What Hinders You From Seeking God?

Is God your first priority? Is He your daily passion?

Well, He is if we are diligent in seeking Him.

Deuteronomy 4:29 NKJV says “But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

So what keeps us from seeking God?

Many things keep us from approaching Him with our needs and troubles. Let’s take a look at a few:

Pride is a biggy. We might think we can handle things on our own. After all we have a good life. Maybe we’re married, have a good income, nice house, reliable cars and a family. Things are good we may think why do I need God?

Busyness is another distracter. We are just too busy to think about God. Really, look at everything we are expected to do each day. Get the kids ready for school, make breakfast, lunches and get dinner ready. Then there’s work to do, either outside or inside the home. Then the chores pile up like laundry, cleaning, yard work, car maintenance, and paying all the bills. That doesn’t even account for all the errands and driving the kids to after school activities. We are busy.

Personal pleasures may be another thing keeping us from God. Maybe we have an incomplete or warped picture of God that we think He’s out to get us or remove all fun in life. We live for enjoyment, entertainment and pleasure, like the songs says “if it feels this good it can’t be bad.” We live for pleasure.

Can you relate to any of these excuses? Yes, they are excuses. For each one there are things we could do to make room for God if we simply choose to. If we are serious about seeking God, then we are also serious about removing the obstacles. Remember we can do all things through Jesus Christ who strengthens us (Philippians 4:13).

So let’s look at how to overcome each of these obstacles.

Handling Pride

First is recognizing pride. Once you see it, confess it to God through prayer. Then be watchful of repeating the same prideful behavior or attitude. You may find yourself confessing the same issue more than once. Don’t worry, just do it as many times as it takes.

Handling Busyness

Busyness is simply letting life run you rather than you planning your life. What we need here are two tools of productivity.

First is to set your priorities. What is most important to you? Identify it. Write it down.

Second is time management. Schedule what’s most important. For example, make an appointment with God each day, even if for only 15 minutes. Then protect that time slot. Do not let anything get in the way. Everything else can wait a mere 15 minutes. Learn to say no to unimportant activities that fill your time. Make room for God.

Handling Personal Pleasures

You couldn’t be further from the truth if you think there’s no fun, excitement or adventure in living a godly life. Following God is filled with joy, wonder and adventure as we look to see what He plans to do next in and through us. So what’s needed here is a commitment to seek God and Bible studies to help you get to know the real God and His ways.

Are you willing to do whatever it takes to tackle the excuses and seek God?

• Hebrews 11:6 NKJV “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
• Matthew 6:33 NKJV “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

God takes care of His people. When you set your mind on Him He brings about perfect peace for those who trust Him (Isaiah 26:3).

Lord God Almighty, you are a rewarder of those who seek you. Encourage our hearts today that we may seek you with all our heart and soul. Let us do whatever it takes to make room for you and seek you every day of our life. In Jesus’ name we pray Amen.

~Elizabeth Marks~

Pioneers of the Heavenly Way # 8

Hebrews 11:13-16

A Link Between Failure and Realization 

One other thing with which to close this present phase as to the backward aspect of Joshua and Caleb to Abraham. They, like Abraham and all the pioneers, were a link between failure and realization. You look at the world at the time when "the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham" (Acts 7:2) in Ur of the Chaldees. You look at the world and you look for that which is of heaven, and where will you find it? Where is all God's thought for something heavenly? It seems that once more it has disappeared. There seems to be no testimony at all to this heavenly thought of God - a heavenly people, a heavenly testimony, something that represents and expresses heaven's thought. Where is it? "The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham", and he became the link between the failure and the realization.

Joshua and Caleb took that up. Here is the story of the failure in the wilderness. But for them, where is God's thought? Yet God has not given it up. It may seem to have well-nigh disappeared; it has been like that again and again. But heaven intervenes, and secures a link between the failure and heaven's triumph. That link is the pioneer. The Lord must have an instrument like that to set over against the failure and to open the heavenly way again to realization.

