Category: Contentment

A Life that Is Found

The Lord says that the one who seeks finds. Just make sure that you are seeking the right things in life.

Matthew 18:11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.

He came to seek and to save that which is lost and that is us.

Luke 19:10 For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

There is great joy in heaven when one of His sheep is found. We too, if we belong to Him should greatly rejoice when there is one who repents and comes to Him.

Matthew 15:3-7 So He told them this parable, saying, “What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the [b]open pasture and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’ I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.

Do you still think about how He saved you? Is it still your favorite story of when the One who loves you so much found you?

Luke 15:10 In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

You are His treasure that He left heaven so that He might find you. He was rich but became poor so that He might buy you back. You were bought with a price and that price was the precious blood of Christ. He sold everything that He might gain you. He paid for the field that He might have you. If you were the only one on earth then He still would have died for you.

Matthew 13:44 The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

You are His pearl of great value. He died for the whole world so that you could be bought. He paid for the sins of the whole world so that you might come to Him and belong to Him.

Matthew 13:45,46 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

You are the good fish if you have come to Him. There will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth when those who belong to Him are separated from those who do not belong to Him. You may think that it is not fair but He died for you so that you might belong to Him and be saved from eternal hell. Come to Him now while you can.

I Corinthians 7:23a You were bought with a price;

You were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. He appeared in these last times for your sake, that you might be found in Christ. He is coming again to claim His own. Does He have a claim on you?

I Peter 1:18-20 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you

 

 

 

A Life that Keeps Vows

The Lord says that we are to pay our vows. We are to be faithful to pay our vows to the Lord. The Lord says that it would be better for you to not make a vow than to make a vow to God and not fulfill it.

Ecclesiastes 5:4,5 When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.

Thank the Lord and pay your vows to the Lord.

Psalm 50:14 “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving And pay your vows to the Most High;

The best way to keep vows is one day at a time.

Psalm 61:8 So I will sing praise to Your name forever, That I may pay my vows day by day.

If you are married and have children then your children are children of your marriage vows.

Proverbs 31:2 What, O my son? And what, O son of my womb? And what, O son of my vows?

Marriage vows are vows that you make to the Lord and no one, not even your spouse, can break your vows. The Lord does not talk about vows being broken but of vows being kept. Vows can not be broken. They are either kept or not kept but the vows still stand. For this reason if a spouse leaves or divorces his spouse then the wife is to remain single. She is to keep herself pure, spiritually and physically.

I Corinthians 7:34 The woman who is unmarried, and the virgin, is concerned about the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and spirit; but one who is married is concerned about the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

The “unmarried” refers to women who were once married but are not at this time, but their husband, who they were married to, is still living. The virgin is a reference to a lady who has never been married.

Romans 7:2,3 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.

Marriage vows are binding and intended to be kept and fulfilled. Do not plan to get married unless it is until death do us part. Marriage vows are made to the Lord not to each other and each spouse is under obligation to the Lord. These matters may seem difficult if you are in a difficult marriage but the Lord will bless you if you do His will. He says that where sin abounds then grace abounds. The Lord will give you the grace to love your husband and He will give you wisdom in your relationship. Go to a godly woman who is is walking with the Lord if you need help in your marriage for that is God’s provision.

Titus 2:3-5 Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

However, if you have made a commitment with your mouth or even made a vow to the Lord to do something and you realize that you have made a mistake then the Lord has a provision for you.

Numbers 30:3-8 Also if a woman makes a vow to the Lord, and binds herself by an obligation in her father’s house in her youth,and her father hears her vow and her obligation by which she has bound herself, and her father says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand and every obligation by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if her father should forbid her on the day he hears of it, none of her vows or her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the Lord will forgive her because her father had forbidden her.“However, if she should marry while under her vows or the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself, and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day he hears it, then her vows shall stand and her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if on the day her husband hears of it, he forbids her, then he shall annul her vow which she is under and the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself; and the Lord will forgive her.

The Lord has provided fathers and husbands for girls and ladies for their protection. Go to your father or husband if you have made a rash decision and humble yourself and ask them to help you. On the day that they hear of what you have done they can release you from that commitment.

Psalm 50:22,23 “Now consider this, you who forget God,
Or I will tear you in pieces, and there will be none to deliver.
“He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me;
And to him who orders his way aright
I shall show the salvation of God.”

