Hovering Near

On October 8, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 55:6

Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.

This is one of my favorite verses. It is very present tense. What I like is not only the bit about seeking God. That is great stuff, of course. What draws me to this verse is that God is near. That shouts at me and just makes me happy.

I have encouraged, begged, pleaded and cajoled this congregation of believers to continually seek God and, further, to seek Him with all your heart. Today is a nurturing reminder that God is hanging around wanting to be engaged. He is like the friend who is awaiting a phone call from you. He is the Father who longs to help you but knows He cannot intervene unless invited. It sounds like a Hallmark movie, the best friend or parent kept on the sidelines of our lives awaiting the call to enter the game. Just call, just seek Me and I will immediately spring into action.

There is also a moment of trepidation in reading this verse though. There is a hint that if we do not seek Him while He is near, we may not find Him. That is a very uncomfortable thought for me, but it motivates me, not out of fear but out of a sense of urgency. I know our Father will never abandon us, but it is best to form firm bonds with Him now, while He is hovering near so that in the day of great need, He is as close as a breath.

I guess the moral of this story is seek the Lord today. I dare you to write that down on your to do list for today.

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Comfort and Assurance

On April 1, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Jeremiah 29: 12 -14

Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes.

Comfort and assurance, those are the two feelings I want to transmit to you today. It is my hope that these verses reassure you about the God who wanted to be a Father. He longs to be found by you. He wants to hear what you have to say. He is listening.

How many people simply long for someone who will listen to them? We have a Father who desires conversation with us. I think of how we pray and I wonder if it is what He has in mind. Further, I don’t think it is even what we want. Is it fulfilling to recite our laundry list of needs and wants or do we really crave talking with Him and having Him really hear us?

I think of Yahweh Father sitting in the middle of a large room. We, like small children, have been arranged in a big circle around Him. We have our eyes closed. Then He says, “Okay, come find me!” My word! We open our eyes and He is right there in front of us. It is so easy. But then, we become adults and we can’t find Him. Are our eyes wide open and yet we cannot see Him? I can see our adult selves roaming all over the room looking and asking each other, “Do you know where He is? Have you seen Him?” It must be frustrating to be God. He keeps saying, “I am right here; right in front of you.” And I say to my neighbor, “Did you hear something?”

When we were children, in our hearts and chronologically perhaps, we opened our eyes and, with great glee, ran to the Father and jumped all over Him. Let’s do that again. Let’s be five years old and not care, or even think to care, what others think. Let’s go talk with Dad and tell Him all the things which are on our minds and hearts.

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Good Happens

On March 18, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Lamentations 3: 25

The Lord is good to those who await Him, to the person who seeks Him.

What is the motivation for seeking God? I think there are many motivators, but this verse certainly is motivational. I think some of us (me) can be a little lackadaisical about seeking God. I mean, I just don’t think I am as intent as I should be. Then I read this verse and feel like an idiot. I probably wouldn’t have to pray about many things in my life, or anything, for that matter, if I would do the one thing which is most important, seek the Lord.

Good things happen when we seek the Lord. Seeking Him draws Him deeper into our lives so that He becomes integrated in our life stream. When He is a part of the fabric of our lives, of course things go better. He is goodness so incorporating His existence into my daily existence makes goodness happen in my life. It makes sense. It is pretty simple logic, really. So, why do I not dedicate myself to seeking Him all the time? I suspect I am not alone in this either. God wants to bless us, and we want to be blessed. I am happy to let Him bless me. That blessing is in His presence so, today, I am going to seek Him and let Him bring His goodness to my day. I hope it makes His day too.

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Three for One

On March 17, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Chronicles 28: 9

If you seek Him, He will let you find Him.

I was looking through some notes yesterday and found this note, “Seeking God builds relationship with Jesus and the Spirit.” There wasn’t much else on the page. Apparently, it was an epiphany I had one day and felt inspired to write it down.

I can testify to the veracity of today’s verse. If you seek Him, you will, without a doubt, find Him. Once upon a time, I had a decent relationship with Jesus and with the Holy Spirit. I had a block, though, when it came to the Father. When I was in High School, I believed a bunch of bunk about God growing me through pain and disappointment. Even though I came to understand, intellectually, how foolish an ideology that was, in my heart I still blamed God for the bad things that happened in those years. Knowing Jesus, though, and continually seeking Him brought me to a revelation of the lack of relationship with the Father. Ultimately, that formed the basis of reconciliation with my Father.

Seeking any one of the three persons of the Trinity brings us into greater harmony with the other two. We might rewrite this verse to, “If you seek Him, He will let you find Him, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.” That is the New Testament rendition of this verse. Each person of the Trinity longs to bring you into a deeper relationship with the other two. Each one brings specific benefits and relationship characteristics. We, therefore, need a healthy and well-developed relationship with each of them; Father, Son and Spirit. Seek Him and you will find them.