You are probably wondering, 'What has this to do with me?' You are saying, 'Yes, these are all wonderful ideas: it is quite true, it is quite clear that it is true in the Bible: but how does it affect us?' Well, it just does. One does not like dwelling in a critical way upon a situation, and whatever is said in this direction always leaves room for something very precious of the Lord still in the earth. It is to speak quite broadly. We will put it this way. The great need of Christians today is to be recovered for the full heavenly thought of God. They have settled down to something less. They have become involved in something less and largely other. It has always been like that. The New Testament was written almost entirely because of it. The Lord's people are always at least in peril of doing that - at least in peril. They do gravitate spiritually toward this world and lose their heavenly testimony in one way or another. The pressure is always there to bring down, and the Lord needs lives that have "seen" - that have become like those of whom we were thinking in our last meditation, for whom the center of gravity of life has been transferred from this world to heaven, within whom there is this sense - whether they can interpret it or not, whether they can put it into a system of truth, doctrine, Bible teaching, or not - there is this sense that they are in the line of some great destiny which is beyond what this world can provide, that they have been gripped by something that they can only say is the heavenly calling, which has held them. I am going to say more about that later on; but the Lord needs a people like that, who just cannot be satisfied with things as they are: it is not just a matter of the mind, of the reason, at all. It is inside of them; they know that God has done something. Because God has done something, they are committed to something far greater than the poor limits of this life and this world. They have been inwardly linked on with something tremendous. I say again, they may not be able to preach it, but they know it. We shall never be useful to God beyond our vision, our true God-inwrought vision, beyond our own reach of heart. Our measure of vision will determine the measure of our usefulness. Oh, for the immeasurable measure of heaven in the heart of a people! That is the need today.

Let me close by saying again that, while that is the heavenly calling of which the Apostle speaks so much, it is the most difficult way - it is fraught with every kind of difficulty; but it is the real, it is the true, and it is the ultimate, for heaven is a nature, a power, a life, an order, which is destined to fill this world and this universe.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 9 - "Abraham - A Great Pioneer")

Who Can Find a Virtuous Woman?

"Who can find a virtuous woman? Her price is far above rubies!" Proverbs 31:10 

The description of the virtuous woman given in Proverbs 31, is designed to show what kind of wives godly women should make--and what wives godly men should choose.

A virtuous woman is very assiduous to recommend herself to her husband's esteem and affection. She conducts herself so that he may repose an entire confidence in her. She shows her love to him, not by a foolish fondness--but by prudent endearments, accommodating herself to his temperament.

A virtuous woman is one who takes pains in her duties. She hates to sit idle and do nothing. Though she may not need to work for her bread, yet she will not eat the bread of idleness.

A virtuous woman takes care of her family and all the affairs of it, not meddling in the concerns of other people's houses, as she thinks it enough for her to look well to her own affairs.

A virtuous woman is charitable to the poor. She often serves the poor with her own hand, and she does it freely, cheerfully, and very liberally.

A virtuous woman is discreet and obliging in all her discourse--not talkative, censorious, nor peevish. When she does speak, it is with a great deal of prudence and very much to the purpose. The law of love and kindness is written in her heart--and it shows itself in her tongue!

A virtuous woman has a firmness and constancy of mind, to bear up under the many crosses and disappointments which even the wise and godly must expect to meet with in this poor world. 

That which completes and crowns her character, is that she fears the Lord. With all these good qualities, she does not lack that one thing needful--she is truly pious. In all she does, she is guided and governed by Christian principles, and a regard to God.

In the day of death, it will be a pleasure for her to think that she has lived to some good purpose. True virtue will have its praise--both from God and man. 

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised!" Proverbs 31:30 

~Matthew Henry~

Pioneers of the Heavenly Way # 7

Hebrews 11:13-16

The Principle of Death and Resurrection

Yes, but not only was Isaac a heavenly product by the intervention of heaven, by a miracle, but you see God is going to press that right through to the ultimate in demanding the offering of Isaac as a sacrifice. Isaac was born by a miracle, by the intervention of heaven, but something still further had to be done: he had to die and be raised from the dead. This mighty thing of God must come in and ratify that. What Paul says in Romans 1:4, "declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection of the dead", could well be rendered 'ratified the Son of God ... by resurrection'; and that is Isaac, ratified heavenly.

