God Earnestly Seeks Us!

"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" (Hebrews 11:6 NIV).
earnest: adjective
1. serious in intention, purpose, or effort; sincerely zealous: an earnest worker.
2. showing depth and sincerity of feeling: earnest words; an earnest entreaty.
3. seriously important; demanding or receiving serious attention  

This verse from Hebrews offers a tough challenge!  We are instructed not just to pray, not just lift our eyes to heaven and ask God for what we want.  Nope. We are to earnestly seek Him! So what, exactly, does that mean?

The partial list I compiled (as much for myself as anyoneelse!) includes:
1. Intenionally spending time in the Word - with no morning news on the television, no checking emails, no distractons.  Just me and my bible.
2. Praying for God's will. Asking Him to guide me throughout my day.
3. Pausing periodically throughout the day to rest in Him, to seek His wisdom in everything I think and do and say.
4. Thank God every single night before I go to bed for the day He has given me; beg Him for another day to grow and live as He desires.



 Of course, unless I am willing to respond accordingly, God's wisdom and guidance are of no value - at least that's what we tell God when we proceed of our desire and accord.  If God is truly the most important, most valuable thing in our lives, He is first and foremost. Living for Him as He would direct and desire trumps everything--relationships, jobs, where we live, for whom we vote, money, possessions--everything.

I have more "earnest" days the older I get, but they are still far too few and far between!  I allow the world and it's cares and values and issues to trump my relationship with God too many days!

Fortunately, God earnestly seeks us! He woos us, calls to us, reaches down from heaven to intercede for us. Because of our amazing, unspeakably good and gracious God, we can dare to seek Him--and find Him.


Blessings on your journey,
Mary

The Lord Will Fight For You

"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:14 NIV)

Moses told his people this just before he parted the water for the Israelites to safely escape the Egyptians. They had lived in unspeakably bad conditons - slaves, starved, beaten, worked literally to death. Yet even at the prospect of freedom, they balked!  Fear is so powerful, isn't it? They wanted so badly what Moses told them God would do.  And yet . . .  they were terrified.

Terrified.  Of the the unknown. Of the past. Of the future. That God might not really come through. That they were not worthy of God's time, attention, love and especially his grace and mercy. Terrified. And anything but still!

How about you?  Speaking for myself . . .  I don't do "still" very well.  I'm more like the Israelites, I must admit I don't trust God as much as I should. And like the Israelites, I want everything that God promises.  But I keep getting in my own way! 

I'm a "fixer" and a "doer". I like to "rally the troops", "get the ball rolling."  You get the idea.  I spend so much time fixing and doing and rallying that I often forget to make time for God and His plans for me. I forget to be still so He can step in. And Moses reminds us "you need only to be still."  Such a tall order for such as me. 

David declares in Psalm 46, "He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”  Be still! God will fight your battles for you. He'll wage every kind of war against your enemies.  He will place a hedge of protection around you. He will send His angels to guard you.  If you (I) will just . . . be . . . still . . .


"So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6 NIV)
Blessings on your journey,

Mary

So Great a Salvation

I opened my bible this morning to Psalm 8:3-6 (NIV).

"When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor, You have given them dominion over the works of your hands, you have put all things under their feet,"

I can't help but share this bit of self-awareness: it was not until the recent tragedy of the sudden death of a child that I was compelled to immerse myself so intentionally into scripture again. A sermon last Sunday began my quest, but life "got in the way" all to easily and it didn't last as it should have. This is not to say that something good comes from tragedy, but it has, admitedly, sent me back to the Word.

I lost my place--my bible closed--when I got up to get coffee and opened "randomly" to Hebrews chapter 2.

"Therefore we must pay greater attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. For if the message declared through angels was valid, and every transgression or disobedience received a just penalty, how can we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" Then, down the page, verse 6 quotes Psalm 8:3-6! I'm hard-headed but I can take a hint!

Somehow for me this all ties together as I try to make sense out of a crazy, angry, mixed up, fallen and violent world, and then a more "personal" tragedy. God created us for His pleasure. Perhaps God wanted the child who died in this world with Him in heaven. I don't understand it - will never be able to comprehend. But these verses give me a glimmer of peace and comfort of the certainty of God's love and desire for each of us. And that He is the one in control!

Hebrews 2:18 (NIV) assures us, "Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested."

I know that I have been reminded to "pay greater attention to what [I] have heard so that [I] do not drift away from it."

Blessings on your journey,
Mary

The Hope To Which We Are Called

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength,," (Ephesians 1:17-19 NIV)

I'm asking for this Spirit of wisdom and revelation in my own life lately. God is certainly desiring that I know Him better by placing me solely and completely under His control and power.

I rejoice that I am being refined and shaped as He desires. I rejoice also that through Him and the gift of His Son, I may have hope that all is in His plan.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful" (Hebrews 10:23 NIV).

"[ By Faith ] Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1 NIV).

Blessings on your journey,
Mary

Faith and hope trample doubt

"Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" (James 1:4-6 NIV).

These verses don't mean that we will receive any thing we ask God for! This scripture means that God will grant us what He knows and understands we need -- either in the present moment or as preparation for the future.

Our job is to pray for obedience, strength, courage to accept any trouble, hardship, or circumstance we may be experiencing. As we look back over our lives hasn't God used our past experiences to prepare us for this day? Doesn't He uplift and strengthen us to endure whatever current hardship we are going through in the moment?

The faith James admonishes us to have is faith that God will continue to grant His good and perfect will for our lives. And that we will lean on Him to live out His will for our lives.

"[By Faith] Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (Hebrews 11:1 NIV).

Blessings on your journey,
MaryBlessings on your journey,
Mary