Whatever you do and whatever mess you find yourself in (and we all makes messes at times) then remember the Lord. Do not take things into your own hands or just ignore what you have done thinking that it will go away. It will go into your conscience and will come up later. The Lord is your Savior and He will save you from any situation that you are in and He will show you His salvation.

Psalm 130:1-4 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O Lord.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
If You, Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.

If you have not kept previous vows to the Lord there is forgiveness with Him but you need to confess your sin to Him and ask Him to forgive you. Do not minimize it. There is forgiveness with Him. If you have made a vow to the Lord and you can go back and fulfill it then do so. Make sure you have a clear conscience. Cry out to Him out of the depths of any pain. He loves you. Do not despair. You will see His goodness.

Psalm 27:13 I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.

 

 

 

A Life that Feeds Others

One of the Lord’s last recorded conversations was one that He had with Peter after Peter had denied Him and then been restored. The Lord asked Peter, “Do you love Me?”. The relationship that we all have with the Lord when we become a Christian is a love relationship. It is the greatest love story ever known to man and there is nothing that can surpass it. God so loved the world that He gave.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

The Lord loved us while we were His enemies and He died for us when we had turned our back on Him. He loved us in spite of who we were and had become. His love was unconditional and He loved us just the way we were.

Romans 5:8 God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

There was no good outweighing the bad. Even our goodness is considered as filthy rags. We have nothing to offer to Him.

Isaiah 64:6a For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment;

He still asks the same questions even though we have failed Him many times and it is “Do you love Me?”. Do you love Him? His answer is the same as it was to Peter, “Feed My sheep.”

John 21:17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” and he said to Him, “Lord, you know everything, you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.”

The Lord gave us His righteousness. He also wants us to feed His sheep.

Proverbs 10:21a The lips of the righteous feed many,

The Lord wants us to feed others with the spiritual food that He has given to us. Who are you feeding? The more you feed others then the hungrier you will get and want to learn more Him. If you don’t feed others then you become spiritually fat and sluggish or spiritually sick from a lack of appetite. Ask the Lord to show you those whom you can feed.

A Life that Forgives

There are certain commands that carry much greater weight than others and the command to forgive seems to be one of the most important. A lack of forgiveness brings about one of the worse consequences that is mentioned in the Bible. The Lord said that if you do not forgive others then your sins will not be forgiven you.

Matthew 5:14,15 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

Forgiveness also brings a great blessing from the Lord because He says that if you forgive others then your sins will be forgiven you. We are all sinners who have sinned greatly against the Lord and we desperately need forgiveness from God, the Father. In the same way, we need to desperately forgive others of their sins. You receive what you give away and what you withhold will be withheld from you.

Mark 11:25,26 Whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you your transgressions. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your transgressions.”

The meaning of evil is to cause grief. It is hard to forgive when someone has caused us grief and especially great grief. However, when we see what a great debt that we have toward the Lord and the great grief that we have caused Him then we lean more toward forgiving. However, forgiving is impossible apart from the Lord. He has given you forgiveness and this is the forgiveness that you offer to others. Jesus has forgiven you and Jesus has forgiven them. We can only forgive by the power of the Holy Spirit.

John 20:22,23 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and *said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.”

We forgive by faith, in the power of the Holy Spirit in obedience to Him, not by feeling. Our flesh will never want to forgive and does not have the power to do so.

Romans 8:6-8 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

When you forgive then the Lord releases you from the bitterness and resentment of unforgiveness. You actually are the one who is set free. The person does not have to even be aware of their wrong towards you and they do not have to be sorry for what they did. If they are sorry and repentant then that is wonderful but it is not a prerequisite to you forgiving them. Healing for you comes after forgiveness. There is no pain so great that the Lord can not heal but first you must forgive. He does not hold your sin against you because He has forgiven you. Forgiveness is the promise never to bring it up again. How many times are we to forgive? That is a great question and Jesus answered it for us.

Matthew 18:21,22 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.

Forgiveness is so important that the Lord told a parable about forgiveness to allow His hearers to understand more clearly what He was saying about forgiveness.

Matthew 18:23-35 For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. But since he did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. So the slave fell to the ground and prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and forgave him the debt. But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ But he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, his lord said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.”

