SEEK THE LORD, YOUR GOD.

Seek Him with all your hearts

"But if you shall seek Jehovah your God from there, you shall find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul." - (Deu 4:29)

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." - (Heb 11:6)


SEEK THE LORD
To seek the Lord means to endeavor to have a closer relationship with Him.
No husband who loves his wife does not seek to be closer to her.
If this is the case for a romantic relationship, how much more should the relationship be with our Lord and Savior? Seek the Lord with all your heart.
He is your first love.

THE PROMISE OF SUCCESS
First of all, be encouraged.
The very fact that you are seeking the Lord ensures your success.
You have a promise from God Himself.
“For each one who asks receives; and he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, it shall be opened.” - (Mat 7:8)

So how does one seek the Lord? Below are some pieces of advice:

CHRIST THE ONLY WAY
A question once rose in my mind which was this: “Why at the end of all my prayers do I end with saying ‘In Jesus’ name’.”
First of all, when you seek God remember that JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY.
There is no way to the Father but through Him.
This is why we end our prayers with saying ‘In Jesus’ name’.
We are acknowledging that it is by our Lord Jesus that we approach the throne of the Father.
In this way, we seek the God – through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

GET AWAY WITH GOD
Husbands and wives spend alone time together.
They go on vacation or at least get some quiet time.
The church is the bride of Christ and so we must get away with God.
Find a quiet place and spend time alone with Him – just you and Him.

"And it happened in those days that He went out into a mountain to pray, and He was spending the night in prayer to God." - (Luk 6:12)


KEEP THE SABBATH
Remember the Sabbath.
God made this a commandment for a reason, though in these days it has been forgotten.
To remember the Sabbath means to be disciplined to set aside time with God. It doesn’t just have to be on Sunday.
If I say “I’ll spend time with God sometime this week,” the time may never come.
But if I say “I’ll spend time with God before bed tonight on these nights,” I’m much more likely to do it.

PRAYER, SCRIPTURE
During this time obviously prayer, meditation, and reading scripture can be part of it.
But remember that prayer is communication with God.
Do not list out a shopping list of requests for Him to answer, but have a conversation with Him.
Don’t just speak, but listen.
Also remember that reading God’s word is a form of listening to God.
If we listen to what God says in prayer through the Holy Spirit, then we can also listen to what God says by reading His word - for scripture is what God has already said.
Ask the Lord questions, and then pause for awhile and listen for an answer.

MEDITATE ON GOD’S LOVE AND BLESSINGS
Meditate on how much the Lord loves you, what He has done for you and His promises. Thank the Lord for his bountiful provisions and your daily bread.
Meditate on the fact that God has provided others that have blessed your life.
The good that they have done for you is nothing more than God working through them for your good, and vice versa.
Thank the Lord for these people.

PRAISE
Sing to God.
No doubt you know some worship songs.
If you don’t then find some that inspire you to express your heart to the Lord.
Sing them out loud to the Lord.
Think about the words of the song and what they mean, and then open your heart to God in song.
Most secular songs people write are about one thing: romance.
The believer’s song is almost the same except it is aimed toward the Lord, not a girlfriend or a boyfriend.

SERVING
Serve Him.
Serving God is like when a husband buys a wife flowers or a wife cooks a nice dinner for her husband.
Or it’s like when a boy happily mows the lawn and then shows his father.
Serving God is an expression of our love to Him.
Serve the Lord in your church by seeing what you can do to help.
Serve Him outside of the church by becoming a servant to others, for our Lord Himself came not to be served but to serve (Mat 20:28).
Is a servant above his Master?

CAST OFF HINDRANCES
Shun the distractions which serve to draw you away.
If you would run toward a goal, you must cast off all that hinders.
An athlete is going to shed pounds before he or she can be successful in sports. Confess, repent and forsake your sins.
These are the hindrances that keep you from the closest fellowship with God.
Only when one has a clean conscience can one enter into the Holy place.
Be balanced in the time you spend doing your hobbies.
They are relaxing and fun… and altogether a temptation to steal all of our time away.
Just as our money belongs to the Lord, so does our time.

WORK AT IT
You have to put work into it.
“Seek” is a verb, which implies that it is an action.
The sluggard cannot draw near to the Lord because he is lazy.
When the Lord stands at the door and knocks this one is so lazy that he will not even rise to open it!
One too lazy to seek the Lord cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven.

SEE GOD IN TRUE LIGHT
You must see God as He really is.
Aim to have such high and lofty thoughts of the Lord that you would rather do nothing other than seek Him.
The only reason to strive toward a goal is that there is a valuable prize.
If you see the Lord in true light then you will see His beauty and majesty and naturally be drawn to Him.
A pig cares nothing of beautiful scenery.
Does a pig stare at a mountain range in admiration?
It takes a person to realize the beauty of God’s creation.
In the same way the more mature we get, the more we will be awe-struck by the majesty of God and desire to look upon Him and draw near.

DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU
Don’t be limited to these methods. Do whatever you can think of in order to get closer to Him. God has given us liberty and has promised success to those who diligently seek Him.

"Evil men do not understand judgment; but those who seek Jehovah understand all things." - (Pro 28:5)

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Yeap dear brothers and sisters, let us seek the Lord and continue to grow spiritually together in this family!

Lastly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO JIYAO DAOSHI AND REBECCA! :D

God bless!
Jo.