LOOKING FOR GOD

Time with Jesus - Monday, 25 February 2013

Jim & Phyllida Strickland

Hi all,

Men are often accused by females in the family that they don’t really look for anything! Certainly Phyllida has this problem with me. My mother used to comment, “He can’t see it for looking at it”! On the other hand, Phyllida always knows where something is. “Have you looked properly” she will say to me. Then she has the uncanny ability of walking past me and putting her hand on whatever it is I’m looking for. She is incredibly patient with me. I’ve been like this since before we met. Sometimes it’s infuriating. I pick something up and put it down somewhere. 30 seconds later I can’t find it. They say this is typical of most men. Perhaps it’s the difference with ladies being able to “multitask”. They have an astonishing ability of being able to do several things at once. I don’t know how. For me, doing one thing at a time is bad enough. Ladies seem to have an automatic “filing ability” and know exactly where everything is. Typically they can read a book, listen to the radio or watch the TV, cook dinner, dry their hair, take care of the children and talk to a friend on the phone all at the same time! The male mind boggles!

Looking for God is altogether different. We all seem to find it difficult finding Him. In a sense, this is strange because He is everywhere. An illustration is a fish in water. It is their natural habitat. They do everything in water. Take them out of water for long enough and they will die. However, are they aware of water? It’s much the same for you and me. Paul said to the Athenians, ²⁸ "In him we live and move and have our being. Act 17:28 TNIV. We are only alive, because we are in God. If we weren’t, we’d die!

Since God is everywhere and all around us, you’d think we would have no problem locating Him. It should be easy to find Him. Our difficulty is, we are the ones who are lost. God is not lost. We are. So why can’t we find Him? Instantly my mother’s comment becomes relevant today. “We can’t see Him for looking at Him”! To use the above illustration, perhaps we need a “female” to show us where to find Him. I’m not suggesting that the Holy Spirit is female. But when it comes to locating God, the Holy Spirit is the specialist! Jesus reminds us that if we are persistent, we will find Him. ⁹ "So I tell you to ask and you will receive. Search and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you. Luke 11:9GW

For us there is a challenge associated with “finding” God. James states; ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Jas 4:8 ESV In our locating God, we find He matches what we do. If we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. Pull away from Him and He seems further away. If you refuse to have anything to do with Him, He will have nothing to do with you.

So let’s decide to draw close to Him; to seek Him with all our heart. He will find us and our search will be over.

