All tagged Seeking
Does God’s will for you seem like a total mystery to you that can’t be resolved, or understood? Do you pray for Him to reveal it to you, but hear only silence? Well, the will of God for you is not meant to remain a mystery, it is as certain as the blood of Christ, as complete as our forgiveness from sin, and we have no part in determining it... It is totally in support of God’s purpose and is made known to us through His grace which flows through Jesus Christ; facilitated by the Holy Spirit.
Do you seek God, and follow after Jesus Christ like a runner who sweats and remains nearly out of breath as he runs to stay up with the others in a race, or do you simply run because you must? There are many things that motivate us to seek after God, so ask yourself what it is about finding Him that keeps you running when you are nearly out of breath, seeking when your legs grow weak, and Following after Him when most would faint, or give up from sheer exhaustion. The Church of Christ is full of runners, but what motivates each of them to run?
When we have begun our study of the teachings of Jesus Christ, and the Word of God, have we committed ourselves to obeying and following what we find there by loving them deeply, or do we pursue these things as a matter of curiosity? Are we wanting to have a command of scripture, or to allow it to have command over us? Our motivation in learning determines what we gain by it. So how do we search the Word, and sift through the Gospel? Do we simply gain intellectually, or by a motivation founded in love do we gain eternity?
Are you seeking God right now? Perhaps you have known Him, but due to some disappointment you have wandered away into the desert and don’t know how to find Him again, or then again you may have never known Him, and only now realize that something is missing in your life and you are looking for the very first time. There are times in every life when we feel separated from God, and we just can’t seem to find Him; we feel alone, lost, and desperately in need of Him. Is this you right now?
Sometimes we wander into a place where we begin to feel comfortable in our faith, but if you are standing in such a place it is a dangerous place to be. We are sinners by nature, and are told to continuously be seekers of salvation. It is only by constant renewal that we make progress towards our heavenly destination; are you standing in the shadow of a comfortable faith today?
Are we Christian to our very heart, or are we only Christian by our own proclamation, and on our surface? It is one thing to be known as a Christian, but as God sees our heart, and our innermost thoughts what does He find there? Do we fear the thought of having our heart searched by God? Are we confident enough in our faith to ask that we be tested as well as searched?
When you are struggling, suffering, or wandering, where do you go, and in who do you place your trust? If you go to men or institutions then you are preparing yourself for disappointment, but if you seek out God, then you will find relief and salvation in Him that is certain, and will not fail you, and the realization that all paths to Him lead through Jesus Christ.
Praying for those things that are within the will of God for us; do we really know how to do that? Seeking out the will of God, as He has determined it to be, takes much prayer in which we ask no other question but “what is your will for me?”, and listening for His reply, then when God answers and makes that desire known to us... we will know how to pray as we should. Until that time our prayers are best conducted by the Holy Spirit within us.
Jesus said that whatever we asked in His name He would do, so why is it that you are praying and He isn’t doing what you are asking of Him? This is a common question asked about prayer, and one that causes many pastors to begin making excuses for Jesus and God. The inability to understand prayer based on one verse of scripture, taken out of context, leads to the downfall of many.