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god's greatest gift, Good Friday, Jesus, love, the cross

John 19:1-42 (HCSB)
¹  Then Pilate took Jesus and had Him flogged.
²  The soldiers also twisted together a crown of thorns, put it on His head, and threw a purple robe around Him.
³  And they repeatedly came up to Him and said, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and were slapping His face.
⁴  Pilate went outside again and said to them, “Look, I’m bringing Him outside to you to let you know I find no grounds for charging Him.”
⁵  Then Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”
⁶  When the chief priests and the temple police saw Him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” Pilate responded, “Take Him and crucify Him yourselves, for I find no grounds for charging Him.”
⁷  “We have a law,” the Jews replied to him, “and according to that law He must die, because He made Himself the Son of God.”
⁸  When Pilate heard this statement, he was more afraid than ever.
⁹  He went back into the headquarters and asked Jesus, “Where are You from?” But Jesus did not give him an answer.
¹⁰  So Pilate said to Him, “You’re not talking to me? Don’t You know that I have the authority to release You and the authority to crucify You?”
¹¹  “You would have no authority over Me at all,” Jesus answered him, “if it hadn’t been given you from above. This is why the one who handed Me over to you has the greater sin.”
¹²  From that moment Pilate made every effort to release Him. But the Jews shouted, “If you release this man, you are not Caesar’s friend. Anyone who makes himself a king opposes Caesar!”
¹³  When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside. He sat down on the judge’s bench in a place called the Stone Pavement (but in Hebrew Gabbatha).
¹⁴  It was the preparation day for the Passover, and it was about six in the morning. Then he told the Jews, “Here is your king!”
¹⁵  But they shouted, “Take Him away! Take Him away! Crucify Him!” Pilate said to them, “Should I crucify your king?” “We have no king but Caesar!” the chief priests answered.
¹⁶  So then, because of them, he handed Him over to be crucified. Therefore they took Jesus away.
¹⁷  Carrying His own cross, He went out to what is called Skull Place, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.
¹⁸  There they crucified Him and two others with Him, one on either side, with Jesus in the middle.
¹⁹  Pilate also had a sign lettered and put on the cross. The inscription was: JESUS THE NAZARENE THE KING OF THE JEWS.
²⁰  Many of the Jews read this sign, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.
²¹  So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Don’t write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but that He said, ‘I am the King of the Jews.’”
²²  Pilate replied, “What I have written, I have written.”
²³  When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took His clothes and divided them into four parts, a part for each soldier. They also took the tunic, which was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.
²⁴  So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to see who gets it.” ⌊They did this⌋ to fulfill the Scripture that says: They divided My clothes among themselves, and they cast lots for My clothing. And this is what the soldiers did.
²⁵  Standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
²⁶  When Jesus saw His mother and the disciple He loved standing there, He said to His mother, “Woman, here is your son.”
²⁷  Then He said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home.
²⁸  After this, when Jesus knew that everything was now accomplished that the Scripture might be fulfilled, He said, “I’m thirsty!”
²⁹  A jar full of sour wine was sitting there; so they fixed a sponge full of sour wine on hyssop and held it up to His mouth.
³⁰  When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” Then bowing His head, He gave up His spirit.
³¹  Since it was the preparation day, the Jews did not want the bodies to remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a special day). They requested that Pilate have the men’s legs broken and that ⌊their bodies⌋ be taken away.
³²  So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first man and of the other one who had been crucified with Him.
³³  When they came to Jesus, they did not break His legs since they saw that He was already dead.
³⁴  But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.
³⁵  He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows he is telling the truth.
³⁶  For these things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: Not one of His bones will be broken.
³⁷  Also, another Scripture says: They will look at the One they pierced.
³⁸  After this, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus—but secretly because of his fear of the Jews—asked Pilate that he might remove Jesus’ body. Pilate gave him permission, so he came and took His body away.
³⁹  Nicodemus (who had previously come to Him at night) also came, bringing a mixture of about 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes.
⁴⁰  Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in linen cloths with the aromatic spices, according to the burial custom of the Jews.
⁴¹  There was a garden in the place where He was crucified. A new tomb was in the garden; no one had yet been placed in it.
⁴²  They placed Jesus there because of the Jewish preparation and since the tomb was nearby.

*image by Urdu Bible

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Forgiveness in the Holidays – Part 2

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forgiveness, freedom, getting true piece, how can I forgive that, how can I get past the hurt, how to be free of unforgiveness, how to forgive, how to have peace, love, true peace, trusting God

This week’s blog is part 2 on the subject of forgiving and how to come to a place of forgiveness. If you missed part 1, be sure to click the following link (Part 1) because we are jumping off the deep end into point number three today.

Step Three in how to get to a place of forgiveness is that you know God is going to get ‘em. (I warned you we were jumping off the deep end.)

This is something that we all feel funny thinking, but you need to know that forgiveness is not about letting people off the hook. Forgiveness is actually placing people who have wronged you into the hands of a mighty, powerful God who is in love with you and wants the best for you. He’s a little prejudice when it comes to you and that’s who you want taking care of your situation!

