SEEKING GOD

PART 1 of 8
SEEKING GOD: Calling out to God

The footsteps behind him were unrelenting but he was running as fast as he could. His lungs felt like they would explode at any moment, yet the swish of footsteps in the grass that followed him, didn’t lose a beat. In fact, they seemed to be closing the gap. Mere exhaustion would soon force him to stop and face his stalker no matter what the outcome. His heart raced and threatened to give up on him.

How much longer he could keep up this pace he didn’t know. His legs were getting tired and sore and he could feel his shoulders beginning to sag and lean forward. He looked from side to side hoping to see someone to help and to know which way he could run. To his dismay, nobody was around that could help or intervene. Just when he felt that his heart would burst through his chest, his body conceded and he collapsed.

First his lungs, then his heart, and now the tremendous pressure of anxiety filled what was left of his body as he looked up at the man and down the barrel of a 45 cal handgun. A triumphant smirk adorned the attackers face.

With no help, there wasn’t any way he could fend for himself against his attacker in this position or condition especially against a guy with a gun. He watched as the attacker raised the weapon and aimed it at his head as his eyes enlarged and the smirk turned into a full-fledged smile.

As if his arms and hands would stop a bullet, he raised them and cried out, “Oh God, no. . . God. . . help me! Don’t!”


Why do we Seek God

Deep within the soul of every man lies the knowledge that there is a God in heaven, whether they want to admit that fact or not. Many a person has cried out to God in any number of situations, even as our unsaved man did in the above story of desperation and fear. If anything, the desperate act of crying out to God is a condition reflex stemming from a hidden inherent knowledge that all men have embedded in them. God placed that knowledge in man when He first created him in the Garden of Eden.

Because of predestination [1], God calls us first and for one reason, He loves us [2]. However, because of free will [3], we seek god first and for many reasons and it usually takes a while to build our love and trust in Him.

Man seeks God for many reasons, not the least of which is peace, comfort, healing, deliverance, financial help, or any number of benefits derived from knowing Christ. Maybe He even saved us from someone who pointed a loaded gun at us.

More times than not the reason we seek God is because we have watched somebody else and witnessed how their life has changed after accepting Christ. Maybe that person even led us to Christ. In any event, this prompted us to want the same life, no matter what it was about them that we coveted.


Seeking God: The Beginning

When God gave this series to me, I received seven words from Him: seek, will, hands, face, heart, purpose, and prayer. At the time I was reading 2 Chronicles 7:14, which says,

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

It has always been important for man to seek and know God, but in this day and age [4], it is imperative because His Word also says that God will not always strive with man [5]. This says that salvation will not always be available. That is a scary thought, or it should be, to those who are unsaved.

With the emanate rapture of the church [6] getting closer, remember that life is but a vapor [7] and eternity is. . .well. . .forever. We get one chance at salvation and then the judgment [8]. After the judgment, man will die in his sin and spend eternity in hell with no possibility of escape. The way world events are shaping up nowadays, the judgment and eternity seem to be looming on the horizon.


God is love

First John 4:8b tells us that, “. . .God is love.” Can you imagine what it would be like to be Love and not have anyone to love - or love you back? We can only speculate as to how God felt before He created the heavens, the earth, and then man. We have to assume that since He created us, He needed somebody on which to lavish that love.

Christ also needed a Bride with which to lavish His love. This, however, presented two problems: Number 1, Jesus was Spirit and therefore needed a spirit for a bride. Since God [9] was the only entity in the universe at the time, He would have to create a spirit. Number 2, He needed the spirit to love Him with its own volition because without choice, you render love meaningless. The new spirit needed choice.

Whether it is a natural or spiritual relationship, love drives us to seek out the other person and to know what they are about. It is a constant quest to learn what we can about them. You call that relationship. . . bonding. . .love.

You might say, “It's impossible to know God, just because of that, ‘He is God.’”


Knowing God?

Since God’s ways and thoughts are far above man’s ways and thoughts [10], some will have a hard time understanding the concept of knowing God. I understand this thinking but we have to remember that God is Spirit and He created us in His image, which makes us spirit beings as well [11].

In the natural it is incomprehensible to understand God, for after all. . .He is God, the creator of the universe. Actually, in the natural, we can never really know God to His fullest because He is infinite. Since God is Spirit though, we must seek Him in spirit and in truth [12]. In addition, the Bible says that the Spirit will lead us to all truth [13]; not to some truth, but to all truth.

However, if one side of a relationship contributes more than the other side, is that a prerequisite to whether we can love and aspire to know that person, or whether both sides couldn’t benefit from the relationship, either in the natural or in the spiritual? I wouldn't think so.

Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with God and if we do not seek to know God, to that man [14], it is just religion.

What follows are the six remaining words that God gave to me that day and what I perceived them to have meant. There will be two levels of prayer bringing the total to eight complete levels. This will not be an all-inclusive study on seeking God but prayerfully we can learn together what we can somewhat expect at each level. God bless you all as you read.

Ever wonder what the will of God was for your life? Seeking God's Will may give us an answer.

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[1] Romans 8:29, 30
[2] 1 John 4:19
[3] Deuteronomy 30:19, Joshua 24:15, Proverbs 3:31, Acts 13:48, James 4:17
[4] Emanate rapture
[5] Genesis 6:3
[6] 1 Thessalonians 4:17
[7] James 4:14
[8] Hebrews 9:27
[9] Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
[10] Isaiah 55:8
[11] Since God created us in His image, we are a triune being as well. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and we are Spirit, soul, and Body.
[12] John 4:24
[13] John 16:13
[14] Generic term for mankind, meaning man or woman.

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