Thursday, November 29, 2007

A Man After God's Own Heart

God loves faith, obedience and repentance. That's why He chose David as king, calling him, "a man after My own heart." Saul was the king the people chose, a self-centered man who had no relationship with God, a man who was disobedient. Saul did what he wanted without consulting God---what arrogance! That arrogance and disobedience cost him his kingdom. Spend some time reading in the Old Testament, comparing Saul with David: the former a man after his own heart, the latter a man after God's own heart. Which type of person would you rather be? 1Sa 13:14 "But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD'S command."

Posted by Keneta, a Christ Follower at 16:15:32 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

My Psalm of Obedience

Show me the way to do
Your work, O Lord My God.
Yours' is the path I want
To follow and the direction
I want to go. Keep me from
Wandering onto paths where
I should not be.
Shine Your light, O Lord,
There in front of me
Where my feet move to
Follow You.
Your will is my will.
Your work is my work.
Your people are my people.
I will love them and
Show them the way to You.
My desire is to always
Obey You.
Your will be done.

Posted by Keneta, a Christ Follower at 15:12:59 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

My Psalm of Seeking Stillness

 

 

Father, how can I hear You when

I am never still?

And yet You find ways of drawing me to You,

Of capturing my attention, of getting me to listen.

Your word says, "Be still, and know that I am God,"

And yet I do not slow down.

Forgive me, Father.

You capture me with Your whispers,

Whispers that shake the earth,

Whispers that have the power to

Move mountains and change lives.

Your way is the way I seek,

Your path is the path I long to travel.

This world is so noisy, so busy, so filled

With distractions, I cannot bring my

Thoughts to You.

And so I struggle to free my mind

From the chains of this world,

To blot out the stains of distraction

That daily spread throughout my soul.

Help me, O Lord, to find the quietness

I seek within this daily clamor.

Suffuse my spirit with Your own.

Fill my mind with the presence of Your being,

My heart with the substance of Your song.

Free me from the clutter that is

This world.

In the stillness I seek You,

But the stillness is elusive.

In the quiet I seek You,

But the quiet is just

Out of my grasp.

Where can I go to escape

The busyness of this world?

Where can I go to wrap myself

In Your robes of gentleness?

You are everywhere, dear Father,

And the noise also surrounds You.

And so I will wait for You to place

Me in the cleft of the rock

Where solitude is found in

The glory of song.

Posted by Keneta, a Christ Follower at 16:18:37 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, November 26, 2007

Mary and Joseph

I was watching "The Nativity Story" the other night. I think everyone takes for granted everything that Mary and Joseph went through. An unmarried woman in those days being pregnant would have been a terrible, terrible thing. Now nobody doesn't think anything about it. I'd never thought about how far they had to travel to Bethlehem with Joseph on foot and Mary pregnant and sitting sidesaddle on a donkey. Imagine how her back had to have ached. And that poor little donkey had a long journey to travel with a woman on its' back and the Savior in the womb of that woman. God got them to where they needed to be. He took good care of them. God is good. He'll get you to where you need to be.
Posted by Keneta, a Christ Follower at 18:50:01 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Sunday, November 25, 2007

No Room For the Savior

"She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7) "I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill Me, because you have no room for My word." (John 8:37) "He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him." (John 1:10-11) No room for Christ. No room for His word. Christ who? Shoved aside and born in a stable, surrounded by animals and manure with a feeding trough for a bed. Beware that you do not recognize Christ. Beware lest you cast aside the Creator. If you feel that you've maybe ignored Christ in a trembling hand reaching out to you, you're absolutely right. When we ignore those who need Him, we ignore Him. "For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me." "...whatever you did not do for one of the least of these you did not do for me." (Matthew 25:42-43;45) Don't be in so much of a hurry this Christmas season that you rush past Christ. He is in the weary person ringing the bell beside the Goodwill bucket; He is in the weary little child crying because his or her mother would rather shop than give him or her some attention; He is in the elderly person shoved out of the way by shoppers rushing for a bargain; He is in the widows and orphans, the alcoholics and drug addicts. Don't turn your back on the Savior, for if you do, the lost will stay lost, the hurt will stay hurt, the sick will stay sick and the broken heart will continue breaking. No room for Christ? Then why are you buying presents?
Posted by Keneta, a Christ Follower at 21:31:43 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Glorify Jesus

