Tag: His Word

God Sees It All

On By CarmenLeave a comment

I can’t help but write about what I consistently tell my husband most mornings after watching the news.

God sees it all!

You may feel the same way I do after watching the news on politics and all the other happenings by people who lie, scam, steal, and kill.

My husband and I like to stay informed on current events in our country and around the world, but we have had to limit the amount of news we watch because it is so grievous.

If I didn’t know God and His ways, I would think there is no hope in the world today.

I know that such offenses have always occurred, but it seems so rampant today.

It’s refreshing when we see stories of decent people helping others because they want to do what is right, but I can’t help thinking that the tide has turned now in recent years with so much evil in our nation and around the world.

And, I have often pondered how we got here.

I think it’s because most either don’t believe in God or don’t believe God.

We don’t take the time to study, learn, contemplate what God has already told us in His word, the Holy Bible.

We are blessed as a nation built on Christian principles to have God’s word, but we don’t delve into it for understanding.

For example, while reading in 1 Kings recently, I came across how the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah, because of ungodly leadership with the majority of the people following along in sin.

King David loved the LORD and is called by God, “A man after his own heart.” (1 Samuel 13:14)

King David was certainly not without sin. However, when he was reprimanded by God, he was repentant and accepted the consequences that God gave him.

God forgave him because He knew David’s heart, but there were still consequences.

Later in life, as King David was grooming his son Solomon to succeed him as king, he instructed him as a young boy to seek wisdom.

He was teaching Solomon God’s wisdom and to seek and follow God in every choice he would make as a future ruler as well as to avoid making wrong choices and falling into sin.

When King David died, and Solomon was crowned king of Israel, God told King Solomon to ask for whatever he wanted. Solomon asked for wisdom. God was pleased with his choice and made him not only the wisest of kings, but also the richest.

Having wisdom is great but following it separates the wise from the fools.

King Solomon started out well, but over the years he turned away from God’s laws and ways which led him into idolatry and caused the kingdom of Israel to be split in two.   

For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been. Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD; unlike his father David, he did not follow the LORD completely. 1 Kings 11:4-6

I highly recommend you read 1 and 2 Kings to understand the full story and implications of King Solomon’s straying from God which led most of the subsequent kings and nation of Israel into sin and severe consequences.

When we sin (individually or corporately as a nation), we sin against God. We anger God.

He is a jealous God who deserves our worship and praise. We should seek after Him and abide in Him.   

Why?

Because it is God who has given us life and everything good thing that we have and experience.

We should always walk humbly and follow His statutes and His ways.

When we don’t, there are consequences that we won’t like.

Because we are all human, we are all sinners. The Bible tells us not one of us are without sin. (Romans 3:10-18)

The only human who ever lived and never sinned was Jesus Christ, God’s beloved Son. He alone is our example of how to live.

So, what do we do when we sin, and we realize the error of our ways?

We turn back to God, ask for forgiveness, ask Him to help us follow Him, and stay away from what makes us sin.

When we are sincere about repenting of our sin, He is faithful to forgive us and helps us move forward.

He puts away our sin as if it never happened. (Psalm 103:12)

In King Solomon’s case, his continued sin of idol worship led the whole nation into sin which later caused the division of Israel into two kingdoms, constant wars, invasions by foreign countries, and eventually exile to foreign lands.

The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.” 1 Kings 11:9-13

With the division of Israel into two kingdoms (Israel and Judah), the Jewish nation fought against itself and set itself up for invasions by foreign countries.

The majority of the kings who ruled Israel and Judah after King Solomon also failed to follow God and continued in their sin of idol worship.

Idol worship is putting anything above God—pride, money, position, power, material things, various wrong behaviors, etc.

When the leader of the nation sins and refuses to follow God, most of the people will do the same, and the nation falls in to despair and destruction.  

The good news is that God is a forgiving God.

In His word, He tells us that if we who belong to Him will repent of our sin and humbly turn back to and pray to Him, He will restore our nation.

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

If you are as concerned about the state of our nation as I am, please commit to pray with me for our leaders and fellow citizens to

  • turn back to God and seek after Him—putting Him first in our lives
  • repent of their sin and turn away from their sin
  • teach our children at home and in school to walk with God and follow His precepts
  • seek forgiveness and forgive one another
  • unite as “one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all” as we used to recite daily in school from the Pledge of Allegiance
  • humbly serve God and one another as He instructs us in His word
  • treat one another as we would want to be treated

I love Jesus Christ, and I love these united states of America where I was born.

