November 26, 2024

Freedom

August 12, 2014 by

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The Lord frees prisoners.
Psalm 146:7b HCSB

Called to Be Free was the title of the sermon at church on Sunday, so this verse jumped out at me as I was reading through Psalm 146. One point the pastor made stuck with me: “You cannot lose your salvation. You CAN give up your freedom.”

John 10:28-30 (HSCB) assures us our salvation is secure:

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever!
No one will snatch them out of My hand.
My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all.
No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
The Father and I are one.

Ephesians 1:13-14 (NIV) confirms we bear His mark:

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth,
the gospel of your salvation.
When you believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,

Now take a look at the following excerpts:
– “captives will be released and prisoners will be freed”  Isaiah 61:1NLT
– “For He has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron apart” Psalm 107:16
– “freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free” Luke 4:18NIV

See the theme running through these verses? Freedom, specifically our freedom.

So, since we have been set free, why would we give up that freedom? (Think of the Israelites, set free from Pharaoh, yet clamoring to go back!) When things get hard, we sometimes want to return to “the way it was.” Or maybe it is fear of the unknown. Often we chain ourselves (and others) to rules and standards we have no hope of achieving on our own. We will never live up to God’s standards on our own.

Other times pride and ego stand in the way of our freedom. Or our desires. Or material things. Perhaps we have become complacent and allow the enemy to subtly trip us up. Too many times we blame our “sinful nature.” Yet our sinful nature no longer has any power except what we give it. Before long we are bound up in chains of our own making. When we realize we are once again chained to this world, we try to free ourselves but to no avail.

All our efforts will never be enough to set us free. However, Zechariah 9:12 holds the key:

“Return to the stronghold [place of safety, your fortress] all you prisoners of hope” (a paraphrase)

We need to return to our place of safety (our stronghold, our fortress) when we find ourselves bound by chains—Jesus. Only He can set us free. As John 8:36 (AMP) says:

So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men],
then you are really and unquestionably free.

When Jesus sets us free, we are free indeed. There is no one else who has that power. He is the only place we can find our freedom. The Spirit that marks us as His will always lead us back to the foot of the Cross.

When we truly understand who we are in Christ and what He has done for us, then we realize what we do NOT have to do.

  • We do not have to pretend to be something we aren’t
  • We do not have to live up to impossible standards
  • We do not have to fix ourselves (or anyone else)
  • We do not have to be bound in chains

All we must do is accept His grace

Our freedom isn’t because of anything we have or have not done. Our freedom is solely because of all Christ has done. The pastor summed it up like this:

Jesus + anything = nothing
Jesus + nothing = EVERYTHING
The choice is ours.

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Lord, thank You so much for everything You have done for us and given to us. Let us be aware of anything we chose that might take away our freedom that came at such a great cost. Your Son did not die so we could continue to bind ourselves in worldly chains. He rose that we might have everlasting freedom. You are so good to us. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen – so be it!

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A Friendly Reminder About Guidance

August 11, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who weighed down.
The Lord loves the godly.
Psalm 146:8

Life can be burdensome.  As I step forth into this new season of my life, I find myself making the classic mistake of not taking everything to God.  I find myself trying to decide what I should do or what I shouldn’t do.  Making life choices can be difficult when done alone.  My pastor has said that when you say ‘yes’ to something, you are saying ‘no’ to something, as well.  Right now my major concerns in life are career choices.  Do I want to go back to school, or do I want to get a second job…again.  Do I want to do both?  Can I do both?  Do I want to go back to being so exhausted and never having time to do anything but work and work.

When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild.
But whoever obeys the law is joyful.
Proverbs 29:18

Getting advice from parents, friends, mentors, or an advisor is a smart choice; but ultimately their advice is just that—advice.  The true Decider and Decision maker is the Lord Almighty.  He has a plan.  He has a purpose for you.  He knows where you would fit best.  Yes, He places people around us to help guide us, but we need to do so prayerfully.  You don’t exactly want to take financial advice from someone who is not a good steward of their own money, for example.

When we spend daily time with God we can bring Him the concerns of our hearts and the decisions we have to make. God knows. He knows what we are supposed to do and He promises in Psalm 32:8,

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you and watch over you.

No matter what you are facing today—how big or small, how easy or hard—remember that you have a God who wants to help and lead you down the correct path.

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Lord, thank You for Your ever ready and never-ending guidance through life.  We have a tendency to make our lives harder than they need to be.  Help me to constantly pause and remember that I serve a God who loves me dearly and knows every step I need to take to fulfill the purpose set before me.  Help me to lean on You instead of myself, and to never stop trusting in Your awesome plans for me.  Amen.

