to be doing.  Here’s an example:

In the spring of the year, when kings normally go out to war,
David sent Joab and the Israelite army to fight the Ammonites.
They destroyed the Ammonite army and laid siege to the city of Rabbah.
However, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.
Late one afternoon, after his midday rest,
David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace.
As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath.
2 Samuel 11:1-2

This passage is the opening to the familiar story of David and Bathsheba.  One thing that I have always noticed in this record is that David wasn’t even supposed to be home during this time.  David, being the king, should have gone to war (verse 1), but instead he sent Joab and the army…kingless.  And with single choice, one of David’s most infamous sins was committed.

We are humans.  We will sin.  If the possibly existed for us to not sin, then the sacrifice of Jesus would not have been necessary.  And we will get distracted…whether it be by something someone said or did, or by things we intend to be good.  Distraction is something that pulls you away from the path of God and the purpose He has called you to.  Be mindful of all that you choose to endeavor in because some things may just be a distraction.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Lord, in the year to come, help us to remain focused on You, and to not waste valuable energy on things that You would not have us to do.  Let us purposefully engage in each activity and choice we make, with guidance from You showing us what is and what is not worth the limited amount of time we have here on Earth.  Amen.

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2014 – Seeking The Lord Where He Is Found

December 28, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:33

When we came to the 31st December 2013 and as we were going into 2014, the Word of God that was very vivid to me was Matthew 6:33.  I studied it and meditated on it…and, yes, I got revelation.  Since then the year 2014 has been a year where “all things were added to me” and I am so thankful to my God for everything in the year 2014.

God has been so faithful, loving, and kind to me and my family, friends, and relatives. Indeed in every family or clan God raises someone to stand as a pillar for all.  I can testify today that I am one of the pillars God created in our family; and, yes, it is good to stand in awe of God.

It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
To declare Your steadfast love in the morning,
and Your faithfulness by night,
Psalms 92:1-2

Throughout the year while reading the devotions that my GCH sisters have written as well as other men and women of God I interact with and also the Word of God spoken through my Pastors it has always encouraged me. And shown me that only by seeking the Kingdom of God that all things shall be added unto me.

And I choose to study the Word more and meditate on it and let the Word speak to me first before preaching to others.  I have seen the hand of God and I can testify that despite the hardships/adversary I faced this past year in one area or another, God remains Almighty God to me, and His lovingkindness and faithfulness never ceases.

There was a time I was at zero in faith when I failed my exams in June, and some other hard times in my social life.  Yet God still spoke to me through your devotions, my sisters, and through a few friends in my own country.  My faith was lifted up again! What a wonderful group of women and men of God I am connected to!  God handled everything in His perfect ways and He is able to do what He says He will do.  God is awesome.

He’s Able ~ Deitrick Haddon
*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Lord, I thank You for Your lovingkindness and your faithfulness at all times. Be praised and glorified for taking me through the ups and downs of this life for Your names’ sake. I am what I am today because of Your love. Thanks for the precious gift of Jesus to my life. He saved me and my loved ones and my friends. I am called Your child, Lord, for I accepted Jesus as my Lord and my Savior. Be glorified and exalted in all the earth, Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

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When Love Was Born

December 27, 2014 by

SHadventlovegraphic

Starlight shines
The night is still
Shepherds watch from a hill
I close my eyes and see the night
when Love was born

Perfect child gently waits
A mother bends to kiss God’s face
I close my eyes and see the night
when Love was born

Angels fill the midnight sky, they sing
Hallelujah, He is Christ our King

Emmanuel, Prince of Peace,
Love come down for you and me
Heaven’s gift, the Holy spark
to light the way inside our hearts

Bethlehem through your small door
came the Hope we’ve waited for
The world was changed forever more
When Love was born

I close my eyes and see the night
when Love was born

 

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This Week…LOVE (Advent, week four)

December 26, 2014 by

SHadventlovegraphic

Merry, blessed Christmas to each of you!  How encouraging it has been to read the Seeking Him devotionals each day during this Advent season focused on the themes of Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love.  The Scriptures and the encouragement shared have reminded me of God’s goodness and helped me to prepare my heart for the celebration of Jesus’ birth.

