Matters Of The HEART (MAR/APR)

This page is dedicated to an area that goes much deeper than our garments - our heart! I Samuel 16:7 says, "...the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."


April 2010 Devotinal

TO SEEK AND TO KNOW

Hosea 13:4  " Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but Me; for there is no savior besides Me. "

Psalm 9:10  " And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; for You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You. "

Psalm 34:8  " Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! "

Psalm 36:10 " Oh, continue Your loving-kindness to those who know You, and Your righteousness to the upright in heart. "

Psalm 46:10  " Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! "

Psalm 51:6  " Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. "
 
Psalm 73:28  " But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the LORD GOD, that I may declare all Your works. "

Psalm 83:18  " That they may know You, whose name alone is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth. "

Psalm 145:9  " The LORD is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works. "
 
Lamentations 3:21-26  " 'This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I hope in Him!' The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD. "
 
Matthew 7:7  " Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. "

Matthew 9:6/Mark 2:10/Luke 5:24  " But that you may know that the Son Of Man has power on earth to forgive sins -- then He said to the paralytic, 'Arise, take up your bed and go to your house.' "

John 8:32  " And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. "

John 10:37&38  " If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him. "

     For a few weeks after we brought home our little Boston terrier Mammy from the shelter, she would act like she didn't care when we gave affection to our other dog, a boxer named Riley. She would just stand there with a blank look on her face. But, after a few weeks of getting affection from her new human family members, she started to act happy that she was getting loved on. And now when one of us is giving affection to Riley, here comes Mammy running and pushing her way into our arms as to say, "Hey, where's mine!?". 
     I don't think that at first it was that she didn't care, but that she didn't know what she was missing. Apparently the people who had her before didn't give her affection and attention. So when at first she saw us doing that to Riley she didn't care to have the same. But, after getting affection and attention on a daily basis, she realized how good it made her feel. And now she seeks it out, especially when she sees us dealing it out to Riley.
     That just may be what some humans go through when it comes to our Loving Savior. They seem to don't care about Him. It just may be that they don't know what they are missing. They have never known the love and affection of Jesus. 
     Of course, it begs to mention those who have never known the TRUE love and affection of our Blessed Messiah because of having to endure some type of abuse that has denied them of REALLY knowing Him.
     In the continuence of the last three devotionals, pray for someone that may not know the TRUE love of Christ. Pray that they will seek Him and know Him for who He really is -- loving, merciful, forgiving, willing to give infinite chances, understanding......And if you are one of those who don't know His TRUE love, just stop and say, " LORD Jesus, show me who You REALLY are." He will, I promise. Keep asking until you KNOW.

HAVE A " I REALLY KNOW JESUS!" FILLED DAY !!!!!!!!

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March 2010 Devotional

TO SPEAK/QUOTE

I Chronicles 16:23-25a  " Sing to the LORD, all the earth; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised..."

Psalm 9:11 " Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people. "

Psalm 35:28  " And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness and of Your praise all the day long. "

Psalm 40:5  " Many, O LORD my God, are Your wonderful works which You have done; and Your thoughts toward us cannot be recounted to You in order; if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. "

Psalm 119:46  " I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. "

Philippians 4:8  " Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy -- meditate on these things. "

Romans 10:17  " So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. "

Hebrews 4:12a  " For the word of God is living and powerful...."

     This month I want to talk about the importance of speaking the Word Of God out loud. The audible declaration of what it says can be very freeing and therapeutic as well as just plain obedient to what He asks us to do.  Getting victory over Satan for ourselves and others involves warfare, but it doesn't necessarily have to be tough. A good start is to take Psalm 23 and insert a person's name or pronoun where it says "my", "me" or "I". For example: The LORD is Susan's shepherd, she shall not want. He makes Susan to lie down in green pastures, He leads her beside still waters..... Several other passages that are good to do this with are: Philippians 4:13, Isaiah 54:17 and Psalm 91. 
     Believe me when I say this is very effective praying. And, it needs to be done many times, not just once. Remember that we "Wrestle not against flesh and blood, but principalities, against powers......against spiritual hosts of wickedness..." (Ephesians 6:12) Coming up with positive statements are also good. I personally like to say out loud in my house, "Jesus reigns in this house." Other examples of statements/declarations we could say, are: "I live without fear.", "I forgive my mother", "John trusts Jesus more each day" or "Barbara likes to sing the praises of God." 
     Though this may be coming from the mind of one called to intercessory prayer, anyone can do it. And this is one way to "Bear one another's burdens". Sometimes all we can do for someone is pray for them. And if that is all we can do for them, we want it to be as effective as possible, right? As I quoted last month, ".....The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much."(James 5:16b). 
     Singing can also be a form of prayer. And many songs come straight from the scriptures. So, if you prefer, singing aloud is also very good and acceptable. Not to mention fun and emotionally healing.  

MAY YOU HAVE AN EFFECTIVE, FERVENT PRAYER FILLED DAY !!!!!!!!!!!