That has very much of our own spiritual history in it. We have not only been born again by a miracle and heaven's intervention; this has been ratified all the way alone. God is demanding the maintenance of that by resurrection life, and resurrection life has no meaning unless we know something of death. God is keeping us on heavenly ground. That is the meaning of Isaac: not only putting us on heavenly ground, but keeping us on heavenly ground by constant expressions of resurrection, when only resurrection will save the situation.

After all, no matter what it was at the beginning of our Christian life - that we had a wonderful experience of conversion and can put down in a notebook when it happened and where - that may be good, but it has to be ratified continually by the expression of resurrection. We have got to be kept on that ground. And that is the pioneer way. The way of pioneering the heavenly way is knowing again and again the meaning of death and its direness, in order to know the meaning of resurrection and its greatness. It is the pioneer way. The Church has gone that way; many a revelation of God has gone that way; many a child of God has gone that way - in order to keep the heavenly way alive and stop this 'dry-rot' of earthliness which is always seeking to sap the Christian life. We know how true that is.

Abraham came to know that his real inheritance was in heaven. I always think it is a very wonderful thing, this aspect of Abraham's life and experience, under the hand of God: that no doubt when he first set out, at the command of God, he interpreted those promises in a very earthly and limited way. No doubt to begin with his expectation was that they would be fulfilled and realized in this way and in that; but the longer h lived the more he became aware that it was not this way or that, it was something more than he had thought when he started, something very much more and very much other. He went on, and he is one of those here included in this word - "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them and greeted them from afar ... But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly". When God said, "I will bring you to a country" (Genesis 12:1), Abraham in the first place thought that that was earthly; in the end he saw it was not. He came to see, to have perception: for the Lord Jesus said, "Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad" (John 8:56). "Having seen them and greeted the from afar". And so Paul brings us back here, in his letter to the Galatians - "to thy see, which is Christ". "He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ" (Galatians 3:16). Christ was the answer to everything of inheritance for Abraham.

But Christ, the heavenly Christ, is the very embodiment of all that is heavenly. We know not Christ after the flesh. Christ is essentially heavenly. You see the heavenly nature of this seed. You can crowd all that into Joshua and Caleb. Who will be the people that will inherit, go over and posses? Not this earthbound, earth-minded crowd. They will be replaced by another generation with a different constitution - represented by Joshua and Caleb, the first of a new generation - who will possess. They are the pioneers of the heavenly way and the heavenly fullness. But how deeply they had to suffer for it. "All the congregation had stone them with stones" (Numbers 14:10). Pioneering is always a way of suffering and cost, even among - not the worldlings - but those who go by the name of the people of God.

Well, the pioneer of the heavenly way will always be like this: heavenly as a seed, and constantly ratified as heavenly by the necessity for repeated interventions of heaven to extricate, to deliver, to keep going. It is true to the spiritual life. We would not have gone on more than a little way, we would have stopped, it would have been again and again the end of us, if heaven had not intervened, if it had not been that God had ratified the fact that we belong to heaven. And He is doing it.

Well, all this is so clearly seen to be fulfilled in Christ, this Heavenly Seed. His birth was by heaven's intervention, a miracle. At His baptism heaven broke in again and ratified, "This is my beloved Son". His Cross? - that does not look very much like an intervention of heaven. But wait a minute: do not forget that the New Testament never talks about the Cross of Christ on the death side alone. In the New Testament the Cross has twin sides - death, resurrection. "Ye by the hand of lawless men did crucify and slay: whom God raised up" (Acts 2:23-24). The world has done all that it can do, has exhausted itself upon Him. The powers of evil have exhausted themselves. What more can be done: Ah, now heaven comes in and spoils it all and raises Him: ratifies that He belongs to heaven and not to this world. He is not the property, the plaything, either of this world or of the evil powers that govern this world. He  belongs to heaven: and heaven intervenes, and not only raises Him, but takes Him up and out and set Him over!

