SEEK THE FACE OF GOD

  When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.

-- Psalms 27:8

Seeking the face of God is simply, wanting to be in His presence as often as possible. Not because you want something from Him or need Him to fix a problem, but just because you want to be close to HIM.

Too many are seeking the Hand of God. Bless me God, prosper me God, heal me God, get my children out of trouble God.  Make no mistake, God is willing and has promised to provide all of our needs and grant our desire.  He also asked that we delight ourselves in Him. David makes it clear in this division of Psalms that it is his desire to seek the face of God.

I found this article that expounds on seeking the face of God so clearly that I just decided to repost the entire article.  Please read and be encouraged to seek the face of God. If this is something that you have already begun, I encourage you to MAINTAIN YOUR POSITION!!!

What Does It Mean to Seek the Lord?

Meditation on Psalm 105:4

Seeking the Lord means seeking his presence. “Presence” is a common translation of the Hebrew word “face.” Literally, we are to seek his “face.” But this is the Hebraic way of having access to God. To be before his face is to be in his presence.

But aren't his children always in his presence? Yes and no. Yes in two senses: First, in the sense that God is omnipresent and therefore always near everything and everyone. He holds everything in being. His power is ever-present in sustaining and governing all things.

And second, yes, he is always present with his children in the sense of his covenant commitment to always stand by us and work for us and turn everything for our good. “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). 

But there is a sense in which God’s presence is not with us always. For this reason, the Bible repeatedly calls us to “seek the Lord...seek his presence continually.” God’s manifest, conscious, trusted presence is not our constant experience. There are seasons when we become neglectful of the Lord and give him no thought and do not put trust in him and we find him “unmanifested”—that is, unperceived as great and beautiful and valuable by the eyes of our hearts. 

His face—the brightness of his personal character—is hidden behind the curtain of our carnal desires. This condition is always ready to overtake us. That is why we are told to “seek his presence continually.” God calls us to enjoy continual consciousness of his supreme greatness and beauty and worth.

This happens through “seeking.” Continual seeking. But what does that mean practically? Both the Old and New Testaments say it is a “setting of the mind and heart” on God. It is the conscious fixing or focusing of our mind’s attention and our heart’s affection on God. 

“Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God.” (1 Chronicles 22:19)

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” (Colossians 3:1–2)

This setting of the mind is the opposite of mental coasting. It is a conscious choice to direct the heart toward God. This is what Paul prays for the church: “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ” (2 Thessalonians 3:5). It is a conscious effort on our part. But that effort to seek God is a gift from God.

We do not make this mental and emotional effort to seek God because he is lost. That’s why we would seek a coin or a sheep. But God is not lost. Nevertheless, there is always something through which or around which we must go to meet him consciously. This  going through or around is what seeking is. He is often hidden. Veiled. We must go through mediators and around obstacles.

The heavens are telling the glory of God. So we can seek him through that. He reveals himself in his word. So we can seek him through that. He shows himself to us in the evidences of grace in other people. So we can seek him through that. The seeking is the conscious effort to get through the natural means to God himself—to constantly set our minds toward God in all our experiences, to direct our minds and hearts toward him through the means of his revelation. This is what seeking God means.

And there are endless obstacles that we must get around in order to see him clearly, and so that we can be in the light of his presence. We must flee every spiritually dulling activity. We must run from it and get around it. It is blocking our way.

We know what makes us vitally sensitive to God’s appearances in the world and in the word. And we know what dulls us and blinds us and makes us not even want to seek him. These things we must move away from and go around if we would see God. That is what seeking God involves.

And as we direct our minds and hearts Godward in all our experiences, we cry out to him. This too is what seeking him means.

“Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” (Isaiah 55:6)

“If you will seek God and plead with the Almighty for mercy...” (Job 8:5)

Seeking involves calling and pleading. O Lord, open my eyes. O Lord, pull back the curtain of my own blindness. Lord, have mercy and reveal yourself. I long to see your face.

The great obstacle to seeking the Lord is pride. “In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him” (Psalm 10:4). Therefore, humility is essential to seeking the Lord.

The great promise to those who seek the Lord is that he will be found. “If you seek him, he will be found by you” (1 Chronicles 28:9). And when he is found, there is great reward. “Whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). God himself is our greatest reward. And when we have him, we have everything. Therefore, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!”

Seeking with you,

Pastor John

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

MANIFESTING THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT (1)

In order to have the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit in your life, you must believe the promise of Christ according to His word.  Fruitfulness and abundance has been promised for you and everyone who receives Christ as Lord and Savior and continue in faith and obedience. Here is the promise: “Truly, truly, I  say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to the Father.  And whatsoever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If you ask anything in My name, I will do it” John 14:12-14.

Faith in God and in His promises and obedience to His commands are the only means by which you can live the supernatural life.

Some of you are probably already saying within yourselves, this is going to be tough, I can’t live that kind of life.  Well, you’re right. YOU, cannot do it.  The only one who can truly live it is the Lord Jesus Christ in you.

Therefore, your life must be Christ directed.  That means He must be in your life and on the throne.  That is when you have decided to make Him Lord of your Life allowing Him to lead as you follow.  Self then is yielding to Christ.  Your interests become directed by Christ resulting in harmony with God’s plan.  All other agendas become secondary to Christ.

