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The word ‘long’ is used today primarily to refer to a boring sermon or class in school that seemed to drag on forever.  We may even use it to describe the size of someone’s foot or the length of their hair.  

There is another use for the word that used to be more common but has been replaced by other words like desire. The Encarta Dictionary says this little used meaning is as an “intransitive verb” and means:

 To want somebody or something very much. 

 There is a beautiful and comforting passage in Isaiah that uses the word in this context


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.  Isaiah 30:18 NASB 

The word “therefore” refers to the rebellion of the people against God’s rule over them.  Despite that rebellion, God still wants to bless us.  He is waiting for us to come to Him in humility. What I really want you to notice is that the LORD God almighty, Creator of heaven and earth longs (wants very much, desires very much) to be gracious to you!  How cool is that
to be wanted by God Himself. 

Then notice that last sentence
we will be blessed when we long (want very much, desire very much) God.  When we desire a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, we WILL be blessed. 

Interestingly enough, the dictionary says that ‘blessed’ means a couple of different things.  One is to be made holy.  When we come to know God, submit our lives to Him and let Him work in us, we will in fact become more like Him.  He is a holy God. The other part of the definition of the word ‘blessed’ is bringing happiness or joy.  This is a “Win-Win” situation!  When we long for God, we will be made more holy as we submit to Him and we will be filled with joy! 

May this be your prayer today:

²    O LORD, be gracious to us;     we long for you.    Be our strength every morning,    our salvation in time of distress.  Isaiah 33:2 NIV 

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD 

Tags: Isaiah

Here we are
another day
and more choices to be made.  Will we choose God’s way or our own?

 

When Gideon went to battle against Midian, he took 32,000 men to fight.  God wanted to receive the glory, so he had Gideon cut the forces down to 300 men to make it obvious Who had won the battle.  (Judges 7)

 

When Joshua led the people against the city of Jericho, he chose God’s plan which sounded rather bizarre (a bunch of people marching around the walls of the city for several days and then shouting!) but God was glorified through their obedience and the victory over the fortified city. (Joshua 6)

 

When God led the Israelites out of Egypt, he led them right up to the edge of the Red Sea.  How were they going to get out of that one!  God said, “Watch” and he parted the waters to allow the millions of people to cross safely.  Even if you want to believe it was the “Reed” Sea, God still caused the entire army of Pharaoh that was chasing the Israelites to perish. (Exodus 14)

 

Which way will you choose today, God’s way or your own?  God will be glorified.  Make sure you’re part of the bunch giving Him the glory and diligently seek to do His will.   He has promised:

• That if we diligently seek Him, we will find Him. (Proverbs 8:17)
• We are more than conquerors through Christ (Romans 8:37)
• He will never leave us (Matthew 28:20)

 

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

I may visit Second Chronicles chapter twenty more than a few times this month.  The day that I figured out that was the passage I was supposed to preach on last week, I had read it two times in different versions.  Later that day, I was told that some friends had discussed the passage on their way back to Willcox and another friend brought up the fact that they had read it.

 

I believe there may be special significance and relevance to the time we live in AND the town we live in.  Last night, two women came into the SPRING wanting to know how they could volunteer to help.  During our conversation it came up how they had never lived in a town (or a time) that spiritual warfare was so elevated.  At the same time, we discovered that we all felt God was working among His people and that revival was just around the corner.

 

When King Jehoshaphat and his people faced a problem with an attacking army they came from all over the country
they united to find out what God wanted them to do


⁴So people from all the towns of Judah came to Jerusalem to seek the LORD’s help. 2 Chronicles 20:4 NLT

 

In our day, in our town, I believe the Lord is calling His people from all the different churches to come together to seek Him, to seek His will and to seek His help.  He tells us of a similar situation earlier in Second Chronicles and confirms that He will respond positively when certain conditions are met


¹⁴Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 NLT

 

WHO

My people – The people who belong to God
the people that God created.

Called by my name – Those who are called, or call themselves, Christians (John 14:6)

WHAT

Humble – to be out of the limelight so that God may shine
to give Him all the glory, honor and praise.

Pray – talk to God
acknowledging His greatness and our weakness

Seek my face – when you are so close that you look into each other’s eyes
nothing withheld
complete honesty.

Turn from wicked ways – anything that is displeasing to God
anything that takes a priority over the things of God
anything that gets between you and God

 

THEN

God will hear our cries for help

God will forgive our sin

God will restore our land (to peace, to God’s control rather than being dominated by evil)

 

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

Yesterday I brought the message at a local church and spoke from Second Chronicles, chapter 20.  King Jehoshaphat had a big army coming toward him and he asked God what to do, rather than taking matters into his own hands.  God brought victory because the King and his people sought his help.

 

Immediately after service, someone who liked the worship music that we used came up and said they wanted to reach the twenty-something crowd and would like to have that kind of music on a Sunday night to “draw” them.

 

Jesus said, I will draw all men unto myself (John 12:32).  He has power.  We do not.  Apart from Him, we can do nothing.

