Seek God for the City - Day 15: See Him. Seek Him.

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We are continuing to Seek God for the City, following this great plan laid out by Waymakers.  Our new weekly focus is:spiritual awakening of lost and broken people.  Under that umbrella, we are seeking God this week on behalf of Asia and the Pacific. Today, we are seeking God on behalf of elderly people, and asking Him to rescue the desperate.

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Man, they were close.  Oh, so close.


After two years of travelling from Egypt
 (including some extended stays) the Israelites were on the cusp of entry into the Promised Land.  It had been a long trip, but now they were here.  God instructed them to send twelve spies into Canaan to check it out. Numbers 13 and 14  tell the story.  The spies came back and all agreed that this place was awesome!  It did indeed flow with milk and honey -- they all agreed...but...all but Caleb feared they (forgetting that it was God's promise) could not defeat the current residents.  Afraid the people would follow Caleb's lead, the other eleven not only told the nation that they were afraid of the people living there, but they lied and said the land itself was bad (v. 13:32).  And the people rebelled.

So instead of leading them to victory in Canaan, God pledges to keep them in the desert for forty years, until all who had left Egypt died, (save Caleb and Joshua) and only their descendants would enter the land. 

Can you imagine?  The same people who saw the Egyptians struck down by the plagues while they lived, who saw the Red Sea swallow up Pharaoh's army while they walked through on dry land, the same people who saw manna from Heaven, water from rock, who saw the very Presence of God in the cloud and fire, doubted He could lead them into Canaan.
And God stayed with them as they wandered.

They saw God - but didn't seek Him.  


Had they sought the heart of the One whose miracles they saw with their own eyes the would have walked victoriously into the Land of Milk and Honey.


Instead, they wandered.
Choose to seek and see.  


Believe what you see.


Have faith that His power is real for you.


Seek.


Find.

Seek God for the City - Day 14: Seeking You for the Kingdom

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We are continuing to Seek God for the City, following this great plan laid out by Waymakers.  Our new weekly focus is:spiritual awakening of lost and broken people.  Under that umbrella, we are seeking God this week on behalf of Asia and the Pacific. Today, we are seeking God on behalf of fathers, and asking Him to display His mercy.

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Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  But the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?”  Genesis 3: 8-9


As you are, as I am, as we are, seeking God for the city, on behalf of people, places, and activities, this verse exploded in my ears from the lips of some pastor, as I heard a recorded message this morning.


God called to the man, “Where are you?”


I am pretty sure God knew exactly which bush Adam was hiding behind.  


I remember asking many young man who worked for me in the Air Force, and to be honest, I'm sure some supervisors raised their voices and asked me, "Where's your head at?"  It was not a question of geography -- it was a question of attitude, a question of focus, a question of intention. It's more like "What are you thinking?" And I think this is the question God was really calling out to Adam.  Adam sinned, tried to hide from the Creator in His own creation, and God was asking Him, "Where are you?"  In other words, 'Adam, where's your head at?'  Or 'what are you thinking?'


OK, am I walking around as if God doesn't know what's going on in my life?


God isn't hiding from us; we need to make sure we're not hiding from Him.


Seek.


Find.

Seek God for the City - Day 13; Seeing is not always believing

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We are continuing to Seek God for the City, following this great plan laid out by Waymakers.  Our new weekly focus is: spiritual awakening of lost and broken people.  Under that umbrella, we are seeking God this week on behalf of the Asia and the Pacific. Today, we are seeking God on behalf of depressed people, and asking Him to draw the lost with His persistent love.

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Since the beginning of 2012, there have been a number of teen suicides in and around the community in which I live.  When we began this forty days of prayer, that was heavy on many of our minds and we were arming ourselves to pray against that darkness.

I write this having just heard late yesterday that there may have been yet another, in a town just south of here.

My eyes tell me prayer is not working.  Just look around.

My eyes (and ears) are sometimes easy targets for the enemy.  We see all the bad that continues regardless of our best prayer efforts.  And after all, seeing is believing, right?

Not so fast.  We have something better than sight.  1 Corinthians 5:2 tells us we walk by faith and not by sight.  Some people use the term "blind faith" and I have grown to dislike that term.  "Blind faith" sounds like we can't make out what is around us, what is ahead, and that we are just jumping off a cliff with a desperate notion (thanks Indiana Jones) that something will be there when we land.

"Seeing is believing."  

Hogwash.

Our eyes are limited and deceptive.  Thanks to microscopes and telescopes and prisms I know all kinds of things exist that the naked eye fails to perceive and went unknown for the majority of history.

Our eyes try to tell us that a man's heart is different because he looks different.  But faith tells us that there is a truth in the heart that God sees and will share with us.

Our eyes try to tell us that prayers don't achieve anything.  But faith says that God hears and responds!

Imagine an island where everyone is born and remains blind.  They would move about in their lives not knowing anything about vision.  Then imagine a physician shows up on the island, and knows some simple procedure to bring sight.  Only one man will try it at first.  Can you imagine his response?  

In this world, those with faith are like that man.  We have something that allows us to move about "seeing" better than the rest of the world who remain spiritually blind!  That is faith!  And when we have difficulty "seeing" with our faith, we need to remember to grab tightly to the hand of God and walk with Him.  Faith is that too -- holding the hand of, and walking with the One who can truly see!

Seek God for the City - Day 12: Getting in position to seek

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We are continuing to Seek God for the City, following this great plan laid out by Waymakers.  Our new weekly focus is: spiritual awakening of lost and broken people.  Under that umbrella, we are seeking God this week on behalf of the Asia and the Pacific. Today, we are seeking God on behalf of government leaders, and asking Him to call people to sincere repentance.

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So, seeking God?  Where should we look?
How should we look?  Can we better position ourselves to see?

