Monthly Archives: July 2021

Strength in the Lord- 7/31/21

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To “seek His face always” is good advice. I must do that!

Where does strength greater than us come from? Isn’t it too easy to only seek the Lord after certain things?

I know that I have done that time and time again. Too often I don’t think of talking to Him at nearly all times, it seems only after I fail do I seek Him in many cases.

It is good to look to Him afterwards but shouldn’t we seek Him always with all our hearts?

After all He has done so much for us and impacted our lives in amazing ways we should have a commune with Him and talk to Him in prayer and listen to what He wants for us by reading His word.

He wants us to draw strength from Him so that He can impact our lives.

He wants us to look to Him so that He is glorified should we need to stand up for Him or share the gospel so that more come to be family in Christ. But we mustn’t forget that to live for Him is no once a week thing, we must be like Christ 24/7, always and in Him at all times. Like I’ve said before that doesn’t mean we should give up every day hobbies like drawing or writing (just examples) but we must be tapped in to His glory to reflect the servant of Jesus.

We must remember what the Lord is for us and also to know who He is.

The LORD is my strength and my shield: my heart trusts in him and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. Psalm 28:7

What praiseworthy statements! To be defended by Him to trust Him and be helped by Him. May we remember the joy He gives and praise Him.

The Lord Jesus is worthy to be praised always, no matter how the circumstances turn out in life.

I had something disappointing happen in my life recently but I pray that I not walk away from Him concerning it or be tempted to fall back on things.

Sometimes we think we are sure of a “future.” And then those things don’t seem to pan out.

But I trust in Jesus to guide me in the way of everlasting though things seem unsure or like I don’t know what could happen either way.

I remember the things I used to do about this kind of thing. I’d feel lost and then fall into depression.

Yet I don’t see to do that now. I can only pray for the person and not do things that are immature and seek Him more instead. I don’t know what that is right now in a way but I will look to His will.

But I must seek His face, how often?:

Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always. 1 Chronicles 16:11

We should seek His face always! “Always?”

You mean we shouldn’t look to Jesus only after we sin?

We must do our most for God with what time we have left because He is worth it.

Not because He gives us strength but because He is Lord of Lords. Ones we should worship and live for because we are meant to do so.

Strength is nothing when it is not dependent on God. Let’s live our lives in the only way God wants so that we can be blessed and see our lives the way He really sees us. Amen.

Note: I re-edited this to keep from being too personal in a certain way to avoid being unfair talking about another person who might not be able to defend themselves. I write this in love and hoping no one could feel hurt by this.

Devotions Trust in God- 7/29/21

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I actually got sleep! Wow, who’d have thought it was possible?

Why is it so hard to fully trust God? Just a few months ago I got to experience a lot of amazing stuff that God had done for my life. And yet during times around then I would be filled with a lot of fear kind of like Peter taking his eyes off of Jesus while crossing the ocean.

We might go through a lot in our lives but one thing we must not forget is that there is no reason to not trust in God. He is good and is not out to harm you (“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’” declares the LORD, “’plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11).

My strength is so weak I need God and to be more like Christ every day. And to also trust Him to guide me and forget what is in my life currently is not what I should only “see” or expect.

Sigh, there seems to be so much chaos in my life. The one things driving me forward is that He knows my heart so I shouldn’t fear often as so much is Satan dividing and turning things (or trying to) his way. But the prince of lies is not the victor here. The one who conquers hearts and lifts ones up in help and saving is Jesus. He will be the victory!

Psalms 118 is such a wonderful chapter. It praises God constantly and speaks of how eternal His love is. It also is kind of what I just spoke about. Read below:

The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? Psalms 118:6

Man can only take me out. God is there to deliver me. I should only trust in God who will help me through whatever craziness in is my life right now that the evil one is shaking up.

Maybe you are going through a lot right now. Did you know God can help you right where you are and change you? He is the one who guides my life and has saved me through the blood of Jesus Christ.

It might seem hard to but to trust in Christ is like a huge burden is gone from your life. You no longer feel like you have the weight of life on your shoulders, it is like a light burden has taken its place. I will leave you with one more bible verse:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5

To trust in the Lord is not some mere “belief.” It is something that drives the very soul. It starts with a relationship, one where the God of love is waiting for you to accept the gift He has waiting for you.

