It is not hard to recognize one who has spent extended time at a newsstand: his conversation overflows with the drama of current affairs. And, it is not hard to discern a person who has come from a sporting event, as their face reveals the outcome of the game. Likewise, people can tell when an individual has spent extended time seeking God. An imperturbable calm guards their heart, and their countenance is radiant with light, as with the morning dew of Heaven.

Beloved, to seek and find God is everything.

The Eternal Imprint

It is to our shame that, in our era, church services do not focus more on actually seeking God. Yes, we do honor God and thank Him for what He has done. We hear a sermon and, perhaps, enjoy a time of fellowship with others. Yet only rarely do we depart a congregational meeting with the fire of eternity reflecting off our faces. Instead, we fill up with information about God without actually drawing near to Him. Most of us are still largely unaware of God’s presence.

While we rightly need church programs, fellowship, and times for ministry training, we must not automatically assume that religious indoctrination is the same thing as actually seeking God. And while I am often blessed listening to contemporary Christian music, even godly entertainment is no substitute for my own worship encounter with God.

Therefore, let us ask ourselves: Is there a place and a time set apart in our spiritual lives where we can give ourselves to seeking God? What if the Spirit of God actually desired to manifest Himself during our worship service? Would the Lord have to wait until we finished our scheduled program? I respect and recognize the need for order; we need the scheduled times for announcements and the defined purposes that currently occupy Sunday mornings, but have we made room for God Himself?

“He Knew Not That His Face Shone”

When we first determine to draw near to God, it may seem we have little to show for our efforts. Yet, be assured: even the thought of seeking God is a step toward our transformation. Still, we often do not notice the first signs of our spiritual renewal, for as we grow increasingly more aware of God, we simultaneously grow increasingly less aware of ourselves. Though we may not see that we are changing, others certainly will.

Consider the experience of Moses. The Lord’s servant had ascended Mount Sinai, and there stood before the living God. The eyes of Moses were actually filled with God’s sun-like glory; his ears actually heard the audible sound of the Lord’s voice. Yet, when Moses returned to the people, the Bible says he “did not know that the skin of his face shone” (Exodus 34:29). When the Israelites saw the fire of God’s glory on the face of Moses, “they were afraid to come near him” (v. 30). They saw he had been with God.

The church needs more people who have, like Moses, climbed closer to the Almighty, people who have stood in the sacred fire of God’s presence. Instead, we exhaust ourselves arguing over peripheral doctrines or styles of music in our song services.

Perhaps there are benefits to constantly debating the nuances of our doctrines, but are we not more truly thirsting for the reality of God?

Our goal is to, day by day, draw nearer to God. He has commanded that we come boldly to His throne of grace. To receive the help we need, we must arrive at His throne. Remember also that our confidence comes from Christ Himself. He promised,

“Everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened” (Matthew 7:8).

We are seeking a lifetime of increasing devotion, though it may certainly begin in a season of drawing near. In spite of natural and spiritual obstacles, as we persevere, the Lord assures us,

“How much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matthew. 7:11).

If we do not cease seeking and knocking, we will discover unfolding degrees of intimacy with God. Even now, He’s drawing near. The Lord promises,

“Everyone who … seeks finds” (Matthew 7:8).

Master, to possess more of You is the heart-focus of my existence. Draw near, blessed Redeemer, fulfill Your desire for me by fulfilling my desire for You.

by Francis Frangipane
Used by Permission

Francis Frangipane
info@frangipane.org
www.frangipane.org
www.icitc.org
www.arrowbookstore.com

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Be blessed in his name Rewarder of those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Listen to the Word of God and be blessed with the passionate cry of the psalmist in Psalm 63:1.

“O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you.”

And in Psalm 42:1.

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”

Be blessed to live from that deep cry of seeking God in your innermost being, longing for more of him, digging in to know him more intimately. Your Father desires constant communion of your spirit with his Spirit. Be blessed with directing the thirst of your soul to communion with him. Be blessed with getting out of your head and into your spirit, meeting God personally and profoundly.

Be blessed to know that God is who he said he is, and he can do and will do what he says he can do and will do, and he can presently do it in your life. He is the I Am to do it in you today. He is personal and powerful, and he alone satisfies. Jesus is standing and knocking at your heart’s door, waiting for you to open up to him for satisfying fellowship (Revelations 3:20). Jesus invites you to a table set for two. He wants your love, and he will be satisfied when you fulfill his heart by opening up to him.

Be blessed with knowing your covenant-keeping God of promise as you seek him and keep company with him in Spirit and in truth. Be blessed with more of his Spirit, not more how-to’s to make you feel guilty or more religious. Be blessed to discover him more as his Spirit lives in you to fulfill your deepest cries. Be blessed to encounter him in such dimensions that you feel as if you have never breathed spiritually before.

Be blessed in his name Rewarder of those who earnestly seek him.
(Hebrews 11:6).

by Sylvia Gunter
Used by Permission
From: You Are Blessed In The Names Of God

Further Reading

•   Where Do I Call Home? – A Refugee’s story.  Helen Loewen’s story

•  Why I need to Press the ‘Reset Button’ – confessing sin is like a reset button in our relationship with God

•  Salvation Explained

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My friend dropped me off at my chosen stand, one of my favorites. The weather was overcast and raining intermittently. From my vantage in the stand, I could see panorama overlooking a peanut field with heave woods on both my left and right. I kept monitoring all points of view waiting for the big one to walk out.

Suddenly, I saw movement in the woods and then saw a doe and two small fawns walk out into the open. They were fun to watch and I enjoyed viewing them until it was almost dark.

When my friend came to pick me up, he asked why I didn’t shoot. He had been watching from a stand across the field. I told him that the three I saw were too small to shoot and he said he wasn’t talking about those, but about the trophy buck that came out on my left not more than twenty yards from my stand. I then realized that I had been so concentrating on the watching the smaller ones that I had neglected to continue looking in all directions. In doing so, I had missed the obvious and lost the opportunity to bag the big one on the first day of the season.

Have you ever been in the position of looking for something you need and not being able to find it? It happens to me all the time, but then I call for my bride, who can find anything and suddenly there it is. I’m sure it wasn’t there before.  I couldn’t see for looking.

But the same thing happened with John the Baptist. He was like us, looking for the Christ. That’s what he said his job was all about. And when the time came he couldn’t see for looking. Twice he says that he did not recognize Jesus. He couldn’t see for looking.

John, baptizing away in the Jordan was probably on remote control. Another lot to baptize the same as yesterday, and last week and last year. And in pops a nondescript Galilean and suddenly God speaks to John and lets him know who he’s baptizing, the Lamb of God – the Son of God.

Now if John found it hard to recognize Jesus when he was in front of his nose, is it any wonder that we find it hard to recognize Jesus? That’s all about how and where we look. Jesus is all around us. We find Him in prayer. We find Him in His Word. We find Him everywhere, if only we seek Him. He is there. We just need to know how and where to look.

How do you see Jesus?

By John Grant
Used by Permission
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney

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