“Abide in Me”

 

Read John 15:4-10

Abide in me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. (John 15:4)

Have you ever watched a vine-growing plant, (tomatoes, grapes come to my mind}? They get their nourishment from the stalk of the plants, not from the individual branches, (their purpose is to help get food to the fruit,) Once the fruit is separated from the stalk or the vine, it begins a process of drying out and eventually dying.

I am the vine; you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered and they gather them and throw them into the fire and are burned. (John 15:5-6)

In these verses, Jesus contrasts the outcome of His children living for Him or not living for Him. Jesus very plainly states the without Him, we can do nothing.

If you abide in me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, so you will be My disciples.

(John 15:7-8)

Jesus answers the requests of His children. Sometimes, it may take awhile or maybe not in the way we ask, but His answer will come. There are times that I have been put through the traces in order for me to see Jesus at work on certain circumstances that could affect my life.

As the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My father’s commandments, you will abide in My Father’s love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. (John 15:9-10)

Jesus states something here that each of us should remember. His love for us is exactly like His Father’s love for Him. Jesus further tells us that when we keep the Father’s commandments, we live in and honor the Father’s love.

When we live in God’s way and, thereby honor Him, other people see how we behave and react to events in our lives.

“Abide in My Word”

 

The Jesus said to those Jews who believed in Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” John 8:31-32 (NKJV)

I know we all know the last part of the above passage. However, do we focus on the first part.

The first part gives us a prerequisite, a step we have to follow in the process of getting to know Jesus.

If you abide in My word,

Abide simply means live. As His children, we are to live what we read. Before we can abide or live out the lessons, we have to believe that the lessons are true.

When we believe those words of Jesus, we learn the truth, we know the Truth, and we are set free from worry, depression, and anxiety.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus: Thank You for the lessons found in Your word. Thank You for the wisdom you impart to us as we spend time with You each day. In your Name, I pray. Amen

The Lord-Our Shepherd

 

The Lord is my shepherd

 

The duties of a shepherd are tough. They are the lowest rung of society. The majority of their days and nights are spent out in the wilderness.

I shall not want

God supplies all the shepherd’s needs. The shepherd, in turn, sees to it that his flock has nourishment and water in order to grow and survive.

He makes me lie down in green pastures;

The shepherd chooses places of safety for his flock to rest through the nights.

He leads me beside the still waters.

The shepherd chooses the right spot for the sheep in his care to rest and receive refreshment.

He restores my soul

When a shepherd tenderly cares for his flock, the sheep are more docile and easier to work with.

He leads me in the path of righteousness for His name’s sake.

A shepherd guides his flock safely through the fields as he leads them in search of food and rest.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

A shepherd guides his flock through dangerous places. The sheep don’t realize that dangerous places exist.

I will fear no evil; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

The sheep are not fearful. They know their shepherd. They follow him because the trust

him.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

The shepherd sees to it that his flock has what they need to survive and to grow. Those predators whose purpose is to devour the sheep watch as the shepherd cares for them.

You anoint my head with oil. My cup runs over.

When his sheep get caught in briers, the shepherd rescues each one. He washes each injury. He repeats the process until the wounds are healed.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

Sheep are not the smartest creatures placed on God’s earth. They seem to be the most protected. They are led by their shepherd to safe fields where they are allowed to feed and receive rest as well.

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

The sheep eventually serve a purpose for their owners. Even then, each lamb, each sheep is taken into a special place of protection by the one who has protected them.

Like David, each of us can claim the Lord as our shepherd. God watches over us as we go through each day of our individual lives. He protects us, His children, as we go through our days. He allows His beloved children to rest. He keeps us from danger. He uses items around us to keep us safe. He provides us, His children, with nourishing foods.

I am certain that each one of us here has experienced difficult times in our lives. Some of those times may have been extremely long. It may even seem like we felt alone in our times of stress or hardship.

We may have wished we could talk to someone about the difficulty we were having but, at the same time, didn’t want to burden anyone else with our issues.

We have God; He will listen no matter how big our issue may seem to us.

Thou Shalt Not Murder

 

As a general rule, I do not comment on news events happening in our world. This post is an exception.