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God, Parents, and Children

August 10, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
He remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,
the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
Psalms 146:6-9

For those who have children, you can probably relate to the verses above if you think about it.  We help to create, or make, our children in the way we hope that God has in mind.  We uphold them and make them feel better when they are bullied or treated unfairly.  We watch over them to keep them safe and healthy.

My daughter and I bought a mother/daughter combo necklace that we found on sale after Mother’s Day.  I wear the ‘mother’ heart, and she wears the ‘daughter’ heart.  She wore her necklace to daycare the other day.  Because one child at daycare is not allowed to wear necklaces because she turns it into a toy, her mother threw a fit when she saw my daughter wearing her heart necklace.  To keep things fair, the teacher took my daughter’s necklace up.  (I got the necklace back later on.)  My daughter didn’t fuss, but I am pretty sure she did not understand what was going on.  I felt for her, and I felt bad because I was not there to watch over her during the injustice.  But, I am proud that she didn’t fuss when her teacher took the necklace.  Most three-year olds would throw a fit.

Just as we help to create, or make, the person our child becomes so does God. God created the earth and everything in it. He created each one of us as a unique individual. He watches over each one of us, and He guides just like parents guide their children. We lift them up when they are down and we lift them up when they have success.  God does the same for us.  Just as we are faithful to our families, God is faithful to us.

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Dear Heavenly Father: Thank You for Your wonderful creation.  Thank You for freeing us and helping us guide our own children and families as You guide us. You sustain us, and You lift us up when we most need it.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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His Faithfulness Continues….

August 8, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth!
Worship the LORD with gladness.
Come before Him, singing with joy.
Acknowledge that the LORD is God!
He made us, and we are His.
We are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving;
go into His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
For the LORD is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and His faithfulness continues to each generation.
Psalm 100

I’ve heard this passage my entire life…in church, in songs, through preaching, and in regular conversation.  A wonderful thing about God’s Word is that with each reading, a passage can reveal something new.  It may seem as if you’re reading the words for the very first time—when in fact it may be the hundredth time.

This passage did the same for me this time.  As I read the words, the last line stood out.  I know that God’s Word speaks to you in your seasons; and in this season of being a mother I need as much guidance from God as I can get.  For those of us who are sending our children back to school, or off to work, or out in the world—whatever stage of life our children may be walking into—there can be a good deal of worry associated with the actions of our kids.  “…And His faithfulness continues to each generation” (verse 5).

This line alone makes me want to shout thanks to the Lord!  It reminds me that He will be equally as faithful to my children as He has been to me.  Sometimes when I’m reminded of His promises such as this one, all I can say is “God is good! The Lord is good!”  Simple words that say so much. His promise to myself and to my children is reason enough to live this passage on a daily basis…but He has done so much more than that.  He has done more than I could ever imagine.  I want to live these verses not because of what He has done in my life, but for who He is to the world.  He is faithful, He is loving, and for this I thank Him.

Let’s Pray: Lord, Your words bring peace…they bring joy…they bring security. Words could never truly honor You as You deserve; but, Lord, we promise to make the best effort we possibly can.  I pray these words are written on the hearts of all the women reading this, and that we live these words in good times and in bad.  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.

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Celebration

August 7, 2014 by

SeekingHimLogo

Shout triumphantly to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs. Acknowledge that Yahweh is God. He made us, and we are His— His people, the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name.  For Yahweh is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations.

Psalms 100:1-5 HCSB

How wonderful and glorious is the Lord our God!  Each morning is a new day, a new opportunity to praise His name and to celebrate His Creation.  How many times have we strayed and He has welcomed us back with open, loving arms?  Just like the prodigal son, God loves us so very much! Please enjoy this song!

I Will Enter His Gates

I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart
I will enter His courts with praise
I will say this is the day that the Lord had made
I will rejoice for He has made me glad
He has made me glad
He has made me glad, I will rejoice for He has made me glad
He has made me glad
He has made me glad, I will rejoice for He has made me glad

–  Leona Von Brethorst, 1976 Maranatha Music  –

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A Call To Praise

August 6, 2014 by

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Psalm 100 AMP
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness! Come before His presence with singing!
Know (perceive, recognize, and understand with approval) that the Lord is God!
It is He Who has made us, not we ourselves [and we are His]!
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering
and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him,
bless and affectionately praise His name!
For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting,
His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.