To get that gift you need to know that we all have sin. You have sin and cannot go to heaven by your own effort.

The bible says the “Wages of sin is death” (from Romans 6:23) that means that one who lives by their own effort cannot enter heaven but to die a second death and go to hell.

But there is hope! That is that Jesus Christ died for all the sin of the world. He also took your sin and died in your place so that you might not go to hell. And He rose again giving us the hope that He is coming again one day.

All God wants is to have a relationship with you because He loves you so much. Will you learn to trust in Him?

Pray something like this:

God, I don’t know what is going on with my life right now. I don’t know what to do. I need you God. I know that I cannot have life one day with you in heaven because of my sin. But I have heard that You sent Your son Jesus to die in my place so that no person who knows You may die without You. I want that gift of eternal life and so I trust You in my life today. Thank You for hearing me. Amen.

I have one tidbit for you friend. Want to know the whole verse? While people use the first part of the verse the rest goes like this. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If you prayed that prayer leave a comment because I want to pray for you in your life with Him. May you experience first hand the “Trust” that is worth it. Amen.

Devotions A Pure Heart- 7/28/21

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I read Psalm 51 before work yesterday. Had very little time to do any deep study or meditating on it before the bus showed up. Guess what we are going over now…?

What does it mean to be “pure?” Does it mean completely untainted by the world? Or is it that one is on a path that they wouldn’t normally be on because they are apart from a direction that is their own sin?

We can only be pure by the blood of Christ. It is His life where He gave it by dying on the cross for our sin that we can be set apart for the will of God.

He died for us, was buried, and rose again so that we can have a relationship with God that couldn’t happen before that time.

After Jesus’ physical life on earth we can know Him but also be restored during our walk with Him. Sometimes we get “dirty” from old habits and the world sticking on us like some gross grit. We feel we might not be worthy to be servants of God. But He loves us so much and wants us to want to stay with Him in relationship He will if we ask bring us back and be refreshed in the spirit.

I feel like daily I need His restoration. I know I’m not alone in that as even if we might not do habitual sin we unintentionally sin too. We need God even if we think we might be “good.” We are not as we need the strength of Christ from the heavenly father every day!

Prayer to be right with God is needed as also is being in tune to knowing God’s will. We must have pure intentions to live a godly life. It is important as we then know what we can do for Him also.

If you learned about King David from the bible you might think he had it all together. But he was a representative for a king who followed God and he fell into bad things, to put it lightly. He did some bad actions! I have already touched on those in a previous entry but will reiterate it here.

While he was supposed to be a man of God leading Israel he went out of his way to peer out on the roof of his house. There he spotted a beautiful woman and desired her. He coveted her so much he sent her husband out to the frontlines in war to ensure he would die so he could then marry her!

God punished him for being so wrong in those actions.

His family then faced a lot of consequences and David for years as if in grief watched as ones he loved saw terrible things because of what he did.

It seems Psalm 51 touches a little on his sin about sending a man out to die (“Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,…” Psalm 51:14). It is in part of that verse.

I don’t think God released Him from that but He was able to keep David in focusing fully on Him. Psalm 51 almost seems like a lamentation, a crying out to be healed.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

It was inspired into being a very catchy hymn that many might know but at its core it is a reflection of God changing the heart of the sinner.

The song goes “Create in me a clean heart, O God/ And renew a right spirit within me.”

Even in our own perils we need God to rescue us and help us. We can be our own enemies. Not just that but actions do have consequences.

We need Christ daily to rescue us from the pits that we put ourselves in. And if we do well enough in keeping our old habits at bay it is as if we are dead to sin and alive in Christ as it says in the book of Romans 6:11.

What could keep that from being so is to hate that sin because it no longer rules us as it did when lived completely in sin. We must live in His way and see that living for God is a blessing and better than when we lived for ourselves.

With the attitude that Paul would beseech with the Ephesians, we must not have hearts that are stuck in what can dishonor God. He said in NIV (New International Version) that that those believers must not even “let” even a “hint of immorality” be a part of their lives. That was because they were deep in the fleshly desires that made them seem more like the world and less like believers who shine the light for Christ.

Do you have a “pure heart?” Do you want one? To live for Him means we must first know that we cannot live any way to get to heaven.

There is no way for man (man or woman) to get to heaven by their own means. That means that we all fall short because of sin. And that also means to fall short of sin means one will go to hell if they die.

