Friday, September 17, 2010
Seek
Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness
and all these things will be given to you as well.
Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
I find verbs to be interesting. Recently, I did an exercise with the verbs in the mission statement of the nonprofit ministry I volunteer with.
We learned in grade school that verbs were action words. Except for the verbs of being, all of them give us a mental picture of action taking place.
In the scripture above, we see the word “seek”. This word reminds me of when I have lost something and I begin to look for it. I wear a very special dinner ring. It has sentimental value. The top, shaped in the word love, came with a garnet that filled the letter “O”. The garnet is my son’s birthstone. I remember losing the ring a few times. One time, I retraced my steps at home, even asked the pastor of the church I had started attending if it was found.
I went to so far as to write out notices for the bulletin boards at work; I also posted one on the mirror in the ladies’ restroom. I did find that little white gold dinner ring but not until I searched everywhere.
Yes, in order to receive the good things of God we have to search for His rule in our lives and what He wants us to do.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Through His Mercy
Luke 18:3543
“He called out,” Jesus, Son of David
Have mercy on me.” Luke 18:38 (NIV)
The blind beggar called out to Jesus as He passed by. We know the story, the Lord stopped and asked the mendicant what he wanted done for him. “Lord, I want to see,” was the reply. Jesus’ response came quickly, “Receive your sight, your faith has healed you.”
We serve a merciful God. He answers our prayers because of His great love for us. He protects us from harm, guides us through difficult times. When we hurt, He comforts us.
Our God showed His mercy to mankind from when He discovered Adam and Eve’s sin. The tenderness He displayed when he made them coverings for their bodies and chose to let them live speaks to our souls.
When Jesus hung on the cross and the one criminal spoke words of understanding about Christ’s having done nothing wrong, God’s Son extended mercy to him and promised he would be in paradise.
As ambassadors of Christ we are to extend mercy to those we meet. As we go through each day, we should greet others with a smile or a kind word, give a listening ear, and love them as God would.
When we approach God’s throne with a need, ours or another’s, we approach humbly. We ask Him to grant our request out of His mercy, not because we are such good praying people.
Sometimes, we have to listen for God to speak. We shouldn’t be in a hurry for His answer because He works on His own time table.
No matter how long we have to wait for God’s answer, we have to obey what He says. It seems that when we hear His word and we choose to follow our own path, we can risk losing our special closeness with Him. It is only through God’s mercy we don’t.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
When God Speaks
“Then I heard the voice of the
Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?
And who will go for us?” Isaiah 6:8 (NIV)
Does God speak to His people today as He did in Biblical times? Sometimes He does.
A fleeting thought can be God speaking to our hearts. We recently had the husband of one of the lady’s at church pass away. On that day, his name came to my mind several times. I did not know this man. I did know he had been in the hospital and they couldn’t find a diagnosis. The day before he passed away, his daughter told the church that he had been diagnosed with Cancer a few days earlier.
God can speak through others to get our attention. A blogging friend e-mailed me and asked me if I was going to attend a writing conference that meets just down the interstate from my hometown. Then, this past week a friend from church asked me if I was going to attend it. She might be interested in going with me. As of this writing, I am unsure if I am able to attend.
We have times when what God tells us to do is totally not anything we would do. I got involved in Drama Ministry at church because I felt God leading me. I don’t believe it is my nature to portray the characters I have. This past Mother’s Day, I portrayed the President, I can claim to be the first woman President of the United States . In the summer of 2009, I played a “motorcycle mama” whose husband and two kids were asked to attend church with another family.(I have a picture of my alter ego) But, I couldn’t have done that unless I chose to let God lead.
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