Here are a few examples of what God says about people who have tried to harm you:

Deuteronomy 32:35, “Vengeance belongs to Me; I will repay. In time their foot will slip, for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”

Vengeance means – “infliction of punishment in return for a wrong; retribution.” So,God is not saying people haven’t harmed you. He is just telling us that He will take care of the punishment. You can be free and go on living your life while He remembers the wrong and pursues justice for you.

Psalm 18:47-49 says, “God—He gives me vengeance and subdues peoples under me. He frees me from my enemies. You exalt me above my adversaries; You rescue me from violent men. Therefore I will praise You, Yahweh, among the nations; I will sing about Your name.”

So, again we see that He frees us and allows us to praise Him daily while He is handling those who have wronged us.

Just a quick side note here – Does God expect us to keep our mouths shut and not be able to be heard?

This has almost killed me in some of the circumstances we have been in lately…knowing that God wanted me to be quiet and not “speak my mind”… not because He didn’t want me to be heard, but in order to protect me in ways I didn’t understand at the time. The really awesome thing though is we can ALWAYS pour our heart out to Him even when He is telling us not to “speak our mind”. He is always with us wanting us to tell Him how we feel and what we are struggling with. There is such an amazing release when we lay it all out before Him. Psalm 62:8 says, “Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is our refuge.” The God of the universe is saying, “I want to hear from you.”

Several months ago I was in my car travelling replaying a situation over and over again in my mind. Instead of a release, I just kept getting madder and madder and madder. It finally dawned on me that I needed to talk to God and not just myself, so I poured it before Him. Instead of replaying it to myself, I spoke it out loud to Him. It was an incredible experience! You wouldn’t think it would help that much, but it does. So, I encourage you to verbally release it all to Him. Tell Him how mad you are and what people have done to you. Name names! It really does help.

Here is a great example in Scripture where David is pouring his heart out to God: “LORD, God of vengeance— God of vengeance, appear.
Rise up, Judge of the earth; repay the proud what they deserve.
LORD, how long will the wicked— how long will the wicked gloat?
They pour out arrogant words; all the evildoers boast.
LORD, they crush Your people; they afflict Your heritage.
They kill the widow and the foreigner and murder the fatherless. They say, “The LORD doesn’t see it. The God of Jacob doesn’t pay attention.”
Pay attention, you stupid people! Fools, when will you be wise?
Can the One who shaped the ear not hear, the One who formed the eye not see?
The One who instructs nations, the One who teaches man knowledge— does He not discipline?
The LORD knows man’s thoughts; they are meaningless. LORD, happy is the man You discipline and teach from Your law
to give him relief from troubled times until a pit is dug for the wicked.
The LORD will not forsake His people or abandon His heritage,
for justice will again be righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it.
Who stands up for me against the wicked? Who takes a stand for me against evildoers? If the LORD had not been my helper, I would soon rest in the silence ⌊of death⌋.
If I say, “My foot is slipping,” Your faithful love will support me, LORD.
When I am filled with cares, Your comfort brings me joy.” – Psalm 94:1-19

David was genuine in his feelings and in his thoughts, and we know from Scripture that God calls him a man after His own heart. We can know from the example of David that not only is it just acceptable to pour out our hearts to God, but He wants that intensity with us. He wants that honesty.

David was also truthful about the fact that his foot was starting to slip in this matter. I take that to mean his mouth was getting the better of him, or his thoughts were running away from him, but he knew that His God was there supporting him with His faithful love and was not only helping David get through the situation, but was also in the process of taking care of the ones who had hurt him.

Okay, so I hope you see that God does want you to be heard. He just wants to be the One doing the listening.

So, back off the rabbit trail and back on to point three which reminds us that God will get those who try to harm us.

Psalm 94:20-23 says, “Can a corrupt throne— one that creates trouble by law— become Your ally? They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. But the LORD is my refuge; my God is the rock of my protection. He will pay them back for their sins and destroy them for their evil. The LORD our God will destroy them.”

Do I know why God doesn’t punish those who have wronged us when we think they should be punished? No, but I do know that our God is worthy of our trust. We can trust His timing because we know He loves us. The Bible assures us that His thoughts are so much higher than our thoughts and His ways are so much better than our ways (Isaiah 55:9), so we know that His timing and His ways are best because He sees the whole picture.

When you think you have to take care of things yourself, that God doesn’t care, or doesn’t see what’s happening in your life, when the devil has made you forget how much your God woos you like we discussed in Session One of God’s Love (YouTube Session), this is your verse to hang on to:

Isaiah 35:4- “Say to them that are of a fearful heart [that’s why we run out and get into trouble a lot of times…because we’re fearful ; we’re afraid that God isn’t seeing what people are doing to us and saying about us], Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; he will come and save you.”

Isaiah 35:5-6 says, “Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.”