He who has ears to hear, let him hear. A day of accounting is coming and it will be too late to settle your accounts with your fellow man. For this reason it is of utmost importance to “keep your accounts up to date”. God declared the man wicked in this story because of his unwillingness to forgive someone else and therefore all of this wicked person’s sins were still on his account and were not wiped out and forgiven. Forgiveness is a matter of the will. It is letting it go and giving it to the Lord. You can’t, He never said you could, He can, He always said He would. Give the matter to the Lord and He will forgive that person through you by the power of His Holy Spirit. As long as you have unforgiveness in your heart then you are in a prison. However, you can settle the account with that person who owes you through your forgiveness by forgiving him. It is after this that you will be released from your prison.

Luke 7:47,48 For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.”  Then He said to her, “Your sins have been forgiven.”

Did Jesus offer forgiveness to you? Yes, He did. Go and do likewise that you too may hear the words, “Your sins have been forgiven”.  Forgiveness begins with the prayer, “Lord, I forgive _________. Please forgive me of my unforgiveness and by faith I have forgiven _________. Then you will love much because you too will see how great a debt that you were forgiven by our Lord. Your slate will be wiped clean. You may have to forgive over and over again because the devil might continue to bring it up again but the devil hates to see you forgive and call on the Lord so he will quit bringing it up to you. It is hard to believe when you are in the pain but healing will come and the Lord will truly make something beautiful our of your life.

 

 

A Life that Knows the Truth

There is only One who is true and His Words are truth. If you do not know the truth then you will be deceived and the meaning of deception is that you are not aware that you are deceived, so much so that you believe a lie. Your beliefs will be manifested in your life so if you believe a lie then you will live a lie.

Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinks within himself, so he is.

Whatever goes into your heart and mind will come out in your words and actions. For this reason the Lord says to watch over your heart with all diligence.

Proverbs 4:23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.

Fill your heart with what is good and good will flow from your mouth and life. Fill your heart and mind with trash and trash will flow from you.

Luke 6:45 The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.

Your heart is a treasure chest and what you put into it is what you treasure. If you value your relationship with the Lord and value what He values then you will put His Words in your heart and treasure them.

Psalm 119:9-11 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.
With all my heart I have sought You;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
Your word I have treasured in my heart,
That I may not sin against You.

Do you want the Lord? You must have a pure heart and clean hands. You must guard what goes into your heart. Do you want to come into His presence and know Him?

Psalm 24:3,4 Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
And who may stand in His holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood
And has not sworn deceitfully.

When you come into His presence then you will see Him and you will also see yourself for who you really are. You will no longer be deceived nor will you want to life up your soul to falsehood but will speak the truth. You will draw near to Him.

James 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Do you want to know the nearness of God? Do you want to know His sweet presence? It begins by spending time with Him in His Word and prayer and seeing Him. Then after seeing Him and allowing Him to cleanse your heart through His Word, you then confess your sin and draw near to Him.

John 15:3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

The nearness of God will be your good and you will see the goodness of the Lord. When you know Him then you will know the truth and the truth will change your life.

Psalm 73:28 But as for me, the nearness of God is my good;
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
That I may tell of all Your works.

You will want to talk about Him and tell others all of the wonderful things that He has done. If you find yourself defending your actions or wanting to go to movies where you know in your heart that Jesus would not go to then stop…is it worth it? The Bibles says that Eve was deceived and she paid a huge price for her sin. Would someone who wants to know the Lord want to be with you because of your clean hands and pure heart?

Psalm 101:6,7 My eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me;
He who walks in a blameless way is the one who will minister to me.
He who practices deceit shall not dwell within my house;
He who speaks falsehood shall not maintain his position before me.

Those who want the Lord will seek out others who want the Lord. Do you want to marry a godly man? Do you want godly friends? You must become a godly young lady. Be faithful to the Lord in all that you do and especially in what goes into your heart and mind. You can not have both the world and the Lord. If you try to have both then it is only a matter of time before your heart is deceived and you no longer will want or hear the truth, which is Jesus, for He said, “I am the way, the truth and the life”.

A Life that Chooses Life

The Lord presented His people with a choice many years ago and we are presented also with the same choice. We can either choose life or choose death.

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants,

If we do not intentionally choose life then we will be choosing death because that is our bent because of sin. Man chose death in the garden of Eden when He disobeyed God.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

That sinful choice was passed down through the generations to all of us. Left to ourselves we will choose sin, which means that we choose to be our own God and the end result is death.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Death is the curse that comes to us when we do not choose life. The only way that we can choose life is to choose Jesus, for He is life. When we choose Jesus it means that we choose to have Him be our God and rule our lives.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

When we choose life then we choose the life of Christ in us. We want Him to live through us in the power of the Holy Spirit. He always does what the Father desires and so if you choose Jesus Christ and life then you will do what He wills and that is, you will keep His commandments.

