Seek

"Those who know your name trust in you, for you, O Lord, have never abandoned anyone who searches for you." Psalm 9:10 (NLT) 

We are all seeking for something.  For some it is happiness.  For some, peace.  For some, fortune or fame, recognition for who we are, someone special, someone unique.  We all want to be important.  We all want our lives to mean something.  Many don't even care what it means as long as they don't fade into oblivion.  They act out, show off, cave in, or give up.  Some strike out and do horrible things.  For their five seconds of fame...

This world is a mixed up self centered place for most people.  They have no purpose or direction, no reason for their existence, no peace.  There is a saying that most of you have heard or seen on a bumper sticker.  "No Jesus, No Peace.  Know Jesus, Know Peace."

Jesus came to seek and save the lost.  That is all of us.  Without Him, we don't know what to do when something tragic occurs.  Without Him, we struggle and grasp and try to cope with all of the cruelty, injustice, violence, and sadness in the world. Without Him, we become depressed, confused, hopeless, useless.

Through Jesus, we have everything!  Without Him, nothing.  No matter how little or much you have, you have nothing without Him.  No matter how little or much you do, you have nothing without Him.  We won't find real happiness, true peace, new hope, or our life's meaning without Him.   We need to stop looking in all the wrong places for the answers to the questions that we have.  We need to seek answers from the only source of truth, and love, and peace, and hope that really exists in the world.

"Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!— came into being without him. What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out."  John 1:3 (The Message)

"I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.  When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I'll listen. When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed."  Jeremiah 29:11-13 (The Message)

"My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you've been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live Him. You're deeply rooted in Him. You're well constructed upon Him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving. Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that's not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in Him, so you can see and hear Him clearly. You don't need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without Him. When you come to Him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything."  Colossians 2:7-9 (The Message)

"Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long;  we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:34-39 (NIV)

Dear Lord,  Thank you for what You have done for us.  Thank you that nothing shall ever separate us from Your love.

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Let the "Why" Become Unimportant

“It is only as we have been through the darkness with Him that… the ‘Why?’ becomes unimportant… we believe that God can and will redeem the pain for our good and His glory.... When I put the sovereignty of God beside His unfailing love, my heart can rest.” Verdell Davis

I had another post recently entitled, "Why Me?"  We all wonder why things happen as they do at times but sometimes we get stuck in the "Why" and  never move past it.  We can get to the point where the "Why" becomes unimportant in light of "Who" God is in our lives.  This is one of the most difficult concepts to explain and understand and the way to get to that place is also difficult to explain and understand. 

A long time ago I became a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.  This didn't happen until I finally came to the realization that although I thought I was a Christian, I was not.  I think a lot of people are confused by the term "Christian".  Saying you are a Christian does not make you one.  Going to church does not make you one. Growing up in a Christian home does not make you one.  Living in the United States of America does not make you one.  There is only  one way to become a "Christian" or a Christ follower and that is to follow Him!  You cannot pick and choose which of His statements to follow.  You need to be earnestly seeking to follow all of His statements, even the difficult or uncomfortable ones.  But in order to follow these statements, you need to spend time getting to know what these statements are by reading His words and meditating on them.  If you begin to seek Him in earnest, you will find Him...and the more you seek Him the easier it will become to follow Him.

Someone said to me once, "You need to become so close to God that your will and His will become one will."  This can never happen if you don't know who He is.  Our whole purpose in this life is to know Him and to do His will.  If we get to the point where we are no longer concerned about what we want and we are only concerned with what He wants, then we will be on the road to the "Why" becoming unimportant.  We will be at the place where our trust in Him, His sovereignty, and His love will overshadow our own desires, our own fears, our own inadequacies.  He uses broken vessels.  He is a master at making broken things whole, perfect, and complete.  But the key to this for us is complete and total surrender of ourselves to Him.  Oswald Chambers said, "After surrender – what? The whole of the life after surrender is an aspiration for unbroken communion with God."  Unbroken communion with God is the place we want to be.  It is the place where the "why" becomes unimportant.

