Encouragement, Faith, Forgiveness, God's Plan, God's Promises, Grace, Our Identity, Prayer, Relationship to Christ, Salvation, Sin, Strength, Struggles, Worship

Seek the Lord and His Strength

We will be looking at going from being a Martha to being a Mary this month. Jesus had come to their home, and Martha was so consumed with preparation and the peripheral things, that she missed out on what Jesus had for her.  Mary sat at Jesus’ feet and soaked in everything He taught.  She sought Him first above everything else.  We will be looking at how to be like Mary.  First, we are going to look at what we need to do to be able to accomplish that. Our Bible Journaling verse tells us, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” (1 Chronicles 16:11 ESV)

The first step in seeking the Lord is to become a Born-Again Believer.  God loves us (John 3:16)  and wants a relationship with us, but our sin separates us from God.  Romans 6:23 tells us, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.” (KJV)  When we ask God to forgive us of our sins and accept Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross for our sins, (Romans 5:8) we are forgiven and become part of the family of God. “As many as received Him, to them He gave the power to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” (John 1:12 KJV) The Bible tells us that Jesus is the ONLY way to gain a relationship with God. (John 14:6)  We receive Christ through faith in Him and what He did for us on the cross.  “For by grace you have been saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV) Jesus comes by invitation.  We must ask Him to take residence in our hearts, and He will come and live in us.  (Revelation 3:20)   When we allow Him to be in control of our lives, we are drawn closer to Him.

Then as we live out our lives, we are to keep Jesus at the center of everything we do.  Notice our Bible Journaling verse says we are to seek His presence continually.  We are to look to Him for everything. God promises that if we seek a relationship with Him, we will find Him.  “But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart and all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29 NASB)  We need to be earnest in our search and be intent on finding Him.  “Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.” (Isaiah 55:6 NASB)

We are commanded to “seek”, to learn not only about God but learn from Him!  If we are ever to grow, we need to search out the things of God through Bible study, prayer, and experience fellowshipping with other Believers.  As we study God’s Word, we learn His character, we learn what it is that He expects from us, and that takes us on a walk that will draw us closer to Him.  When we face difficulties in life, our source of strength should come from God.  “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1 NIV)

The more we look to Jesus, the more we grow – the more we grow, the closer we get to the Lord, and the closer we get to the Lord, we become more like Him.  We have our assignment now. “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!”

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Donna Knuth Rice

I am trying a blog for the first time in my life, and frankly, I feel like I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing! But, here goes. I work at a Christian Television network in the Correspondence Department, where I write letters and emails to our viewers, pray with them for their needs, and send materials they request. I am a Christian. I was saved at the age of 11 during a youth meeting at my church. My pastor led me to the Lord, and to say the least, my life has been an adventure. I am a widow. My late husband, Allen, passed away after 34 1/2 years of marriage. He had been sick the last seven years of his life, and it was a struggle, for him and for me. We met as part of a singing group that was affiliated with a Christian Radio station, and we sang together all through our lives together. We both worked in television and radio all through our married life, mostly for Christian stations. Besides singing I also play flute. I had the luxury of having parents who started out as music teachers...so music was in our house constantly. Some people describe me as being a loud-mouthed lime type...can't disagree with that. I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth more times than I can count! I also have a tendency to say exactly what's on my mind...which is why I get myself in so much trouble! LOL! Trust me, that's something me and God have been working on for a very long time. I have no children here on earth, although I have a baby in heaven. My baby here is my dog Jack. He's a black lab/ chow mix. He's a big boy....thinks he's a lap dog! Can't think of much else to say. The reason I started this blog is because a few months ago in church, a guest pastor came and delivered a message, and when he asked for those of us who wanted prayer to come forward, I did. When he came to me he asked me if I did any journaling. I told him no 'cause I wasn't very good at it. He told me to start, and prophesied over me that my journal thoughts would impact other people. I wasn't sure just how I was to go about doing this. In fact, I was a little hesitant at first. I started journaling at home, and our assistant pastor's wife asked me to submit something for our Senior newsletter. I didn't the first edition, but something I had heard on Christian radio a long time ago and has stuck with me all these years, came to mind so I submitted an article. That article will be my first post. I don't claim to have all the answers, and my thoughts may seem a little "out there", but I feel God has been prodding me to do this, and so here I am. I hope what I post will bring encouragement, and "Something to Think About".

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