Are you glorifying Jesus in whatever you do? Are you giving Him the glory He deserves in every part of your life whether it be your work life, your personal life, your marriage, your relationships? If you're not, you should be. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." David was a man after God's heart (1 Samuel 13:14). David wrote words like, "Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together (Psalm 34:3) and "I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart I will glorify Your name forever." (86:12) That is the heart that our Lord God Almighty wants. That is the heart He loves and the life He wants to see: a heart filled with devotion to Him and a life lived to glorify Him. The Father is glorified through the Son. "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" (Revelation 5:12) In his book "All For Jesus" Franklin Graham says, "Glorify Jesus in everything you do, or NOTHING you do matters." Nothing else matters. We are here to glorify Jesus. We are not to bring glory to people, to works or to things----only glory to Jesus. "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word." (Hebrews 1:3) Jesus Christ, the radiance of God's glory. Let us do our best to draw all focus onto Jesus Christ: all minds, all hearts, all lives. Our Jesus made Himself nothing, casting aside the glory God had given Him to become a human servant, dying on the cross for us. "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:7-11) Glorify Jesus.
Posted by Keneta, a Christ Follower at 14:12:32 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Psalm 27

What we can learn from King David in Psalm 27: 1) David is contrite. He recognizes his sins and is devastated in his heart by them. He brings his sins before the Lord. See Psalm 51 for more on David's repentance; Isaiah 7:15a and Isaiah 66:2 for how God feels about a contrite heart; 2) David recognizes that only God can save him from those who are evil and also from his own sins; 3) David finds joy in the presence of the Lord, in sacrificing to Him and in worshipping Him; 4) He recognizes that God is merciful and answers cries for help; 5) David is obedient along with recognizing that God's way is the right way; 6) David is confident in the Lord's promises; 7) David is patient. He waits on the Lord instead of rushing ahead of Him; 8) David is not ashamed to call upon the Lord in prayer. There is so much we can learn from Psalm 27.
Posted by Keneta, a Christ Follower at 19:08:57 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Don't Hide in Your Baggage

"Finally Saul son of Kish was chosen. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. So they inquired further of the Lord, 'Has the man come here yet?' And the Lord said, 'Yes, he has hidden himself among the baggage.'" (1 Samuel 10:21-22 NIV). When it came time for Saul to be made king, he turned fearful and hid in the baggage. Ladies, how often do we hide in the baggage that is the sins of our past lives? How many times do we refuse to do what God asks because we feel we're not worthy of doing the Lord's work? And how many women hang onto that old nasty baggage, not allowing God to change them into the Christians He wants them to be? We need to leave the baggage behind and move on with our lives---the lives we are living for our Lord Jesus. We need to come out into the open and be God's people. Dear sisters, don't hide in your baggage from the past. Let go and let God!
Posted by Keneta, a Christ Follower at 17:56:15 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Who Is This King of Glory?

This morning I was meditating on the words in Psalm 24 and in my very favorite song "King of Glory" by Third Day. Who is this King of Glory? He pursues me with His love; His softly spoken Word; Jesus...Precious Jesus...The Lord Almighty...King of my heart, King of Glory. King of angels...gracious Prince of Peace...Revealing things of heaven...He's everything to me!!! His name is Jesus, Precious Jesus! "Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory?" (Psalm 24:7-8a NIV) What are the gates and ancient doors in your life that stay shut to Jesus? Why do you leave them shut? Why don't you open them to Him? What are the ways to open them to Him?
Posted by Keneta, a Christ Follower at 18:15:15 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

Monday, November 19, 2007

Do You Have Trouble Being Good?

Do you have trouble being the Christian God wants you to be? Do you have trouble being the way scripture says you should be? You don't have to rely on your own strength. You don't have to be perfect. Jesus is perfect. Lean on Him. Allow Him to live through you. "For God is greater than our hearts." (1 John 3:20 NIV). Don't give up! "To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy which so powerfully works in me." (Colossians 1:29 NIV)
Posted by Keneta, a Christ Follower at 18:20:41 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |
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