John 8:28 So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.

Jesus did nothing on His own initiative. When you choose life you choose Christ and a commitment to keep His commandments and do His will. The only way you can do this is to die to yourself and what you want so that you might live for Him and His will.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

It is a life of abiding in Him and obeying His commandments.

I John 3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

If you choose Him then He also will make known to others that you are His.

Matthew 2:49,50 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

How well do you know His commandments? He wants our love and devotion and these qualities are manifested in our life through keeping His commandments.

John 14:15 If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

Life is in Jesus Christ and His words are life. Choose life and you will choose Jesus Christ and the evidence of that choice will be obedience to Him.

A Life that Loves God

Jesus makes it very clear who loves Him. Love is not a feeling but love is an action of obedience.

John 14:23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.

If you are doing what you want or what your flesh desires and then talk about God’s grace then you are not loving God but you are mocking Him. He died for you, not so that you could do what you want but so that you would be free from the passions of your flesh so that you would do as you ought and thereby love God by keeping His commandments.

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.

Do not let your heart deceive you. God is not mocked. Whatever a person sows that will he reap. If you sow to the flesh then you will reap destruction.

Galatians 6:8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Eternal life is knowing Jesus, the only true God, and when you come into the knowledge of Him, an intimate knowledge, then you want to love Him. If you just know about Him then there is not the passion to love Him back.

I John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us.

If we know Him then we realize that everything else is rubbish in view of the surpassing greatness of knowing Him.

Philippians 3:8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

Once you find Jesus then you will be willing to sell all that you have and count it loss that you might gain Him.

Matthew 13:44 The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Moses knew the Lord and the Lord showed Him His ways.

Psalm 103:7 He made known His ways to Moses,
His acts to the sons of Israel.

Do you keep His Word? Do you know His ways? When we learn to obey His Word and walk in His ways then His love is perfected in us and we become more like Him. We also will know that we are in Him.

I John 2:5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:

We also will have the assurance that He is in us and that His Spirit abides in us.

I John 3:24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him.  We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

Romans 8:16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,

If He abides in us through His Spirit that He gives to us when we receive Him as our Lord and Savior then we are His child. If we are His child then we will want to keep His commandments. If we keep His commandments then we will abide in His love and will want to love Him more because of His great love for us.

A Life of Purpose

The Lord has given all of us a purpose on earth. When we fulfill the purpose for which we are created then our life will be full of meaning and we will live life to the fullest. Do you know your purpose in life? David served the purpose of God in his generation.

Acts 13:36 For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay;

Jesus fulfilled the work that the Lord had for Him to do.

John 17:4 I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.

If you belong to Him then you are His workmanship which He has created for His purposes. He has done the work and all you need to do is walk in the good works that He has prepared beforehand for you.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

Not only does the Lord have good works prepared beforehand for us but He wants us to be rich in good works.

I Timothy 6:18 Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

The Lord wants our reputation to be of one who does good. We represent Him and He went around doing good and He wants the same from us.

I Timothy 2:9,10 Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.

What is amazing about it all is that He is the One who does the good works. He has already prepared them for us to walk in them. He has also equipped us for what He calls us to do. He wants us to live by faith and be obedient to what He calls us to do. He wants us to enter into and share His joy. What has He called you to do? He takes you one step at a time. After you take the first step then He will show you the next step. You are taking a walk with Him and He is going before you. The Christian life is a walk…a walk with Jesus.

Isaiah 58:8 …And your righteousness will go before you;
The glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

You will be doing what is right and the fruit of it will follow after you. The fruit of obedience is righteousness.

John 15:8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.

If it is His work and it is done in faith and obedience then there will be fruit and He will be glorified. You will prove to be His disciple and you will have served the purpose of God in your generation. May He say that of all of us.

A Life that is Satisfied

Only the Lord can satisfy us. Sadly, we are often still like children and that is, we are often not satisfied. The Lord is the only One who can satisfy us. Satisfaction brings a peace and completeness with it. When you are satisfied you are content and happy.