Earlier this winter, a man was killed in New York City. He was there for a meeting. His purpose was to speak at the gathering.

Instead, he was shot down from behind, in the back, and immediately died. He was an executive of a health insurance company. He was a son, a husband and a father of two sons.

I heard of people accessing social media who seem to say that the perpetrator did something admirable. Lately, I have not gone on social media for very long.

As I sat one recent evening, watching a late-night news program, the scripture verse came to me, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13 {NKJV})

In all the aftermath, I did not hear anyone even refer to this commandment from God. Have the people of our nation and those who keep us informed forgotten this message?

Yes, my first thought was the young man may have had personal issues with the company. However. That was not the case. Neither he nor his family had any dealings with that company.

 

God had a reason for telling Moses, “Thou shall not kill”; any time someone is killed, the very act causes anguish for two families, as well as close friends, of both parties involved.

We can only pray that God can reach those who encourage violence to look to Him instead of taking things intot their own hands.

Thoughts on Prayer

 

I have been reading about prayer for some time. I ran across a quote that speaks to my heart, “Sometimes we think prayer is a way to get what we want. Prayer is actually a way to get closer to God.” {Oswald Chambers}

The Best Way to Pray

Several years ago, I was on a prayer chain at the church we were in. We would receive some requests that were quite serious. Sometimes my response was “How can we pray for that need?” The lady on the other end of the phone always said, “The Lord’s will.”

I have thought about her response many times since and have realized two things. First, that’s what God wants us to do. Jesus prayed at Gethsemane that God’s will be done rather than His. {If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me, not as I will but as You.  Matthew 26:39 {NKJV}} Secondly, when we pray for God’s will over ours, we allow God to display His power and His might for all to see.

Seeing God at Work

In our church, we have seen God at work. January 29,2024, a call went out from the church office that our pastor was taken to the ER by his wife and was admitted to ICU. We found out later that week that he had suffered a stoke. It has been a year of prayer and trusting the Lord for his family and for our church.

On the third Sunday of January 2025, the pastor’s wife spoke. Pastor Rick has chosen to retire. This did not surprise me or those that I have talked to about it. Due to the weather forecast for our region and a few reasons of our health, I chose to stay home. One thing I heard that Pastor’s wife said was that she had been told that medically speaking, our pastor should not be alive. She decided that He was still with us due to prayer.

At present, Pastor Rick is in a hospital in a neighboring city. He has has one set back after another. Please pray for them and for our church as we begin to search for a new pastor.

A New Year, A New Word

 Due to being ill and not feeling well before Christmas, I did not choose to be on my computer until this week. On December 20,2024, I was diagnosed with COVID. I have never been so sick in my entire life. Husband also has not been well. We saw our son this week for the first time since October. Part of that was because of the weather.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Can you believe it? We are living in a brand-new year! Along with this being a new year,

it is also a time for me to announce my Word or 2025. My word for this year is FAITH. Again, God chose this word for me.

Again, I have repeatedly seen this word in my reading.

Faith in the New Year

For assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘ Move from here to there,’ and it will move and nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20 (NKJV)

As I sit here at the beginning of a new year, I have to remember that I need to have faith in God in order to get through the next months.

As I sit here and listen to or read the news, I see more and more struggles of God’s children. Governments are in disarray,

misunderstood tragic plane crashes,

the wild fires in California,

things in general are not as we would like them to be.

The plane crash in the Potomac

As I update this;, readying it for publishing, I am reminded of the funeral dinners our church has prepared since New Years. Here it is the end of January and we have prepared three and received a request to prepare another on two days from now.

I know my faith will be tested. I also know that it will grow.

November Reflections

 

A Busy Month

November was a rather busy month. Or Anniversary was in this month. We had to pay property taxes, due right after our anniversary. I had a wellness visit and then a follow-up medical check-up and our church had it’s Annual Community Thanksgiving Dinner, Thanksgiving, and our son was planning coming in on the weekend immediately following the holiday.

I had a goal of getting my house cleaned up. I operate under the thought that it will wait for me when I get around to it. I really did want to get things looking better. I hope to do better with this issue of my life.

