“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” Jude 24, 25
Finding God. Seeking God. Searching…
LAST WEEK we looked at some of the questions surrounding this concept of “finding God.” The conclusion was:
– God is nearby, always present, there is no place that God is not. (Jeremiah 23:23-24; Psalm 139:7-10)
– The difficulty in “finding God” can often be attributed to the state of our heart when seeking Him. (Deuteronomy 4:29, 6:5, Psalm 119:2, 10)
– Our motive for looking for God can hinder our “finding Him.” Are we looking for God to get the things we want from Him? Or are we looking for God to get more of Him? There’s a big difference. (Psalm 63:1)
THIS WEEK, I have an alternate thought about why some have problems “finding God,” and so, I ask this question:
WHICH God are you seeking?
A crazy question, right? How would you answer that question? The God of the Bible, of course! Great answer. One I think most professed believers would give.
Over the past twenty-plus years, I’ve spent focused time corresponding with, listening to, and talking with people who say they believe in the God of the Bible. They say that they pray to the God of the Bible. They also admit that they rarely, if ever, read the Bible. Or they say that they’ve read parts of the New Testament and some Psalms, but they’ve never attempted to read the Old Testament. Or if they ever tried reading the Old Testament, they’ve never made it past Genesis.
The bottom-line is they say “I believe in the God of the Bible” but they’ve never spent time learning what the Bible says about God. How can that make sense?
This begs more questions: How do you believe in Someone that you know so little about? Where do you get your information about GOD if not from the Bible? Pastors? Books? Movies and television series? Broadway musicals? Podcasts? Blog posts? Instagram? And how do you know if the information you pick up from these alternate sources aligns with what the Bible says? Maybe it does – but maybe it doesn’t. How do you know? Because it sounds right and feels good? Are you willing to bet the eternal fate of your soul on “sounds right – feels good”?
An important question: when was the last time you read the Bible cover-to-cover seeking specifically to know GOD – His character, His attributes, His activities, and His works? No need to answer out loud – that’s between you and GOD.
Dear Friend, if you truly want to seek and find God, you need to be seeking the God of the Bible – not a god that you have defined based on what someone else has said or written or preached or televised or broadcast on social media. While alternate information sources can be excellent, encouraging, educational and enriching when they line up with the Truth of Scripture and point you Godward, they should never be your primary source of Truth.
“Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them.” Deuteronomy 11:16
Nor should you ever rely on your feelings or on what you think GOD should be like. We do not define GOD. GOD defines GOD.
If you are seeking to find the God who follows you around like a puppy dog, patiently waiting until you have time for him, hangs on your every word, answers every prayer as you want him to answer it, approves or excuses whatever you do, solves all your problems, fixes whatever messes you’ve gotten yourself into, makes the consequences of bad decisions vanish, removes every hurt and pain, encourages you to find your better self, and gives you a happy life… friend, you are not looking for the GOD of the Bible. You are seeking a god that does not exist. You’ll have better luck finding a fairy godmother.
If you are seeking a god that exists only in your mind, a “straw” god that you have patched together with pieces of this and a little of that, know with certainty that you will never find him.
“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides ME there is no god.” Isaiah 44:6
God wants to speak directly to you through His Word. God reveals Himself in His Word.
The Bible is God’s written revelation of Who He is and His redemptive plan for His Creation – Past, Present and Future.” God’s Word:
– Reveals EVERYTHING about God that He wants us to know about HIM until we one day meet Him face-to-face
– Tells us EVERYTHING that we need to know to become a child of GOD, so that we can spend eternity with HIM
– Makes known HIS COMPLETE plan for what we are to BECOME once we are a child of God. We are to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, His Only Begotten Son
– Declares HOW we are to live as Christ followers each and every day
“The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise this simple. Psalm 19:7
“Forever, O LORD, Your Word is firmly fixed in the heavens.” Psalm 119:89
“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalms 119:105
“I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides Me there is no GOD; I equip you, though you do not know me, …For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens HE GOD!), who formed the earth and made it (HE established it; HE did not create it empty, HE formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the LORD, and there is no other. … And there is no other god besides ME, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides Me. Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:5, 18, 21-22 ESV
My prayer: Father God, thank you for Your great love and for the way that You reveal Yourself in Your Holy Word. Please give me a burning desire to know You better; open my eyes, my mind, and my heart to the Truth of Who You Are.
May Your Holy Spirit give me understanding of those things too difficult for me to grasp on my own and the faith to trust and believe You even when my comprehension is limited. Thank you that You are far greater than anything my human mind can imagine. You are Almighty God; You are my Father and for that I praise You and thank You. Amen.
“To you it was shown that you might know that the LORD is God; there is no other besides Him. …know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the LORD is GOD in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” Deuteronomy 4:35, 39
“To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only GOD, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17