But you must know there is a hope. That hope to live to one day to go to heaven is Jesus! Jesus Christ died in our place, He was the perfect “lamb of God” who died for our sin, was sacrificed for the world so that we could one day know Him and live in Heaven forever.

Do you want to know that life? I encourage you then to pray this prayer:

God, I heard that I can have a pure heart if I can know You. But I can’t have that relationship because of my sin. I can’t do that because there is no way of my own effort I can go to heaven. But I know Your Son gave His life, dying for my sin so that I can have that relationship with You. My sin died on that cross because Jesus paid the ultimate price for it. I want to live for You Jesus but to know You God every day so that I can seek Your will in what You want for me. Thank You for the privilege of getting to know You. Thank You for Your son Jesus Christ.

I pray You will be restored to find a church that can be true and You follow Christ and know what God wants for You.

And thank You Lord for knowing what is on my heart and for Jesus who makes hearts pure!

Devotions Your Heart- 7/26/21

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Saw the angel again Saturday. Someone challenged me recently saying what is the reason for it. I am thinking about that more now.

How important is it to seek what God wants in our lives versus selfish ambitions? I guess it’s like the kind of question that may be where you already know the answer.

It’s good to be passionate about living life but if one wants to live for God, what should be their goals, their desires, and what they should do about ministering to others if they want to seek God’s Will?

My church recently had a great thought about something along these lines. They said that a lot of churches now keep planning things because of how the environment has changed recently but seem to think less about praying. Praying is important! But even people at church sometimes will want to create “revival” yet don’t first seek what God wants in the church life. We need to be in prayer to be in tune to asking God, not building what we think is the course of action and figuring this is what we should do.

Also reading His word and thinking on those things is important too (meditating). In order to seek what God wants we must first look to what His word says (His speaking to us) and also talk to Him in prayer like an open communication.

We also must be careful about what is right or not in our lives.

The NIV (New International Version) says this from the book of Proverbs:

Above all else guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23

It is important to seek His Will because we might be wrong in our own. Also we need to be careful of doctrines and other things in this world that may warp our thinking in our path in following God.

It is also a good thing to be a speak of Jesus but to in our life have His will conformed to pretty much everything we do.

While we have a heart that struggles to focus on God let us see what we can do in His name in as much as we actually do.

This must be with our very being if we shine God’s light in life:

In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:6

We respect God if we revere Him in showing how much we are grateful in what He’s done for us.

A healthy life in prayer and sacrifice of time in our life may lead to supplication so that we can live a life God can honor.

If we go His way in as much as possible there is no wrong way as long as we are deep in His Will.

To ask as long as it is in His will and it will be given you (“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” -John 15:7).

Also we must remember what we are thankful of what He does day to say and think on His tremendous blessings.

If we reflect a servant’s heart to Jesus there is only blessing and hope in our lives and a journey we will never forget.

Devotion Strength of Heart and Portion- 7/23/21

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God has us in His Will totally and fully. We might not feel He is here at times or struggle in life to the point we feel we don’t know if we are “worthy” as believers but He is there. Always.

It is through His Son that He saved us and we trust in Him for our day to day lives.

We must not think only of the worries of our lives but remember that He is there with us and will help us through everything we are going through. He gives us strength and joy and peace.

He is also praiseworthy. Check out this verse:

My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalms 73:26 NKJV

We might become so weak in our sin but He is there. We must depend on Him always but to follow Him is much more that that!

I looked up what the bible meant by the writer saying God is his “portion.” It is mentioned not just here but a few other times as well.

Here is what it said:

the writer means that God is the source of his happiness and blessing content with all that the Lord is and provides. partial source: http://www.gotquestions.org Answer to question: “What does it mean to say that God is my portion?”

So the writer’s portion means that God is all that the writer needs and is his joy and happiness. We must reflect that!

Though our hearts get distracted and our flesh leads us to sin we must depend on Him for all of our happiness.

His goodness, His holiness is the way to live. Sure we can have hobbies and even do things that involve passing the time (just to follow God doesn’t mean we must stay in all Christian things at all times) we can do all for the glory of God.

I pray dear reader you continue to or will follow the Lord with all your heart. To be in His love means to have a special one on one time, a spiritual intimacy with God in the relationship.

