Tag Archive | Christian

How About You?

Aug16

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God? (Some messages read see the face of God) — Psalms 42:2

I don’t know about you but I am so looking forward to seeing the face of God, standing before Him, seeing His glory. All fear gone, all hope fulfilled, O glorious day! There is only One living God and my soul thirsts for Him. My soul is quenched by reading His word and spending time in prayer with Him. But then I get thirsty again. I need the thirst quenching words of God daily. How about you?

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

I Commit

Aug15

Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth. — Psalm 31:5

This is one of those verses that I am sure I have read a million times but it jumped off the page today and overwhelmed me. Into Your hand, the hand of God — the Creator, Almighty, Sovereign, Perfect, Holy, Omnipotent, Righteous, Just, Eternal, Omniscient, Merciful, Loving, Truthful, Redeemer, Savior! Wow! What better guardian of my spirit could I commit?

Then the overwhelming emphasis of the word “commit”. Commit is a word not to be taken lightly. We commit to stay married for better or worse. We commit to a job to be faithful and loyal. We commit to go out to eat with a friend. But this commit is to GOD. . . This commit is essential to our spiritual walk. This commit is total surrender to the Ruler of our hearts. This commit is to give all that we have and are, to entrust, pledge ourselves to the One who ransomed us. Again, Wow! I am blown away at the gravity of this one little word.

I had to take a look at myself and ask if I have committed my spirit to the One who ransomed me, Jesus Christ. Have I entrusted my spirit to the God of truth? I had to step back and evaluate my walk. I want to be able to truly say, “Into Your hand I commit my spirit” to the God of all truth so He can do a good work in me for His glory.

Thank You Lord Jesus for ransoming me, for paying the price on Calvary. I trust You and so I commit my spirit into Your hand. May You be glorified through me in the fulfillment of Your perfect plan. To You Lord God be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Have you truly committed your spirit to the Lord? If not, take this time now to do so. Evaluate your level of commitment. It really is all or nothing.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Ambassador for Christ

Aug14

God is love. — 1 John 4:8
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. — John 3:16
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. — Romans 5:8
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; — 2 Corinthians 5:20a
He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.– 2 Corinthians 5:21

Jesus loves us despite the fact that we are sinners and even though we don’t deserve it, He fulfilled God’s purpose. Jesus demonstrated His love for us, put into action that love, when He died on the cross paying the debt for our sin. Jesus fulfilled God’s purpose of redemption for all of mankind. Jesus out of love for the Father obediently saved mankind from the sin of death and gave us eternal life.

So what is our purpose? To be ambassadors for Christ, the righteousness of God in Him. Just as Jesus, our example, we are to love others even though they are sinners and demonstrate God’s love to others even if we think they don’t deserve it. We are to live for Jesus, drawing so close to Him that we become like Him. And like Him we love, demonstrate love, and let Jesus use us to draw others to Him so that He may transform them into the righteousness of God, ambassadors for Christ!

God wants to use you for great things. Are you ready to be an Ambassador for Christ? Draw close to God and He will draw close to you. Then you are ready to be an ambassador. Continue to seek Him.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

He Is Everywhere

Aug13

The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Watching the evil and the good. — Proverbs 15:3
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. — Psalm 139:7-10

God is omnipresent (present everywhere at the same time). There is no hiding, running, escaping His watchful eye. This can be either good or bad depending on your perspective. The Lord’s eyes are in every place watching the evil and the good.

If you have no regard for God or don’t believe in Him I guess this would not bother you. It should since He is real, alive and there is no escape from your Creator. For those of us who believe in Almighty God through Jesus Christ we might find this intimidating. To think He is with us seeing everything we do. Everywhere we go. Hearing everything we say. It would behoove us to remember this as we journey through our day.

A comforting perspective is that God is with us at all times. We can’t possibly be anywhere that He cannot reach us. If you know Jesus and walk with Him you can take confidence in this promise (fact). No matter where we are He will lead us and His strong right hand will hold us. That is something to rejoice about. Take confidence in the One True God. Seek Him to know Him. Therein lies your comfort, peace and confidence.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Make Me A Servant

Aug12

Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave — just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” — Matthew 20:26-28

Jesus changed the world by His radical teachings. Jesus came to serve. This was as contrary in Biblical times as it is today with so many people looking out for number one, themselves. “It’s all about me” mentality is the norm today. Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve. . . hmmm.

If Jesus is our example how are we to be in the world today? Servants to all — to those who say thank you for your kindness and those who don’t. Those who you think deserve it and those who don’t. Those who are lovable and those who aren’t. Our deep love and gratitude to the Lord God should fill our hearts with the desire to serve.