His spiritual history is the spiritual history of the pioneer of the heavenly way. He is the Pioneer. "Within the veil; whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us" (Hebrews 6:19-20), says this letter to the Hebrews.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 8 - "A Link Between Failure and Realization")

[To those who do not know T. Austin-Sparks, I would like to introduce him to you. He was a pastor all his life and who died in 1968. He never allowed anyone to place a copyright on his Christian writings - never! (And he was a prolific Christian writer in his later years). Austin-Sparks always said: "Freely received - freely given" meaning that what God had blessed him to learn, he would bless others by the same teachings. He refused to accept payment for his Christian writing! Since his death, his family have all agreed that no one can copyright Austin-Sparks works! [you might find several books written by Austin-Sparks published today, and appear to be copyrighted but the truth is, only the front and back cover of the books, the publishers additions, etc. are copyrighted. Austin-Sparks writings are not copyrighted and are free to anyone who desires his God-given wisdom.]

So That You May Believe

When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." - John 11:4

The disciples accepted what Jesus said at face value. They probably thought something like, “Oh good, Lazarus is sleeping. He will wake up so we do not need to return to Judea where they are threatening to kill Jesus.” But when Jesus said, “Ok, it’s time to return,” the disciples became very uncomfortable. They were now quick to challenge the change in plans. Jesus explained to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him” (John 11:14-15). Jesus had a different perspective and purpose and they knew they could not change His mind. Thomas then said what every other disciple was thinking, "Let us also go, that we may die with him" (Luke 11:16). In other words, Lazarus is dead and by Jesus returning to Judea, He may end up dead, so they might as well all go with Him so they can all be dead together. The disciples were mainly focusing on themselves, not on what Jesus was doing. They had little faith in what Jesus could do. Jesus had waited to go back to Judea until Lazarus was dead three days so that their faith in Him would be strengthened. Jesus chose to wait to return to Bethany, not because His life was threatened, or because Lazarus would get better on His own or because He had more important matters to attend too.  He waited so that you may believe.  God’s delays are not God’s denials.  We have to trust in how He chooses to answer our prayers. His perspective is always to do what is best for grounding and strengthening our faith.

Pray about it: Lord, help me to accept your ways. Sometimes I look at impossible circumstances and I limit Your ability to intervene. Help me to believe as I trust in You for the details and delays. Amen.

~Daily Disciples Devotional~

Pioneers of the Heavenly Way # 6

Hebrews 11:13-16

Pioneers are Leaders

Let us now turn to our reading from the book of Numbers. It is at the point of the sending over of the spies, and the focus of the whole incident is upon two men: Joshua and Caleb. Now, mark you, all the twelve heads of fathers' houses - princes in Israel (a significant term), typically representative men - were called to be pioneers of the heavenly way. The principle of their headship and princeliness was that they were to be pioneers. That is the pioneer principle. If you are a true pioneer, you are a leader, you are a prince in character. But only two of them justified their calling; only two of them became what all the rest were supposed to be - pioneers. Very often it just works out like that. It is the minority, the very, very clear minority, that does the work. The others have the name, but they are not doing it; the others have the official position, but they are not doing it. The point is - where is it being done? Here it was Joshua and Caleb.

A Link with the Past

Now let us spend some time in taking account of the significance of these two men, Joshua and Caleb. To being with, we will look at them as a link with the past. The intention of God which was taken up by them marked back to His covenant with Abraham, so that with Joshua and Caleb Abraham comes very much into evidence. You are at once compelled to look back and take fresh stock of the significance of Abraham, as taken up by these two because, you see, the point at which Joshua and Caleb came into view was a critical point, an hour of very great crisis. The whole question now is - Is God's purpose going to be realized in this people, or is it not? That is no small issue; a real crisis has arisen. And they are the deciding factor.

There are three features of the place of Abraham as it comes in here.