Placing our trust in Him is a continual, every day affair.  We can't do it once and consider it done.  We have to keep placing our trust in Him daily, and even moment by moment.  We have to make a conscious, purposeful effort to do this and we cannot take it lightly. "And he said, The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; the God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my saviour; thou savest me from violence.  I will call on the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies."  2 Samuel 22:1-4 (KJV)

"To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.  No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse."  Psalm 25:1-3 (NIV)

"Light, space, zest— that's God! So, with him on my side I'm fearless, afraid of no one and nothing. When vandal hordes ride down ready to eat me alive, those bullies and toughs fall flat on their faces.  When besieged, I'm calm as a baby. When all hell breaks loose, I'm collected and cool.  I'm asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I'll contemplate his beauty; I'll study at his feet.  That's the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world, the perfect getaway, far from the buzz of traffic. God holds me head and shoulders above all who try to pull me down. I'm headed for his place to offer anthems that will raise the roof! Already I'm singing God-songs; I'm making music to God.  Listen, God, I'm calling at the top of my lungs: 'Be good to me! Answer me!' When my heart whispered, 'Seek God,' my whole being replied, 'I'm seeking him!'  Don't hide from me now!  You've always been right there for me; don't turn your back on me now. Don't throw me out, don't abandon me; you've always kept the door open. My father and mother walked out and left me, but God took me in.   Point me down your highway, God; direct me along a well-lighted street; show my enemies whose side you're on.  Don't throw me to the dogs, those liars who are out to get me, filling the air with their threats.   I'm sure now I'll see God's goodness in the exuberant earth. Stay with God!  Take heart. Don't quit.  I'll say it again: Stay with God."  Psalm 27 (The Message)
   
"Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says--'I cannot stand anymore.' God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."  Oswald Chambers  

The "Why" will become unimportant when we understand that the only important thing is the "Who" that we entrust our lives to. "Some trust in chariots and some in horses,  but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." Psalm 20:7 (NIV)

Dear Lord,  We entrust our lives to You no matter what happens. Help us to stay with You, God, even when we don't understand the "Why".  Help us to get to the place where the "Why" becomes unimportant and help us to understand that the only thing that really matters is knowing You and serving You.

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Christmas Bells

 Please be sure to watch and listen to the You Tube video also posted here today entitled, "I heard the bells on Christmas Day", sung by Jars of Clay.

The song, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day", is from the Poem seen below by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow written in 1864.  The poem was rearranged and set to music in 1872 by John Baptiste Caulkin.  The original poem, "Christmas Bells",  was written by Longfellow in response to several tragedies that had occurred in his life over the span of several years.

His wife, Fanny,  died in an accident in their home on July 10, 1861. She was working with sealing wax and  unknowingly spilled several drops onto her dress.  A breeze came through the window and ignited the burning wax into flames which quickly engulfed her.  Henry tried to save her by using a rug but when that didn't work, he wrapped himself around her trying to put out the flames.  She died the next day; he himself was bed ridden with severe burns to his hands, arms, and face.

For several years he was filled with grief and that first Christmas after Fanny's death he stated, "How inexpressibly sad are all holidays." A year later he wrote, "I can make no record of these days. Better leave them wrapped in silence. Perhaps someday God will give me peace."  Since the United States Civil War started in 1861, Longfellow received more bad news nearly a year later that his oldest son, Charles, who was a lieutenant in the Army of the Potomac, had been severely wounded in Washington, D.C.  He rushed down to bring him home and after a lengthy search finally found Charles barely alive.  Charles did not die that Christmas, but lived.  It was Christmas of 1864 that Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned the words of the poem, "Christmas Bells" after coming out of an extremely difficult period in his life.  President Lincoln had been reelected and there was hope that the war would end soon.  Longfellow's final stanza, "Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: 'God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!  The Wrong shall fail,  The Right prevail, With peace on earth, good-will to men!'" was loudly proclaiming that even when things are difficult and hope seems lost, God is still sovereign and He shall be victorious!

"Christmas Bells"

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
(The original poem, complete with all seven stanzas)

"I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till, ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!"

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