Posts Tagged ‘seek’

For the past year (plus) Sage and Stephanie have been sowing seed weekly into the lives of the 15-20 middle school students that choose to join together for a meal and the teaching of the written Word of our God. The food is always good; God’s Word is faithfully opened and taught. Because we live in a blessed country, that isn’t the only meal those young men and women receive each week. Sadly, for some of them, it is the only Word they feed on.

Last evening Sage challenged all of the young men and women gathered at his house to seek a deeper relationship with God. He then provided time for them to follow the Scriptural principle of seeking with an expectation of finding.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Matthew 7:7-8 ESV)

“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” (Luke 11:9-10 ESV)

“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore…” (Jeremiah 29:12-14a ESV)

As music played in the background, the gathered company fell silent (that in itself is a miracle) and then the seeds that have been sown began to show some buds. Words were spoken from Philippians, Psalms, Titus, Joel, Luke, Hosea, Habakkuk, more Psalms, 1 Timothy, 1 Corinthians, John… All around the room God’s Word was being read by seekers after His will. The seeking and the speaking is real, but…

In regard to seeking evidence of God, Ronnie spoke of God being revealed in nature (consistent with Psalm 19:1-6 and Romans 1:20). God’s written Word obviously reveals His glory and character and His desire to be known (the young men and women gathered at Sage and Stephanie’s understand this concept to be true). Empty hearts and active consciences reveal that God’s laws have been written on our hearts as a reminder that we need Him. But…

When I was a young man older adults kept telling me to “live for God,” or to “take up my cross, daily,” or if I questioned them about what that meant, they might say, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Although I yearned for a visible example of how to follow after God with my whole heart, none of the adults in my life could say, like Paul said, “Live like I live, follow my example, this really works and I can show you how.” Sometimes I would be told, “You will understand better when you are older.” Well, I am older! I am still yearning to see those examples lived out in front of me. What I understand as an older Christian (Chrustian?) is that God is good and I am not. I understand the struggle that Paul writes about in Romans and I realize: that is what we must be willing to share with the younger men and women in our lives. It isn’t ‘us’ and ‘them’ but just ‘us.’ To successfully walk in Christ, we must transparently walk in Christ. We ‘Chrustians’ have the same struggles as the younger Christians. We keep getting in the way of full commitment because we put ourselves above God, or think that we can reserve some aspects of our lives for our own control while yielding select corners of our lives to the Lordship of Christ. We struggle because we want to walk in the Spirit and in the flesh.

As Moses was getting ready to pass the baton to Joshua he exhorted the congregation to “choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” (Deuteronomy 30:19b NIV)

As Joshua was releasing the soldiers from the tribes East of the Jordan to return home he warned them, “But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul.” (Joshua 22:5 NIV)

But… I think it is time for us ‘Chrustians’ to stop just giving advice if we aren’t living advice. That doesn’t mean that we have to be perfect before we can speak into younger Christian’s lives; it just means we are further in the struggle and, if we are willing to be transparent, we can offer what we continue to learn while we learn it.

Some Sage advice: seek God with your whole heart, and then don’t hide the process. Are you being trained in the Way? Are you training others to follow hard after God with word and deed? Can any of us say, “Seek God in the manner that you see me seeking God.”?

Steve shared a list of thoughts, from George Müller, that we should consider while attempting the process of discovering God’s will in our life and work.  He said to write it down; here is the list in case you weren’t able to find a pen during this morning’s sermon.

1. Surrender your will
2. Don’t depend on your feelings
3. Seek the Holy Spirit’s will through the Word of God
4. Note the providential circumstances
5. Pray
6. Wait

Let us learn to discern God’s will and His timing.

During His sermon on the mount, Jesus exhorts us to “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness.”  James tells us to draw near to God and He will draw near to us. The author of Hebrews proclaims, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (NIV)

Do we believe in the Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us enough to earnestly seek Him? Do we believe in the faithful and just God that chooses to forgive and cleanse us and declare us righteous? Or are we like the voice from Psalm 10:4 who in his pride  does not seek Him;  in all his thoughts there is no room for God?