Sometimes, unforgiveness makes us so hard hearted that we simply can’t see anything around us but how we were wronged. We can’t hear anything but what they said to us. We can’t think about anything but what we should have said back, or what we will do the next time we have to see them, but forgiveness…leaving the situation in God’s capable hands… opens our eyes and allows us to hear. Isaiah 35 says that we will be able to sing and be refreshed. Forgiving people allows the Spirit to pour Living water over our dry, parched places.

 I’m not saying that God doesn’t use the court system, or other people to right a wrong, but I am saying that it’s up to Him, not us, and not the way we can manipulate things.

Forgiveness is not about letting someone off the hook, it’s about being free.

We are not stupid when we forgive. We are super smart because we are allowing the God of the universe to handle things for us. It’s like He steps in front of us and says, “I’ve got this.”

Micah 7:7 says, “But I will look to the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.”

Step Four to forgiveness is knowing that your relationship with God is worth more than whatever you have to forgive. Our beautiful Savior who covers you with His wings every day and night is worth anything.

Psalm 18:16-20 says, “He reached down from heaven and took hold of me; He pulled me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too strong for me. They confronted me in the day of my distress, but the LORD was my support. He brought me out to a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me. The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; He repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.”

Being clean before the Lord is so much better than hanging on to any un-forgiveness. Keeping our Robe of righteousness on (which is Jesus Himself) is so much better than remembering wrongs that seem to be forgotten by everyone but you. Nothing is worth harming our walk with God.

Step Five to forgiveness is trusting our God to be the Judge.

Psalm 75:2 says, “‘When I choose a time, I will judge fairly.’”

Lamentations 3:59-62 says, “LORD, You see the wrong done to me; judge my case. You see all their malice, all their plots against me. LORD, You hear their insults, all their plots against me. The slander and murmuring of my opponents attack me all day long.”

Be assured Your God sees and hears everything! You can rest in His judgment because He already knows all the testimony and all the facts. You don’t have to worry about being heard. He hears you. He wants you to pour your heart out, but not because He doesn’t know what’s going on, it’s because of His love for you. Song of Solomon 2:14 says, “My dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the crevices of the cliff, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.”

That’s why God wants to hear from you. He just loves the sound of your voice.

Do not think that your God does not know what happened to you. Do not listen to that voice in your head that says God will not repay the person that hurt you. Do not believe that you have to be the one to repay, or punish, but do remember that it is in His hands, in His time and needs to be in His way so that you can be free.

Forgiveness is not about being tricked into letting someone off the hook. It’s about being free.

So, as you are surrounded by people this Holiday Season that you can usually avoid remember that forgiveness is about being free. Forgiveness can only come through the Holy Spirit and He wants us to forgive not to let people off the hook, but to rely on Him and trust Him completely with the outcome knowing that we are loved more than we ever realized. Enjoy this Season knowing that even though forgiveness is not easy it’s always worth it.

Seeking Hearts Ministries

My Story

Image by US Health News

Sometimes Love Looks Like a Potty

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assumptions, christian walk, encouragement, family life, focus, getting the right perspective, God's love, God's practical love, having the right perspective of God's love, how God shows His love to us, love, perspective, practical ways to love, reality of family life, seeing God's love every day, seeing God's love for us, what love looks like

Yes, you read the title right. After 24 years of marriage, (I hate to break it to the newlyweds), love sometimes looks like a brand, spanking new, no clog, beautiful porcelain, name brand potty. Sometimes, love does look like you imagined growing up with all the candlelight, moonlight and any other light you can imagine, but oftentimes in the existence of everyday issues, a potty is involved.

Last week, we had an issue in our home and a new potty got moved from the someday list to the today list. After a few calls to my guy, he was able to buy, deliver and install said potty within a few hours. Wow! What a man! We teased each other about our “potty love” for the rest of the night. The really crazy thing is if he had brought me flowers that day and took me to a candlelit dinner I wouldn’t have felt as loved as I did with him installing our new potty. Love needed to look different from a fairy tale that day.

I wonder how often God shows me His love in practical ways every day, but because it’s not what I imagined, I don’t see it?

Believe me, the day of the potty I felt God’s love as well as my man’s. You see, my guy wasn’t even supposed to be able to come home until the next evening, but unexpectedly he finished what could be done on the job site and was able to come home…a whole day early! Our God is practical in His love.

If God had sent me a phone call from a friend that day when I really needed a potty, I wouldn’t have felt His love as much. He gave me what I needed and I was able to feel how loved and cherished I am to Him.

On other days, if a potty showed up at my door, I would have been thankful, but very confused. I’m sure those were the days that a call from a friend did come because that’s what I needed that day. You see? We need eyes wide open to see all the ways God shows His love to us just like I need eyes wide open to see all the ways that my guy shows his love for me. Some days, it’s candlelight and some days… it’s a potty.

