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A Seeking Heart

Monthly Archives: April 2016

Less Than we Deserve

29 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by Melissa G in Encouragement

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Christian encouragement, Christianity, consequences, devotional, devotions, encouragement, family devotions, focus, God, grace, less punishment than deserved, light, mercy, punishment, unfailing love

heart in sand

Ezra 9:13, “…seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this.”

So many times I focus on what I don’t have instead of what I do. I focus on what is going wrong instead of what blessings I’m receiving. But, when I remember past sins, my hardness of heart, my lack of forgiveness, I realize that I am always punished less than I deserve. I realize that God delivers me over and over again and I then want to pass on that same grace to my family and those I see throughout my day.

When I am facing a situation where someone is less patient than I feel I deserve, I remember that God forgave me for my impatience the day before.

When I am not being forgiven readily, I remember all the times I have held unforgiveness close to me.

When I am facing a consequence for a sin, I remember all the consequences that have been reversed in times past.

Let’s take the time today to remember that no matter what punishment God has allowed in our paths, it is less than we deserve. He is a gracious, loving and kind God who gives us more than we can imagine and restores us in ways we never dreamed possible.

He is not a God who delights in punishment. He is not a God who has a dark side (I John 1:5). He is a God of unfailing, unchanging love.

Psalm 143:8 says, “Cause me to hear thy lovingkindness in the morning; for in thee do I trust: cause me to know the way wherein I should walk; for I lift up my soul unto thee.” Let’s lift up our souls today and ask God to cause us to hear His lovingkindness, see His faithfulness and know without a doubt that He is a God who always punishes less than we deserve.

My Story       Seeking Hearts Ministries

*Image by domestically speaking

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What if I don’t get it Right?

22 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by Melissa G in Encouragement

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breathing, chillin, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, devotional, devotions, diappointing God, disappointing others, encouragement, exhaustion, family devotions, getting your breath back, God's got this, no worries, stress, trying to get it right, worry

worried girl on bed image.jpg                                                      *image by odysseyonline.com

I was in Bible study a few weeks ago and was asked the question, “What do you most fear in your relationship with God?” The writer gave the examples of God not loving us, or that we’re not saved, etc., but what came to my mind was I am so scared that I will not be who He wants me to be. The last thing on this earth I want to be is a disappointment to the God of the universe, the very One who designed me for such a time as this. I’ve heard all the verses about Him loving me no matter what and that He is never disappointed because He is never surprised, but I’m just telling you what I thought in the moment.

So many times in my life I will have a doubt that will pop up and I cram it down thinking that “good Christians” don’t think things like that when in reality God’s Spirit just wants me to bring it to the light and let Him deal with it. So, that’s what I’m doing today.

The next part of the study I was doing asked us to get a Scripture that combats that particular fear. I thought to myself, “If I had a Scripture, I wouldn’t be having this issue.” I didn’t even really know how to find the Scripture. I mean, what kind of word study could you do on the fear of not being who God wants you to be?

Not even an hour later, I was reading through some Psalms trying to hear what God wanted me to say for the family blog I write on Mondays when I came across this gem – “The LORD will accomplish what concerns me; Thy lovingkindness, O LORD, is everlasting; Do not forsake the works of Thy hands.” – Psalm 138:8

As I read this verse I took a deep breath and remembered once again that as long as I am saying, “yes” to Him continually, everything else takes care of itself. I don’t have to worry with whether I get it right. He gets it right. Every.Single.Time.

Why do I forget that it’s all about resting in Him? Why do I forget that when I abide in Him He takes care of the rest? He will accomplish whatever needs to be accomplished. It’s all up to Him, not me! Praise you, Lord! As I walk daily with my God, as I abide in Him, all that He wants accomplished through me will happen. He will not be disappointed in me because He will accomplish what concerns me.

Rest in that today. Remember, just keep saying, “Yes”. Keep abiding. Keep falling back into His arms. He will never leave you, or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). His love will never fail. His Word is true. No worries on getting it right every time, just peace that passes all understanding. Breathe today. He’s got you.

My Story     Seeking Hearts Ministries

Never Give Up! Never Surrender!

15 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by Melissa G in Christian Growth, Encouragement

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burdens, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, clinging to the altar, clinging to the horns of the altar, don't stop praying, encouragement, exhaustion, faithfulness, family devotions, horns of the altar, our faithfulness, perseverance, prayer

Never give up never surrender image tim allen.png

The other day I was scanning through Netflix trying to find something to watch while waiting for my man to finish up with a project. Of all the great things for me to choose from (ahem), I started to watch Galaxy Quest. It had been years since I had watched it and I was astonished at some of the actors in it…but I digress. If you will remember, Tim Allen played the part of an actor who acted in a T.V. series like Star Trek. He was the captain and whenever their “crew” hit a rough patch, he would say, “Never give up! Never surrender!” I literally watched ten minutes of it, my man finished his project and off we went about our evening.

The next day as I was praying and thinking about some “hard cases” that were on my list all of the sudden I heard that crazy motto from Galaxy Quest: “Never give up! Never surrender!” Isn’t that a great mantra for Christians? How many of us have people on our prayer lists that have been shuffled to the side of our minds because we have just become negligent, or we have given up? We would never say that out loud, but that’s the truth of it. After a few years, or months, or days, we have simply stopped praying. We expected things to happen quicker than they did, so we relegated that job situation, or relationship, or person who needs Jesus to the category of throwing a prayer at it every now and again just in case God still wants us to pray about it.