We all know how easy it is amidst all the hubbub—the list-making, and shopping, and baking, and caroling, and visiting, and wrapping—to be distracted from the true importance of the season.  Jesus’ birth changed EVERYTHING.  His first coming as Emmanuel, God With Us, redeemed the past, gave purpose for that present time, and hope for the future.

…while we wait for the blessed Hope—the glorious appearing
of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness
and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good.
Titus 2:13-14

This week, Ahmee, Ann, Cynda, Laura, and Tina have helped us to keep our focus on the love that Jesus’ birth showed to mankind.

For God loved the world in this way:
He gave His One and Only Son,
so that everyone who believes in Him
will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

*    ♥  ~  ✝  ~  ★    *

Laura wrote in God’s Love Abounds that “If we love God then we should show that same love to our neighbors. We should be helping our neighbors when trouble hits as well as during the good times. This is showing godly love.

Loving God means knowing God.
Knowing God means showing it through prayer and service to others.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7

❤

In God’s Banner Over Us is Love, Ann reminded us of the truth about LOVE.

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Jesus gave us the commandment to love one another as He had loved us. And for us to show that we are His disciples we must love one another.

Christmas is also a season of love—a season to give and a season to care. Therefore choose someone you can bless with food items, clothes, etc., as an act of love. God freely gave us His Son. We should also freely give what we are blessed with!

❤

Cynda shared in Love Is Action of God and Jesus’ proven love for us.  She wrote, “Christ made the ultimate sacrifice, knowing all the while we were not worthy.  He came for us because He loved us.  Romans 5:8 (NLT) makes that clear – ‘But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.’ And 1 John 3:16a (NLT) ties it up in a neat little bow: ‘We know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us.’

This year for Christmas I want to focus not only on the miraculous birth but also on the love that was made real in a tiny manger in Bethlehem. I want that real love to flow through me to those around me. I want His love and His light to shine through me.

That’s the reason He came.
That’s the reason for Christmas.
To put love in action.

❤

Ahmee wrote in Love Is A Choice the following.  “Love is—and will always be—an action. Therefore, since love is a verb and requires us to do something—it is a choice. Love will always be a choice. You choose to love your coworkers when they annoy you. You choose to love your boyfriend or your spouse, even when you don’t agree. I fear the day our actions are no longer something we choose to do, and are simply things that happen. Until that day, though, you choose.

As John said in 1 John 3:18:

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other;
let us show the truth by our actions.

❤

And Tina reminded us of Jesus’ perfect example of love in No Greater Love.

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13 NIV

Ponder those words. Do you have a friend that would do that for you? You know that you do. If you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, He has already paid that price for you. You see, Jesus knew from the Creation of man, that His Father meant for Him to come dwell among us, to be an example of how we should live in this broken world. God knew it would be better for us to see how to live a perfect life. And Jesus is the example of living a selfless life.

 *    ♥  ~  ✝  ~  ★    *

Thank you, ladies, for reminding us and compelling us to be loving as we have been commanded AND enabled to be!  As you have prayed with us this week, may our prayer today continue… 

Father, we thank You for the love that You have for us.  Teach us, Lord, to love one another as Christ has loved us.  Help us also to practice love not only in this season but all the days of our lives, Lord.  Thank You for showing us Your love through the birth and death of Jesus.  Without Him, we would not know You or be able to show Your love to others.
Thank You for sending Your son Jesus to live among us.  Thank You for the many times You give us to live for You.  Please let Your love flow through me each day but especially during this wondrous time of year.
Lord, may we come to understand and embrace love as an action. Let us show Your love to the world.  Let us strive to show this type of love to all. We as the Church are Your example of how love functions. Christ is Your ultimate example of love.  May You receive all the glory and praise!  We love You!!!  And pray these things in Jesus’ name, amen.

