"How Great Thou Art"

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable." Psalm 145:3

 

This morning our devotional is mainly going to be a song that has been on my heart and I have heard sung several different times this week. It is a "classic". Many of you are familiar with it, can sing each word of it and love it. 

 

As you read the words of the song I want to ask you a question. Do you ever take time to just tell the Lord had great He is? Do you ever just meditate on His greatness, His power, His love? Or does your relationship with Him primarily consist of your needs and wants? By that I mean is the only time you acknowledge Him is when you have a need or are in trouble. The Lord is Great, He is Awesome, He is Omnipotent, He is indescribable and He is worthy of more than just your requests.... He is worthy of your praise.

 

Take some time today to "sing" His praises. Tell Him how great He is and don't ask for anything. Spend the time giving Him something this time instead of always asking Him for something.

 

Have a great day. God is worthy of more than just your prayer requests. He is worthy of your praise.

 

"How Great Thou Art"

 

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"Seeking The Kingdom First- part 2"

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

 

Earlier in the chapter Jesus gives us the model prayer and begins it with-- "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." (verses 9, 10) Then He tells us how manifesting the will of God in our lives is possible. He tells us it is possible through "not" doing some things: Don't hold on to unforgiveness; don't be a hypocrite; don't lay up earthly treasures; don't try to serve God and mammon; don't be anxious about the necessities of life; don't put your heart on material things. Then He sums up for us what He just told us not to do and tells us what to do-- "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." 

 

When we seek first God's kingdom, then all the material necessities that we tend to seek after will be provided for us. And among those things that are added is the manifestation/accomplishment of the will of God being done through our lives. 

 

In order for the will of God to be accomplished in our lives, we have to make seeking Him our priority and not seeking after material things. We have to put Him first above everything else. How can His will be done if we aren't placing our attention, affection and focus on the kingdom? How will it be done if we have a divided heart- divided between God and mammon? How will God's will be accomplished through us if we are seeking our own desires and not His? It won't. Jesus told us and showed us by example how to accomplish the will of God in our lives. "For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." (John 6:38) He sought first the kingdom and not His own will or desire. 

 

Have a great day. The key to God's will being accomplished is your and my life is that we are seeking Him and not seeking after our own desires, wants and lusts.

 

For further reading:

Matthew 6

 

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"Seeking The Kingdom First"

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

 

The other day we talked about how we should seek/acknowledge God first in all we do. We should seek Him first before we make any decision-- not last after we have already decided what to do. While this is true and Biblical, seeking first the kingdom of God is more than just praying about a matter before you make any decision about it.

 

If you go back and read the whole chapter of Matthew 6, you will discover that in context Jesus is talking about your "affections"-- those things that you seek after, those things that you desire, those things that capture your attention, those things that you set your heart upon. 

 

In that chapter Jesus gives us the model prayer and concludes it by saying, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Then He makes a statement-- "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." From there He begins to expound on and warn us about where we place the desires of our hearts and what we place them on.

 

Jesus warns us not to seek after material things-- food, clothing, money, etc. But encourages us to seek after the things of the kingdom. The heathen seek after these things (wealth, fame, prestige, material things) but we are to seek God. Our first priority should be to seek God and what pleases Him-- not what pleases us. We are to seek His kingdom-- His will, His plan, His purposes. We are to seek to live righteous, holy, surrendered, obedient lives. We are to seek to glorify Him, make Him known to others, fulfill His commission, do what He has called us to do and live to honor Him. When we will seek God and His will first, when we put His kingdom first and place ourselves last, we won't have to seek after the necessities of life, He will provide for our needs. 

 

So are you seeking God and asking Him what His will is before you make a decision? And are you seeking God's kingdom or seeking your own fleshly desires? Do they have your heart? Or does He have your heart? Are you setting your heart on material things that perish with time, that moths eat up and rust corrodes? Or are you setting your heart on eternal things that never pass away?

 

Have a great day. Are you seeking your own desires? Or are you seeking the kingdom-- God's desires? 

 

For further reading:

Matthew 6

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"His Promises"

"This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24
 

We can rejoice and be glad today because we have wonderful and precious promises that have been made to us by our loving Lord. (2 Peter 1:4)

 

We can rejoice today because He has promised to never leave us nor forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5)

We can rejoice today because He has promised to meet and supply all our need. (Philippians 4:19)

We can rejoice today because He has promised to fight our battles for us. (Exodus 14:14)

We can rejoice today because He has promised to direct our steps as we acknowledge Him in all we do. (Proverbs 3:6)

We can rejoice today because He has promised to go before us and make the way straight. (Isaiah 45:2)

We can rejoice today because He has promised to give us everything we need that pertains to life and godliness. (2 Peter 1:3)

We can rejoice today because He has promised us abundant life. (John 10:10)

We can rejoice today because He loves us and we are His children. (John 3:16; 1 John 3:1)

We can rejoice today because He will not withhold any good thing from us. (Psalm 84:11)

We can rejoice today because He has a plan for our lives and knows how to bring that plan to pass as we yield and surrender our lives to Him. (Jeremiah 29:11)

 

We can rejoice today because the Lord has made hundreds of more promises to us because He loves us and cares about us. He cares about everything in your life. He cares about what you are going through. He cares about those things that affect you. He cares about even the smallest thing-- such as the number of hairs on your head. He has made you promises that pertain to every area of your life because He does love you. Trust Him. Trust His promises. He would not have made them if He had not meant them, and had not meant to fulfill them in your life.

 

Have a great day. We can rejoice today because of the promises of God, and His faithfulness to keep them. 

 

For further reading:

Matthew 10:30

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry

"Seek God First"

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

 

Many people tend to think that "seeking God first" means they are to pray first thing in the morning, when they first get up. But that is only part of what it means. You should start your day seeking the Lord-- you should not start it before you have. But seeking the Lord first is something we do continually throughout the whole day--- actually it is something that we should do 24/7.

 

We should seek Him first when faced with a decision, and not make any decision without having first sought Him about it. We should seek Him first when we need wisdom concerning a matter that we are faced with. We should seek Him first and find out what His will is before we undertake to do anything. We should seek Him first before we make the choice to go in a certain direction. 

 

Abraham did not seek God first about whether or not he should take Sarah's handmaid Hagar, the result was that he wound up with an Ishmael and a lot problems because of it. David did seek God first when he and his men got to Ziklag, and the result was that they defeated the enemy and regained their families and possessions. 

 

It is not in our ability to direct our own steps. We don't have heavenly wisdom to always know what the right thing to do is, we have earthly wisdom which is flawed. We don't have the insight to see into the future and know what the outcome of a decision we make will be. But God posses all wisdom, all knowledge, He is able to see ahead, He knows the outcome before the beginning of the matter.  Seeking Him first-- in everything-- will save us a lot of grief and heartache. It will give us the wisdom, the grace, the understanding, the strength, (everything we need) to make the right decisions at all times. 

 

Have a great day. Seeking God is more than just praying to Him when you first get up in the morning. It means you seek Him before you do anything or make any decision. 

 

For further reading:

Genesis 16:1-4

1 Samuel 30

Jeremiah 10:23

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.