I’m learning more and more to be like Christ because my heart fails me if I’m not. My flesh does not lead to anything good or to be worth doing.

To be content on what God has given me should be enough. My flesh provides nothing. God amazes me and I am humbled Jesus has guided me all this time. Amen!

God is my portion and He leads me toward His way which is only to be glorified endlessly in this life.

Thank you reader I hope that you are blessed by this.

Devotions Come to Him- 7/22/21

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Wow, context means a lot when it comes to the bible. This has been kind of a surprising experience alone!

What can we do when we feel burdened or deep in worry? What can we do when we are probably not doing the right thing?

Should we depend on our own expectations?

In all things we should depend totally on Jesus and God the father.

I know that is easier said than done but it is a great life lesson.

Jesus said to the people what to do in His word:

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28

We can find so many things in God: peace, freedoms from anxiety, love after growing through His son.

The bible says that the people come to Christ who labor and are heavy laden, and will find rest.

Can this rest mean from being weary?

Seems like it. I will share some other verses (I honestly forgot to share the last time this blog spoke of being “weary,” haha…) since I didn’t get to though with this one.

The bible encourages us to not be weary in doing what we are commanded to do as Christians. “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13.

We must not be discouraged though it is hard because of the way our worries and life events keep us from sometimes seeing the full potential of living for God.

We also must know that we don’t know everything and submit to others especially in the church what know more in life of what to do:

…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

Our lives involve a lot but God is always there to guide the way. We must trust in Him, be open when we pray to Him because He really does care for you and for the ones you are concerned about. Amen.

Devotions Anchor- 7/21/21

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Ugh. I need extra hobbies haha…

Is it tough to stand your ground?

In a short answer yes.

It feels like we kind of compromise all the time about what to do in life, whether it be our rebelliousness to not do His Will or if someone is stubborn about their wants and will make sure you give in because they will not have things a different way.

Parents go through this. They have a tough job of not only keeping a child or more from danger but to in a lesser but important effort keep them to know what they can and can’t do.

Yet the child may not want to listen.

That is when you have to be like an anchor! Unmovable on your stance on the matter.

If you give in they will see your weakness. They might even try and try again to get you to that stage because they know what to do now to push your buttons.

But to be standing our ground is also on the world as well.

Every day we stray further from truth in God and also in our lives if we don’t stay anchored to His word.

Matthew 7: 24-25 talks about having a “house” built on a rock, a firm foundation compared to say sandy hills or a place where storms come and and it will not stay up.

After horrid storms came other types of houses would fall from this yet with this one “it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock” (last part of 25).

Also we must think just what keeps us strong. Is it self-confidence? No.

We have great strength that doesn’t come from us or this world:

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil. Hebrews 6:19

I was a little unsure about the many aspects of this verse though to be honest.

I started breaking it down by looking up the word steadfast.

“Steadfast” means: firmly fixed in place : immovable. also : not subject to change the steadfast doctrine of original sin (Source: merriam-webster.com)

To be immovable. That sounds like the “anchor” mentioned above. It is the hope that is not from us that makes us firmly fixed in place.

Also I have some commentary on the other apsects.

Interestingly there was some info on anchors from a bible standpoint in this source too:

It is about having a sense of confidence in Christ. “the inner place behind the curtain” represents the way in which Christ precedes us

Put together these images create a powerful message of reassurance. Christ has “anchored” our hope of “refuge” in the very presence of God: the “inner place.”

The anchor was usually not in the exact place as the ship itself (was usually carried far away from the ship) our hope is not in this world. (www.bibleref.com, paraphrased)

So in all we must remember the confidence we have in Christ. Also we need to not be moved about aspects of the Christian life. Our life is built on hope and true strength. If it was built on our strength it would not last a single “storm.”

It is all through the love of God by sending His son Jesus to die for us and we in turn are revived and must reflect the living for God that He showed.

Devotion Deuteronomy- 7/20/21

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The blog recently passed 200 likes. Thank you guys so much!

Because things are hard, is the Lord still with us?

Should we feel the life living for Him should be some kind of “easy peasy” no problems kind of life?

It’s actually easy to feel that way especially when you are not used to living a life that is completely surrendered to Christ.

It used to be so easy here in the United States of America to do pretty much nothing to God’s Will.

But here in the bible there were people who not only were following God’s Will by going wherever He would lead but were unsure emotionally about how to go about things.