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No Greater Love

December 25, 2014 by

SHadventlovegraphic

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13 NIV

Ponder those words.  Do you have a friend that would do that for you?  You know that you do. If you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, He has already paid that price for you.

You see, Jesus knew from the Creation of man, that His father meant for Him to come dwell among us, to be an example of how we should live in this broken world. God knew it would be better for us to see how to live a perfect life.  And Jesus is the example of living a selfless life.

We are blessed to know God and His Son. Not all that are called accept true life.  Not all that accept true life follow Him.  All we can do is pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We can pray for their acceptance,  and we can pray for our ability to accept them, not judge them.  We all have to keep our thoughts and actions in check. We get so busy with life that sometimes we forget to check in with our Father. We can change and begin to seek our heavenly Father more.

But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us,
not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy.
He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
Whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that, having been justified by His grace,
we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things,
so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves
to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
Titus 3:4-8

 *    ♥  ~  ✝  ~  ★    *

Father, thank You for sending Your son Jesus to live among us.  Thank You for the many times You give us to live for You.  Jesus, we thank You for interceding on our behalf every day….even when we don’t deserve it.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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Love In Action

December 24, 2014 by

SHadventlovegraphic

Christmas—the time of year our focus shifts to the birth of Christ.  That Holy baby Boy born in a manger.

This year, I have been thinking of it in a different light.  This year, God has been speaking to me about love.  Christmas is when unconditional, self-sacrificing, all-forgiving love was shown to us.  Christmas is when the ultimate Love came to earth in human form.

Christmas is love in action.

For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son,
so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 HCSB

Who does that?  Who gives up their one and only Child for a group of stubborn, stiff necked people?  And it was voluntary!  Look at John 10:18 HCSB…

No one can take My life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily.
For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again.
For this is what My Father has commanded.

Christ made the ultimate sacrifice, knowing all the while we were not worthy. He came for us because He loved us.  Romans 5:8 (NLT) makes that clear – “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”  1 John 3:16a (NLT) ties it up in a neat little bow:

We know what real love is because Jesus gave up His life for us.

This year for Christmas I want to focus not only on the miraculous birth but also on the love that was made real in a tiny manger in Bethlehem.  I want that real love to flow through me to those around me.  I want His love and His light to shine through me.

That’s the reason He came.
That’s the reason for Christmas.
To put love in action.

 *    ♥  ~  ✝  ~  ★    *

Father, thank You for putting love into action all those many years ago.  You have shown us what real love is.  Please let Your love flow through me each day but especially during this wondrous time of year.  In Your Holy name I pray, Amen – so be it!

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Love Is A Choice

December 23, 2014 by

SHadventlovegraphic

So, I have heard it said that love should not be a choice, and, that if you have to “choose” to love someone then that was not love.  I’ve also heard it said that love is not something you have to work at.  I have heard it said, too, that love is something that when the good feelings are gone, the love is gone.  I’ve heard it said that love is supposed to be all rainbows and sunshine.

I disagree with all these statements.  Here are facts that I know about love:

Love is patient and kind.
Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.
It does not demand its own way.
It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
It does not rejoice about injustice
but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Love never gives up, never loses faith,
is always hopeful,
and endures through every circumstance.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7

I can understand how reading this passage would make one think that love is a feeling. All of those words have some sort of feeling attached to them.

Here’s the deal, though.  Love is—and will always be—an action. Therefore, because love is a verb and requires us to do something—it is a choice.  Love will always be a choice.  You choose to love your coworkers when they annoy you. You choose to love your boyfriend or your spouse, even when you don’t agree. I fear the day our actions are no longer something we choose to do, and are simply things that happen. Until that day, though, you choose. Look at what choosing to love does:

Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ
to be holy and without fault in His eyes.
God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family
by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ.
This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.
Ephesians 1:4 and 5

In a perfect world, love would be perfect.  Those we love would not hurt us and bad things would not happen.  In a perfect world, love would be all rainbows and sunshine. Sadly, we don’t live in a perfect world.  Therefore, what God created to be simple and natural and easy, now comes to be through much effort.  We cannot passively love and feel like we are making an impact on those we say we love.  What is passive love?  Are they just words we speak? Say “I love you,” and yet, no evidence is seen of this. We have all heard, that actions speak louder than words.  Love as actions speak louder than love as words.

