Monthly Archives: October 2015

Seek His Face

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How often have you sought God’s face?

In the Bible, there are clear examples that instruct us that it should be a priority in our lives!

Look to the LORD and his strength; seek His face always. Psalm 105:4
My heart says of you, “Seek His face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek. Psalm 27:8

And this oft-quoted verse from the Bible:
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

Will you go through those four steps with me?
1. Humble themselves. Check. Yeah, I’m pretty good at that humbling myself thing… 😉
2. Pray. Check. (True story – my prayer life has improved in quality and quantity since I saw the movie ‘War Room,’ which is a movie I recommend. End of plug for the movie.) But…I AM going to put in an extra plug for increasing the quantity and quality of time that we spend with our Heavenly Father in prayer. You’ll hear from Him in a way that you haven’t before…and battling from our knees is our strongest position.
3. Seek my face. Che…wait. what? What’s seeking His face about?

We may remember the joy it brought us when we stared into our child’s eyes the first time they were placed in our arms. We may remember the joy of early days of catching our loved one’s eye when we first realized we were interested in each other. Seeing our loved one’s face so that we can get more of a sense of what they are really feeling, or so that we can offer them a supportive, understanding look is one of the most important aspects of communication in any relationship. These moments take place when we are focused completely on each other. I’m guessing I am correct when I say that many of us have a desire to gaze into the eyes of our loved ones in order to know them better…in order to become closer to them. What a joy it is when we reach that sense of intimacy in our relationships.

So what about seeking God’s face? Doesn’t He deserve time from us that is completely focused on Him? We can’t literally focus on His face, but we can focus on His Word and His Presence – in other words….His face…who He is! We would most certainly grow in our relationship with Him. We would hear from Him in a clear way, and we would be granted more of a vision of our role in His plan for our lives. Our relationship would reach a new level of intimacy as we seek HIs face. The amount of joy in our lives would reach a new level as well!

4. 4th item in the list…turn from their wicked ways. If we are genuinely seeking His face, then wouldn’t we long to turn from our wicked ways?

In that verse, the last part reads: ‘I will forgive their sin and heal their land.’ Need I say more? If a majority of believers resolved to follow steps 1 through 4, can you imagine the incredible results we would experience?

What’s stopping us from seeking God’s face wholeheartedly? In His Word, He tells us to seek His face! That is reason enough, but just think: fixing our gaze on a God that loves us the way He does would bring about results that are worth experiencing. We would get to know Him in a whole new way!

Will you seek His face with me today? Oh, the joy that awaits us when we gaze into the eyes of our Heavenly Father!

What Do You Know?

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In this world, there have always been and will always be events and happenings that we simply cannot understand and explain this side of heaven.

When my son, Brady, was a little boy, there were nights he struggled to quiet his ever-wondering mind. Through the years, there were nights I wondered if his mind was allowing his body to get much-needed rest! He would call me and/or his father, Darren, to his bedroom to share with us what was on his mind and was preventing him from going to sleep. He looked at us with his big blue eyes, seeking an answer. Sometimes we had one. Unfortunately, sometimes he stumped us, and the answer was, “I don’t know.” He started a mental list of questions he was going to be sure to ask God when he meets him in heaven. 🙂

In trying times, when your mind is trying to process and understand the unknown, you may have some sleepless nights asking God for answers. Maybe you’ve also made a mental list of questions to ask God when you someday see Him face to face.

In the last few years, I’ve been trying to shift my mind’s focus from the unanswered questions to what I know for sure. I do know that God loves me with an indescribable love. I do know that God is in control. I do know that God has a plan for my life, and that He wants me to trust Him on that.

A few years ago, I wrote a song entitled, “Perfect Love,” in which the lyrics of the chorus state: “I don’t know why bad things happen, and I don’t know the answers to the questions that are plaguing you. But I do know the One with all the answers, and I do know that He loves you, and He loves me, and He wants us to trust in His love; His unchanging, unfailing, all-knowing, perfect love.”

Focusing on a God that loves us with an unchanging, unfailing, all-knowing, perfect love instead of focusing on trying to figure out why we are in the midst of a difficult situation will certainly bring His peace to our troubled mind.

Focusing on a mental list of things that we know for sure can give us strength to face the next difficult situation with an assurance that we can convey to others. In this unpredictable world, that mental list can certainly help us feel anchored when the waves are threatening to overtake us and send us reeling in a sea of doubt and confusion.

I’m praying for you today. I’m praying that God overwhelms you with His Holy Spirit’s presence, perspective, and peace, and that you will see how amazing it is to rely on the constant Rock of Ages in this uncertain world.

I’m especially praying that when you face your next unknown, and all the “why” questions attempt to intimidate your peace of mind, your new mental list of things you know for sure comes to the forefront. May God’s indescribable love for you be at the very top, and may that fact always bring you rest.