Tag: peace

Episode 3: The Holy Spirit

Everything You Need to Know (about God) You Can Learn in Sunday School Series

The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. These three make up the Holy Trinity. The first two of these are very easy to understand and when explained to children and adults there usually are very little questions. The third, The Holy Spirit, can baffle the minds of believers of any age. Hopefully, today I can explain it in a way that will at least help you understand who the Holy Spirit is and how your relationship with all three in the Holy Trinity is important to your walk in your faith. This explanation is not a deep theological explanation but one at a very high overview so that you can at least start to wrap your mind around the Holy Spirit.

Let’s start with the first two parts of the Holy Trinity:

The Father- God, our Heavenly Father

The Son- God’s Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior- the only way we can reach the Father

Now we are going to try to understand the Holy Spirit. The easiest way to start is we must understand the Good News of Jesus and why we have the Holy Spirit.

When I was teaching the lesson a few weeks ago we started by talking about what “the church” means. The children started out by answering with obvious explanations about the physical church building itself. Then we started talking through why we even have a “church” building in the first place. When did the first “church” start? What had to happen to start the belief in Christ and start the “Christian church” where followers gathered together?

Then we discussed how the “church” is not a place but it is the group of people who believe in Jesus Christ as their savior. The “church” was created as a way for us to learn about, praise and worship Jesus, as well hold each other accountable.

Children (and adults) that have been raised in church take our religion for granted. We don’t even consider how differently our lives would be and what a world without Christianity would be like. It shapes so many different aspects of our daily world. Children are alarmed when we remind them we would not have Christmas or Easter if Jesus was an ordinary man. We would not have church, Sunday school, VBS, Youth Group and the list goes on and on.

The Good News:

The reason we need to learn, praise and worship Jesus is because He was the Son of God (born of a virgin birth from Mary), He was crucified on the cross, died for our sins and rose from the grave on the third day. The payment for sin is death. The only way we can escape the payment of sin was for Jesus to pay for our sins. He was the perfect lamb that paid for our sins so that we do not have to.

He also was on earth for another 40 days until His “ascension” into heaven. When He left, He told the disciples that He would not leave them alone and that He would send the Holy Spirit to help them. The Holy Spirit would live in believers.

If you believe the Good News and invite Jesus into your heart the Holy Spirit resides in you too!

The Holy Spirit:

“for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/luk.12.12.NIV

He Teaches Us

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—”
‭‭John‬ ‭14‬:‭16‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.14.16.NIV

He Helps Us

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.”
‭‭John‬ ‭16‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.16.13.NIV

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.8.26.NIV

He Makes Us Strong (when we are weak)

“And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭27‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.8.27.NIV

He Connects us to the Father (can help us pray when we don’t know what to say)

““When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.”
‭‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.15.26.NIV

He Tells Us Things About Jesus- (helps us to understand the Bible and God)

These are just some of the ways the Holy Spirit assists those of us who have invited Jesus Christ into our hearts. Scripture mentions the Holy Spirit from Genesis until Revelations.

Another way that I have explained the Holy Spirit to children is when we have the Holy Spirit we can listen for this voice to steer us in the right way.

Have you ever seen a cartoon where the character is battling with a big decision and on one should they have an angel directing them on the right path and the devil directing them on the wrong path? It seems funny as part of the cartoon but I like to think of the Holy Spirit in this way. He is there to teach us, help us, make us strong, connect us to the Father when we pray and can help us understand the Bible and what we need to know about God the Father and Jesus.

I hope this helps you understand the Holy Spirit more than you did or to share it with someone who could use some help understanding.

Have a Blessed Day!

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** I am not theologically trained. This is just my explanation at a very basic level and hoping to make relatable for children and adults to understand to grow their relationship with God. The literature from my Sunday School class is from D6 – Elementary Teaching Guide through D6 Family Ministry – I have made all attempts to not reference their materials directly but they are great lessons and this is what I use in my class. I try to take as much from my own learnings from the Holy Bible in addition to the lessons for this blog. **

Episode 2: How to Pray

Everything You Need to Know (about God) You Can Learn in Sunday School Series

When we read the Bible, this is the simplest way for God to speak to us. When we pray to God, this is the simplest way for us to talk to Him. Any relationship needs both sides to participate to make it work. If we want to grow our relationship with any friend we have to communicate with them or the friendship becomes one-sided and falls apart.

