Archives

Faithful

Oct21

As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.”  Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, glorifying God; and when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.                          Luke 18:35‭-‬43 NASB

“Lord, I want to regain my sight”.

This man had lost his sight, for you can’t regain something you never had.

Haven’t we all been there? Lost sight of our way? Lost the intimacy we have had with Jesus in the past?

This man was persistent to get the attention of Jesus even while those around him

“were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more”. And those trying to keep him quiet were leaders. “Those who led the way”.

By his faithfulness he pursued Jesus. By his faithfulness his eyes were opened. By his faithfulness he followed Jesus. But even greater than all this “when all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.”

Your faithfulness is seen by many.

🌹Are you faithfully following Jesus? Do others see Jesus in you? If not it is time to ask for Jesus to “to regain my sight!” Then be faithful to follow.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Looking for More

Oct20

Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”      Luke 17:20‭-‬21 NASB

Aren’t we always looking for something better? Something more? While looking all about us we miss what is right in front of our faces.

How many of us have searched for something, ie. car keys, when we are in a hurry to go out the door and they are right there in plain sight but somehow we miss seeing them.

Is that what our focus is today regarding Jesus? We are so looking forward to His return, looking for signs, that we miss the “right now” daily walk with Him.

Like the keys that we know are hanging where we always leave them, have we put Jesus away somewhere in the future knowing He’ll be there when I need Him, when I’m ready at some future time? Are we looking for Him when He is right in front of us waiting for our acknowledgement of His presence in our lives today, right now?

🌹Don’t miss out on the relationship looking for His coming. He is already here. His return is simply to gather to the promised land those who are walking with Him now.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Thankful for Blessings

Oct19

As He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him; and they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they were going, they were cleansed.

Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan.

Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine-where are they?  Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?”  And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has made you well.”                  Luke 17:12‭-‬19 NASB

Are you thankful for the blessings of God? Are you even aware of blessings from God?

God is visible all around us to those who know Him personally and realize that He is intimately involved in every aspect of our day, our lives.

When we start looking and then thanking God for the little blessings we will begin to notice more and more of everyday blessings and realize how loved we are and that there are no little blessing. All blessings from God are the outpouring of the love of God on us.

🌹How thankful are you? Enough to stop whatever you are doing to acknowledge God for His blessings as you receive them?

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Prayer Connection

Oct16

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
Jeremiah 29:12

And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
Acts 4:31

What is the connection between prayer and the movement of the Holy Spirit?

Without God we are unable to accomplish His work, will, plan. Without Him we are unable to bring glory to His name. Without Him we are nothing.

Prayer in the Holy Spirit connects us to the One Holy God. In Him we are transformed into the image of Christ. In Him we are revived. In Him we are taught, guided, empowered so that we can speak the word of God, share the gospel, with boldness.

🌹 How is your prayer life?

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Spiritual Health

Oct16

The eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye is clear, your whole body also is full of light; but when it is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness.      
Luke 11:34‭-‬35 NASB

When you have a healthy spiritual life you are full of light, an illuminating light of God to others.The unhealthy spiritual life is full of darkness, it is evil in you.

Taking care of your spiritual health is important. Pay attention to your spiritual health lest it become darkness.

🌹 Have you had a spiritual check-up lately? If not, it is time to make an appointment with the Great Physician.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon 🌹

Love Enabled

Oct15

And a lawyer stood up and put Him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How does it read to you?”  And he answered, “you shall love the  Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And He said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” Luke 10:25‭-‬28 NASB

Sounds easy. Does it? Is it?

“Love with all your heart.”

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 NASB

Without the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in us, we are not capable to love the Lord with all our heart.

“Love the Lord with all your soul.”

The soul. The inner, spiritual part of us. We are not able to love with all our soul unless our soul is in communion with the soul of God Himself.

Moreover, I will make My dwelling among you, and My soul will not reject you. Leviticus 26:11 NASB

“Love the Lord with all your mind.”

But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 2 Corinthians 3:14 NASB

Without Christ in us we are blind and unable to love God with all our mind.

“The Lord is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. Exodus 15:2 NASB

We are weak without the Lord. He is our strength.