Thinking about 2025

I have chosen to plan for 2025 somewhat early this fall, but not really. This is December and that means we have a few weeks to get ready for Christmas and then the upcoming year. I hae already chosen my word for the year. ( I will reveal it in early January,)

Thanksgiving Plans

Our Thanksgiving plans got changed and then changed back and changed again. Long story short- the weather was not our friend. On Thanksgiving Day, Hubby and I were by ourselves, as planned. We decided to have spaghetti for our meal. The night before,I had made taco meat. We used the left-over meat in our sauce and it made a very tasty meal.

The weather here was more like the end of January than the end of November. He had purchased a big ham. On Saturday, we had ham, roma green beans, whole kernel corn, and candied sweet potatoes. Roger decided not to venture out on the roads de to the weather forecast. He has said he would be here this next weekend.

Prayers Please

I feel the need to truly search for outlets for my writing. I get discouraged so easily when I search for Christian markets. I believe I am conservative and traditional in my outlook. I want to do what God wants for me.

Trusting God

 

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Trust God with all your heart and lean not to your understanding.

In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

I have learned something by focusing on “trust” this year. Earlier this month, my husband told me he was going to do something that he was not going to change because of how he felt about an issue that could affect the way a lot of us will have to live. I did not agree with what he said but I knew it would not do me any good to bring up the fallacy of his thinking. By almost the end of this month, he changed his mind about what he proposed not to do.

All I could do was give thanks to God for letting me not say my piece and allowing God to work on this issue.

At one time, I would have tried to stand my ground. That only would cause more issues between us, God took care of the issue that Hubby had. I can only say that this was proof to me that we CAN trust God with things that we don’t understand or don’t like. Believers CAN wait on God to work things out to His plan.

I am thankful to God for this great lesson He taught me.

Imperfect People, Forgiven People

 

if my people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)

In this scripture passage, God gives us a path to reach Him. Let’s look at that path and see where it leads us.

God tells Solomon that those who are called by His name are to HUMBLE THEMSELVES first. In order to do this we have to admit that we are NOT perfect. Only God is perfect.

If we slip up and say bad things (words, thoughts, or phrases), or if we do hurtful things to others, we have to ADMIT them to Him and ASK FORGIVENESS. By doing this we tell God that we know or thought or action was wrong and that we are sorry for our behavior, That means we MUST present ourselves before Him with clean hearts.

He then tells Solomon that we are to SEEK HIS FACE. What does this mean? I take it to mean that we are to search for God and pray, no matter how long it takes. We are to spend Quantity time with God in prayer; get to know Him. This requires spending time in prayer and not praying “on the run.”

Next, God tells Solomon, and us, we need to REPENT, to turn away from our evil, sinful, and wicked ways. We are to turn completely around and get away from those influences that cause us to disobey His Word.

God then tells Solomon that when believers do these four things, God will HEAR OUR PRAYERS, FORGIVE OUR SINS, and HEAL OUR LANDS.

As I sit here in my living room, I think of all the nations that are entrenched in war. I think of all the threats to yet other nations.

All we can do is pray and ask God to forgive us of our past sins and seek His guidance during these upcoming days.

What Are You Thankful For?

 

                                Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, 

                                with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. 

                                                                                                            Philippians 4:6

Have you ever kept a Thankfulness Journal? I have in the past. I believe I am going to again for 2025. Sometimes, we take things for granted that God has given us. Ann Voskamp wrote a book about her learning about Jesus by following a friend’s suggestion and listing three things she was thankful for each day.

When I did it before, I had to be alert and look for things that I could record in my journal. I found myself giving thanks to God for things that, at one time, I took for granted. When I pray, there are times when I find myself giving thanks to God for the simple things that a lot of people take for granted.

I write this post on Thanksgiving Day. My list of items for which I am thankful is very special to me. Just yesterday, I received a call from a lady who asked me if I would be interested in filling a position that she needs to vacate on a district prayer network that I represent our local church on. I am honored that the lady over her has remembered me. After talking with my husband, I have decided not to accept the position.