Praying may seem simple enough for a lot of believers – but for some children and adults it is very intimidating. When we pray in my Sunday school class it may be in many different ways: we bless the food (when we remember), we take prayer requests and we pray for the class for the upcoming week when we dismiss. Some Sundays I may fail for us to pray as much as I would like because we are trying to get as much of our lesson in as we can in a short amount of time! Our Sunday school classes aren’t that long and we try to accomplish a lot- which makes it’s very similar to our busy lives outside of class. Some days I may get to pray a lot and others not enough. Prayer is probably one of the most important topics I teach the children over and over the most. It is important to build the foundation of a healthy prayer life no matter the age of the believer.

Prayer is the one thing we do every class no matter the topic. It’s one of the core principles along with the story of the Good News (the story of Christ as our savior – His death, burial and resurrection) that is woven into each class. Whatever the lesson one of the foundations of learning about having a relationship with God is learning how to pray.

I think that as adults we over complicate prayer. We hear people say elaborate and complex prayers that use lots of large theological words and we feel we can’t compare in our prayers – which then dampers our prayer life. This is not what God wants for us at all. We may think God wants us to say certain words or to have everything in our lives straight when we pray. In reality, I believe God wants the exact opposite. God wants us to come to Him and pray to Him not just over the big things but especially the small things in life. He wants to be our best friend so we turn to Him and confide in Him always.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/php.4.6.NIV

I can sometimes be a very nervous/worrisome person and stress about little trivial things. This verse has helped me greatly over the years to know that I should turn to God and pray about anything I am worried about throughout the day. I have noticed I have become less stressed and less chaotic since I started turning these little things I’ve to Him. It has also helped grow my faith in Him tremendously as well.

At the end of the Sunday school lesson today I asked the kids in class to pair up and pray together just as they did in the early church. I quickly realized that they were intimidated and didn’t know where to start. Even children in their purest season (especially school aged) become self conscious about prayer. Like anything else sometimes it needs to be taught in a super simple way with an example given and then they know how to follow. I outlined a simple way to pray for them on the board and then I gave them an example prayer for the class.

This is an easy way to start your prayer life and it uses the letters that spell PRAY as a way to remember. Sometimes I get overwhelmed with life but know I need to talk to God. I use this way myself especially when I don’t know where to start:

P – R – A – Y

  • P – Praise- Give God praise for good things in your life. This is a good time to thank Him for any blessings big or small. It’s not a coincidence that this is first so that we can can give thanks before we ask for more. Everyone, including God, wants to be appreciated.
  • R – Repent – We all sin and make mistakes. This is a great time to talk to God about things you feel guilty about or things you need help with to be a better person. It’s just as easy as saying “I’m sorry for….”
  • A – Ask – This is where we can ask for concerns for others. This is very important at this point in the prayer so we can make our requests known for others before we ask for ourselves. We may run out of time or forget others if we start with ourselves. Love others as we love ourselves.
  • Y – Yourself/ Yes – This can stand for two things- this is where you can ask something for yourself (after praying for others first). The Y can also stand for Yes as a reminder that God can do all things and we know He has the power to do anything!
How to Pray using the letters P – R – A – Y

Jesus also gave us an example in the Bible for how to pray. You can use His example or you can start with the P-R-A-Y version which can be found above. Either way, choose one and grow your relationship with God.

The following verses you may be very familiar with and it’s also know as the Lord’s Prayer:

““This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. ’ For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭9‬-‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/111/mat.6.9-15.NIV

I hope this adds a simple way to add to your prayer life. If you don’t have much of a prayer life right now I hope this helps you start. I also really enjoy writing my prayers down in a journal or placing them in a prayer jar. Placing a date on the prayer also is an extra blessing to reflect on all that God has done on my life at a later date!

Have a BLESSED day!

Please Like, Share & Follow to receive the next episode.

** I am not theologically trained. This is just my explanation at a very basic level and hoping to make relatable for children and adults to understand to grow their relationship with God. The literature from my Sunday School class is from D6 – Elementary Teaching Guide through D6 Family Ministry – I have made all attempts to not reference their materials directly but they are great lessons and this is what I use in my class. I try to take as much from my own learnings from the Holy Bible in addition to the lessons for this blog. **

Happy Good Friday

“The slaughtering of the lambs at twilight”

I have celebrated Easter my entire life. I have also always know the true meaning of Easter as I am sure you all do also. The last few years I have tried to study the Bible more and more but it still amazes me with this realizations that blow my mind and could not be “coincidence” but only part of God’s plan for our Savior.