My hope is for us to turn back to God before it’s too late.

May God bless you and may He bless the United States of America.

If you want to have a relationship with God and are not sure how or where to start, see my previous posts Relationship with God and Relationship with God – Part 2.

Spending Time with God

On By Carmen1 Comment

If you joined me last week for Starting the New Year with Promise, you read how important it is to study God’s word (the Holy Bible) daily.

We learned that we should meditate on His word, that is, to think upon what we read and strive to commit it to memory and apply it to our lives.

It can be done. It just takes carving out a set time in your schedule and perseverance.

It takes time to form a habit, so don’t beat yourself up if you miss a day or so while trying to set up your schedule. Just start again the next day where you left off.

Most importantly, ask God to help you. He delights in helping someone who is trying to follow Him.

This week we are going to go further in seeking after God by forming another new habit (if you haven’t already), which is to spend time with God.

That is, to schedule time with God where only you and He are together to commune with each other.

Let’s look at a scripture verse that suggests we should seek after God.

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)

God makes it clear in His word that any who diligently seek Him will find Him.

I want to confess something—only because it will help you know that it can be done, not to offer any excuses.

It took me some time to get this special time with God placed solidly on my calendar. I had to want to do it and stick with it in order for it to become a habit in my life.

When I first heard how to do this from Dr. Charles Stanley, founder of InTouch Ministries, I wanted to do it, but made excuses that I didn’t have time or didn’t have the space to do so.

I believe that God pursued me about this because I heard Dr. Stanley’s sermon about this topic again and again. Dr. Stanley gave all kinds of reasons why and ideas of how to get alone with God—he even spoke about just going into a closet and turning off the lights to avoid distractions.

He said that it was during these times that he spent alone with God that he had been the most reassured of God’s love and given the most insight in how to handle any situation that he was involved in—good or bad. Dr. Stanley insisted that this was a practice that would bring great reward to the seeker.  

So, I started my time alone with God in a closet (with the lights turned off) in an apartment many years ago. Today, I have a special room in my home where I go to spend time with God, seeking His face, praying, and talking to Him. I also set aside time to be quiet and just listen to God speak to me.

This act of seeking God and spending alone time with Him has been such a blessing in my life.

A couple of years ago, I was asking God what He would have me do with my life after moving to South Carolina. It was during Covid and I no longer wanted to work outside my home.

I believe through prayer and time spent alone with God that He showed me the next career for me—blogging about His goodness in order for others to know Him and walk with Him. If anyone would have told me prior to Covid that I would be blogging, I would have laughed and said, “No way, not my thing!”  

If you’re questioning whether or not God speaks to His children, the answer is YES, He most certainly does!

In the parable of the Good Shepherd, Jesus says,

“My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;” (John 10:27)

Jesus said it, so I believe it!

After some time, listening to God and following Him was something that I desired and needed. I once told a group of friends that I would never want to be so happy with my life that I would forget God. I still feel this way today.

By the way, I am very happy with my life, and I know it’s because of God.

He must be first in my life—first before my family, my work, my pleasures.

It is when I put God first that I can be and do what I should for my family, my work, and have a healthy balance in my leisure time.  

Before I close, I want to share with you one more promise I have always treasured and held on to. It is our LORD and Savior Jesus Christ reassuring His followers.

 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they?  And which of you by worrying can add a single day to his life’s span? And why are you worried about clothing? Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What are we to eat?’ or ‘What are we to drink?’ or ‘What are we to wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:25-34)

You don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. God is more than willing to help you!

This is good news from God that He is for you and He will provide for you no matter how bleak your situation looks. He loves you because He created you and He has a purpose for you.

Seek His kingdom and His righteousness and let Him show you how much He loves you.

He is my Creator, my best friend, and my priority. Without Him, I would not exist; I cannot breathe; and I cannot discern what is best for my life.

I hold my relationship to Him as dear and privileged.

I hope this is or will be the same for you.

May God grant you His peace, His wisdom, and may His face shine upon you as you draw near to Him.

I love to end my messages with an inspirational song for your listening pleasure. The one below is perfect for today’s message.

“First Things First” – Consumed by Fire