As you continue to trust Christ, moment by moment, you will begin to experience many wonderful benefits.  Your prayer life will become more powerful.  Your study of God’s Word will become more meaningful and you will experience His power in witnessing.

WHAT HINDERS US FROM MANIFESTING THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT?

Lack of Knowledge.  Can you imagine a person saying “No” to the Christian life, if they knew all of the scriptural facts and benefits?

Pride – This is not the same thing as a healthy love and acceptance of oneself.  Pride was the sin of Satan (Isaiah 14: 12-14).  The self-centered, egocentric Christian cannot have fellowship with God (1 Peter 5:5)

Fear of man – Peer pressure keeps man Christians locked out of the supernatural life.  We need to see what the word says about the Christian. (1 Peter 2:9)

Worldly-mindedness – A love for material things that lead you away from the Mind of Christ. (Romans 12:2). We must be renewed in the spirit of our minds.

Lack of faith – Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6a). 

Secret sin – Unconfessed sin keeps many Christians from experiencing the joy of supernatural living  (Proverbs 28:13a).

Challenges

Challenges – Nothing pleasant, they don’t feel good, makes one want to crawl up into a fetal position or just break down and cry.  But, my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, I encourage you to not GET WEARY IN WELL DOING.  You must change your perspective on challenges.

This Christian walk is about facing challenges because this is the vehicle whereby we grow and mature into the manifestation of what God has called us to be. When you consider an infant and all of the challenges presented to them from day one of birth, you count it all as a part of their growth process.  As parents, what do we tell our children when they feel as though they just can’t take it?  We encourage them and tell them “it’s alright, you’ll be ok, you can do it”!  When they fall after trying so hard to stand up by themselves, what do we do?  Pick them up, brush them off, straigthen their clothes and tell them to try it again. Usually the child/baby will not want to try again because they feel it is too hard, they may not want to budge and they begin crying and throwing a fit, but as a good parent, you push them to try it again. Some babies have to be encouraged more than others but when it’s all over, the baby will pass the test of that particular challenge and move on to the next level.

We too, from the infancy of our new birth in Christ to the present and beyond, have to count all of the challenges we face as a part of our Christian growth process.

From my experience in interacting with others, I’m convinced that if each believer knew they had someone they could call right in the midst of a challenge to get a word of encouragement, many would not faint at the thought of going through a really tough challenge.  It is at this point that believers must become helpers one to another.

It is unfortunate that when new converts come into the body of Christ, they are not made aware that it is now a process of growth into Christian maturity and that involves the method of testing or challenges. Why the tests?

Let’s consider the exhortation from Apostle James in his first chapter (Ja. 1:2-4). “Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.” (Amplified version) THAT’S GOOD NEWS!!!!

Too often, we don’t want to go through trouble unless we know all about how it is going to turn out. Understand this, trying to know everything and trying to figure out everything is like trying to control God.  Get pride out of the way and submit yourself under the mighty hand of God.  Man in his carnal state will always have a driving force to control everything in his environment.  It is a part of that enmity between man and God spoken of in Genesis.  The flesh wants to have complete control of everything, yet we find in the Word of God the following: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” James 4:7.

 I’ve heard the question so many times, “How can I count it joy when I don’t have money to pay my bills, when my car is being repossessed or my family member is in jail and I can’t get bail money or everyone seems to push me to the side or whatever your particular challenge may be”.  How can I count this as joy?  Please allow me to offer some suggestions right here.

First, understand the purpose of testing in this Christian walk. Purpose – maturity in God.  We, as believers must change our perspective on challenges/testing. This process is not meant to make you fall or fail, but they are meant to build you up and make you soar like eagles.

Second – it makes one complete.  When we face our challenges, they gradually remove the weaknesses and imperfections in our souls, which make up our character.  Through a daily process the growth that we allow the challenges to bring will help us to conquer old hidden sins, shed old blemishes of unforgiveness and gain new virtues until we become entirely fit and ready for the Master’s use.

Third – it makes one deficient in nothing (lacking nothing). If one meets their challenges with the right attitude, day by day he will live a more victorious life. 

We cannot hold on to the mindset that whatever the challenge –“it’s not fair that I go through this”.  Christians must go through challenges in order to grow up in God.  Your challenge does not always come your way because of some misdeed that you are reaping consequences for.  When you see your challenge as a punishment, you will always ask the question “What did I do to deserve this?” or “Why is this happening to me?”.  However, Child of God, if you start looking at your challenges as another opportunity to help you grow in your faith walk, grow in your level of trust in God, grow in your love walk with your neighbor, or grow in your dependence totally on God, you will begin to see a more rapid progression of growth in God.

One of my favorites passage of scripture says “For we know, that all things work together for the good of them who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose” Ro. 8:28.  My question to anyone going through “stuff” is “Do you love the Lord?”. If the answer is “yes”, then my response is “Well, whether you can see it or not, it’s working for your good”.  Now, can you rest in that assurance?  I can!!  How about you? 

Beloved, don’t retreat from your challenges; its there to help you in your spiritual development.  God has more confidence in you than you have in yourself.  Remember, “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” 1Co. 10:13.

Blessings!

Pastor Cosby