So how can we love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind and strenghth?

We need to know Him. Not of Him, but personally know Him.

How? Seek Him.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7 NASB

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.  Matthew 6:33 NASB

Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually. Psalms 105:4 NASB

Seeking God, you will find Him because He is love. His love, who He is, enables us to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 1 John 4:8 NASB

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon 🌹

Leaven

Oct13

Leaven: an element that produces an altering or transforming influence. – to permeate with an altering or transforming element.

And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”                 Matthew 16:6 NASB

Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 16:12 NASB

Who or what is your leaven? How and where do you spend your day, your free time? Who do you spend your social time with and where? Look around you. What environment and what people are influencing your life?

My hope is that the Holy Spirit is your leaven, the transforming power of God in you. That you are also being encouraged through the church, the people of God. These two factors will puff you up to be able to handle the blows the world sends your way so you may rise to the fullness of Christ in you for His glory, purpose and will.

🌹Surrender to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in you.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Worship Leads To . . .

Oct12

Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Psalms 96:2 NASB

“Proclaim good tidings”, good news, “of His salvation”. How good are we at doing that? Do we proclaim the gospel “from day to day”?

If we are honest many of us have never even shared the gospel. We trust the church to do that so we invite people to church.

Could there be a missing link as to why we don’t share?

“Sing to the Lord, bless His name”.

🌹How is your prayer life? Where is your main focus directed throughout your day? Is worship of God a priority in your life? Do you have a personal, intimate, real relationship with Almighty God?

Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name.
Psalms 100:4 NASB

If you do you will experience Him and be filled up with His Holy Spirit. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance you can’t help but proclaim Jesus Christ.

🌹How is your relationship with God. He calls us to proclaim His gospel.

And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
Luke 10:2; Matthew 9:37-38 NASB

You might want to read Psalm 71 while contemplating the connection of the worship of God leading to proclaiming salvation to the lost.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Where is Your Treasure?

Oct9

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
John 6:63 NASB

“For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?Matthew 6:25 NASB

Where is your focus?

The Spirit is life. Walking in God is life. Seeking God is life. Loving God is life. All the cares of this world will one day mean absolutely nothing. What will matter are the things eternal.

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33 NASB

🌹 Again. Where is Your focus?

for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:21 NASB

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Elijah, Prophet of God

Oct8

Elijah, a prophet sent by God, to warn and restore the Isaraelites devotion to God instead of Baal. In 1 Kings 18 is the testimony of the two altars where the priests of Baal, 450, and Elijah, the lone prophet of God, met to sacrifice to their respective God/god to reveal who was truly God.

One of my favorite stories. You should read if you are not familiar with it.

After this event . . .

Now Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me and even more, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time.” And he was afraid and arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree; and he requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take my life, for I am not better than my fathers.”
1 Kings 19:1‭-‬4 NASB

This great revelation of God in Elijah’s life, to see the power and faithfulness of God, was overshadowed by fear of what Jezebel promised to do to him.

Haven’t we been there? We let the events of the world, the fear for our own livelihood overshadow the work of God and the Holy Spirit through us. God calls all His children to be the voice piece of His gospel. When called we must stand firm in the hope and power of our God.

Well, God also will not allow us to wallow long in our disobedience- running from His calling to share the gospel – before He gets our attention.

Through an angel God provided Elijah with the necessary strength to go on a journey to meet with God.

Then he came there to a cave and lodged there; and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and He said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
1 Kings 19:9 NASB

Have you heard this before? A simple question. “What are you doing here?”

Elijah had his excuse all ready:

He said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the sons of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars and killed Your prophets with the sword. And I alone am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”
1 Kings 19:10 NASB

He wasn’t really listening to God. His fear for his life was greater than his fear of God.

But God was about to get his attention.

So He said, “Go forth and stand on the mountain before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing.
1 Kings 19:11‭-‬12 NASB

God sent a mighty wind, an earthquake and fire. When God had Elijah’s attention He then spoke in a gentle whisper (blowing).

Aren’t we just like Elijah? Look around you.  Are you living in fear or in the safety of your obedience to God?

🌹Is He trying to get our attention so we can hear His gentle whisper?

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon