Friday, June 7, 2013

Ask, Seek, Knock RJD June 7, 2013




Ask, and it will be given to you;
 seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7

A little history: In 2010, I received a journal as a gift. At the bottom of each page was a scripture. The scriptures reappeared every so often throughout the journal. Each time a scripture appeared I found myself looking at the message differently. I thought it would be neat to look some of the different messages I received about this passage.

Ask God wants us to seek His will for our lives. He can give it to us, but if we tell Him and don’t ask, we would expect Him to perform at our insistence.
~~
Ask “You have not because you ask not.” God wants us to ask for forgiveness. He expects us to realize our wrong doing. God who is aware of our needs, from time to time desires us to bring our wants to Him!
Given God owns everything. He lends us what we need in order to live. He does this out of His great love for us, His children.
~~
Given God gives us all we have and all we are. When we surrender our lives to Him, He gives us eternal life-life with Him. As we learn to pray, He bestows us with wisdom. During our times of distress, we call out to Him, He answers with His presence and comfort. In times of uncertainty, we go to His Throne and he makes a gift of his strength. All these things are to help us; yet we can’t purchase them. Jesus already paid for them and gives them to us freely because we believe in Him.
~~
Seek search for diligently, leave no stone unturned. Have you ever lost something—a precious piece of jewelry or a favorite book? We search high and low for it. It’s like we have to find that item or “we aren't going to be the same.”
~~
              
Find discover.

Knock: let another person know you are willing, present, and waiting.
~~
Knock: Take the initiative; if you are wondering about someone, call that person. If you have an item to share with someone who has a need, contact him or her. Let people know you care.
~~
opened Positioned where one can enter; not closed.
opened. Receptive, welcoming.




Wednesday, June 5, 2013

We Will Live With Him


“For he that died, he died unto sin. Now, if we be dead with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ
being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no dominion over him.”
Romans 6:7-9(KJV) 

When we ask Jesus into our hearts, we renounce sin; The Apostle Paul says we die to sin. We die with Jesus; therefore, we will be permitted to live with Him.
Jesus lives forever in heaven. He will not go through the devastation of death again. Death has no power over our LORD. We, who believe in him, should not fear death because we will live with Jesus for eternity.
As we read scriptures, we learn that Jesus lives forever in God’s Kingdom, (heaven.) We discover that He has places for us to live (mansions, or rooms) when we arrive there. I once had a dream of my husband and I and a friend were looking at a house that had huge windows with lace curtains that allowed a bright light to shine through. I told my friend about my dream. She asked me if Hubby and I were considering moving or looking at houses. No we weren’t. I have my thoughts on this dream.
A dear friend once turned to me in church and said, “I hope when I get to heaven, that you will live next door to me.” This was a few years ago. I choked back a tear then and every time I think about it. It was the highest compliment I have ever received. My response was, “Well, maybe across the street or across the alley, or down the street, any of these locations would be wonderful.”


When we get to be with Jesus, it will all be good.


*******
This picture is from wikipedia. It is an image of a painting  called "The Head of Christ" painted by Warner Sallman. It is my favorite picture of Jesus.  I have a similar one in my living room.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Freely Given


,

“Now we have received, not the spirit of the world
but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God.”
1 Corinthians 2:12 (KJV)

Now we have received. . . “In order for us to receive anything we must be humble and accept that item from a benefactor, a birthday gift, an anniversary present, or a surprise given to us.

. . . not the spirit of the world. . .” We are in this world, not of this world. When we belong to Jesus, our hearts become broken by the activities we see—robbery, child molestation, and murder. All we need to do is pick up a newspaper and scan the headlines to get a picture of the state of our world. This exercise would be a good place to begin to pray for others.

. . . but the spirit which is of God. . .” When we gave our heart to Jesus, we received a bit of God’s spirit. He placed it in our hearts. When His spirit takes root in us, we notice that we feel differently about certain issues in our surroundings. God, through His Holy Spirit, guides us as we maneuver through our days. All the many things He does for us are gifts.

“. . . that we might know . . .” We can know with certainty that God has graciously entered into our hearts. People around us will know that we belong to Jesus.  

“. . . the things . . . freely given to us of God.” God gives us many things just because He loves us. A few days before I composed these thoughts, a friend’s mother--a woman in her 80s-- told how she and her sister, when they were girls, would take a blanket out into their yard, spread it out and lay down and watch the sky. They would watch the clouds as they changed formation. As she spoke of this memory, I saw a glint in her eye and a smile across her face. Anyone who happened to listen could hear the calmness and love in her voice. God gave her a memory. This was one of her free gifts from God. Her sharing it with me was one of mine.

Have you received any gifts from God lately?
************
photo from 123rf.com/

* special note: When I searched for a photo, I looked for 'receiving hands' and then 'giving hands'. I found the same basic photos. When we pray we can hold  our hands open before us and both give God our concerns and receive from Him what He has for us. Isn't that neat?



Freely, Freely you have received

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...