Our servant-hood in the world can make a change in those around us — those observing how we tend to others and those to whom we attend. Serving not for attention, acknowledgement or reward but for the glory of God and the changing of hearts toward God. And no good deed goes unnoticed by our heavenly Father. For He will make you great and first, exalting you for His glory. Jesus was exalted by the Father as He humbly served to the point that He gave His life for many!!! God was glorified and Jesus as well.

Lord, make me a servant I pray
Guide my feet in your way
As I serve others today
May they see Your glory
And follow You. Amen

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Keep Seeking

Aug11

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. — Colossians 3:1-4

“IF you have been raised up with Christ”, keep seeking, keep seeking . . .
Being in Christ is more than just having the security of heaven eternal. It is a responsibility. We must keep seeking and setting our minds on the things above, “not on the things that are on earth”. What profit is there of the things on earth when they all will be nothing when Christ returns? And compared to the light of His glory they are nothing now.

“And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

Seek Him daily in Bible Study and prayer.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Believing Is Living

Aug10

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. — Colossians 3:1-4

When Christ, WHO IS OUR LIFE, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.
Revealed in glory. For now we are hidden with Christ in God. You have died. Died to sin, died to self, died to the world. Evaluation time. Have I died to sin, to self and to the world or am I still seeking the things of the world? Selfish desires? All encompassed in sin because I have not crucified myself with Christ? Believing is living Christ.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Sweet Aroma

Aug9

and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. — Ephesians 5:2

Christ loved and “gave Himself up for us”. Are you willing to give yourself up for someone? Who might that be? Are you willing to give yourself up for Christ so He may do a good work in you? Give yourself as a holy sacrifice? Surrender means giving it all up for Christ who gave it all up for you. Are you willing to die for the cause of Christ? He was for you.

Today, be a fragrant aroma of offering and sacrifice to God. In turn you then will be a sweet aroma to those around you.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Step By Step

Aug8

Now the Lord said to Abram,

“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing; — Genesis 12:1-2

Four days a week I walk four miles in the morning. On two of those days I take a very long path down hill at the beginning of my walk and, you guessed it, I have a very long hill to climb at the end of my walk. That can be pretty taxing the last quarter mile of your walk.

The other day my walking partner and I took that particular route walking a total of five miles and it was a chore to get up that hill. I thought I was going to pass out and for the next two days, thank the Lord it was the weekend, I paid a price with a very painful hip. That is not why I am writing this. On this particular day I looked up the hill desiring the top to come but it seemed so far off. It was as if the top kept creeping away the more I walked. It was grueling trying to keep my eyes on the top of the hill and realizing I still had so far to go to get to the top.

The following Tuesday I took that route again but when I got to the end I didn’t look up the hill. I focused on my feet and each step I took. As I went along I kept focused on the moment and enjoyed each step. By the time I looked up I had conquered most of the hill and so the short distance left was not much of a challenge.

As I thought about the difference in these two days my mind wandered off to how God gives us instruction as we need it. With Abram it was go. Abram under the direction of the Lord set out to “the land which I will show you”. How is that for direction? All Abram was told was to “go forth from your country and from your father’s house”. All Abram had was the Word of God and a promise. How’s that for trust? One step. One step of faith. Trust in the One God.

God directs our steps, path, each day. We only see a portion of the picture He is painting of our lives. I think that is a good thing. If we actually saw some of the things God has planned for us I think we would turn tail and run down the hill. On the other hand sometimes we long so much for what God wants us to do that we tend to not notice each step along the way. We miss out. God is building us into His perfect child one step at a time. Each step draws us closer to the fulfillment of His plan. Let us not forget to enjoy the journey. Trust each step to the Almighty. The reward is still waiting when we get there but let us not regret the steps it takes to reach it.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

By My Spirit

Aug7

Reading through some devotionals I posted to Facebook in the past. This one was originally posted on Facebook March 4, 2009.

Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel saying, ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts. — Zechariah 4:6

When we think we have a part in anything, we are wrong. It is by no means of our own. It has nothing to do with us except that a loving God wants us to participate in His will. We forge ahead by obedience to His Spirit and His Spirit alone. We have no might, nor power to do anything. Trust in the One who has the power and might and goes before us as a warrior. He is the Spirit of the living God. He is the living God.

My hope is that He is living in you today. Are you seeing the living God in your world, working and making a difference in you and your world? Look for, seek Him with all your heart and the Bible says you will find Him.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon