“From one man He created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. Acts 17:26-27 (NLT)
We see in CCC, 2709…Contemplative prayer seeks him “whom my soul loves.” [Song 1:7; cf. 3:14] It is Jesus, and in Him, the Father. We seek Him, because to desire Him is always the beginning of love, and we seek Him in that pure faith which causes us to be born of Him and to live in Him. In this inner prayer we can still meditate, but our attention is fixed on the Lord himself.
“…Seek, and you will find…” (Matthew 7:7b). What is it that believers or His children born-again of the Holy Spirit should be seeking? It is God Himself! It is Christ Himself! “Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His presence continually!” (Psalm 105:4). “The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing” (Psalm 34:10).
God spoke to me through a simple Gospel Reading (…seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33 KJV) in the Mass on the last day of a three-day National Youth Conference, around three decades ago which changed my life forever.
By His mercies much of the bondages that were a part of my life were broken and I was set free to seek Him joyfully and tirelessly. But as I look back and see that I could not hold the course but got side-tracked within the vision of seeking Him to toward receiving all the blessings – the promise of the scripture (i.e.,… and all these things shall be added unto you.<Matthew 6:33 KJV>) and the pursuit seemed tiresome and the joy seemed to fade away gradually.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Cor 5:17 KJV)
Old things are passed away…not ALL it seems. The Word of God encourages us so often in the New Testament to put to death our old nature (Eph 4:22, Col 3:5) with the help of the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:13) but prayerlessness, I recognized as the main reason for my pursuit of the Truth (which is Jesus) to become dull & gloomy.
We all know that God has a “Word” for everything & everyone. So He says “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13 KJV)
The Lord has been merciful in letting me realise that I was seeking His hands rather than His Heart somewhere in my secret heart. Because of which reason I was losing all my joy in my relationship with Him even through the times of ministry.
Joyful are those who obey his laws and search for him with all their hearts. – Psalms 119:2
Surrendering my secret heart, which was made possible with the help of His Holy Spirit (gradually over 2-3 months) I could find that joy of Salvation being restored in my life again.
“Seek the Lord, and his strength: seek His face evermore. ” [Psalms 105:4 KJV]
“…continually seek Him.” [Psalms 105:4 NLT]
The Lord wants us to seek Him and His strength always and continually be seeking Him and NOTHING ELSE is the secret for our lives to be joyful and remain blessed always.
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” [Romans 14:17 NIV]
Jesus is our righteousness [1 Cor. 1:30], Jesus is our peace [Eph. 2:14] and Jesus is our joy [John 5:11, John 17:13, Psalms 16:11…]
So to SEEK FIRST HIS KINGDOM is to SEEK HIM and HIM ALONE! And everything else that we need He will give it to us. – Matthew 6:33
The few WANTS that were there in my life and perhaps persisted in the secret heart are gone and ALL my NEEDS are taken care of just as the Lord promised – PRAISE BE TO HIS NAME.
What are you seeking today?,..or who are you seeking?…perhaps a super-hero persona to encounter and to experience his or her magical presence in our lives.
“There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the Lord’s counsel—that will stand.” [Proverbs 19:21 NKJV]
We, all, whether as those folks from the yester years or our prodigy, aka the millennials, have been and still continue to be distracted, tempted and lured by the world with all its color & glamour to go after it in order to be happy and successful. Recent statistics show that only less than 10% of the start-ups come through while 90% of them fail and at times face disastrous consequences But the world still sensationalises the 10% success stories…it’s a chase after the wind just as God’s Word confirms
“Enjoy what you have rather than desiring what you don’t have. Just dreaming about nice things is meaningless—like chasing the wind.” [Ecclesiastes 6:9 NLT]
“How long will you people turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods?” [Psalm 4:2 NIV]
“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” [Matthew 7:13-14 NKJV]
“ And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” [Jeremiah 29:13 NKJV]
We need to pursue and not lose our focus and continue believe in Him and trust Him who has promised that we will surely find Him and His Strength if we seek Him sincerely!! AMEN