Look around this Holiday Season and notice all the ways God is showing His love to you. Did your family’s favorite pie turn out just right? That’s God’s love. Did your pie get burned to a crisp, but your new daughter-in-law needed to see you’re not perfect? That’s God’s love to both of you. Did you have money to buy the ingredients for the pie? Did you have a stove to cook it in? All God’s love. Didn’t have any of that? Well, how about air to breathe? That’s God’s love. Water to drink? God’s love. A coat to wear? God’s love. A hug from a friend? God’s love. The ability to read this blog? God’s love. God shows His love in many, many ways we just need eyes to see it.

So, as you look around for all the ways that God is choosing to show His love for you over the next few days, pray that seeing His love becomes a habit. Pray that you will see and feel His love as you never have before and realize that sometimes God’s love looks like candlelight, but oftentimes times it looks like a new potty.

Seeking Hearts Ministries

My Story

 

 

God’s Love for Us

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describing God's love, filling the holes in your life, God's love, God's love for us, God's love for you, how much does God love us, Jesus loves you, love, our God, Prince Charming, satisfaction, true love, true satisfaction, what does God do all day

 (image by JattDiSite)

Hey Everbody!

This week’s blog is a little different than normal. God opened up some amazing opportunities in the last few weeks and led me to launch a YouTube channel! So, I am linking you all to the site where you can see a meeting where I was able to describe God’s love for us in a little more detail than you may have heard before.

I’m super excited about it, so let me know what you think!

YouTube – God’s Love

Hang Tight – (and other marriage advice)

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Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, couples, encouragement, faithfulness, family, family devotions, God in marriage, holding on to a relationship, husband, love, marriage, marriage advice, never giving up, practical marraige tips, staying together, wife

image by nairaland

Right now, in this moment, at this very minute, my marriage is really good. I’m not predicting what it will be like in an hour, but right now I am totally in love with my husband and I love spending time with him. Why am I telling you this? Well, many times that has not been the case. Throughout the years of our marriage the last person I often wanted to deal with was my man. Even when I became resigned to stay no matter what, the last thing I could have imagined was being happy. So, today I want to let you know that things are good and I want to encourage you to hang tight. If your marriage is not so great right now, I want to reassure you that it is worth it to stay.*

For whatever reason, I have been remembering lately a lot of what my husband and I have gone through over the years and been in awe that we are still together. We have been married for twenty-four years in just a few days. I know it’s not as long as some, but I can at least share what I’ve learned thus far and what I know for sure is that every single month of togetherness is a miracle!

I’m not going to get into the gory details of our past hurts because they are Mark’s and I’s alone, but just know from the outset that they have been deep and we know for a fact that our God is the Great Physician. It takes a miracle for a marriage to stay put. Hurts in a marriage run deeper than most. When you are vulnerable enough to promise to spend the rest of your life with someone, the harsh reality is that you are open to being wounded. After so many wounds, anything will die, including a marriage. The truly awesome thing is that even death is not impossible to heal for our God. He specializes in resurrections. So, if your marriage has hurts, gaping wounds, or is completely dead, God can soothe, heal and resuscitate. He is able! Hang tight!

So, let’s get to the nitty gritty of some issues that often come up in a marriage. First off, saying your sorry is worth it, I promise. Are you always wrong? Of course not! But, relationships are always worth the apology. Which is more important, you being right all the time, or reaching a better place with your spouse? There is a time and place to stand your ground, but please listen to the Holy Spirit and ask for His guidance (not your grandmother, mom, or friend, but God Himself). I know He tells you to cave in when you least want to, but I am promising you it is worth it! I understand wanting to be right all the time. You have no idea how much I understand this, but if we apologize often when the Holy Spirit does tell us to stand our ground our spouse will be more apt to listen. They will know that this is serious and not just our pride talking.

Secondly, the physical aspect of marriage is important. We all know this, but let me remind you that small touches throughout the day are super important as well as full on contact. If you are in a bad place in your marriage, sometimes simply having some physical contact can bring you back to realizing that this is the person you married. By touching their arm, holding their hand, giving a hug that lasts more than a brief second, or actually stopping the chaos and looking at them face to face can put you both in a better frame of mind. It helps us remember that we chose them and they chose us. We remember their touch. It’s familiar to our senses and it helps. Holding each other can be a good thing.

Third, (this is for the ladies), when is the last time you cooked for your guy? Before you freak out, or tell me I am crazy and old-fashioned let me remind you that “the way to a man’s heart is his stomach.” I’ve always heard this, but now I know it to be true. I have actually had my guy to tear up when realizing that I was fixing a favorite dish of his. It’s not cholesterol free and I thought he was going to think I was trying to kill him, but he was so excited. On another day, when he came home he stepped in the door and smelled supper (a home cooked meal) and got all sappy because he had had a really rough day.

It’s not just my guy, though. In the past, I have watched reality shows about marriage and one couple completely broke up over the wife never cooking a meal. No joke! In this same show, another couple faced the same dilemma. I can’t tell you why this is so important to guys, but it is. That’s how God wired them, so let’s not ask questions and just go with it. (If you google crockpot recipes, it will blow your mind and not overwhelm your already busy day. Once a month cooking is another great option.)