As John said in 1 John 3:18:

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other;
let us show the truth by our actions.

   *    ♥  ~  ✝  ~  ★    *

Lord, may we come to understand and embrace love as an action. Let us show Your love to the world. Worldly love may be fickle and pass with time, but Your love is an everlasting love. Let us strive to show this type of love to all. We as the Church are Your example of how love functions. Christ is Your ultimate example of love. So, let us shine. Let us penetrate the hearts of the world and our fellow brothers and sisters. Let us love. Let us love.  Amen.

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God’s Banner Over Us is Love

December 22, 2014 by

SHadventlovegraphic

He has brought me to His banquet hall,
And His banner over me is love.
Song of Solomon 2:4

There is this song that we used to sing in Sunday school…

  ♫ ♪ ♫ Behold what a manner of love that the Father has given unto us
That we should be called the sons of God   ♫ ♪ ♫

Back then I could not understand what I was singing; but now that I am saved I do understand that God’s love for us is SO great.  He gave us His begotten Son so that we should not perish (John 3:16).  His will for us is to have eternal life.

God’s love is wide enough to embrace all persons (1 Timothy 2:4).  God gave His Son as an offering for sin on the c\Cross.  The atonement proceeds from the loving heart of God.  It was not something forced on Him (Romans 8:32).

Love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,
it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1st Corinthians 13:4-8

We see this is the demonstration of God’s love to man, and since we are also created in the image of God let us also exercise it.  Jesus gave us the commandment to love one another as He had loved us.  And for us to show that we are His disciples we must love one another.

Christmas is also a season of love—a season to give and a season to care.  Therefore choose someone you can bless with food items, clothes, etc., as an act of love.  God freely gave us His Son.  We should also freely give what we are blessed with!

   *    ♥  ~  ✝  ~  ★    *

Father, I thank You for the love that You have for us.  Teach us, Lord, to love one another as Christ has loved us.  Help us also to practice love not only in this season but all the days of our lives, Lord.   This we ask in Jesus name.   Amen.

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God’s Love Abounds

December 21, 2014 by

SHadventlovegraphic

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:7

In the last week, many parts of the world have been in turmoil.  Terror has stricken many people in our Allies across the world.  The world is in chaos, and it is going to get even more chaotic as the prophecies of the Bible come true.  However, as the world starts to wither, there are people out there who are still showing love during the thick of the trouble.

When Jesus was born, the world was a whole lot quieter than it is now.  The only real chaos that was facing Mary and Joseph was the fact that they had to report to Bethlehem as Jesus’ birth neared.  They were required to be counted as part of the Roman census.  Just Mary being pregnant by the Holy Spirit had already made life chaotic!  Joseph loved Mary, but he was going to divorce her because of the pregnancy.  However, God’s love and Joseph’s love for Mary saved Mary and Jesus. Jesus was given an earthly father—one that God approved of from the start.

As the world continues to live in chaos, there are people who are following Mary and Joseph’s example.  They are showing God’s love through the turmoil of life in today’s violent and noisy world.  In Australia and across the world, people are praying for and helping those who have been effected by this week’s tragedies.  People here in the United States are trying to help those that are less fortunate through donations and sponsoring families to help them have a good holiday season.

God loved us so much He sent His son to live among us and to die for us. If we love God then we should show that same love to our neighbors. We should be helping our neighbors when trouble hits as well as during the good times. This is showing godly love.

Loving God means knowing God.
Knowing God means showing it through prayer and service to others.

 *    ♥  ~  ✝  ~  ★    *

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for showing us Your love through the birth and death of Jesus.  Without Him, we would not know You or be able to show Your love to others.  We would not have the ability to love. In this season of hope, peace, joy, and love, please bless those who need it the most and show Your love in ways that we can’t imagine.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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