The Ingredients of Trust

 

We Have to Know God!

Trusting God is learned behavior. We trust someone because we know that person. We believe whatever that person tells us is true. We have to KNOW that God is always steadfast and can always be trusted by His children.

We Must Be Patient

When we give something to God in prayer, we must be patient and wait for Him to act. I love the King James word for patient-long-suffering. In the Bible Study I attend, a gentleman said something about trust. He then said trusting involves waiting. This gentleman is correct in his thinking, To totally, absolutely trust God, we have to wait for Him to work.

We Must Believe that He Will Act on Our Requests.

Trust also involves reliance on the Lord. We cannot say we trust Him and decide to “do it our way”. When we choose to go our own way with a project or a simple action, we tell Him, as well as those around us, that we do not truly follow Him and His leading.

Now, just because we ask Him for something, He might not answer our prayer as we would like. might not think we are ready for the answer we ask. He may have something better in store for us. Maybe His answer is “Yes”, maybe it is “No”. Maybe it is “Not right now!” Whatever His answer to our petitions, He knows best and acts on our behalf.

Listening to or Hearing God

The Lord came and stood there,

calling as at the other times,

“Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

1 Samuel 3:10 (NIV)

Sometimes we hear words in our ears, hearts, or minds and dismiss them. Other times, we hear a thought in a sermon and decide it is meant for someone else.

We hear rain falling. We hear our children crying or are rejoicing but these are two different levels of hearing. We must intently listen to our loved ones as they speak of their sadness or happiness. They sometimes give us instruction that we need to heed.

In the Bible, Samuel hears a voice calling him. He runs to Eli and asks what Eli wanted with him. After the third time of this, Eli realizes that the Lord is calling Samuel. He tells Samuel to tell God, “Speak, I am listening”.

Do we truly listen to the Lord when He speaks to us? I know I could do better in listening to God and to His other children.

Asking God

 

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 Ask, and it will be given to you, seek, and will find; knock, and it will be opened.

 Matthew 7:7 (NKJV)

 As children of God, we can repeatedly ask Him to do or bring about something for us. We can approach His throne any time we need to about any need we have. On the day I polished this essay, I had called a friend and left a message. She called me back. In the course of our conversation, she told me she had a prayer request to share with me. She asked that I make the request to others without using the person’s name. I understood the prefaced her petition to me. I will make this request anonymously when I contact others for prayer. 

 Yet, you do not receive because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss. James 4:2 (NKJV) 

 There are times we lack something we desire because we either don’t know how to ask or we forget to ask. Then, there are times we may ask wrongly. Sometimes, a person might not know that he or she can ask God for what is lacking in their lives. 

 When I was growing up, I had a favorite singer. He was going to be at the Indiana State Fair for a second year. I asked my parents if we could go. My dad told several of his friends that I wanted to go see that singer. These friends asked the same question, “Why didn’t you go last year?” Every time, his answer was the same, “She didn’t ask!” My mother, my grandmother and I went to see my favorite singer (at that time) perform. What I didn’t know was my parents would have taken me the year before, had I asked. Sometimes, we assume we know the answer to what we would ask. However, we really don’t know how God is going to answer. We have to learn to rely on His love to do what He believes is beneficial for us.

Thank You, Lord

 

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in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

We have entered the season of giving thanks. What do we have to be thankful for? Thee are several things each of us have received and must give thanks to God for:

* Our Salvation

* Our lives

* Our families

* Our Friends

* Our health

* Our neighbors

* Those that keep us safe

When I was in third grade, my teacher talked to us about the Thanksgiving holiday. She said; “Thanksgiving is a day for us to give thanks for what we have, even if it’s peanut butter and jelly.” I remembered what she said several years ago.

Sometimes we get so ‘caught up’ with focusing on the material ‘things’ in our lives, we forget that these things are temporary, they could be taken away from us in an instant.

A part of our nation went through two hurricanes this fall. In western North Carolina there are towns in the mountains that are no longer there. The residents lost everything.Years ago, there was a message that was on the Internet that asked; “If you lost everything, home,car, belonging, would you still have Jesus?” Those people in the North Carolina mountains are living this.