Matthew 18:2-4 says: (Jesus) called a little child and had him stand among them.  And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.   

So then, what does it mean to 'humble ourselves'?  I recently listened to then read a sermon from John MacArthur, here's an excerpt:  "The humility of a child, what do we mean by that? Well, children are humble. What do we mean when we say they're humble? They have no achievements. They have no accomplishments. They have no personal means to achieve or to accomplish. We're talking about infants, little ones. They have no ability to chart their own course, they have no wisdom to face the world. They have no ability to protect themselves, to provide for themselves. They are weak. They are dependent. They are immature. They are ignorant. They are simple minded. They are vulnerable. They are in desperate need of care and that's exactly how it is for those who enter the Kingdom. We recognize that we have no achievement, no merit, no accomplishment. We are weak, ignorant, dependent, immature, ignorant, simple-minded, vulnerable. We can't defend ourselves. We can't achieve anything by some accomplishment. We have no ability for those kinds of things. We have no credentials. We have nothing to offer. A baby has no personal worth or glory, having accomplished nothing. 


That's what you have to be like or you won't even enter My Kingdom."
From John MacArthur's Grace to You.

The same principle applies to seeking God...after all, we are seeking His Kingdom first, right?  So, in order to seek Him, to see Him, we must get into position; we must admit that we are "weak, ignorant, dependent, immature, ignorant, simple-minded, vulnerable. We can't defend ourselves. We can't achieve anything by some accomplishment. We have no ability for those kinds of things. We have no credentials. We have nothing to offer."  

That is childlike faith.  That is the position from which we can see our way into the Kingdom.

Seek.  

Find.

Seek God for the City - Day 11: A good place to seek God

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We are continuing to Seek God for the City, following this great plan laid out by Waymakers.  Our weekly focus continues to be praying through hope; revival of the church.  Under that umbrella, we are seeking God this week on behalf of the Americas and the Caribbean. Today, we are seeking God on behalf of those in gangs, and asking Him to manifest His presence and glory.

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So, seeking God?  Where should we look?

David said God was, well, everywhere.  You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me...where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there;  if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.  (from Psalm 139)


Yet, still we seek.  So, if we cannot find Him like David did, where might we look?


How about church?  Is that too obvious an answer?  Too trite maybe?


No!  Christ established His church, in part, for just that purpose.  He built it as the earthly institution which would house, affirm, and attend to His people. (see Matt. 16:18-19 & 18:15-20)


He stated that as the Father was in Him, He would be in His people, the church.  (John 17:20-23)


His intent was that the wisdom of God be made known through the church. (Ephesians 3:10)

Christians are called to submit to their spiritual leaders. (Hebrews 13:17 & 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13) Those leaders are found, yes, in the church.  Not every church has those leaders, but the right church has those leaders.

And Hebrews 10:25 tells us to not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Being a part of Christ's Body, the church, is vital to seeking and finding God.  

So, go to church.  Make sure you become a church where the Word of God is taught, where Jesus is proclaimed as the only way to God, and where the work of the Holy Spirit is evident. 

Seek.  

Find.

Seek God for the City - Day 10: Steps

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We are continuing to Seek God for the City, following this great plan laid out by Waymakers.  Our weekly focus continues to be praying through hope; revival of the church.  Under that umbrella, we are seeking God this week on behalf of the Americas and the Caribbean. Today, we are seeking God on behalf of ministries, and asking Him to restore our families. 

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So, seeking God?  The Seek God for the City book from Waymakers does a tremendous job helping us focus on seeking God on behalf of the people, places, organizations, geographic areas, and specific actions that it lays out each day.  I have forayed into those once, but I really feel God is calling me, not to add to those specifics, but rather to talk about the "seeking" itself. 


1 Corinthians 10: 32-33 says: Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God — even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.   


Paul says he is not seeking his own good.


Paul says he is "...seeking the...good of many..."


And he is seeking that good so that they may be saved.


The words "seek God" are not explicitly here, but they are here!  OK, this is not THE three steps, not the only three steps to finding God - but they are three pretty important ones.  Let's look:


1.  Not seeking your own good above God and others.  When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus said  Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. And He said the second one was like the first:  Love your neighbor as your self.


2.  Seek the good for many.  What is that?  Jesus said no one is good but God.  


3.  Remembering the why we seek on behalf of others; so that they may be saved.  


This is what I am saying. Putting Him and others before your self, and helping others find God for their own salvation, are ways to help each of us find God for ourselves. 


Just remember...He is our Father and He's not hiding.




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Seek God for the City - Day 8 & 9,

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We are continuing to Seek God for the City, following this great plan laid out by Waymakers.  Our weekly focus continues to be praying through hope; revival of the church.  Under that umbrella, we are seeking God this week on behalf of the Americas and the Caribbean.  Yesterday and today, we are seeking God on behalf of those in arts & entertainment and women, and asking Him to renew our passion to worship , and to renew our hearts to obey Him.

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The events of the last two days have made it difficult for me to get online; what an incredible thing to know that all of us were...are...still connected through the Holy Spirit and still seeking the same things through prayer...and still seeking God.  After all ... we're related.  

Two days ago, we discussed this passage:From one man He made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for Him and find him, though He is not far from each one of us.  ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’  Acts 17: 26-28

Today, I want to focus on that last phrase:  "We are His offspring."  You.  Me.  People you go to church with.  Your neighbors.  Your parents.  Your kids. The folks on the radio.  Your pastor.  All God's children.

That means we are family, you and I.  And that God we are seeking, He's our Father.

Let's continue to seek.  There is stuff in the way, the enemy is trying to convince us we can't see, so let's keep seeking.

Just remember...He is our Father and He's not hiding.