Matthew 11:16,17 “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children,  and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

When we understand and live in His love then we will be satisfied. His lovingkindness is better than life,as we can be alive but miserable if we are not living in His love. In the same way, we can be married but if there is not love in the marriage then we are miserable. Love is what should define the marriage and the marriage covenant is what keeps the love in the relationship. His lovingkindness should define our life and relationship with Him.

Psalm 63:3-5 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips will praise You.
So I will bless You as long as I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
My soul is satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth offers praises with joyful lips.

He satisfies us and fills us. Everything else leaves us empty and not satisfied. Always seeking and but left feeling empty. This is hard to believe until you have experienced it but once you have tasted of the Lord and known Him and the love He has to offer then you realize that nothing can compare to Him. We often try to fill our lives and find our satisfaction in everything but Him…even in good things.

Psalm 107:9 For He has satisfied the thirsty soul, And the hungry soul He has filled with what is good.

When we walk with Him then we will be satisfied. When you find your self frustrated or not satisfied then there is the possibility that you are seeking something other than Him. You have gotten your eyes off of Jesus.

Psalm 65:4 How blessed is the one whom You choose and bring near to You To dwell in Your courts. We will be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Your holy temple.

When we have other gods that we look to for satisfaction then we are being unfaithful to the Lord. These false gods can represent power, influence and materialism.

Ezekiel 16:28.29 Moreover, you played the harlot with the Assyrians because you were not satisfied; you played the harlot with them and still were not satisfied. You also multiplied your harlotry with the land of merchants, Chaldea, yet even with this you were not satisfied.””

Money will also leave you feeling empty. Vanity means emptiness.

Ecclesiastes 5:10 He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.

Beauty is also vanity. Yet, how tempting it is to make it our god and pursue beauty. However, any god that we worship and seek will not only leave us empty but insecure.

Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.

Finally, you will never be satisfied even if you were to get everything that you set your eyes on…you still would want more.

Proverbs 27:20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, Nor are the eyes of man ever satisfied.

However, there is One who can satisfy us and fill us with what is good. Hunger and thirst for Him and you will be satisfied.

Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

 

 

A Life that Is Remembered

Jesus was very kind to women and treated them with equal respect as He treated the men. There were a number of women who followed Him and loved him while He was on earth.

Mark 15:41 When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and minister to Him; and there were many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.

The women also remained with Him, looking on from a distance, when He was crucified.

Mark 15:40 There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the Less and Joses, and Salome.

Mary Magdalene was probably the oldest of the women since she is mentioned first and so she had to be around fifty years old. Mary, mentioned here is the mother of Jesus and Salome is the mother of James and John and was Mary’s sister. Mary was either in her late forties or in her fifties since Jesus was thirty three years old at this time. The disciples honored these women and they were included in His ministry and afterwards.

Acts 1:14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

However, there was one woman who the Lord honored by mentioning how she will be remembered wherever the Gospel is preached.

Mark 14:3-9 While He was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the table, there came a woman with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head. But some were indignantly remarking to one another, “Why has this perfume been wasted?For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii, and the money given to the poor.” And they were scolding her. But Jesus said, “Let her alone; why do you bother her? She has done a good deed to Me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you wish you can do good to them; but you do not always have Me. She has done what she could; she has anointed My body beforehand for the burial. Truly I say to you, wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”

She did what she could to honor and minister to Him. Simple as that. She did what she could. Jesus did not ask her to do anything but out of her love for Him she did what she could. We all have different gifts and abilities. When we do what we can then Jesus takes note of it and remembers it. Don’t worry about doing something great for the Lord. Do what you can do. Whether it is giving a cup of cold water to a thirsty person or helping the fatherless in Jesus’ name, either in your hometown or across the world, just do what you can out of love for Him.

John 12:3 Mary then took a pound of very costly perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.

In all likelihood it was probably Mary, who sat at His feet, who anointed His head and his feet. The house was filled with the sweet fragrance of her love for Him. Also, since this happened before His crucifixion, her offering was a fragrant aroma to Him during His suffering. That is how it is, when we do what we can in our love for Him then the house of God is filled with a sweet fragrance and we are a fragrant aroma to Him.

Ephesians 5:2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Our love for Him is expressed in our love for each other. When we consider others more important than us and love others as He has loved us then we will be like Christ and an offering to God as a fragrant aroma.

II Corinthians 2:14 But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

The Lord is the One who leads us in victory in Christ and He is the One who manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. As we learn to walk with Him, He will lead us and make Himself known through us to the world. You are the one the Lord wants to use to make Himself known to a hurting world.