I say all this to remind each of us that we must be grateful for everything God gives us.

Who Do We Trust?

 

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord

These four words tell me that we are to do as they say. My question is; “Do we actually trust God for all things?”

As I write this, our nation awaits the outcome of a presidential election. This election cycle has been difficult to read about.

Also, our world seems very close to several more major conflicts that seem to cause predictions of another World War, thought to be nuclear.

As I see it, we truly need to Truly Rely Upon the Savior’s Timing.

As I sit here, I await a phone call from our son. He will tell his dad of a medical lab test he had done. My husband is not well and does not realize the danger he is in himself.

All I can do is pray and trust God for the outcome.

<B>with ALL your heart </B>

We humans have a tendency to hold back from one another. If we ask someone; “How are you?” We might hear: “I’m good!” When I hear this I often wonder if that person is truly all right. When I am asked that question I need to answer; “Living one day at a time.” Or “Trusting the Lord.”

We must trust the Lord without fail. I believe that, if we would practice trusting Him to that extent, we would be better representatives of Him to the world.

lean not on your own understanding.

We are finite beings. God is infinite. We know not even a thimbleful of what God knows. We grouse about things when those things don’t turn out as we would like.It is possible that we truly did not know that what we desired was not good for us at that time.

October Reflections

 

paulitaztorey.pages.dev 

October Weather

We had all kinds of weather here in Indiana. The leaves were interesting; some changed colors and some stayed green. Some just fell off their limbs due to the drought. I collected some to show when I had Children’s Moments. I may do something for a Thanksgiving wreath.

Pastor Rick’s Message

On October 27^th. Our pastor chose to celebrate his birthday by sharing with the congregation his story about his stroke. He told his version and every once in a while his wife, Cheryl, told what really went on.

He told of incidents that some people did not know about.

Our Church as a Voting Center

Our church has been used as an early voting center for some time, General and Primary elections. This election, people have to stand in line. The first day, the people had to stand in line for an hour and 45 minutes. One day they had 1,000 people vote, on two other days they had 500.

Re-Reading a Devotional Book

I have a special devotional book that I have gotten back into. <I>disciplines for the inner life</I> compiled by Michael Benson Sr. and his son. Michael Benson. What brought me back to it was my searching for thoughts on prayer. (It is my desire to have a prayer retreat in late spring of 2025.)

Getting Back to Regular Blogging

I plan on getting back to regular blogging this month (November). Just been on the lazy side. I have had personal concerns and concerns about my family and my church.

A spiritual experience

Right near the end of October, I received a phone call from our son. He had to see a specialist due to some lab results that came back. I felt very confused about all that seemed to be going on around me. I was looking up scriptures on prayer. Romans 8:26 came ro me. How the Holy Spirit will go to the Lord on our behalf.

I texted a few of my friends and asked them to pray and ask the Holy Spirit to help me. (Praise the LORD!) My mind and my heart cleared as I received responses from my friends that they were praying.

Two days later, our son called me and told me that the issue he faced can be treated by medication.

How Do We Pray?

 

gethsemaneeclc.org 

if My people who are called by My name

will humble themselves, and pray

and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways,

then I will hear from heaven,

and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)

When we pray to God, do we ask Him to approve our plans or do we ask Him to guide us in the way He wants us to go?

According to what I read in the above scripture:

1.) We must humble ourselves. Admit that we are imperfect, and we do not know it all.

2.) We must pray to Him, seeking <I>His</I> guidance.

3.) We must spend quantity time talking to God. We are not to make it a practice of praying “on the run”. We are not supposed to have an attitude of “catch You later, God.”

4.) We must repent (turn away) from our sinful, evil ways.

5.) God tells us if we take these steps, He will (a) hear from heaven, (b) forgive our sins, and (c) 

 heal our land.

The above thoughts have become more real to me recently. I find that these thoughts and this question confront me when I have an issue with a topic or an issue that is close to my heart.

September Reflections

 

An Interesting Month

September has truly been an interesting month. We have had summer weather and fall weather alternating with each other, a week at a time.