A Spiritual and Heavenly Seed

First of all, there is the feature of a spiritual and heavenly seed. Do get that - a spiritual and a heavenly seed. We, today, are in a position of very great advantage. We have now, through the Holy Spirit, the full significance of Abraham. We have our New Testament and all that the New Testament says about Abraham. We have full revelation through the Apostle Paul, and we are now able to see from our New Testament - we have not to go back to the Old Testament for all our knowledge - we can see now, with our New Testament in our hand, the full significance of Abraham; on this point we have much extra light.

A spiritual and heavenly seed. You see how that bears upon Joshua and Caleb, and how they take it up. But this other seed of Abraham is not spiritual and it is not heavenly. It has come down to earth. In these thirteenth and fourteenth chapters of Numbers that we have read, the reactions of this people - how gross they are, how earthly, how lacking in spiritual vision and life and aspiration! They are swayed entirely by the earthly - by the sight of the eyes by things here, the difficulties, the people, the mountains. For them there is no way. For Joshua and Caleb the mountains were a way, not  a hindrance. There was a heavenly way. But these others see nothing of that, they are earthly.

A heavenly and spiritual seed - that is the thought of God in Abraham made clear to us in the New Testament.

An Exclusive Seed

But what more light have we got on this? That it was something exclusive. Paul argues that out in his letter to the Galatians. "Now to Abraham were the promises spoken, and to his seed. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one" (Gal. 3:16). It was exclusive. We will see in a minute where that led to; but note that this, so far a Abraham was concerned, was tied up inseparably and exclusively with Sarah. It was permissible in those times for a man to have more than one wife, but God was shutting this thing up to Sarah. Abraham, under stress and pressure, tried it along another line, by another means - with Hagar; but here was one of these points of which I was speaking a little earlier: a failure, a slip, a mistake, a blunder, under trial, under pressure, under duress; getting off the heavenly line and ruing it - and history has rued it to this day. He had to get back to Sarah. God has shut this thing up, it is an exclusive matter. Not Hagar, and not others, but this one.

Supernatural in Birth and Maintenance

And this seed carries all the marks of the heavenly. It is supernatural in birth; impossible along the line of nature. That is Isaac: and Abraham was shut up to that, shut up to an intervention of heaven. This cannot have an existence, let alone a history, unless heaven sees to it. God was very particular about that. Sometimes God shows how particular He is about the right thing by letting us see the awfulness of the wrong thing. God does not just let a wrong thing go; a mistake, a slip, go as such. We are plagued sometimes to the end of our lives by a wrong step. God will keep that, so that we may see - No, the right way is an important way; it is not just an option. The heavenly is the way, and any alternative to that is not just allowed to pass as though it did not matter. We discover that it does matter; and so it was here. Heaven must do this, or it will never be done, because it is in the heavenly way. What a lot we have to learn, and are learning, about that principle! It explains a great deal that is happening in our lives. God has us in hand.

~T. Austin-Sparks~

(continued with # 7 - "The Principle of Death and Resurrection") 

Can You Think of All This, and Still be Proud!

"Patience is better than pride." Ecclesiastes 7:8

Pride is the opposite of patience. Man is impatient, because he is proud.

Many are proud--who think themselves humble. But let vexations come--have they to bear reproof, to meet the faults, or ignorance of others--and impatience tells the truth; they are proud, not humble!

Pride argues ignorance of SELF.

Would you be humble? Then . . .
  look at your own corruptions;
  survey your features in the looking-glass of Scripture;
  consider well your own spiritual deficiencies;
  study the failings of your character.
Ah! if you know your heart--then none will appear so vile, so corrupt, so sinful, as yourself!

Would you be humble?
Then think of the cross of Christ.
What nailed Him to the tree?
The bloody sweat; the crown of thorns; the tears; the pains; the taunts; the buffetings; the piercing cry--what caused them all?
Your sins! Christian, remember this--your sins! 
Can you feel this, and yet be proud?

Would you be humble? 
Think of the pit, from which He snatched you!
Think of the price, at which He bought you!
Think of the grace, with which He clothes you!
Think of the bliss, with which He will crown you!

Can you think of all this, and still be proud! 

~George Mylne~