Tag Archive | trust

God Really Cares

Aug21

casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. — 1 Peter 5:7

What are you worried about? What in your life is causing you anxiety? Do you know that God cares for you and that you can take anything and everything to Him in prayer?

God is Sovereign which means He is in control of all things and knows what is happening in your life. If God is in control of your life, that means you can trust Him. Who else can you trust with every aspect of your life? God says He can and He will. If we trust Him than it is a sin to worry/have anxiety. Our faith is weak when we worry. Why are you carrying the burden of worry when the Lord is waiting to hear about all that makes you anxious? He cares for you.

Okay, lets say that we are good at taking our worries and anxieties of life to God and spilling it all out to Him. That is wonderful. But do we take it back or leave it in His capable hands, trusting Him to see us through and give us direction? Take each specific worry or anxiety to God telling Him all about it. After each specific statement tell Him you trust Him to take care of that which is worrying or causing anxiety in you. Then trust Him for the outcome knowing He cares for you. To God be the glory in your life as you cast ALL your anxiety and worry on Him. He really cares for you.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

“The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith. The beginning of faith is the end of anxiety” — George Muller
“Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength” — Corrie ten Boom

B.I.B.L.E.

Aug19

With Your counsel You will guide me, And afterward receive me to glory. — Psalm 73:24
For such is God, Our God forever and ever; He will guide us until death. — Psalm 48:14

God’s counsel is for all of life. He has not left us to flounder in this world without Him. It is His character to guide us. What comfort it is to know that He loves us, desires us to trust Him as He guides us, and will not stop guiding us until death when we are ushered into glory.

Remember that God’s word is truth. Those times when you feel like life is overwhelming and you have no direction, cling to God’s promises. His counsel is what guides. Where do we find His counsel? In the Holy Word of God, the Word of Truth, the Bible. God has a wealth of information, counsel, guidance right at our fingertips. What is stopping you from receiving His counsel? Seek Him today and know the counsel of our Lord to guide you until death.

One of my sons has an acronym for Bible:
Basic
Instruction
Before
Leaving
Earth.
I thought it fit for this devotional.

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

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

Son of God

Aug4

And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. — 1 John 5:20 (NLT)

Do you know that the Son of God has come? I hope so. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus came to earth because of God’s great love for His creation. Jesus suffered and died on a cross so that we could have the opportunity to know Him, the only true God. Because of Jesus we are able to know God.

We live in fellowship with God because of our relationship with Jesus. A relationship that comes by belief in who Jesus is and surrendering our lives to Him. We ask forgiveness and follow Jesus and His example in life allowing Him to lead and guide us. This relationship is an eternal relationship.

So, do you know Jesus? Seek Him through His Word. Trust in Him as your Savior. Ask Him to come into your life so that you may experience an eternal relationship with God, your Father. Jesus is waiting to hear from you so that He may give you understanding so that you may know the true God. Jesus is the way, truth and life. Seek Him today.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Return to Worship

Aug3

This is a devotion written September 16, 2008 (long before I had a website). Still believe it is pertinent.

2 Chronicles 29:5-6, 10-11, 15-16, 18, 29-30, 35b

5 Then he said to them, “Listen to me, O Levites. Consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the house of the Lord, the God of your fathers, and carry the uncleanness out from the holy place. 6 “For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done evil in the sight of the Lord our God, and have forsaken Him and turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the Lord, and have turned their backs.

10 “Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us. 11 “My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before Him, to minister to Him, and to be His ministers and burn incense.”

15 They assembled their brothers, consecrated themselves, and went in to cleanse the house of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king by the words of the Lord.
16 So the priests went in to the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and every unclean thing which they found in the temple of the Lord they brought out to the court of the house of the Lord…

18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, “We have cleansed the whole house of the Lord,…

29 Now at the completion of the burnt offerings, the king and all who were present with him bowed down and worshiped. 30 Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the Lord with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.

35 … Thus the service of the house of the Lord was established again.

I wanted to put the whole chapter but had to pick and choose. It spoke to me of our churches today and of our own temple. Repentance, cleansing, praises, humbleness and worship. True, pure, clean worship. I believe we are so lacking. Pray for our churches today. Pray for revival. Pray for a return to purity, cleanliness, a humbleness in worship, a true reverent worship of the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, God Almighty.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Accurate Handling

Jul21

Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. — 2 Timothy 2:15

How can we accurately handle the Word of truth if we don’t know it?

So many have come to the altar seeking forgiveness from sin, asking Jesus into their heart and then walking out the door to live a life unchanged. What makes the difference? The Word of God. It is God’s love letter to His children where He tells us everything we need to know to live a life for Him. To live a life that will bring Him glory. To live a life unashamed. To live a life approved by God.

An approved workman tells others that Jesus is alive! He has risen from the dead and desires to walk daily with them. He wants the best for us so He guides us by His Word. When we tell others of Jesus, we need to be sure we are representing Him in truth. How can we know that we are speaking the truth of God? Open the Bible and study it. Read it everyday. Meditate on it. Memorize it. All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

We have the hope of being an adequate workman for God when we study the Word of God, accurately handling the word of truth so that we are fully equipped to fulfill God’s plan for us all.

Are you equipped? Are you ready? Diligently seek Christ through the Word of God.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Fountain of Living Water

Jul20

O Lord, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, Because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the Lord. — Jeremiah 17:13
How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, Whose hope is in the Lord his God, — Psalm 146:5

Hope in the Lord does not bring about shame. He is a trustworthy God who will not forsake His own. Turn to the Lord, the living water, from whom we are quenched. God loves us and desires us to do His will for the benefit of our souls and for His glory. He will not let us down. He will not forsake us so do not forsake Him. Turn to Jesus for the help to face each day, to know the freedom from sin only He can give, and to experience peace in a world of chaos. He so longs to show you all the hidden treasures of wisdom and knowledge that is Jesus Christ Himself.

Seek out the Lord Jesus Christ — by reading His Word, talking to a friend who knows Jesus, going to a church that proclaims the Good News of Jesus Christ and/or talking to Jesus by prayer. He is listening. Open your heart to receive all He has planned for you. He is your hope!

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon

Hope in the Living God

Jul19

I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. — Psalm 130:5
Sustain me according to Your word, that I may live; And do not let me be ashamed of my hope. — Psalm 119:116
So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. — Hebrews 6:18

My hope is in the living God. By His Word I am sustained so that I may live in hope. In trusting God and His promises I will not be ashamed of my hope because my God speaks the truth in His Holy Word. It is impossible for Him to lie so I can put my complete trust in Him, find refuge in Him and in Him I have great confidence to hold to the hope of a future. A future designed by God for His purpose. I shall live and not be ashamed of my hope because I know my Lord and I am confident that He has my future in hand. He is my hope, and His Word is my stay. I shall trust in Him. I shall hope in Him.

Continually seeking Him,

Sharon