Tag Archive | righteousness

I Will Rejoice!

May9

I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. — Isaiah 61:10

Oh what great things He has done for us!!!

I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the gods.
I will bow down toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word according to all Your name.
On the day I called, You answered me;
You made me bold with strength in my soul.
Psalm 138:1-3

Thank You Jesus!

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Seek Peace Where?

May7

‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ — Isaiah 41:10

I often wonder why we go about without the peace of God within us. I also wonder how the Lord must feel about it. His peace is given to us in abundance but we reject it. Why?

Do we enjoy living in fear of what tomorrow will bring, or are we too proud to admit our need for God’s peace? Maybe we just have to be the one in control until life becomes out of our control. Maybe we are just seeking peace but in the wrong places.

First, God is with us so we need not fear — anything — because He will not leave us nor forsake us. He keeps His promises for He is God. Why then do we look anxiously about us for the peace that is only found in God alone? Second, we need to seek and trust Jesus Christ. Seek the Father’s peace that only comes through a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus.

God loves us so much and wants us to come to Him because He is the one who will strengthen us, help us and uphold us with His righteous right hand. He is the sure way to true peace. To God be the glory through His wonderful, marvelous, ever present Son, Jesus Christ!

Go in peace.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Be Still

Apr9

“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”.  — Psalm 46:10
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. — Psalm 37:7
For thus the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing, — Isaiah 30:15
And the work of righteousness will be peace, And the service of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever. — Isaiah 32:17

Have you noticed how the world is always in such a hurry? Running from one meeting/event to another. We pass by people not even noticing them and when we do it is usually because they are slowing us down. We get stressed out over all that needs to be done. Why?

And just as we don’t notice people we tend to be too busy to notice God. We struggle through the day getting stressed out and miss seeing the work that God is about. We miss the miracles of the day. We especially miss the Lord Himself. The relationship. The intimacy. The glory. What is the solution?

The Lord says that we need to be still and know that He is God. Without the stillness and quiet of His presence we focus on things of the world that weigh us down and burden us. We are too busy to wait for an answer from God so we make decisions on our own without God’s direction. We are an impatient people. If God is truly in control then waiting on Him will not be disastrous. Being still and knowing God brings peace and contentment. Knowing God is trusting that He knows what’s best for us so we don’t need to rush through our day blindly checking off our to do list. In quietness and trust is our strength.

The result? I walk this world in the work of righteousness that will be peace and in the service of righteousness that is quietness and confidence. Through Christ I walk in righteousness to bring Him glory so that He will be honored by every nation throughout the world. Take the time to be still and know that the Lord, He is God!

Keep seeking.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

The Blessing of Provision

Mar18

All these blessings will come upon you and overtake you if you obey the Lord your God: Deuteronomy 28:2          “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Deuteronomy 28:5

Obedience to God brings blessing to our table. What have we to worry about when our obedient trust in Jesus promises blessing to us. “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? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? — Matthew 6:25-26

“For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” — Matthew 6:32-33 Our God treasures us and thinks we are worthy to be blessed. He desires to shower blessings on His children and He will when we are obedient. He knows what we need to survive and will supply all we need. And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:19

Our Great Provider, of all our needs, has given us a means to receive blessings by our obedience and seeking of His righteousness and kingdom. The choice is ours. Hopefully we choose blessing.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Seek First His Kingdom

Mar7

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

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. — Matthew 6:33 (NLT)

This has been my life verse for over 30 years. Anytime my financial future (could be 5 minutes away) looked dim I would refer to this verse. It is a promise that God has proven over and over and over and over again in my life. That phrase is written in the margin of my Bible.

You see, all I have to do is seek Jesus, His kingdom and righteousness. What a great reward for loving, respecting, worshipping, and honoring our God. Knowing Him I have daily testimonies to share with others. It blows my mind that I have the joy of loving Him and He gives all I need.

Another benefit, reward or blessing (whatever you want to call it) is the peace that comes in trusting those words. I don’t have to worry about having enough gas to get to work or pay the bills or have food to eat, clothes to wear, or shelter. God provides jobs to accomplish these. At times our lives are filled with trials where we don’t see how a need will be met but every time God has kept His promise — many, many times through brothers and sisters in Christ.

1Timothy 4:8 says, “for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” A worthy goal with benefits. So seek Jesus Christ and His righteousness bringing godliness to our lives and receive the promise it holds for us now and forever.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

“They”

Feb6

 Yes, they do no unrighteousness [no willful wandering from His precepts]; they walk in His ways. — Psalm 119:3

“They” are the blessed whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the Lord, who observe, or keep, God’s testimonies and who seek Him with all their heart. “They” do no unrighteousness. How can that be if we are all sinners? The difference is whether we willfully sin or realize we have sinned after the fact when the Holy Spirit has convicted us.

Practicing sin or willfully wandering from God’s way (His word: precepts, statutes, testimonies, commandments) is walking in unrighteousness. But those who follow and practice God’s word, practicing a godly lifestyle will walk in righteousness. In other words, to walk the walk of righteousness we must know how to walk.

Seeking God through His word enables us to know His commands so that we can apply them to our lives. The transformation from unrighteousness to righteousness comes from seeking the Lord God with all our heart and searching His word diligently.

Within the pages of the Bible is the way, the truth and the life. That way, truth and life is Jesus, our righteousness. We need Him. So I encourage you to seek Jesus through His word, following His commands by applying them to your life. You will be blessed.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

 

No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.  — 1 John 3:9

We know [absolutely] that anyone born of God does not [deliberately and knowingly] practice committing sin, but the One Who was begotten of God carefully watches over and protects him [Christ’s divine presence within him preserves him against the evil], and the wicked one does not lay hold (get a grip) on him or touch [him]. — 1 John 5:18