Dear Precious Friends,
On this Fill our Soul Sunday, I pray we are seeking Him first with all our heart, soul, mind and strength...
What a beautiful verse, a beautiful reminder of our top priority in life over All things.... to wake up is a gift because it means our Lord has more work for us to do... and we know as Satan is running rampant because his time on earth is limited, we seek God first upon waking, our thoughts are to our Lord and Savior and our first priority is time with Him....
Early seems to denote a time set aside before other things push
in ahead. Could God be saying that He wants top priority in your
life? Could the Lord want to spend time with us when we are fresh
and unencumbered from the cares of the day? God is a jealous God.
He commands that we have nothing in our life that is more
important to us than Him. Do we need to
realign our priorities in order to seek Him early?
We must Consecrate (dedicate for sacred purposes) ourselves to God in the morning; make this your very
first work. Let our prayer be, "Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I
lay all my plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide
with me, and let all my work be wrought in Thee." This is a daily
matter. Each morning consecrate our entire life to God for that day. We Surrender
all our plans to Him, to be carried out or given up as His
providence shall indicate. This means we may be giving our life into
the hands of God, and our life will be molded more and more
after the life of Christ.
Consecration (being dedicated to God's service) is our part;
sanctification (being set apart from sin and being made holy) is God's part.
[In His Time; My Utmost For His Highest]
God loves to be sought. He is available in many ways to many
people, even those who haven't looked for Him, and He certainly seeks
and finds those who are lost. In fact, He is a pursuer at heart. But
in any relationship of true love, pursuing goes both ways. And God
loves not only to pursue but to be pursued.
God can get our attention, of course, even when we aren't
looking for Him. He did that often in Scripture - in a burning bush that
commanded Moses' response, in a vision on the Damascus road that jolted
Paul into awareness, and so on. But which is better: for God to have
to get our attention or for Him to already have it? Which does He
prefer? Which has more value for the relationship and indicates more
potential for knowing and loving Him? Clearly He responds to those who
seek Him because their hearts are open and ready for Him. As the
writer of Hebrews expressed, "He is a rewarder of those who diligently
seek Him" (Hebrews 11:6, NKJV).
The greatest reward is Himself. If we seek to know Him
better, we will know Him better. He will make sure of that. We don't
have to figure out how; we only need to express a desire for greater
intimacy with Him and ask for it earnestly. Our persistence will be
rewarded, and in the gift of Himself, we will also receive the great peace He
offers as well as all the other benefits of His Presence. When we seek,
we will find. It's a promise.
Father, I seek You for a lot of reasons, but I know all of
Your gifts come not as separate blessings but wrapped up in Yourself.
I continue to seek Your face, Lord. Please reward my search beyond
my greatest expectations. [The One Year Experiencing God's Presence
Devotional by Chris Tiegreen]
Our highest purpose is to "love the Lord." Scripture
identifies that as the greatest commandment. And that love has reached a
new level of maturity when we learn to what His word reminds us and how we walk in the Spirit which reminds us it's not about our needs
but about His heart.
God is drawn to those who care for Him - who treat the
relationship as a two-way interaction and invest in it as such. His Presence
comes to those people in unusual ways. He lets them in on His secrets
(see Amos 3:7, NKJV). When we mature to the level of seeking His
heart because we genuinely care for what's in it, He draws close.
Lord, I love You. I want to know what's on Your heart. I want
to hear Your plans, dream Your dreams with You, and enter into Your
vision. Please show me the things that concern You and that give You
joy. [The One Year Experiencing God's Presence Devotional by Chris
Tiegreen re Psalm 31:23]
Jeremiah 29:13 (KJV) And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye
shall search for me with all your heart.
Amen!!!
Source: The Holy Spirit, God's word, The One Year Experiencing God's Presence Devo