I’m here to tell you that God does want you to keep praying about it and I want to encourage us (and by us I mean me) to never give up and never surrender!

In First Kings 1 we see a man who would not let go of the horns of the altar. He was there to save his own life, but we can definitely use the illustration to remind us that there are situations and people who are worth clinging to the altar for. First Kings 1:50-53 says, “Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, so he got up and went to take hold of the horns of the altar. It was reported to Solomon: “Look, Adonijah fears King Solomon, and he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon first swear to me that he will not kill his servant with the sword.’” Then Solomon said, “If he is a man of character, not a single hair of his will fall to the ground, but if evil is found in him, he dies.” So King Solomon sent for him, and they took him down from the altar. He came and paid homage to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your home.”

When we never give up and never surrender in prayer we are clinging to the horns of the altar like Adonijah. We are refusing to give up for the sake of our friends, family, neighbors and even those who don’t like us very much. We need to be like Adonijah and cling to the horns of the altar. We need to be willing to never let go and never surrender for the sake of those who need Jesus. Jude 23 says that we can actually “snatch them out of the fire”. I want to be a fire snatcher, don’t you?

We need to cling to the horns of the altar for our job situations that we have given up on. We need to cling to the altar for our marriages. We need to cling to the altar for our country, our church and our communities. We need to cling to the altar when things seem bad and when things seem good. When Jesus comes to take us home to Glory, may He find us clinging to the horns of the altar for someone, somewhere.  May He find us never giving up and never surrendering.

As King Solomon had to send people to take Adonijah down from the altar, I want Jesus Himself to have to remove us from our places of prayer when He returns. And then, as Adonijah did, we will come before our King, pay homage with great joy because He is so worth it and then He will say to us more than just, “Go to your home”. He will tell us things like, “Well done thou good and faithful servant,” “Look what I’ve prepared for you,” and “You are home.”

He is so faithful. Let’s be faithful to Him and cling to the horns of the altar for someone today. Oh, and remember … Never give up! Never surrender!

Go be with Jesus today!

Seeking Hearts Ministries         My Story

Heaven’s Gates

08 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by Melissa G in Encouragement

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Tags

Christian encouragement, encouragement, heaven, longings, rewards

heaven's gates hubble image

I saw this picture the other day on social media and when I came across it and the description I gasped a little. It hit me at just the right moment and I stared in amazement. I knew it wasn’t really Heaven’s gates (even before Snopes told me it was a digitally altered photograph), but there was something about it that still stirred my soul. What truly set my spirit to soaring was this thought – “Heaven is so much better than this.”

First Corinthians 2:9 says, “But as it is written: What eye did not see and ear did not hear, and what never entered the human mind— God prepared this for those who love Him.”

Even with the mind boggling descriptions given to us in Revelation, we still have not even thought, much less seen or heard, what God has in store for those who are His (if you are unsure that you are His, please click on the link at the bottom of the page called My Story).

Not only does God give us peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7), grace beyond measure (Romans 5:20) and mercies that are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-26) on this planet, but He has plans for us when we transfer to heaven that is beyond the scope of our imagination. Think BIG and His thoughts are bigger still! Our King is worth anything He is asking us to give up. Our Lord is worth any task He has laid out before us to achieve. Our God is worth everything we have. He. Is. Worth. It. And, when we get to Glory I am sure we will say, “O Lord, I wish I had given you more.”

Read this beautiful description of heaven:

Revelation 21- 22:5 – “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed. I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will no longer exist; grief, crying, and pain will exist no longer, because the previous things have passed away. Then the One seated on the throne said, “Look! I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.”  And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give water as a gift to the thirsty from the spring of life. The victor will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.  But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”  Then one of the seven angels, who had held the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me: “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  He then carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, arrayed with God’s glory. Her radiance was like a very precious stone, like a jasper stone, bright as crystal.  ⌊The city⌋ had a massive high wall, with 12 gates. Twelve angels were at the gates; the names of the 12 tribes of Israel’s sons were inscribed ⌊on the gates⌋.
There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. The city wall had 12 foundations, and the 12 names of the Lamb’s 12 apostles were on the foundations. The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. The city is laid out in a square; its length and width are the same. He measured the city with the rod at 12,000 stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal. Then he measured its wall, 144 cubits according to human measurement, which the angel used. The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear glass. The foundations of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone: the first foundation jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The 12 gates are 12 pearls; each individual gate was made of a single pearl. The broad street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. I did not see a sanctuary in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary.
The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. Each day its gates will never close because it will never be night there. They will bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. Nothing profane will ever enter it: no one who does what is vile or false, but only those written in the Lamb’s book of life. Then he showed me the river of living water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the broad street ⌊of the city⌋. The tree of life was on both sides of the river, bearing 12 kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations, and there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and His slaves will serve Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. Night will no longer exist, and people will not need lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever.”

Even with all this beauty and all this indescribable magnificence, the most precious thing will not be where we are, but Who we are with. Praise Him today!

My Story          Seeking Hearts Ministries

** Original Photo by The Hubble telescope

 

 

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