Month: October 2019

Matthew 7:7
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

James 4:2-3
You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

Word Study

Ask – G160 αἰτέω aiteō, to ask, ask for (of other humans or God), demand

Thoughts…

Have you ever heard the Frank Sinatra song  ”I did it My Way”? I really think these verses are the root of this song. God tells us in Matthew to ask. Why would He tell us to just ask? Well because He doesn’t want us to have to live all on our own. That would be such a lonely life. 

Then in James, He tells us we are fighting and quarreling because we are trying to do it all on our own. All we have to do is ask. Hmmm…sounds a lot like Matthew. However, there is a little more in James. 

God goes on to tell us when we ask we do not get what we want sometimes because we are asking selfishly. It isn’t that God doesn’t want to answer us and give us what we want, but what happens when you give your child every little thing they ask for? Yep, you end up with a spoiled child and you can give them things that aren’t good for them.

These verses do not contradict themselves. We are supposed to ask. Sometimes we just need to be prepared for the answer to be “No”.

 Copyright © 2019 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.

James 1:20
because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

Word Study

Righteousness- G1466 δικαιοσύνη dikaiosynē, righteousness, what is right, justice, the act of doing what is in agreement with God’s standards, the state of being in proper relationship with God

Anger- G3973 ὀργή orgē, wrath, anger, the feeling and expression of strong displeasure and hostility; this can range from petty human anger to the righteous anger of God toward sinful disobedience

Thoughts…

Let’s take a moment about anger.  I want you to think about the last time you were angry. I don’t care if you think you were wrong or right. Just think about that anger for a moment. What provoked it? What kept it going? If I was a betting person, I would bet both of those answers had something specific to do with you. You felt you were wronged by someone else. No judgment here! I would be in that exact same spot. As a matter of fact, I cam in that spot right now.

I am angry at someone because of something I believe they did to me. I am all caught up on what they did. Not why they did it or how they feel about it. The more I think about, the more I stew on it and get even angrier. This is not righteous anger.

You see even if I am right and this person did this to me on purpose just to make my life miserable, my hanging onto this anger is not what God wants. It is not justice or right.

Our human anger tends to lead to unforgiveness. It produces more anger and never truly let’s go. It does not prude a righteousness that God desires. I am not saying I don’t have the right to get angry. I don’t have the right to hang on to that anger. I have to let it go. It doesn’t produce anything good or righteous.

Copyright © 2019 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.

Psalms 25:8-11
Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful toward those who keep the demands of his covenant. For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

Word Study

Ways – H2006 דֶּרֶךְ derek, way, path, route, road, journey, conduct, way of life

Thoughts

Have you ever gone somewhere new and just drove without using a map or getting directions? Have you ever gotten lost? I know the old joke about men never pulling over for directions, but I know plenty of women who refuse to also!

Life is a big journey. God has created a map and sometimes we get off the path. Good News! God always provides GPS! Like OnStar, He is always listening. He is ready to give you an alternate route, exit ramp or even let you U-turn to get you where you need.

Maybe you are not lost. Maybe you are on the right road. God will even reassure you. Not sure which way to turn up ahead? Yep, He has you covered there too.

God’s ways are laid out for us. As Dorothy was once told, ”Just follow the yellow brick road!” God’s path leads us right to Him, however, He is always walking it with us.

 Copyright © 2019 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.

Ezra 3:11
With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:
“He is good;
his love toward Israel endures forever.”
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

Word Study

Toward – H6584 marker of relationship: spatial: on, upon, over, against, toward; logical: because of, according to; temporal: on, when, during

Thoughts…

We have been talking this week about God’s love. We know He loves ALL. He has compassion for us and not only will His love last forever, but He loves you so much it hurts.

Today, I want to talk about His love toward you. The word toward has to do with a relationship of items. Such as you can lean toward the door. That is a spatial relationship between you and the door. It can also be a logical choice. I am leaning towards going on vacation instead of working all summer. Toward is also used to show time or a temporal state. Towards the end of the game, they finally put Mark in to play. 

So how do any or all of these apply to God’s love for you? It is simple:

God is always leaning towards you and wanting to have a relationship with you.

God is always leaning toward finding ways to reach you instead of letting you keep falling away.

You can count on God to always love you even towards the end of your life.

Copyright © 2019 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.

1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Word Study

Endures

1. suffer (something painful or difficult) patiently.

2. remain in existence; last.

Thoughts…

Have you heard the phrase, “I love you so much it hurts”? Have you ever felt that way about someone? I have. I am a mom and there have been times something happened to one of my kids and it quite literally hurt me because I love them so much.

1 Chronicles uses the word ’endures’ when describing God’s love for you. Endures means to suffer or to remain in existence. Now I know you are immediately jumping to His love lasts forever and you wouldn’t be wrong. However, can you see how He suffers for you also? 

He is in pain when you are in pain. He gets hurt when you disobey. Do you think it was easy to see Jesus beaten, tortured, and hung on a cross? God suffered through that pain because He loved you. 

Yes, God’s love will last forever because frankly He loves you so much it hurts!

Copyright © 2019 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved

Exodus 34:6
And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, (NIV)

Word Study

Compassionate 

adjective 

feeling or showing sympathy and concern for others.

Thoughts…

Yesterday, I told you God loves ALL of you. There is no one anywhere that He does not love. Today, I wanted to show you His compassion.

God is not some far off being with no idea who you are or what you are going through. He doesn’t just rule over you never thinking about you.

God is full of compassion towards you.  He is sympathetic and concerned about every little detail about you.  He never leaves you or stops loving you. You are His precious child.  His love and compassion have no end. 

God doesn’t want to be just a being you worship. He wants to be close to you. He wants to be apart of every little thing in your life. He is waiting to hear from you. Isn’t it time to pull up a chair and have a nice long talk with your best friend?

Copyright © 2019 Tabetha Frick All Rights Reserved.