 

What then is our responsibility?  As we see the need, we MUST seek God’s way to fulfill the need.  Reaching younger folks is probably going to take involving younger folks in the PLANNING phase, not just hoping they are mysteriously “drawn” by sounds of drums and guitars.

 

As with anything, if we don’t feel a part of something, we feel outside of it and consequently do not participate.  Young people must be involved in important roles in the church during their twenties and thirties if the church is to survive after the older generations are gone.

 

Oh yeah, so why did I call this Word “Frustrating”?  Because it was brought out in God’s Word yesterday that King Jehoshaphat turned to God for deliverance.  He had the people fast and then he led them in prayer.  We all need to understand that the bible isn’t just a collection of cute little stories for encouragement, but that they are living words that are just as applicable today as they were thousands of years ago.

 

How are we going to reach the twenty-something’s? 

1. Seek God. 
2. Pray for His answer
3. WAIT for His reply. 

Once it is clear what God wants and how He wants to accomplish something, then and only then should we move forward.

 

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

 

 

Here at the Glorieta conference center nestled in the New Mexico mountains, we have worship every morning at 7:30 a.m.  It’s called “5.3 Worship.”  The text for the name comes from Psalms five and verse three


Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD.

Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly. (NLT)

 

The main point is, to start your day off by speaking with the Lord.  He is the source of strength, peace, love and life itself. 

 

When you look to the Lord as being the authority over you and each day freshly commit yourself or more appropriately, yield yourself to Him, you have an entirely different perspective on life.

 

• No longer are you in charge of all the problems that come your way because you have turned them over to God.

 

• No longer are you working hard to please everyone around you
you are allowing God to love them through you.

 

The last part of the verse speaks of taking our requests or our needs before God.  The key is the last part of that sentence.  We are to

 

            WAIT EXPECTANTLY

 

Waiting for God’s timing can sometimes be frustrating because we always want things done NOW.  We simply have to keep in mind that He knows everything that was, is and is to come.  He sees the big picture whereas we see now and can only speculate about the future.  But he does not say simply “wait.”  He says “wait expectantly.”  In other words, wait for God’s timing, but expect Him to answer you in a way that will benefit your life. 

 

Start your day off right by becoming a 5.3 worshipper.  That doesn’t mean you have to set aside an hour every morning.  You can accomplish that by speaking to Him in the moment before you get out of bed.  You can accomplish that by singing a song of praise to Him in the car on the way to work.  There are many ways to become a 5.3 worshipper.  Be creative.  Try different ways to make Him your first thought in the morning.  I know you’ll be pleased.

 

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

         

 

Ok, it’s an odd title for a devotion, I know.  However, it comes from the message this morning by our Conference Pastor, Rev. Wayne Barber.  He was speaking about the Christian life being intertwined with Christ.

 

The text for his message came from Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia:

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.  Galatians 2:20 NKJV

 

He gave an illustration about how Christ lives in us really works.  He took us to Paul’s letter to the church in Rome first


⁵For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, Romans 6:5 NASB

 

There are a couple of words in the Greek for united.  He used a baking illustration to illustrate the difference.  If one is making biscuits, all the ingredients are put into a bowl.  If you want to add more of a certain ingredient to the mixing bowl, you can.  If you are skillful, you can remove some of the ingredients as well.  That illustrates one meaning of united in the Greek
you can add or subtract to the whole, but it is still the whole.  That is one of the Greek words but not the one in Romans 6:5.

 

The word used in Romans 6:5 has the meaning of inseparable.  In other words, after you take those ingredients and put them in the oven to bake them, the product that comes out is it.  You can’t take salt out.  You can’t add flour.  They are united.

 

We are biscuits for Christ.  We are united, inseparably with Him when we invite Him into our lives.  Pretty cool, huh?

 

How does that apply to our every day life?  He is ALWAYS with us.  He alone has the power, wisdom, righteousness and holiness to name a few things, to make our lives work.  Being yielded to Him is our task.  Think about it!

 

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

 

 

I read a great article this morning in Worship Leader magazine by a young man named Glenn Packiam.  The article was called “Follow the Leader.”  He pointed out that the most incredible leader that ever lived on this earth, Jesus Christ, didn’t have marketing strategies, news conferences or a “look-at-what-I-can-do” attitude when he built his team of workers.  He simply said, “Follow me.”

¹⁸Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  ¹⁹And He said^* to them, â€œFollow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  ²⁰Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.  Matthew 4:18-20 NASB

 

Their response was immediate and complete.  They left what they had considered important and followed the One who was all-important.  They didn’t ask Jesus, “How shall we eat” or “Where will we live,” they simply followed the Son of God.

 

As I sit here writing this, a family rode by on bicycles.  The Dad looked toward me and said, “Mornin’.”  His son who was riding next to him thought he was talking to him and said, “More?”  In that moment, it was as if all he lived for was to please his dad as he clung to every word he said.  He didn’t want to miss one word, one opportunity to please his father.

