'Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.' - 1 Chronicles 16:11 NIV
I recently shared a message on IG LIVE titled The Principle of Seeking God during my AFTER SALVATION, NOW WHAT? segment that airs every second Wednesday of the month at 12:00pm EST. The motivation behind the segment is to help my viewing audience discover the hidden life in Christ mentioned in Colossians 3:3 that says our life is hid with Christ in God. I understand this to mean that the life God desires for us to have and live is hidden in a faith relationship with Jesus Christ that comes from God which means we must seek God to experience that life. It's not a life we can encounter apart from Him or without His help. The life God desires for us to encounter is a spiritual life lived out according to His will and His word that we are insufficient and incapable of doing on our own or in our own strength.
Understanding this, as I prepared to write this blog post I received from God three benefits from making Him our focus: 1) Favor from God, 2) Freedom in Christ, and 3) Fulfillment walking by faith. There are things God desires to do within us and with us, for us and through us for His glory and the good of others that requires us to look to Him, rely on Him, and ask for His help. During my IG LIVE talk on the topic of seeking God I was inspired to share, 'We won't seek God if we don't see God for who He is how He reveals Himself to us in His word.' If we don't believe God truly desires to fulfill the desires of those who fear Him or He will show Himself faithful on behalf of those who are faithful, then we won't be motivated to pursue Him.
It's not a life we can encounter apart from Him or without His help.
I do believe God wants us all to get to a place in our faith walk where our motivation to seek and focus on God is simply because of who He is and not for what we can get from Him. As we make God our focus for how we choose to show up for Him, ourselves, and others in life, we begin to see Him come through and show up for us in ways that remind us of what He often says in the Old Testament, 'And then they will know that I am the LORD.' Focus on God leads to us experiencing His favor seeing Him do things for us and on our behalf in ways that strengthens us, sustains us, and settles us more in Him being assured and confident He is faithful to act on our behalf.
'And then they will know that I am the LORD.'
Focus on God leads to freedom in Christ. Freedom from habitual willful sins, unhealthy habits, negative thinking, and constantly being consumed and controlled by thoughts contrary to faith is what focus on God does for us when we are deliberate about investing time in His word and in prayer. Galatians 5:1 says, 'It is for freedom Christ came to set us free and therefore we should not be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.' My faith relationship with Jesus Christ, over time, should reflect the evidence of learning to adapt to life's challenges, evolving in who I am in Christ, growing in the grace and truth of God's word being transformed by it to thrive and live victoriously. The fruit of the Spirit, the character of Jesus Christ, mentioned in Galatians 5 associated with love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, self-control, humility, and faithfulness should be more evident over time the longer I live in this world. This becomes the evidence of my spiritual growth and what allows me to live in the freedom of being focused on God.
If we don't believe God truly desires to fulfill the desires of those who fear Him or He will show Himself faithful on behalf of those who are faithful, then we won't be motivated to pursue Him.
According to His word, it is written God will supply all of our needs and satisfy our desires with good things. It is even mentioned that if we delight ourselves in Him He will give us the desires of our hearts and no good thing will He withhold from them whose walk is blameless. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that those that seek God must believe He is God and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. In short, it is God's desire to bless us and help us. God wants to and is willing to help us enjoy our lives. Instead of going out on our own doing things our own way, God wants us to come to Him for what we desire and then trust He will do it for us as He says in His word that He will make things happen for us at the right time. Focus on God leads to fulfillment.
If you enjoyed this post, check out my books on Amazon available as ebooks:
Out of the Darkness: A Journey into the Marvelous Light (print & ebook)
