In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.
Psalms 5:3 NASB
🌹When you pray, do you watch and wait in expectation of God’s answer?
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
What Is That To You?
Jesus *said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
John 21:22 NASB
I must confess, it is very easy to look at another person and judge their ministry and/or intentions when it is not our concern how God uses others in His planned will.
Jesus is talking with Peter about his coming ministry for Christ and Peter sees John and asks, “Lord, and what about this man?” What was Jesus’s reply? “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you?”
We are not to be concerned about what God’s plan is for other believers, but follow Jesus faithfully in His plan for us.
Therefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the Lord comes who will both bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and disclose the motives of men’s hearts; and then each man’s praise will come to him from God.
1 Corinthians 4:5 NASB
What should our individual concern be?
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.
Matthew 16:24 NASB
Follow Jesus. He is the way, the truth, the life. Keep our eyes focused on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith.
fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2 NASB
Look to Jesus.
🌹 And lifting up their eyes, they saw no one except Jesus Himself alone.
Matthew 17:8 NASB
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Serving Jesus
If anyone serves (is serving) Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves (is serving) Me, the Father will honor him.
John 12:26 NASB
We cannot serve Jesus without following Him. Where He is working is where we will be. Following Jesus, which means surrendering our will to His will. His will is our priority. It is ALL about Him and obeying His will.
And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.
Matthew 10:38 NASB
Jesus relinquished His will to the Father by surrendering His life to fulfill the Father’s plan. All the way to the cross. He gave up His throne. He humbled Himself. He suffered. He died.
Are you ready to pick up your cross and follow Jesus? Relinquish your life no matter what is asked of you, no matter where it takes you?
This relinquishing of life comes with a promise, “If anyone is serving Me, the Father will honor him” and “Where I Am, there will My servant be also.”
🌹 The promise of eternity with God. Wow!!!
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Waiting Patiently
For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and I will surely multiply you.” And so, having patiently waited, he obtained the promise.
Hebrews 6:13-15 NASB
“By Myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Genesis 22:16-18 NASB
The promise? God would greatly multiply Abraham’s descendants as the stars of heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore. This was promised before Abraham had any children of His own. (Genesis 15:1-5) and because of his belief, God reckoned it to him as righteousness (Genesis15:6).
Why did God bless him? Because he obeyed.
How much trust did it take to believe God would give Abraham a son in his old age? But even more so, how much did Abraham trust the promise of God when God told him to sacrifice his only offspring?
I think about this in my own life. How much do I trust God when I am in the midst of despair – and believe me, Abraham was in the midst of despair – and I can’t see the outcome? Do I truly trust Him that He is with me and won’t leave me? That He will see me through this “crisis” to the end? I also wonder how much of God’s glory I miss because I am not fully trusting that He has a plan. I think of Job who believed and trusted God. We never know the end result until we walk through it. I want to walk there believing and trusting in God, my Lord. I’m waiting for God’s promises to be fulfilled.
🌹I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Psalm 16:8 NASB
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Dry Bones
He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’ ” So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.” ’ ” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Ezekiel 37:3-10 NASB
If you are reading this today you are among the living. But are you really?
We are but dry bones without the Spirit of the living God in us. By the Word of God we come to life. By His work in us we come to know Him as our Lord.
This morning I felt slain. I write these devotions in the evening prior to posting them. My bones were dry last evening. This morning as I am getting my morning coffee a thought comes to mind, “Dry Bones”. Isn’t God amazing?
As my husband often says, “Our God is a fourth quarter God”. Why? Because sometimes we depend upon ourselves in this game of life and we forget that God is the coach. When our eyes turn back to Him and live His Word He gives life to dry bones.
🌹 And the Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the Lord filled the house.
Ezekiel 43:5 NASB
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Wholly Devoted
He (Hezekiah) did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his father David had done.
2 Kings 18:3 NASB
he did what was good, right and true before the Lord his God.