We had drought conditions. Our city posted no-fire orders. The third weekend of the month, on Friday night, the area to the north of our city received rain as their Heritage Days festival was commencing.

On Saturday, our church hosted a Community Market and had a lot of vendors fill part of of our parking lot. The weather was warm and clear.

On that Sunday, we had a 90^th birthday party for one of our ladies in the congregation. Her family hosted the event. About 12:00, someone looked outside and said, “It’s raining.”

It was coming down hard. (I thought it would start about 1:00 P. M. so, before I left home, I didn’t grab mu raincoat. I couldn’t think where an umbrella was.) I asked a gentleman to do me a favor and drive me across the parking lot to where my car was. He did. Not until I stepped out of his car, could I see the water was standing. My canvas flats filled up with water through the soles. When I got home. I had to put them on our porch to dry out. I also dropped my purse in that water.

A Big Answer to Prayer

The lady who leads our Sunday school class, recently had a mishap. She is disabled, in a wheelchair, and could not manage to get into their car so her husband could take her to work. She is the treasurer of our church. They realized their need to seriously look for a transport van so she would not have to manipulate getting into and out of the wheelchair several times when they had to be out. Several of us at church prayed that they find an affordable transport van. On the 24^th of September, they went car shopping and found what they needed. I called to check on them that evening and she shared the good news with me. They found what they needed on that day. All who have heard and will hear this news, I’m certain, will be praising God for this.

Hurricane Helene

Our area, like a lot of the south and the mid-west, were on alert about being in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Rain was predicted for at least three straight days. The lady who gives the weather on one of our local TV channels was very stern about the forecast and the precautions we need to take.. I believe it rained every day that week. This is after we experienced drought conditions for quite sometime.

Writing

I haven’t done much writing until now. I intend to, as the LORD leads me. I, recently mentioned a book title at Bible Study. As we were preparing to leave my one friend asked me where she could get a book other than Amazon. I thought she meant the book I mentioned. I found that one on another website. I sent her the link. She clarified what she was asking. She wanted to know about “my latest book”. I had to tell her I had only done one book. Maybe God is trying to tell me something.

Searching for WOTY 2025

I have a list of possible words to consider for the upcoming year. Right now, there are five. I believe I have chosen the word, unless God chooses another one for me.

Prayers Please

Please pray for me. I need discernment in a certain area of my life.

Absolute Trust

 

In re-reading a chapter in my book for Sunday school, I ran across I ran across the term “absolute trust”. This term caught me off guard.

A quick look in my dictionary told me that absolute had several meanings. I believe the best definition in this instance is not limited, without any restrictions.

Absolute trust can only become something we have when we completely turn everything over to Jesus. It is a state of our hearts that we achieve only as we mature in our faith.

Absolute trust must be something we have every day; this is not just a Sunday morning trust or faith. We have to exercise trust in order for our trust to grow.

As I apply what I learn of this term, I will look at events and my surroundings in a different light.

Prayer

Father God: Please allow me to learn to trust You without reservation especially

when I am confronted by new circumstances in my life. In the Name of Jesus, I pray. AMEN

Hagar’s Thought

 

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She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her:

“You are the God who sees me,” for she said,

“I have now seen the One who sees me.

Genesis 16:13 (NIV)

Hagar was a servant of Sarah and Abraham. Sarah was barren and wanted to bear Abraham a son.

Sarah took things in her own hands and gave Hagar to Abraham. When Hagar realized she as with child, she acted haughty toward Sarah.

Sarah asked Abraham what she could do about Hagar’s attitude. Abraham told her to do what she must. In other words, he passed the back back to Sarah.

Hagar eventually got tired of the rough treatment and fled into the desert. It was there that an angel of God appeared and spoke to her. The angel told her that she would have a son and he would be great among his people.

Hagar’s response speaks to many of us today.”You are the God who sees me!”

Yes, we have a God, the Lord Almighty, who sees each of His children as we go through our days. In today’s world people either forget that or choose to ignore it.

Father God:

Please remind us that You see all we do and hear all we say. Guide us in the way You want us to live as we live for you. In Jesus’ Name, I pray, Amen.