Tag Archive | Bible

Why Am I So Blessed?

Feb8

Have you ever asked God that question? Why me? Why Lord, do you bless me so abundantly?

God be gracious to us and bless us,  And cause His face to shine upon us— Selah.

That Your way may be known on the earth, Your salvation among all nations. 
Psalms 67:1‭-‬2 NASB

God blesses for His glory and mankind’s salvation.

Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Let the nations be glad and sing for joy; For You will judge the peoples with uprightness And guide the nations on the earth. Selah. 

Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us.

🌹 God blesses us, That all the ends of the earth may fear Him.
Psalms 67:3-‬7 NASB

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

A God Who Sees, Hears And is Concerned

Feb5

Then she called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, “You are a God who sees”; for she said, “Have I even remained alive here after seeing Him?”
Genesis 16:13 NASB

Hagar, down trodden, wandering in the wilderness with her son. Desperate without hope of survival and God sees her. He comes to her with direction, a promise and hope.

Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God.
Exodus 2:23 NASB

God saw the sons of Israel, and God took notice of them.
Exodus 2:25 NASB

So Moses said, “I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up.” When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
Exodus 3:3‭-‬4 NASB

So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite.
Exodus 3:8 NASB

Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.
Exodus 3:9 NASB

Go and gather the elders of Israel together and say to them, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has appeared to me, saying, “I am indeed concerned about you and what has been done to you in Egypt.
Exodus 3:16 NASB

God heard the cry of His people, was concerned and through Moses delivered them. When Moses looked to the burning Bush, God took notice.

Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our oppression;
Deuteronomy 26:7 NASB

What turmoil or affliction are you struggling with right now? He sees you. Cry out to Him in your hour of need. He hears.

“Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine,” declares the Lord God.
Ezekiel 16:8 NASB

🌹God loves you. He is pursuing a love relationship with you that is real and personal. How will you respond to the God who sees and hears you?

When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.
Jonah 3:10 NASB

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

God’s Purpose

Feb4

Now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.
Genesis 45:5‭, ‬7‭-‬8 NASB

God has a plan. Even when it looks bad, it is for the good of God’s people. His deliverance. Look at Jesus. He came for a mere 33 years and was persecuted, spit on, denied. But O, the Father had a grandiose plan.

When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong which we did to him!” So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father charged before he died, saying, ‘Thus you shall say to Joseph, “Please forgive, I beg you, the transgression of your brothers and their sin, for they did you wrong.” ’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid, for am I in God’s place?
Genesis 50:15‭-‬19 NASB

Joseph trusted God despite the circumstances that were tough and grim for him. God blessed him and many through him despite the circumstances he faced.

So therefore, do not be afraid; I will provide for you and your little ones.” So he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.
Genesis 50:21 NASB

🌹 God will provide, possibly through you and the circumstances you are in right now. Do you trust Him for the outcome?

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

(You can read about the life of Joseph in Genesis 37, 39, 41-48, 50)

Repentance to Endurance

Feb3

and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Acts 14:22b NASB

in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses, in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love, in the word of truth, in the power of God; by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known, as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death, as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich, as having nothing yet possessing all things.
2 Corinthians 6:4b-‬10 NASB

In Christ is life no matter the circumstances. Jesus suffered for the sake of the gospel to the glory of the Father. If we are to follow in His footsteps, being transformed into His image by obedience to His commands, then we should expect and face tribulations, trials, hardships,  etc. with endurance.

🌹 Let us endure through all tribulation, in the power of God and in the Holy Spirit, by the word of truth on our journey for and toward the kingdom of God.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Gladness and Peace

Feb1

“I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted (defeat, obstruct, prevent).
Job 42:2 NASB

So why do we worry? Why do we try to obstruct or prevent the way of the Lord, His plan? Is He not in control? Is not His plan the best way for us?

Do we not trust in Almighty God? Or is it that we want it our way instead of His way?

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.”
Job 42:5‭-‬6 NASB

It’s time to repent and seek God’s will and way.

Glory in His holy name; Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually.
Psalms 105:3‭-‬4 NASB

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

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Return

Jan28

A voice is heard on the bare heights, The weeping and the supplications of the sons of Israel; Because they have perverted their way, They have forgotten the Lord their God. 
Jeremiah 3:21‭ NASB

Look around you. What do you see? Fear? Brokenness? Anger? Discontentment? Turmoil? Lostness? Do you wonder why?
“We have forgotten the Lord our God”!

Peace, wholeness, contentment, direction come through Christ alone even in the midst of turmoil. So the Lord says . . .

“Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.” “Behold, we come to You; For You are the Lord our God.
Jeremiah 3:22 NASB

🌹 Lord, we come to You; for You are the Lord our God.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Decision Maker

Jan27

And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two You have chosen to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”          Acts 1:24‭-‬25 NASB

Where do we go for answers? Many of us are good at seeking God for the bigger decisions of our life or in our church family. Or are we?

The disciples were seeking God’s choice for who He wanted to fill the position of disciple to replace Judas. They spent time together in prayer to ask the One who knows the hearts of men.

God knows your needs and wants. He is looking out for your best interest just as a good Father does. He desires the best for you and so He will give you instruction and direction for what’s best just by asking Him. He wants to be a part of your life and help you to navigate it. Will you let Him?

Will you seek God and His will for all the decisions in your life? Will you pray for the small as well as the big decisions? Then will you obey His decision for you?

🌹 God is the best Decision Maker!

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Prayer – One Mind

Jan26

These all (Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James)with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
Acts 1:14 NASB

“Continually devoting themselves to prayer.” Gathering for prayer. Together. Continually. They needed to keep the connection open with Jesus which is through prayer. They needed to be unified as the body of Christ which is through prayer.

🌹 Want to know the heart of God and your Christian brothers and sisters? Spend time with them in prayer.

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

Disciple

Jan25

When they had entered the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying; that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James.
Acts 1:13 NASB

After the ascension of Jesus into heaven the disciples gathered together, not unlike gathering after a celebration of life (funeral). Do you wonder what they spoke of? I bet it was Jesus. All that they had experienced, seen and known of Jesus, the Son of God over the past 3 years.

🌹 Are you or have you experienced God in your life? If you have, do you speak of Him? Do others know Him because of you?

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon

For Whose Name?

Jan22

They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.
Genesis 11:4‭-‬9 NASB

What is man’s nature? Isn’t it to look out for #1? To seek what I think “is best for me”? “Come, let us make for ourselves a name”. Is it any wonder that God created new languages? Unity amongst man is a good thing when God and His will is our focus but left to our own way leads us away from God and His will.

Take a look at the world today. With the internet we can talk to anyone in the world without language being a barrier. We can be unified as one. But. . .

🌹 For whose name?

Continually Seeking Him,

Sharon