I know this blog seems like that I think things will be easily mended in your marriage by hugging and cooking, but let me assure you that I know marriage is rough. Sometimes, in our house it’s like two pieces of sand paper living together (loud pieces of sandpaper!). Everything we do seems to rub each other the wrong way. But, through the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of the written Word you can hang tight in your marriage. Galatians 6:9 tells us to not be weary in well doing. If God gives us the command, we know He empowers us to keep that command.

When you think that you can’t go on, remember that Christ in you can. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

When you think nothing can fix your marriage, remember that “Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matthew 19:26).

When you feel nothing for your spouse anymore, ask God to give you a new heart. Ezekiel 36:26 says, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” Often times, we just don’t want to work at our marriages anymore, but God can change our wants. He can resurrect feelings that we thought were dead long ago.

You can’t save your marriage and you can’t make your marriage better, but God can. Hold on to Him. Hold on to each other and hang tight! It’s worth it!

*This blog is not encouraging anyone to stay in an abusive situation. If you are in an abusive situation, do not stay in that relationship. Please contact the local authorities to help you find a place where you can be safe.

http://www.seekinghearts.org              My Love Story

 

What You Can Know

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basics of Christianity, Christian encouragement, christian walk, clinging to hope, devotional, encouragement, faith, faithfulness, family devotions, family time, focus, God, God's love, hope, joy, knowing, knowing God, life, love, our faithful God, perspective, truth

In a hymn by William Fullerton we see these words:

“I cannot tell how silently He suffered, as with His peace He graced the place of tears, or how His heart upon the cross was broken, the crown of pain to three and thirty years. BUT THIS I KNOW, He heals the broken hearted, and stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear, and lifts the burden from the heavy laden, for yet the Savior, Savior of the world is here.”

This beautiful hymn reminded me that even if life is intense and confusing, even if things around me are murky and unclear, there are many things that I do know. Many things that I can still trust. Many things to be encouraged by. Here are just a few:

God is love.

1 John 4:16 – “And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.”

Jeremiah 31:3 – “I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore, I have continued to extend faithful love to you.”

God is good.

Psalm 136:1 – “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good. His love is eternal.”

God is light. No darkness dwells in Him.

I John 1:5 – “Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him.”

God is my protection.

Psalm 36:7 – “God, Your faithful love is so valuable that people take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.”

God is my sanctuary.

Psalm 55:22 – “Cast your burden on the LORD, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.”

Psalm 71:3 – “Be a rock of refuge for me, where I can always go. Give the command to save me, for You are my rock and fortress.”

God is my portion.

Psalm 16:5 – “LORD, You are my portion and my cup ⌊of blessing⌋; You hold my future.”

Psalm 119:57 – “The LORD is my portion; I have promised to keep Your words.”

God is faithful.

Psalm 36:5 – “LORD, Your faithful love ⌊reaches⌋ to heaven, Your faithfulness to the clouds.”

Deuteronomy 7:9 – “Know that Yahweh your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His gracious covenant loyalty for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commands.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 – “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it.”

God is present.

Psalm 46:1 – “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”

God is glorious and righteous.

Psalm 97:6 – “The heavens proclaim His righteousness; all the peoples see His glory.”

God is sovereign.

Psalm 138:8 – “The LORD will fulfill ⌊His purpose⌋ for me. LORD, Your love is eternal; do not abandon the work of Your hands.”

God is kind.

Romans 2:4 – “Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”

God is peace.

John 14:27 – “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful.”

John 16:33 – “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

Philippians 4:9 – “Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.”

God is Healer.

Psalm 103:3 – “He forgives all your sin; He heals all your diseases.”

Luke 6:17-19 –“After coming down with them, He stood on a level place with a large crowd of His disciples and a great number of people from all Judea and Jerusalem and from the seacoast of Tyre and Sidon. They came to hear Him and to be healed of their diseases; and those tormented by unclean spirits were made well. The whole crowd was trying to touch Him, because power was coming out from Him and healing them all.”

God is trustworthy.

Romans 4:20, 21 –  “He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God because he was fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.

God is incomparable.

Psalm 40:5 – “LORD my God, You have done many things— Your wonderful works and Your plans for us; none can compare with You. If I were to report and speak ⌊of them⌋, they are more than can be told.”

God is greater.

1 John 4:4 – “You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

God is FOR me.

Psalm 56:9 – “Then my enemies will retreat on the day when I call. This I know: God is for me.”

God is worth it.

2 Samuel 22:4 – “I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I was saved from my enemies.”

Revelation 4:11 – “Our Lord and God, You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because You have created all things, and because of Your will they exist and were created.”

So, be encouraged. Even when life is bombarding you with situations out of your control and you are struggling to keep your head afloat, cling to what you know. Cling to the God you know. He will not fail.

Fullerton went on to write in his hymn:“I cannot tell how He will win the nations, how He will claim His earthly heritage, how satisfy the needs and aspirations of East and West, of sinner and of sage, BUT THIS I KNOW, all flesh shall see His glory, and He shall reap the harvest He has sown, and some glad day His sun will shine in splendor when He the Savior, Savior of the world is known.”