Psalm 100 is a psalm of praise.  It calls us to “Make a joyful noise to the Lord.”  We are to “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving” in our hearts and enter into “His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him and praise His name.”  We can praise God anytime, anywhere, publicly or privately, silently or aloud.  Praise is to be offered with gladness, willingly and not grudgingly.  We are to offer it because we want to, and because He is God our Creator and the Lord of All.

You may be thinking “Well that’s all well and good…but you don’t know my story, my circumstances, my life right now.  There isn’t much to be thankful for!”  True, I don’t.  We all have issues.  But, if you are reading this right now, you are still breathing, right?  God holds our breath in His hands.  As Acts 17:25b (AMP) states: “…it is He Himself Who gives life and breath and all things to all.”  Praise Him for that.  Since you are reading this, you can still see, right?  Praise Him for that.  And if you are still reading this, your brain stills work, right?  Praise Him for that.

Okay, you get my point.  At this point I am preaching to myself as much as anyone.  So let’s stop focusing on what is wrong and what we DON’T have and, instead, offer up praise to God for what is right and all we DO have.

It may be a challenge for you to praise Him right now.  At times it has been for me.  Think of it as a sacrifice, an offering.  We are no longer required to offer sacrifices to God since Christ became our ultimate Sacrifice.  Hebrews 13:15 (HCSB) puts it like this: “Therefore, through Him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of our lips that confess His name.”  Praise reminds us we owe God everything.  If we chose to willingly offer Him praise, even in the most difficult of times, think of how much it pleases God.  And, best of all, it reminds us of the life to come.  As Isaiah 35:10 (HCSB) puts it:

…and the redeemed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with singing,
crowned with unending joy. Joy and gladness will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee.

And, oh! what a day that will be!

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Father, thank You for everything.  All we are, all we have, all the blessings You have bestowed upon us.  Let us never take them for granted.  May we always praise Your Holy name with gladness and joy in our hearts—no matter the circumstances. Thank You for all that has been, will be, and is to come.  In the precious name of Jesus I pray, Amen – so be it!

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Thankful For the Past

August 5, 2014 by

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Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him and praise His name.
Psalm 100:4

Recently, while sitting in my room, I began to do a reflection of my current life—the relationships I have, the job(s), the decisions that need to be made, and the character flaws that need fixing.  I found myself wishing that I could go back in time and deal with the problems of previous times; you know the problems that I now know exactly how to deal with.  In that moment I laughed at myself.  Every season we enter has its benefits and its trials and seasons are constantly changing. What’s important to remember about each season of our lives is to “Enter His gates with thanksgiving; go into His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name.”

I was informed that this devotional is the one year anniversary of the Seeking Him devotional blog.  I’m actually very surprised…it doesn’t seem like a year has passed.  Looking back, I can see how I’ve grown and changed.  I can see things in me that are still the same that I would love to change but, overall, I’m moving forward.  And I think this is what God wants us to do—move forward and be thankful while doing so.  I find it difficult to move forward when I am regretting or disappointed about something in the past. When I address the situation and let God shed light on it, I find that I am more capable of thanking Him for the learning experience.  Paul said it like this in Philippians 3:13 and 14,

But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.
I press toward the goal to win the prize
for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

We have so much going on around us and so much that we want to accomplish or to make different.  We have lives we want to live and dreams we want to come to pass.  If done correctly, the past is a good place for us to learn how to improve our present and our future.  For this reason I feel we should be thankful to God that we have a past to say that we made it through.  Without a past there is no present.  Nobody’s past is perfect.  There are things in my past that I don’t feel I should have ever had to deal with, but God says, “… if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

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Lord, thank You for where I have been, because I would not be the person I am today without my past. You are an all-knowing God and You guide my future. Thank You for being so amazing!  Amen.

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The Shepherd and His Sheep

August 4, 2014 by

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Know that the Lord is God.
It is He who made us, and we are His;
we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Psalm 100:3

Have you ever noticed that you are put in other people’s lives for a reason?  My mother always believed that God put her with my father because she has vision problems and he can see (and now I that I am married can see her point).  My father was put with her because he has hearing loss, and she can hear.  In September they will have been married for 36 years.  Now that is a long time by today’s standards!   As for me and my husband, he lays something down, and I can usually tell him right where it is.  The same goes when I lay something down. My husband knows my moods, and I know his.  We have only been married for a few years, but we are still learning about each other.