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Seek and Find

On March 5, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 19: 10

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

I am re-reading probably my favorite Christian book of all time, The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri J. M. Nouwen. In chapter 8 the author hits on what I believe is a critical distinction. He writes, “The question is not ‘How am I to find God?’ but ‘How am I to let myself be found by him?’” (Image Books, 1994, P.106) Many of you read my own story recently in a Word of the Day entitled, Lost and Found. About that momentous event in my life I often say, “I chased Him until He found me.” It’s so true. Father wasn’t holding out on me. I needed to lower a couple of walls and I needed to accept Him.

It is so enlightening that we spend so much time and energy talking about judgment when Jesus explicitly said, “I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world,” (John 12: 47). He came to seek and save the lost. He meant us. He isn’t judging us; he is seeking us. We were lost and now we are found. However, that is not the end of the story. We think of this as a salvation message and that is not wrong. It is not the fullness though.

Remember in my story, I was already saved. So, why was God seeking me? He had already found me, right? Not completely. I was saved, spirit filled and going to heaven, none the less, I was separated from Him here on earth. It was not as if I did not know the Father at all. In fact, if you had known me before the fateful trip to Anaheim, you would have said I was a pretty religious person. However, there was much more for the Father and I to share, much more that He wanted with me and for me. It makes me wonder; despite our closeness now, how much more does He still want to give me? Does He still wish to “find” me in new ways or at new levels? Is there more Father?

This is the reality I want us to ponder and question. Though we have come to know the Father, have we really allowed ourselves to be found by Him? Are we allowing Him to speak to us, express Himself to us, love us? Though you may have been saved for fifty years now, I think the need of seeking Him has not lessened. It seems the more of Him we have, the more we can have and even the more He longs to give. The closer we get to Him the more of Him radiates on us. Therefore, my admonition to you is, “Seek and be found.”

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Focal Point

On February 24, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 32: 29

Then Moses said, “Dedicate yourselves today.”

As you know, I believe God’s message to us for this year is for us to draw nearer to Him, to seek Him with new gusto. I was thinking on Saturday that this is a call to rededication. Sunday I received an email from YouVersion with a prayer to “refocus” our attention on our relationship with the Lord. These are all the same message. It is a call to devote ourselves more whole-heartedly to our relationship with God.

Rededication or seeking the Lord with a fresh passion need not be a trial or a duty. God calls us to Him because He wants to hold us close and care for us. He wishes to get more of Himself to us and to give wisdom and guidance. All that we desire is in the Lord. Those things flow to us through our bond with Yahweh.

We are living in times when we need a closer connection with Him. Our protection is in the security of His presence. We need to hear His voice so we can avoid danger. It is His voice which we follow to the promise land. Without the Father’s leading we easily stumble and lose our way.

In conclusion, I still believe this is the message He would have us hear, still the missive for 2021. Moreover, the reason Father wants us to seek Him with a new zeal and dedicated passion is because He knows we need a closer walk with Him this year in order to protect ourselves and our families and to walk in His blessing. He is not a selfish God. He is a giving Lord. If He has called us to seek Him, then He has a good reason, and that reason is for our benefit. Rededicate yourself to Him, refocus your attention on Him, seek His face. Regardless of the phrasing, the ideas are all the same. Use your energy and determination to draw closer to your Father this year.

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Longing

On February 10, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 30: 18

Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For the Lord is a God of justice; how blessed are all those who long for Him.

We have talked about seeking the Lord. I actually began the seeking series by saying that this is the message the Lord has given us for 2021, that we might seek Him in new ways or just seek Him anew. It isn’t only the message for 2021, it is an everyday message. Isaiah, speaking for God, goes a step further today. He encourages us to “long” for God. What would that be like?

I guess a reasonable analogy might be that of young lovers. Do you remember how it was when you first met your love? You wanted to be together every minute and when you were not together, it pained you. You call them several times a day when you’re apart. You just can’t get enough of each other. You want to talk about everything under the sun and everything they say is fascinating. How wonderful to be in love.

Imagine longing for our Father like that. Can you imagine it? Blessed is the person who longs for the Lord. God longs to be gracious to and show you His great compassion. His grace and compassion are things we do long for, don’t we? All we want and need, the acceptance, love, compassion, grace, mercy, and forgiveness is there, in His embrace. As you continue to seek more of Him, talk with Him about this verse. Ask Him to increase your longing if you want. The more you want, the more you find. And the more you find, the more you long for. Seek more, have more – of Yahweh.

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