Trust that today. Trust what you know. Trust in the One you know. God has never failed anyone throughout all eternity and He will not fail you!

Seeking Hearts Ministries      My Story

Full on Replacement Needed!

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Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, compelling, devotional, does God send people to hell, encouragement, God's call, God's compassion for the lost, God's love, love, our compassion for the lost, our love, our responsibility, our responsibility to the lost, the lost, the pit, witnessing

A few years back God began asking me if I really loved people the way that I was called to love them. More specifically, do I love LOST people the way that HE would have me to love them?

Do I love people as He loves people?

Which led to the question: How does God love people anyway?

Most of us know the answer to that question whether we realize it, or not. John 3:16 tells us that God gave everything He had so that we would come to know Him; not just you and me, but every soul on this earth. God’s heart for the lost has such an intensity that we cannot comprehend it. It’s unfathomable!

So, how am I as a Christ follower supposed to love the lost? How can I attain the heart of my Savior? How can I love the lost with the same intensity as God when I can’t even really understand it?

As I was thinking through all of these questions, the Lord had me to imagine a scenario. Think with me for a moment that you and your family were living in a forest. In that same forest there was a lion. The only way to rid you and your family of the lion for ever was to dig a massive pit. You knew that one day you would drive the lion into the pit and he would be in that pit for all time. He would never be able to harm your family again and the whole forest would be at peace.

Before the lion’s time had come, many of your own children fell into the pit that had been dug only for the lion. You had fully anticipated this. After all, the pit was well camouflaged and it was on the main pathway that every one in your family used. To save your family, you had placed a rope in the pit. All your children would have to do would be to grab the rope and you would pull them right out. But, they continually refused to grab the rope! You would plead with them, send others to plead with them, but they would NOT grab the rope! Would your heart not break? Would you not feel to the very core of your being the death of that family member as they expired in the pit for no reason? You would know that they were not supposed to die in that pit. You had made every provision for their escape and they simply refused to accept your help. How would you feel? I imagine that your pain would be unimaginable!

That’s just a small representation of how God must feel when people refuse to accept Him. II Peter 3:9 tells us that God does not want any to perish. He is patiently waiting for all to grab the rope. He has made provision for ALL to escape. Some simply choose to not accept it.

What God did for us is so much more than simply dropping a rope, but this analogy helped me to think about my reaction to people who are still “in the pit”. Do I truly hurt when people refuse to grab the rope or, do I simply think, “They’ve heard the Gospel, my job is done”? Do I plead with them to grab the rope? Or, am I satisfied with my family escaping the pit and flippantly throwing money at the rest of humanity to figure it out? Do I really love the lost?

In Luke 14, we see a description of a slave being told by his Master to compel people to come to the banquet. This is someone who is pleading for people to grab the rope. Not once, but many times. If possible, this individual would physically make a person to grab the rope. But, he can’t. He can simply plead and beg as his Master commanded.

Often times, I am so bound up in not offending someone, I can’t even hear the Holy Spirit’s leading. What if my heartfelt plea is all that is needed? What if knowing that someone truly cares about their eternal soul is what would prompt a person to truly take a look at the pit around them and grab the rope? Why am I so callous if this is all that it would take?

The Bible tells me that I have the Holy Spirit living inside of me and yet, where is my intensity for the lost? We are called to go to the edge of the pit and plead, to wiggle the rope in an enticing way and have the heart of God that breaks for those who simply choose to ignore His provision.

Oh, that my soul would break with the urgency that God has called me to. Oh, that we as a church would RUN to those whom God has called us to go. Oh, that God would give me His heart for the lost.

Ezekiel 36:26 tells us, “Moreover, I will give you a new heart, and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” I cannot do this on my own. I cannot “work up” a compassion for the lost without a completely new heart. Even as a Christian, I have a heart of stone too many times. This Scripture shows me the only way. I need a FULL replacement. My heart needs to be His heart; my intensity, His intensity. My thoughts need to be His thoughts.

Romans 7:18, tells me clearly what I have refused to see before, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.” For me, it takes more than filling, it takes a replacement. For me, it takes God replacing my heart with His heart, replacing my thinking with His.

So, today I am asking God to replace me. I’m asking that He replace us – His church. I am asking for more than a filling. I’m asking for a full on replacement. Let’s join together and ask God to do what only He can do through us and in us to see a lost world come to know Him.

Seeking Hearts Ministries      My Story

Is Love Blind?

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Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, encouragment, family devotions, love, love is blind, love is not blind, loving our neighbor, loving people, loving smart, perspective, smart ways to love

Is love really blind? We’ve heard that phrase all of our lives. Actually, since Chaucer around 1405, generations of people have heard that “love is blind.” But, is it true?

Philippians 1:9-10 says, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent [distinguish between things which differ] in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ.” Philippians tells us that love is not blind. In fact, it really tells us that love makes us smarter, more discerning, not less.