The week before Jesus’ death as we know as Holy Week were the events where Jesus returned to Jerusalem for Passover.

Something I never put all together until today was that on that Thursday night after the Last Supper was the beginning of the Jewish Friday – our Good Friday) was also deemed as the “slaughter of the lambs at twilight”. Every household was supposed to sacrifice a perfect lamb.

And you shall offer the Passover sacrifice to the Lord your God, … at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset …,

Deuteronomy 16:12

Please Let that sink in…

I always knew Jesus was our ultimate sacrifice our perfect lamb but I did not understand that the night Judas turned him over to the Roman soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane was the same day that the Jewish people were to make a literal sacrifice ….
of a perfect lamb 🐑.

Maybe I had missed that all of these years and didn’t connect it. Maybe I had learned it before but my faith wasn’t strong enough to understand.

He knew He had to be sacrificed to pay for our sins.
He was the perfect lamb 🐑.
He took the place for all of us.
He created a path for us to be born again.

Coincidence? I think not..

Remember the ultimate sacrifice that was made for us all- we just have to accept Him

Holy Week

Day 2 Holy Monday

Happy Holy Week! Yesterday as we all know was Palm Sunday. If you want more activities for Palm Sunday please visit my post at http://www.tiffanyshepherd.com/palmsunday for scriptures, free coloring sheets, activities, crafts, puzzles, songs and more.

Today is Holy Monday, the second day of Holy Week. Todays post will be much shorter. I will try to post each day this week activities and scriptures for your family to celebrate!

Holy Monday is usually celebrated as the day that Jesus cleared/cleansed the temples.

Here are the scriptures and where else to find them:

When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”
Every day he was teaching at the temple. But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him. Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words. Luke 19: 45-48 NIV

Matthew 21:12-16; Mark 11:15-18; John 2:13-16

I couldn’t find a picture but something we have done before is take construction paper, write, ” My house will be a house of prayer.” or the whole scripture. We took popsicle sticks and made a table turned over and glued coins to the paper.

Here are some coloring sheet links:

http://www.sermons4kids.com/cleansing_temple_abda_colorpg.htm

Holy Week in Handprints

Jesus Cleanses the Temple

http://www.kidssundayschool.com/1483/preschool/jesus-cleansing-the-temple.php

I’ll be adding more tomorrow for Tuesday of Holy Week. Jesus teaches in the Temple.

Thanks and have a Blessed day!

Finding Peace among the Chaos

When everything seems to happen at once, can we find true peace?

I have always wondered what someone that does not speak English thinks when they hear words from our language. I have never been fluent in any other language but have taken courses in Spanish during high school. While on our honeymoon in Mexico I loved that I could understand this other language. When I was a very young girl we had a satellite dish that allowed us to watch programs from Canada. I would watch Sesame Street in French and then later in the day in English. Even then, I thought that words in other languages seemed so much more interesting than the boring words that I knew. As my faith has grown and my eagerness to study the “Word” my love for the Hebrew language has continued to fascinate me. It amazes me how scriptures when traced back to Hebrew or Greek can take on much more character. It’s like the words in English are black and white but when they are in their original form they have a million colors to describe the word.

Have you ever been acquainted with a word and then all of a sudden it seems to start popping up all around you? It may be that you have never taken notice and its always been there. Or, it may be that God is placing this word in your life so that you will take notice. I have recently had this happen to me and the word has literally brought me “peace”.

A few days ago I was reading a reading plan in my Bible app. The word shalom started to appear to me in all sorts of ways. I am very familiar with this word but wanted to remind myself of its meaning. This beautiful Hebrew word is used many different ways. In English the simplest translation is peace. As you get to know the word more intimately it means so much more. Then, today, I was listening to a radio program during my lunch hour. I was sitting in my car, alone, eating a salad, and the preacher on the radio starts a whole sermon on shalom! I know what you are thinking. That’s just a coincidence. Let me tell you why I think not. Everyone goes through peaks and valleys in their life of trials. Right now, my little family is in one of the valleys. Sometimes we have obstacles that come and go. I feel like the valleys sometimes are so hard to get out of because the trials are not alone. It seems they are usually accompanied by other trials. Sometimes they can all even be equally large trials all happening at the same time. We are in one of these times. The amazing thing is that I have felt a supernatural peace during it all. Several years ago if I would have experienced this amount of trials I would have felt like my life was in total CHAOS! As this word kept appearing I know it was God letting me know that the peace I felt was not just any peace, but– Shalom.