I am the good Shepherd. I know My own and My own know Me,
just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.
John 10:14-15

The Lord is our Shepherd.  He created us.  God knew who we were and where we were going before we were even born.  He knows us better than we do ourselves. That is why our prayers are answered the way that they are when we pray.  We may pray for something, but God may not think that an affirmative answer would be beneficial to us.  God then tells us ‘No.’ for our own good because He knows us.

When we accept Christ into our hearts, we begin to know our heavenly Father.  He knew us before we even turned from our sin and returned to Him.  When Christ went to the Cross, He already knew who He was dying for that day.  He knew us before we were even twinkles in our parents’ eyes. God knows who His sheep are even before they walk this Earth.  God had plans for all of eternity even before He created Adam and Eve.  He already knew who we would be.  It is part of our responsibility to know Him better.

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Dear Heavenly Father, You knew us before You wove us together in our mothers’ wombs.  We are Your children, and You know us like parents know their children. Thank You for giving us the gift of eternal life through the gift of Your Holy Son.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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God’s People

August 3, 2014 by

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Know that the Lord is God
It is He who made us and we are His,
we are His people the sheep of His pasture.
Psalm 100:3

This is spiritual knowledge that He created us.  We did not make ourselves.  We are His. And the people of His pasture.

There are times that we, as Christians, tend to forget who created us by:

  • Doing our own things in our own ways thinking we can do without Him when we cannot
  • Worshipping our jobs, our husbands, our businesses, etc. We tend to praise more the material things without attaching it to the steadfast love of our Creator, the One Who made us.

If God was able to create us, is He not the Author of what we call ‘wisdom?’  He gave us this gift of wisdom, too, for us to be able to add or sum up things for our daily living.  And yet sometimes when we prosper, we forget all of this and start praising ourselves, our husbands, our jobs, etc.  Have we ever thought what would happen if our husbands were to die, and we don’t have jobs and the businesses we work for collapses.  God will still be God…all things will pass but He will still remain.

The Word (in verse 3) is saying that we are the ‘sheep of His pasture.’  We are His very own. G od is our good Shepherd; if we are of His pasture then we can lack nothing.  He is able to take us to the green pastures (Psalm 23), He will lead us beside the still waters.  According to Philippians 4:19, He is able to provide to the sheep (you and I) by His riches in His glory.  What shall we then lack?  Nothing.  We have everything in our God.

He even supplied us salvation through our Savior Jesus. Without the Cross of Calvary we would have been dead by now, I guess.

We are God’s people (Luke 1:17 and Acts 15:14 and also Titus 2:14) who He 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 for them what is good.

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Knowing that we are God’s people, shall we pray:
Dear heavenly Father, hallowed be Your name, in all the earth You are known to be a Great God, the great I AM, Mighty Warrior, great in battle.  We worship You for who You are, dear God.  You are a loving Father and to You be the honor and glory!  We feel loved more today for we have been reminded that we are Your very own and that You care for Your very own.  However, Lord, we pray for forgiveness for sometimes we have made You too small in our lives.  May You wash us with hyssop; let us be clean from all iniquities.  Bless us and bless us indeed!  Enlarge our territories, Lord.  Knowing You are there to provide makes us boast in You!  Be glorified!  In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!

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Be Exalted, O God

August 2, 2014 by

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I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to You among the nations.
For Your mercy and loving-kindness are great, reaching to the heavens,
and Your truth and faithfulness to the clouds.
Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let Your glory be over all the earth.
Psalms 57:9-11

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As our Ann so succinctly laid out in the devotional she wrote earlier this week …

Why do we exalt Him?

  • He is a great God who created the heavens and the earth. His supremacy is beyond our imagination. He must be glorified.

Be exalted O God above the heavens and let your glory be over all the earth
Psalm 108:5

  • He is Holy.

Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool, He is holy.
Psalm 99:5

  • He is my God in whom I trust. For He is faithful and loves us unconditionally.

You are my God and I will give thanks; You are my God and I will exalt You.
Psalm118:28

  • He has done great things. You know God has done so many great things in our lives. We are alive today because of His grace and mercy and favour, protection. He must be exalted for all this.

Lord, You are my God;
I will exalt You and praise Your name,
for in perfect faithfulness
You have done wonderful things,
things planned long ago.
Isaiah 25:1

  • He is a God of justice and covered with righteousness. And this righteousness it was imputed in us when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.

The Lord is exalted for He dwells on high, He will fill Zion with justice and righteousness.
Isaiah 33:5

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I pray that as you listen to the following song that your hearts will be drawn to rise up and praise and EXALT our Great God.

May He be exalted above all else in our lives!

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