Vanna Bonta said, “Love is not blind. Love sees what is most true.” That’s right on, isn’t it? Think about our God. First John 4:16 tells us that “God is love”. We know God isn’t blind to our faults, so why would we think His love in us would make us blind? John 3:16 proves this. It says that God loved the world and then gave His only Son to die for us. If love made God blind to our faults, He would not have seen our sin. He would not have seen our need for a Savior. But, because His love is never blind He discerned the most excellent path for all mankind. Just as God’s love gives Him discernment, His love in us will do the same.

Maybe you guys are great in this area, but I confess that I have often held back my love from an individual because I wanted to “stay smart” and “keep a level head”. In actuality, I’ve been shooting myself in the foot. When I love people as God loves me and has empowered me to love, I get a discernment that I otherwise would not have. Loving people makes me smarter. I’ve had it backwards all along! Shocking! I know!

Loving people makes us able to see and think more clearly. It doesn’t make us blind. Verse ten of Philippians one says that love helps us to “approve the things that are excellent”. Romans 12:2 says that when we renew our minds we are able to “prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” That word prove is the same root word as approve in our Philippians passage. So, when we renew our minds from thinking that love makes us blind, we can receive the truth of God’s Word that love actually makes us more aware, more perceptive, more intuitive.

Matthew 22:39 tells us that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. Are we blind to our own faults? Usually we know them really well, but if we’re honest we still look out for ‘ole number one. We still want what’s best for us. Are we going to know our neighbors faults? Yes. The more we get to know them and love them, we will see their faults. But, through God’s grace He will empower us to see clearly and discern what our love should look like in every situation.

Do we need to be smart when it comes to loving people? Yes! But, what I’m finding is that when I am pressed in hard to the Lord He whispers things I need to know. When I love Him as I am supposed to (with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength) I can love others as He has planned. It doesn’t become co-dependent, or in a direction He never intended, it stays smart and active and pure. When it’s His love in me, it’s a love that is guaranteed to be smart, strong, invasive and very discerning.

Don’t be scared. Love is not blind. Love is all seeing, all knowing and ever willing to help us engage, discern and perceive the right way to cherish each individual as God has called us to. Let’s decide to love people as God intended for us to love.

My Love Story              Seeking Hearts Ministries

 

When God Doesn’t do what you Want

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burdens, can be trusted, Christian encouragement, christian journey, christian walk, Christianity, crisis of faith, devotions, encouragement, exhaustion, faithfulness, family devotions, focus, God can so why won't He, God's love, God's love for you, God's pursuit, hope, light, love, never failing God, no dark side, obsessed, obsesseion, our God, our good God, perspective, quiet time, quiet time thoughts, remembering who God is, struggle in the trusting, trust, trusting God, who God is

I’ve said for some time now that there is a certain crisis of faith that comes to every human when deciding whether they believe God can do what He says He can do. Can He really save me? Can He really heal? Can He really drop manna from the sky? And then, there is the crisis of faith that comes when you know without a doubt that God can move mountains, but He’s just not doing it for you. I mean, what is more frustrating than knowing that someone, anyone, can help, they’re just choosing not to? When that happens, a whole new crisis of faith occurs. Your mountain is looming large and you know your God can move it, but He’s choosing not to and you are left floundering with questions. Is my God really good? Can my God really be trusted? Does He really have a plan for my good? Do I really matter to Him?

I’m not going to pretend to know all the answers to why God is allowing certain things in your life. I’m not even going to pretend to know why He is allowing certain things in my life. I’m not going to pretend to have the answers as to why God would allow children to have cancer, rapists to go free, or even why food can’t be put on every table this week? But, I can tell you (and me) what to focus on when God doesn’t do what we want Him to do.

Let me start by assuring you that you do indeed have a good God. You have a God who does choose to move mountains for you. You have a God who wants you to look like Him and act like Him and love Him as He loves you. You have a never failing, never ceasing, never forsaking God who has a detailed plan for you since before the first molecule was on this earth. Know that because it’s true.

Lamentations 3:17-26 says, “My soul has been deprived of peace; I have forgotten what happiness is. Then I thought: My future is lost, as well as my hope from the LORD. Remember my affliction and my homelessness, the wormwood and the poison. I continually remember them and have become depressed. Yet I call this to mind, and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: The LORD is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him. The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him. It is good to wait quietly for deliverance from the LORD.” Verses 31-33 go on to say, “For the Lord will not reject us forever. Even if He causes suffering, He will show compassion according to His abundant, faithful love. For He does not enjoy bringing affliction or suffering on mankind.”

This passage is so great. We get to see the struggle that Jeremiah had with what was happening all around him and to him. He couldn’t understand it and he became depressed. He even admits in this passage that he lost his hope in the Lord. Then, he decided to remember who His God is. He decided to think about God’s faithfulness, His love and His mercies. He decided that The Lord was his portion for this life and his hope. He decided to rest in God knowing that His God would come through. God’s deliverance obviously wouldn’t look like Jeremiah thought it would. It obviously wouldn’t come at the time that Jeremiah thought that it should, but Jeremiah decided to look up, remember His God and trust. That’s the kind of faith I want, don’t you?

