Tag Archive | grace

I Choose

Apr27

15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers, To cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones, Not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned. — Psalm 34:15-22

The Lord sees, hears, listens and delivers the righteous. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth,* especially the brokenhearted, whom He heals And binds up their wounds.«

Our Redeemer and Savior redeems His servant and saves the crushed in spirit. The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, Because they take refuge in Him.»

The face of the Lord is against evil doers and their evil will slay the wicked. Condemned are those who hate the righteous.

I choose to have the face of God shine upon me by seeking Him and His glory. I choose to follow and be blessed by His grace and I choose to worship my Jesus in church tomorrow where My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to You; And my soul, which You have redeemed.^

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

* Psalm 145:18
« Psalm 147:3
» Psalm 37:40
^ Psalm 71:23

Fear of the Lord

Apr25

O fear the Lord, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. — Psalm 34:9-11

O fear the Lord – “worship Him and make conscience of your duty to Him in everything, not fear and shun Him but fear and seek Him”.* Fear the Lord, you His saints – people of God^; believers^; godly ones«.

We, His children, in seeking our Lord find all we want. He fulfills every desire we have in Him. Not the desires of our sinful flesh but the desires that come from our personal walk with Jesus. We are satisfied because our hearts seek the heart of God, truly being what we want.

The Word promises that those who seek the Lord will not be in want of any good thing. He does not withhold any good thing from those who walk uprightly. How do we walk uprightly? By fearfully seeking Him and keeping His commandments. Remember that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

The Lord gives grace and glory and His praise endures forever.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. –Psalm 84:1
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments; His praise endures forever. — Psalm 11:10

*Matthew Henry Commentary
^Dictionary of Bible Themes – saints
«Psalm 31:23

Afflicted And Needy

Apr21

Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me; For I am afflicted and needy. Preserve my soul, for I am a godly man; O You my God, save Your servant who trusts in You. Be gracious to me, O Lord, For to You I cry all day long. Make glad the soul of Your servant, For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul. For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You. — Psalm 86:1-5

Have you ever been troubled greatly, afflicted? Afflicted so much that you are needy, in need of practical or emotional support? I’m sure you have. Who do you turn to?

I’ve been there. Wanting so much to be godly as I cry out. Lord, is there a hidden motive in my request for help in my distress? Am I being selfish, stubborn, greedy, angry, or desiring pity? My first request is to ask for forgiveness if there is any deceptive way in me. Lord, You are good and ready to forgive.

As I humbly pour out my heart to You, my Lord, I seek Your grace and salvation as I trust in You. Hear my supplication, O God. In my need, O God, I lift up my soul asking You in Your lovingkindness, to those who call upon You, make my soul glad.

All I can say is that my God is faithful. He loves me and hears my prayers. After such an ordeal He affirms His love and faithfulness by sending me to this scripture. He reminds me that He loves me and listens to my prayers, He is gracious and forgives my sin, and then He reminds me of His faithfulness when He restores my soul.

Distressed? Troubled? Take it to Jesus.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

 

Afflict: to distress with mental or byodily pain; trouble greatly or grievously
Needy: in need of practical or emotional support;

“afflict.” Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 20 Apr. 2014. .

(“needy.” Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition. HarperCollins Publishers. 20 Apr. 2014. <Dictionary.com)

Shine Jesus Shine Pt. 4

Mar13

Shine Jesus shine
Fill this land with the Father’s glory
Blaze, Spirit blaze,
Set our hearts on fire
Flow, river flow
Flood the nations with grace and mercy
Send forth Your word
Lord and let there be light.

— Cliff Richard —

 [Glory of the Lord] Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. — Exodus 40:34

but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. — Numbers 14:31

The angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the midst of a bush; and he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, yet the bush was not consumed. — Exodus 3:2

And to the eyes of the sons of Israel the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a consuming fire on the mountain top. — Exodus 24:17

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” — John 7:38

and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. — Romans 5:5

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. — Romans 15:13

You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power, and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. –Acts 10:38

And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.” Acts 5:32

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, — Matthew 28:19

but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” — Acts 1:8

And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. — Acts 11:15

for he was a good man, and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And considerable numbers were brought to the Lord. — Acts 11:24

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  

He sends forth His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly. — Psalm 147:15

He sends forth His word and melts them; He causes His wind to blow and the waters to flow. — Psalm 147:18

Do not cast me away from Your presence And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. — Psalm 51:11

For thus says the high and exalted One Who lives forever, whose name is Holy, “I dwell on a high and holy place, And also with the contrite and lowly of spirit In order to revive the spirit of the lowly And to revive the heart of the contrite. — Isaiah 57:15

Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear. — Matthew 13:43

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Shine Jesus Shine Pt. 2

Mar11

Lord I come to Your awesome presence,
From the shadows into Your radiance,
By the blood I may enter Your brightness,
Search me, try me, consume all my darkness,
Shine on me. Shine on me.

— Cliff Richard —

Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. — Hebrews 4:16

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, — Jude 24

‘You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’ — Acts 2:28

And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, — Hebrews 1:3

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. — John 6:53-56

Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts — Psalm 139:23

Examine me, O Lord, and try me; Test my mind and my heart. — Psalm 26:2

For You light my lamp; The Lord my God illumines my darkness. — Psalm 18:28

to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.’ — Acts 26:18

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. — 1 John 1:5-7

Praise Jesus! My all! My everything!

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Walk Humbly With Your God

Feb14

 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? — Micah 6:8

What is walking humbly? Humble can be defined as not proud or arrogant; modest or lowly of spirit. To walk with God we can’t have a haughty spirit, or be arrogant. Sometimes walking with God can make us feel like we are the only ones who do God’s bidding and that we’re the best at it. God has a way of making us feel very special but walking humbly reminds us that the work of God is done by Him, not us.

Jesus is our example of humility. Philippians 2:6-8, “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Jesus honored the Father by humbling Himself in obedience and is the perfect role model for us in how to walk humbly with our God. We are to empty ourselves, taking on the form of a bond-servant , and becoming obedient to God — to the point of death. How far are you willing to walk humbly with our God?

Our Lord gives grace to the humble and when we humble ourselves in His presence, He will exalt us. Let God do the bragging about you instead of tooting your own horn. It is so much more rewarding when He does it.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

 

Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. — James 4:10

But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” — James 4:6

For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” — Luke 14:1

A man’s pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor. –Proverbs 29:23