Seeking Above All Else

Jeremiah 29
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with your whole heart.
14 And I will be found of you, saith the Lord.

Nothing complicated. Never as been. All of scripture echoes the same pattern. The creator God, the one true Living God will live with those who seek Him wholly. What else would you want?

So what is seeking? We will only find God when we seek Him with our whole heart. There is no room for seeking anything else. Some seek to achieve, some seek to please, some seek to serve, some seek to satisfy, some seek to gain, some seek good and some seek to learn… There is no room!!

Jesus is the answer! He is all our hope, our strength, our learning! He is all that satisfies. Without Christ we can not…. anything! It is repeated so often in the scriptures. We will only find Him when He is all that we are seeking.

What does that look like? Well firstly consider what you don’t mind doing instead of seeking Christ then… stop doing it! It’s only then that we find Christ and He becomes all our good, all our learning, all our satisfaction, all our power….

Seek Jesus, Jesus only!

Christmas

What an army of trials this season brings! Trials and testings on many fronts! My head and heart are consumed by fleshly desires. I wish I could say that I, at the least, felt guilty!! Instead I find myself wanting more of what this world is offering! An end result of the slacking of physical discipline, less time in the word, less time in prayer, less time with my precious Saviour!

I consider my Saviour, Jesus, His blood… I read Revelations and wonder at the awe and praise that the elders and beasts constantly pour out to our God and to my admitted shame, I am shocked and amazed that I can be even slightly distracted from such awesome truth! Jesus alone satisfies!! He satisfies for eternity. He alone is all satisfying joy and peace. Why then do I give in so easily to this flesh? Why do I find place for all of these other desires?

Proverbs 2
1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;
2 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
3 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.

2 Peter 1
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
…
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue;and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience;and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Here is the answer! Here in God’s word is the simple solution. We have not because we ask not. We will not find what we do not seek! May Christ strengthen and wash and reveal Himself to us as we seek Him. May He have our hearts, our whole heart, may we be His and He be ours! May He know us! For His glory only.

Jesus

I need thee every hour,
In joy or pain,
Come quickly and abide,
Or life is vain!

I need thee,
Oh I need thee,
Every hour I need thee,
Oh bless me now my Saviour,
I come to thee!

Psalm 5
7 But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple.
8 Lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies: make thy way straight before my face.

Psalm 23
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

What hope can we possibly have in our selves? What good can we expect to achieve? There is nothing more wondrous in all of life than the love of God. That love that knows no bounds, that stretches down to weak, broken men such as you and me and lifts us!! Love that compels a man to weep, to preach, to sing, to pray! Surely the one desire of God for a man is that he draw near. Nothing more. My one aim, my one desire, my life’s ambition, my singular mind will surely be bent on being with Him. Out of this, if God be so pleased, Christ will reach a dying world. Out of this, to His glory, we may be entrusted with His gospel and counted worthy to bear His name.

When we preach, when we talk, when we do good deeds for our neighbours and friends do they see a helpful, friendly brother or… Do they see Christ? It is surely Christ’s testimony that we covet and seek above all to protect. God forbid that at any time, anyone should glorify Matthew Lovell for the work that Christ has done in my life!!! Jesus!! Jesus only!!