 

Isn’t that the way it should be with our heavenly Father and us?  We too, need not ask “How shall we eat” or “Where will we live” but instead, listen to every word He says to us through His Holy scripture, the Bible, and then spend our lives trying to please Him.

 

To you and to me, the Son of God says, “Follow me.”  To His Church He says, “Follow me.”  Don’t worry about each other and who has more power or the more glamorous positions
just FOLLOW ME.  Don’t worry about who you think is doing it “right.”  You simply do what you believe God is telling you to do. 

 

Remember when Peter inquired of Jesus as to what was going to happen to His disciple John


Jesus replied, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? As for you, follow me.” John 21:22 NLT

 

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

 

 

The other day I was talking with a teen who had given up all hope.  By that, I mean he believed that life as he envisioned it was just not going to happen.  He wasn’t going to be happy at home.  He wasn’t going to have a normal job, make money and live a productive life.  He had given up those hopes.  His hope now was to be arrested and thrown into prison so that he would have some “normalcy” in his life.  In his mind, he would have three meals a day, people to talk with and somebody to care about him, even though they were correctional officers!

 

All of us, even the Apostle Paul, give up hope at one time or another.  When Paul was on a ship sailing for Rome, a storm came up that endangered the ship and all those aboard


When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.  Acts 27:20 NIV

 

Notice it says “we.”  Paul had given up hope as well just as the teen I was talking to the other day had.  None of us is immune to that type of thinking.  However, when you know Jesus as your Savior He will make some provision for your hope to be restored.

 

We only need to look to the Word of God for those reminders, those promises:

• It tells us in Deuteronomy 31:6 (also Hebrews 13:5) that He will never leave us nor forsake us.
• In Jeremiah 29:11, the Lord tells us that he has plans to prosper us and not to harm us.  He has plans for your life that will give you hope and a future. 

 

We simply need to listen to Him, to God, as He attempts to communicate with us.  The main way He communicates with us is His Word (the Bible), but He has other methods too!  Through our coming to Him in prayer, He may speak in a voice that only we can hear.  He may send the answer through a friend.  Paul’s answer came in the form of a message from an angel and he shared the message of that angel with the men on his ship


²²But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.  ²³Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me  ²⁴and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’  ²⁵So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Acts 27:22-25 NIV

 

Giving up may be the easy thing to do.  It doesn’t require faith in God to lose all hope.  I guarantee, no GOD guarantees, that if you look to Him for your hope, to save you from your circumstance, He WILL save you. 

 

The first step is a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Admit you need help, that you have fallen short of God’s perfection for your life (sinned – Romans 3:23, 6:23) and ask Jesus to help you turn that around.  Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

Things are not hopeless.  Life is not hopeless.  Place your hope in the God of all Creation, the LORD who made heaven and earth and all that is contained therein.

He is worthy of your trust


⁹Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.  ¹⁰He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 2 Corinthians 1:9-10 NIV

 

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

We can often be disappointed by other people.  Sometimes it is a loved one, a mother or father, a sister or brother or perhaps just a friend.  We expect them to act as though they love us but our expectations may be based on a false definition of love.  We want people to love us with an unfailing love, a perfect love.

 

Is it reasonable to expect unfailing love from someone?  Here’s what God’s word says on the subject


     Many a man claims to have unfailing love,

    but a faithful man who can find? Proverbs 20:6 NIV

 

While man’s love is often imperfect (women’s too by the way!), God’s love can be trusted


⁸    It is better to trust in the Lord

    Than to put confidence in man.

⁹    It is better to trust in the Lord

    Than to put confidence in princes. Psalms 118:8-9 NKJV

 

God’s love never fails






..1 Corinthians 13:8

God is love













.1 John 4:8

Therefore, God’s love is unfailing!

 

Let’s look at how realistic our interpretation of what love should be is.  We generally want someone to love us no matter what we do, even when we’re selfish and mean to them.  We want them to always give us what we want (not necessarily what is best for us).  We want to be the center of their attention.  We want!

 

Now let’s look at God’s definition found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a, 13

 

⁴Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  ⁵It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  ⁶Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  ⁷It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  ⁸Love never fails.

 

¹³And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (NIV)

 

DESIRE TO HEAR (READ) A FRESH WORD FROM GOD ABOUT HIS LOVE...

⁸    Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,

    for I have put my trust in you.

    Show me the way I should go,

    for to you I lift up my soul. Psalms 143:8 NIV

 

THANK HIM FOR HIS UNFAILING LOVE


³¹    Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love

    and his wonderful deeds for men. Psalms 107:31 NIV

 

Remember, whereas men can disappoint you, God never will.  You may not always get your way, but God in His infinite wisdom and out of His unfailing love for you, will always give you what is best for your life as you seek to follow Him


²⁸And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. Romans 8:28 NLT

 

You can trust in His unfailing love.  You can trust the God of all creation.  Seek His will for your life.   Seek His help in all things


 

SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD

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