First John 1:5 tells us, “Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in Him.” You can trust that. Our God has no ulterior motives. He has no dark side. He is good. He is holy. He is true and He. Is. In. Love. With. You.

Song of Solomon 7:10 says, “I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me.” God’s desire is toward you. God wants to be with you. He wants to be so melded with you that all people see is Him being uniquely displayed through your personality, your giftings and your sweet face. He has fashioned you for such a time as this and will not stop pursuing you until every fiber of your being is His. He is obsessed with you. Hebrews 13:5 says He will never leave us and Zephaniah 3:17 says He sings over us.  That is not a God who fails. That is a God who loves. Believe that today. Know it with every fiber of your being. If you have to be like the father in Mark 9:24 who said, “I do believe!” and then, quickly added, “Help my unbelief,” so be it, but keep pressing in to your God. He can be trusted. He will come through. He will strengthen you for the task and He is worthy of every fragment of faith you place in Him. He has you, precious one. He has you. Rest in that today.

Seeking Hearts Ministries          My Story

 

 

 

 

Am I Worth Singing Over?

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Christian encouragement, christian journey, encouragement, falling in love with Jesus, fulfilliment in God, fulfillment, God sings over us, God's love, hope, loneliness, lonely, love, peace, singing, true hope, true peace, ultimate fulfillment, Valentine's Day

As we come to Valentine’s Day this weekend, I can’t help but think of many of my friends who do not have a “traditional” relationship that would entail the whole Valentine’s Day phenomenon. They won’t be getting a card, or flowers, or an amazing box of chocolates and I also have several friends who are in relationships, but the whole Valentine’s Day thing is really bad timing this year.They have shared that everything will feel fake because they simply are not in a very good place. So, in honor of them and many others who just need the reminder, I decided to re-blog this post from last year. Even though Valentine’s is not mentioned directly, it’s a gentle reminder that God is our ultimate Valentine. That may sound cliché, but it’s true. He loves us more than any human could. He fulfills us in ways only He can think of. He designed us to crave Him and those cravings are only wholly satisfied in Him. Rest in the fact that Valentine’s Days come and go, but your God is the same yesterday, today and for ever.

    Sweet Lullabies

Have you ever thought about why we sing lullabies over our children? How did we think to do that? Who was the first human to hum a little tune over their newborn? It seems so natural, but someone had to have thought of it first. Was it Eve? Since she was the mother of all living at the time, did she naturally croon a lullaby over her newborns? Had she sung with God Himself while walking through the Garden?

Or, was Noah the first? As he was cradling his boys in his arms, with destruction and sin all around him, did he look in those innocent newborn eyes and well up in praise to His Father?

Was it Sarah, Abraham’s wife, who first sang to her child? Did her age cause her to hold Isaac a little longer than most first time mothers and she naturally began to sing over him?

Who was that the first lullaby singer? What did they sing? Why did they sing it? Did they feel silly? Did it seem natural? No one knows.

I’m going to tell you a not too well-kept secret – Zephaniah 3:17 says that God Himself sings over us. How beautiful is that? It says, “The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.” This verse assures us that the God of the universe, the God who holds the world in place with a word He spoke centuries ago, sings over us. How precious a Savior we have!

This verse became very real to me some time ago. For several days in a row, I woke up with a beautiful song rolling around in my head. Most days it was a Christian tune, but one day I remember so specifically was a secular song. When I woke up that morning the song was playing in super stereo in my mind. It was loud! I laid in bed just listening to the words being sung in my head. It was that song by Christina Perri called, “A Thousand Years”. Tears came to my eyes at the beauty of it and I laid there having a full realization of Zephaniah 3:17. I knew that God had sung that song over me all night. I loved that song, but I had never considered relating it to God until that very moment. I knew that God was telling me He has loved me for a thousand years and He would love me for a thousand more. It was a truly impactful moment that I will carry with me for a long time. I knew that the God of the universe had sung a precious love song over me all night and He wanted me to know it!

I think that’s where we get our need to sing lullabies over our children. I think our sweet Lord gave us the desire to sing to our children because He sings over us. He wants us to know the pleasure that it brings Him to sing over us as we sing over our precious ones. God Himself sings over us from the moment of our birth, so why wouldn’t we do the same over our children? In fact, we might even be singing a duet with God. How sweet is that?

So, listen closely.

Pause a moment.

Do you hear Him singing over you?

What song do you need to hear? He’s already singing it.

Do you need peace? Your song today just might be that beautiful old hymn, “He Whispers Sweet Peace to Me”. Do you need love? Your song might be “How He Loves” by David Crowder. Do you need to know that you are not forgotten? Your song today night be “Not Forgotten” by Twila Paris. Whatever you need, your faithful Father knows and He is singing over you this very minute.

So, whether it’s Valentine’s Day, or every day, know that your God loves you. In fact, He cherishes you and He is singing over you.

Lonely?

Seeking Hearts Ministries