In Deuteronomy a person explaining this verse seemed a little confusing to me.

In Deut. 31:6 they said some things about the verse I felt strongly against. But at the end was talking about in the end the people in this verse (Moses and the people after spending 40 years in the desert) how they should focus on God. That the Lord is with them and will not leave or forsake them.

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 NKJV

That there is a lot of things that will be tough and yet not to fear and be afraid of others through situations but to live for God and not reject His ways.

I’m amazed by God’s Word. I have read very little over the years so jumping into verses and finding context has become like an adventure for me!

I almost feel like people in the bible experiencing new things in their respective stories. I hope that will become exciting for you reader. To read the bible has become a wonderful choice lately, I hope that you will want to go on your own adventure reading as well.

I have been wanting to write “bible guides” for a while if you are interested in doing so.

Maybe this will be like a little nudge to wanting to know more about what He wants for your life and to live closer to His ways.

Know that spending even a moment in His word is huge to God. It is amazing to see what changes He makes in your life if you spend it as time with Him.

I hope dear reader that you won’t be like I once was, so disobedient that almost nothing had mattered to me, and want to see the purpose of your life.

If you follow God you will see just how impactful it is to live for Him through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Devotions Strength- 7/19/21

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Thank You Lord for Your mercies every day

To have strength, what could that mean when it comes to the bible?

Does it mean “we’ve got this” in every situation?

Or does it mean we have to draw strength and show that He is in control of our lives?

It is unreal how prideful we can be. To boast about self or to treat living for God including “I” in the statement like Moses thinking that he and God were equal is a dangerous attitude to have in life!

We are weak without and with God. To credit self in the equation is like giving partial credit to God’s glory but all great things that have happened in our lives is ALL God’s glory, it’s not us. As in it is not in us alone. Think of your sin, then think of God. We need God in order to be glorified. It is God changing us, we don’t factor in what makes God great!

He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak Isaiah 40:29

He increases our endurance, our love when we feel like hating, our joy when things get tougher, He is what gives us the strength though we are weak!

To be weary, what does that mean though?

“Weary” means- being exhausted in strength, endurance, vigor, or freshness. Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary website (quoted online)

That is not like just working out all day and being tired. That means living out God’s will and then after a long time coming home and feeling like you can’t move anymore. Being so worn out that you feel spiritually exhausted too!

We must never give up hope. Whether we have not really lived for Christ or we feel worn out and discouraged we must not be afraid in life and live it out.

I believe God blesses so much things we do for Him. He wants us to be servants and witnesses as we have been saved, cleansed, and changed by the blood of Christ. To live after realizing Christ died for us and our old selves were on that cross, we must know how He then sees us.

We must be strong in Him. And be strong in Him and by nothing else and not to claim we were strong in our own strength by us.

God is the strength of my heart Psalms 73:26

In Him there is glory. We have nothing without Him. Thank You Lord for Your strength, Amen.

Blog Notes: When I saw the Angel

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This will be very different from what people are used to about the “blog notes” I have done before, I feel. This happened six times total so I just wanted to share the moments that they happened! Each date will be mentioned.

Just a brief intro. God is amazing! He does a lot of things in our lives and sometimes He will if you are living for Him encourage you in an individual special way. Praise the Lord and His unlimited love!

6/1/21

I was going to work after spending time reading (or possibly also) writing on this blog. It was just an ordinary day and while I was working I had a customer behind my one I was ringing up. It was him. Only I didn’t know it was an angel. He was just smiling at me. I just thought, “He has such joy.” like he was maybe just some nice guy. When I was ringing him up he was talking small chat for a little while. Then he quipped, “I don’t even know your name.”

I looked down and saw I put my nametag on backwards. I usually do this when I am so caught up in the mess of the daily grind and don’t check because sometimes I am in a rush especially when I get to work and I am in the lounge later than I want to be!

I turned it around and he said my name and then remarked, “That is a beautiful name.” My name means bearer of Christ.

Then right before he walked away he shared his. He was a Hispanic looking man so when He said this I quietly responded back. He said “My name… is Jesus.” I said “Oh ‘Hay-zoo-ss.'” and then it he leaned down in a partial bow and pointed upwards to the sky with his thumb then walked out of my line.

The moment he left it dawned on me and I cried. Thank you for the encouragement Lord.

6/7/21

More to come