Shalom,

Jim & Phyllida Strickland 

Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give		Time with Jesus – Monday, 25 February 2013			Matt 10:8 Freely you received, Freely give
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INTRODUCTION			DAILY LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES	Looking for God
Back in 1966, The Kinks recorded a song which was a parody of the shopping trends in London. A couple of us may remember it. It was called, “A Dedicated Follower of Fashion.” The lyrics were not Christian, but they were not obscene or smutty. A couple of lines of the song were: They seek him here, they seek him there; in Regent Street and Leicester Square. The connection is the promise of God that we will find Him if we look for Him wholeheartedly. 11 For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 12 In those days when you pray, I will listen. 13 If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me. Jer 29:11-13 NLT The exiles in Babylon were greatly encouraged by this. Much of the religious thinking of the day, was that the gods were all localised. In the Israeli context, it would mean that they were now under the control of some local deity. So for them to hear that God intended to take them home, some 70 years later, helped them enormously. It also indicated that God’s authority went beyond Israel’s borders. This would be a new thought for the nations in those days. We should not be surprised at this attitude. They had none of our advantages of motor cars, engine driven ships, aeroplanes or trains. The fastest means of transport was on horseback. In the 18th century, John Wesley went on horseback all over UK. It was the fastest means of transport, other than a horse drawn carriage. The effect of this on the local population, was that there was little opportunity to travel. People simply didn’t go on travel ventures. It was expensive. Furthermore, most would work from sunrise to sunset every day, except perhaps on Sunday, if they could afford to take such time off. For me there is one word that needs emphasising. That word is “wholeheartedly”. It’s a magnificent truth to know, that wherever we are, we will find Him. It’s as true today as it was in ±560BC. If we seek for Him by faith, wholeheartedly, He assures us, we will find Him. This should encourage all of us. We know that God has no favourites and that He treats us all equally. It is impossible to say of Him, that He won’t attend to someone, because he/she is too great a sinner. There is no such thing as being too much of a sinner, whom God will not listen too. Prince or peasant, He cares for all of us equally. Every one of us starts from the same place. We are all “monsters of Iniquity” until He rescues us from ourselves and Satan. To seek God wholeheartedly, is the opposite of indifference, or being lukewarm. In Revelation we are told His reaction to lukewarmness. 15 I know what you have done, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. 16 But since you are lukewarm and not hot or cold, I'm going to spit you out of my mouth. Rev 3:15-16 GW If I may be permitted to paraphrase Jesus Christ’s words: “Luke-warmness makes me sick enough to vomit!” What do we do with this sort of statement by Jesus, written to Christian believers? If nothing else, it encourages me to seek Him by faith, with all my heart. As mentioned recently, fear of the Lord has all but vanished from much of the body of Christ. Have you checked your temperature with God lately? If not, this is a good time to do so. You will only be as enthusiastic for God as you choose. So choose life! Jim & Phyllida Strickland			3 Oh that I (Job) knew where I might find him; that I might come even to his seat! Job 23:3 ESV 10 Does anyone among you have respect for the LORD? Does anyone obey the message of the LORD's servant? Let the person who walks in the dark trust in the LORD. Let the one who doesn't have any light to guide him depend on his God. Isaiah 50:10 NIrV 13 When you look for me with all your heart, you will find me. Jer. 29:13 NIrV 9 "And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:9-10 NLT 3 This is the life we have seen and heard. We are reporting about it to you also so that you, too, can have a relationship with us. Our relationship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:3 GW 13 But now through Christ Jesus you, who were once far away, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Eph 2:13 GW 18 So Jewish and non-Jewish people can go to the Father in one Spirit. Eph 2:18 GW 6 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth--we're not living what we claim. 1 John 1:6 MSG 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Mat 28:20 NLT 5 Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," Heb. 13:5 MSG 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn't looking for Him and doesn't recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you. John 14:17 NLT	I wanted to find Jesus, so I looked everywhere, I tried behind the sofa and underneath my chair. I wandered round the bathroom; the bedroom and the “loo”. But sadly, couldn’t find Him, no matter what I’d do. I looked around the garden and tried the cabbage patch; But everything I spotted, could never ever match, Creation’s great designer. He just could not be found. I was so disappointed, I tried to look around, Alternative locations. The library, the stores, The Anglican cathedral, beneath its “sacred” floors. Eventually I realised the problem was with me. I never would locate Him; my search should never be, Confined to a location. The focus was too small, To look in a locality for Him Who’s all in all. Job had the self-same problem, back in antiquity. He wanted to explain to God his little tragedy. He thought that if he found Him, that he could make it clear, That he had been mistreated. If only He could hear, And give him His attention; He’d sort the whole thing out. And put things back together, of that he had no doubt. Down throughout the ages, mankind has thought the same. Perhaps the Lord Almighty had changed address and name? Perhaps He was on holiday? But this they knew for sure. That He had all the answers and also knew the cure. But they had missed the reason, why He could not be found. They thought that they were innocent and if God was around, To try their little problem in the courts of heaven above. That He would find them innocent; and they just needed love! The truth is, if we really seek Him by faith wholeheartedly, Our search would be successful as sure as sure can be. For God is never hidden. No! He is all around! He promised, if we seek Him, He surely will be found. We needn’t go to Bethlehem, Jerusalem or Rome. He’s right where He’s needed. Our heart is now His home. He’s said He’ll never leave us. So why is it we hunt? He will not hide behind us; He’s always way up front! There is no need for stumbling, complaining He has gone. He won’t walk off and leave us alone to carry on. He’s also told us clearly, He will not let us down. Albeit we are living in the country or in town. We know the Holy Spirit our comforter and guide, Is busily preparing us to be His Holy Bride. Jim Strickland Written 25th February 2012