2 Chronicles 31:20b NASB
Wouldn’t it be something if we had the same reputation that Hezekiah, king of Judah, had? Doing right in the sight of our Lord? Doing what was good, right and true before the Lord?
When we belong to God there are expectations. After all we are the temple of the Holy Spirit who resides in us.
So how did Hezekiah do it?
He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him. For he clung to the Lord; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the Lord had commanded Moses.
2 Kings 18:5-6 NASB
Hezekiah obeyed.
You shall follow the Lord your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him.
Deuteronomy 13:4 NASB
Hezekiah surrendered his life to God.
Before him there was no king like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.
2 Kings 23:25 NASB
🌹Let your heart therefore be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”
1 Kings 8:61 NASB
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
The Power of the Holy Spirit
So Jesus said to them (disciples) again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”
John 20:21-23 NASB
Just as God the Father sent Jesus into the world, Jesus has sent us, His disciples, into the world.
As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.
John 17:18 NASB
Receiving of the Holy Spirit is given to every believer at the time of conversion (the spiritual change in a person who repents of their sin and turns to Jesus and lives their life in obedience to God). The indwelling Holy Spirit is the power of God in us to continue the work that Christ began.
Jesus is the forgiver of sin but under the power of the Holy Spirit we can forgive or not forgive sin in the aspect that we can share the gospel and those who repent we can forgive them their sins by the power of the Holy Spirit. On the opposite side of that, those who choose to retain their sin, it will be retained.
See Matthew 16:19, 18:18
An example of this is when Jesus sent the 12 disciples out to share the gospel door to door:
Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.
Matthew 10:14; Mark 6:11; Luke 9:5 NASB
🌹“The one who listens to you listens to Me, and the one who rejects you rejects Me; and he who rejects Me rejects the One who sent Me.”
Luke 10:16 NASB
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
God Knows You
You have taken account of my wanderings; Put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?
Psalms 56:8 NASB
You examine in detail my ways, my life.
You see every tear and hear every prayer.
Yes, You have me written in Your book of remembrance.
I will revere You Lord and hold dear Your name for I am truly loved. Thank You Lord for loving me. Amen.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Psalms 139:3 NASB
“Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord.
2 Kings 20:5 NASB
Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who esteem His name.
Malachi 3:16 NASB
🌹. . . rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”
Luke 10:20b NASB
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Trust Without Fear
In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man (flesh) do to me?
In God, whose word I praise, In the Lord, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust (or trust without fear), I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
For You have delivered my soul from death, Indeed my feet from stumbling, So that I may walk before God In the light of the living (life).
Psalms 56:4, 10-11, 13 NASB
As God’s child should I not instinctively cling with trust to my Father?
This brings my mind back to my child-rearing days when my little ones would cling to me when a stranger was near. It was okay for them to laugh at someone making faces at them as long as they were in the arms of their parent in whom they trusted.
When they were learning to walk, they would hold tight to my hand. They instinctively trusted the hand that would hold them steady as they walked without stumbling.
God has delivered my soul from death, so that I may walk before Him in the light of life without fear of what man can do to me. Yes, in God, whose word I praise, in God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid!
The Lord is for me; I will not fear; What can man do to me?
Psalms 118:6 NASB
so that we confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?”
Hebrews 13:6 NASB
🌹Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 10:28 NASB
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Remain True
And working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain—
2 Corinthians 6:1 NASB
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field (cultivated land), God’s building.
1 Corinthians 3:9 NASB
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20 NASB
By God’s grace we are saved to serve Him as His ambassadors to a lost and dying world. By grace we encourage one another to remain true to the Lord so as not to succumb to the adversary, the devil, who prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8 NASB
🌹Then when he arrived and witnessed the grace of God, he rejoiced and began to encourage them all with resolute heart to remain true to the Lord;
Acts 11:23 NASB
Thank You, God, for Your grace, amen.
Continually Seeking Him,
Sharon
Continually Seeking Him 