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.

Through His Mercy

Luke 18:3543



“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.

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.

When We Seek God

“You will seek me and find me when you

seek me with your whole heart.”

Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV)



When I was a girl, the kids in my neighborhood used to play “Hide and Go Seek”. One person was chosen as “it”. He or she would hide their eyes and count to 100 by ones. The rest of the group would run and hide wherever they could. When the counter would get to 100, he or she would yell, “Here I come ready or not.” While “it” searched for the others, they would try to get to base without getting caught. Sometimes the searcher would yell out, “Olli, Olli, Oxen Free,” and then something about those still out can come in without getting caught,

The seeker in the game had to have sharp eyesight and had to run fast in order to catch the other players.

When we seek God or his guidance, we have to involve our whole hearts. What does this mean?

Does it mean we come humbly? We have to come knowing God has the answer we search for. We have nothing to help us except Him.

Does it mean we come honestly? We have to come before Him without pretense. We may even have to acknowledge that we are sinners.

Does it mean we come repentantly? Once we tell the Lord of our sinful state we should express our sorrow and ask His forgiveness.

Does it mean we come expecting an answer? We come to God. We lay our pleas before Him. We wait for His answer. We accept His answer, even though the outcome maybe tough. We accept His answer because He is God and He knows best.

Laughter, A Gift

You turned my wailing into dancing;

You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy;

That my heart may sing to you and not be silent.

Oh Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.

Psalm 30:11-12 NIV)



I went through a prolonged time of sadness. I almost forgot how to laugh. A friend invited me to fill in for one of her relatives at a three-day Christian event. The relative found out she couldn’t go and had paid for her ticket and her part of the hotel room.

Some of the speakers at this meeting were Christian comedians. I found myself laughing right along with the rest of the audience. On the second night, my friend came to me and said, “It’s good to hear you laugh again.” The strange thing was I didn’t realize how long it had been since I had laughed.

About six weeks later, we were at church and taking part in a Thanksgiving Eve service. Each of us had to state five things we were thankful for. One of mine was the gift of laughter. I told those present that night about the experience of realizing that I had practically forgotten how to laugh.

Nowadays, I look for things that make me laugh. In Proverbs, it says: “Laughter makes a merry heart.”

With the Internet jokes, some of my close friends, and the newspaper comic strips, I find ways to make my heart sing when I laugh.

I still give God thanks for the gift of laughter these fourteen years later. Have you had your laugh today?

Trials and Travails

We are hard pressed on every side

but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;

persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down,

but not destroyed. 2 Corinthian 4:89



The scripture describes how a lot of people feel these days. The unemployment rate is in double digits. Those needing to support families are doing hauling jobs and parking cars at sporting events in order to feed their kids.

People face illnesses they haven’t had to deal with before. Every day we hear of more families dealing with a loved one’s health issues. They struggle to understand what they need to do to help the patients through the ordeal.

Believers find it more difficult to express their faith in the world. In certain settings, in the season we celebrate our Savior’s birth the workers can’t wish a customer a merry Christmas unless the customer initiates it. In my last job, I had to remake a calendar listing the dates we would be closed in December and January because I had included an image of a Christmas tree and the words, “Merry Christmas” on it. It seems that the year before one of our patrons had gotten offended. To her, Christianity was a cult.

In spite of all these seemingly harsh times and they way they appear to us, we can overcome them. God will show us a way to conquer these times of financial uncertainty. Our Lord will lead those of us through uncharted territories of family or personal illness. He will help us express our faith and will reward us when we do.

The Need to Praise

 
The Lord is compassionate and gracious;


slow to anger, abounding in love.

He will not always accuse;

nor will he harbor his anger forever.

He does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

Psalm 103: 8-10

Our God treats us lovingly. David tells us that the Father chooses not to display His anger as some of us are inclined to do. He takes a lot of heartache before He reaches His limit. The shepherd king further tells us that our Creator doesn’t hold grudges once we ask for His forgiveness, He erases our slate and looks on us “just-as-if-I’d” not sinned. That is something we all should praise the Lord for.

I penned the above words in the middle of this summer. My goal was to study passages on praise and thanksgiving and to post my thoughts during November the month we usually focus on thanksgiving. But I need to give praise to the Lord and thank Him now.

I praise God for leading me to Him. Without my knowing Him, I couldn’t have made it through the travails that came into my life.

I praise God for working in the life of my family. I thank Him for saving my husband from his former destructive habit.

I thank God for my friends. While I have been dealing with my husband’s latest health issue, they stood by me and loved us. My two closest friends are each facing health issues of a family member. I know God is with them, as He was with me.

I praise God for His providence. He provided us with jobs so we could have shelter and food.

I praise God for His grace and mercy. He gives me things I don’t deserve (grace) and He doesn’t give me what I do deserve (mercy). Looking back on my life, I see things I did that were not nice. One time I felt led to write a note of apology to a neighbor of a friend. When I met this neighbor, I didn’t recognize her. A short time later her dad died. When I read her name in the obituary, my heart broke. I sent the note. When she received it, she called me. She accepted my apology and said something like, “If you said that, you probably had reason.” But she didn’t remember my saying anything inappropriate.

I praise God for his handiwork and creativity. He allows his world to display His beauty. We are advancing into the part of the year that can display the brightest colors of His palette. I have no favorite season of the year. I like the colors and the scents of autumn. I enjoy the seasons of summer the short times the different vegetables and fruits are plentiful. I watch with expectation as the grass regains its color and the flowering trees bloom through the spring. I can even enjoy the sight of fresh fallen snow on an open area at our nearby city park or in our side yard. It’s all His creation for us to enjoy.