Wikipedia describes Shalom as a Hebrew word meaning peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, prosperity, welfare and tranquility and can be used idiomatically to mean both hello and goodbye.

http://www.wikipedia.com

I have prayed and been praying about these different obstacles. These are things that I really have no control over. In my past I used to worry and struggle with things that I really had no control over. I would work myself into a hot mess and tear my stomach to pieces. As my faith has grown, I have realized that some things in life we do not have control. The only one that has control in these times is God. I have learned to pray and fully trust God within these times and know that He has a purpose and a plan. This is another one of these things that is sometimes easier to say than to do. But I try my best to “do”. One of my favorite verses comes to mind when thinking of these times. Actually, I have this on the wall in my dining room. My sweet momma pointed it out to me this weekend, as it spoke to her also during these trials.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

If you have read any of my other articles you know that I have found comfort in different names for God. During this time I find comfort in the name Jehovah Shalom. Because He is the God of Peace. He is the Lord in Peace. He is the Lord our Peace.

In closing, I hope that the next time that you feel stressed or when things are out of your control, instead of giving into the chaos, please pray and know that we can have peace. We can have peace when we trust in the only one that is the God of our Peace.

Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20 NIV

God bless and Shalom

Featured

Prepare your heart for Easter

7 ways to prepare your heart for Easter. Is your heart ready?

The signs, songs and even smells of Christmas start before Halloween candy is handed out. One of my favorite stores starts setting up for the season before school supplies are stocked. By the time that Thanksgiving rolls around we are all making our decorating plans and have already started making lists of presents to buy for family and friends. Hopefully among all of the festivities we find time to celebrate the real reason for the season. Even though Christmastime is most likely the most hectic time of year for most families I would hope to think that most find ways to prepare their hearts and their family to remember the reason that we celebrate. We find different ways to open our hearts and give more freely to the needy than other times of the year. We find more cheer and joy as the holiday approaches. We find ourselves putting ourselves in Mary and Joseph’s shoes and wonder how it must have been for them. We study the miraculous encounters that they had with angels and how God protected them and baby Jesus before and after His birth. It truly is a time for celebration. We can appreciate the wonderful gift of the baby Jesus to the world and all of the blessings in our lives.

Growing up I suppose I preferred Christmas over Easter because of the obvious reasons. Now, as my faith has grown so has my love for the Holy Holiday of Easter.  Being very honest there was been years that Easter seemed to come out of nowhere and I wasn’t prepared spiritually or mentally for the special day. I would say that I am not alone. As we grow in our faith and our age we grow to appreciate the true meaning of Easter and all that it stands for. No matter which church, denomination or affiliation we have in Christianity we all have Jesus as our Lord and Savior in common. We are all Christians because of what happened during Passover over 2,000 years ago. it wasn’t for Easter, we wouldn’t have our religion. If it wasn’t for Easter, we wouldn’t have Christmas to celebrate either. Without Easter there would be no promise of salvation.

Seeing Easter through the eyes of my girls and being able to teach them the importance of Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday has also given me a different appreciation for the celebration. My husband and I have tried to make sure they understand the religious side of Easter much more than the other stuff that goes along with the holiday. The last several years I have tried different ways to prepare my own heart for Easter. We as a family do different things to prepare ourselves for Christmas so why not do things to prepare for Easter? Slowly, we are starting to incorporate new Easter traditions to make the season more religious in our home.

That being said, there are so many ways to prepare our hearts also for Easter. There is no right way and no wrong way. You or your church may already have traditions that you do to prepare. You may have started your own traditions. You may be like me a few years ago and are feeling the need to try something new this year. We are still a little less than one month away so its not too late. When studying scriptures recently it occurred to me that He has so many teachings already outlined for us to help us prepare. I have selected a few that I feel would be beneficial. Here are 7 teachings from Jesus, Himself, found in the scriptures that will give you a great start:

#1: Salt of the earth

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

Matthew 5:13 NIV

As Christians are we trying to fit in with the world? Are we trying to appear to be no different than other people? Jesus wants us to stay “salty”. If we lose our saltiness then we are not trying to change or influence others around us to follow Him. During this time before Easter ask yourself if you are “salty” enough. You are the salt of the earth. So, be salty.

#2: Light of the world

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

 

Matthew 5:14-16 NIV

These verses just make me smile. I remember the first time I read these verses as an adult and realized they were the inspiration for the song I have sang my entire life! Are we going to hide our “light” under a bowl or a bushel? I hope the answer is “No!” What better time than the weeks leading up to Easter to let our lights shine. This should be the easiest time of year for our lights to shine. Spring is almost here and in my opinion the most important Holiday of the year is approaching. We should be beaming with light! Let our good deeds make us shine and our love for Him light our way. Jesus doesn’t want us to be ashamed of our faith. He wants us to put it up where others can see it. Try to be more BOLD and see how you are rewarded.

#3: Anger

“You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.

Matthew 5: 21 &22 NIV

This is a subject that Jesus obviously took very seriously. In some Bibles the heading for this teaching is actually titled “Murder” instead of “Anger”. He considered these two things to be very similar. There are many scriptures in the Bible that references controlling our anger. After studying these verses, this is something that I, myself, will be sure to spend more time in prayer about. Hopefully the closer we get to Easter the less anger we all will have in our hearts. My heart feels more ready just thinking about it.

#4: Loving our enemies

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5: 43-48 NIV

This is another subject that may be easier said than done in certain circumstances. Jesus knows that it is easy for us to love others that love us. That makes perfect sense. The people that we have the hardest time loving are those that don’t share those warm fuzzy feelings for us. Sometimes these are the people we feel like no matter what we do it never gets any better. When we have tried our hardest and get no where with them, this is where He wants us to start praying for them. If you have never tried this before I highly recommend it. It can be hard to do at first but trust me. Well, trust Him. I have tried it and it really is amazing. When we pray for someone it does magical things for the way we feel about them and they way they start treating us. Give it a try..

#5: Give to the needy

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Matthew 6: 1-4

If you love to give around Christmas time then this should be as easy peasy as lemon squeezey for you! It’s also a great time to do some spring cleaning and find a way to give it to someone in need. The tricky part is to keep it secret. Yes, usually someone has to know because that’s how the transaction is made. Outside of that lets see if we can get away with not telling anyone…extra. I know this one is difficult to understand because if we are trying to be a “light” by letting others see our good deeds then we need to tell someone if we give to others, right? This is a hard test. Let’s try it and see what blessings He sends our way.

#6: Prayer

“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Matthew 6:5-8 NIV

How happy do you think it makes our Heavenly Father when we simply just pray? How happy does it make us when we take the time to just pray and He blesses us? Jesus loves for us to do stuff in secret and He proves it again in these verses. He already knows our heart. He already knows what we are going to say. So just say it, in prayer. To help prepare our hearts let’s see if we can spend more time in prayer. Pray in secret. If you need an example He gives us a great one to get started with:

After this manner therefore pray ye:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Matthew 6: 9-13 KJV

#7: Asking, Seeking, Knocking

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

Matthew 7: 7&8 NIV

These verses can apply to several different aspects of your life at different times. If you are thinking of giving your life to the Lord, this applies. If you have already given your heart to the Lord then this applies also. It is a lesson on persistence. We have to keep asking, keep seeking and keep knocking. He wants us to keep doing these things. How else can we grow our faith and our knowledge? If we become a Christian and then never seek to understand what He wants it will be hard for us to find out. He wants us to keep learning and to stay curious and interested in the Word and His teachings.

I hope that you have been inspired to prepare your heart before Easter is here this year. I tried to keep the teachings of Jesus within the same book of Matthew. I did this on purpose. Most of these are found in other books as well. My hope is that you will open your Bible and read these as well as His other teachings. He would love for you to continue to “Seek” and find these teachings in Mark, Luke and John as well.

If you have enjoyed this please like, share and follow below. I hope that you have your most amazing Easter yet and are able to pass some Easter inspiration along to others in your life.

Have a BLESSED day!