Isaiah 55:6 - 7 reads "6 Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. 7 Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously" .
In my sanctuary, this month is set aside for fasting and praying, as I mentioned in this post: And when you fast, to go Deeper and Higher into the presence of God.
Today, is the first day of this fast. It is a time for us to seek the face of God like never before. A time to lay down everything, that has hindered us from continuously seeking the face of the Lord. A time to lay down everything that is contesting for our time with God.
Did you know that even God's blessings can stifle our hunger for God? Can deter us from constantly seeking his face, can dampen the blazing hunger we should feel daily as we strive to live according to his will?
Did you know that even God's blessings can stifle our hunger for God? Can deter us from constantly seeking his face, can dampen the blazing hunger we should feel daily as we strive to live according to his will?
Yes, we can get carried away with God's gifts and blessings such as gardening, watching TV, even our relationships, marriages or families, reading magazines and so forth.
This is better explained in Luke 8:14 explains it further as thus "The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity."
So, this morning in the service, we commenced this journey with a bang! We left everything that consistently fights for our attention with God, that constantly dampens or dulls our hunger to reach out to God and to seek him as we know we should; and we take up the strength of God, we reach for his power, his wisdom and understanding. We reach out to God through our prayers, fasting and our giving for his will to be done and for his kingdom to surely come.
As we journey on, I invite you to take part, I invite you to take some time, and put aside the daily grind that we call life and focus solely on the God that can make everything that is wrong in your life better, that can make you a better creation, that can propel you to be all that you are meant to be; all for His glory.
It is the season, it is the time to prepare prepare and condition our hearts, aligning our lives to the will of God, hiding his words therein, so that they never depart.
A Time to Seek In the middle of challenges,
in the midst of striving to live
the reality of God's will, it is time to seek
the beauty of his face, a time to
hunger for his presence, through his grace
In the middle of everything going wrong,
in the jubilation and victory,
it is time to seek the face of the one
who changes not, through centuries
Like birds know and detect seasonal changes,
fly south in search for food
It its time to awaken the hunger within hearts,
in search for wisdom and understanding through God's word
like Solomon wrote about, from days of old
It is time to break hollow ground
prepare our hearts, minds and soul as
fertile and solid ground
A time to seek renewed revival
A time to hunger for his holy presence
© Remi Banjo, June 2008
Have an awesome day preparing your minds, hearts, spirit and soul for God's presence, whilst making him famous along the way.
Much Love
Remi Banjo
***pictures by photobucket***
6 Comments:
Prayer.... a powerful weapon, O how I wish all will see the need to engage in this act moment by moment, seeking to be close to the one who made us to worship him.
Once again, you've encouraged and inspired me to take this month of June seriously.
Bravoooo!
Deboo
Word!, Isn't it amazing how He's ever ready when we are ready to seek Him? thanks for sharing.
The most important thing I got from this is that it is really really easy not to seek God's face when we get carried away by His gifts and blessings (marriage, children, jobs, cars, mansions...etc).
Yesterday, someone told me..."never get too comfortable."
Thank you sooo much Remi! This is such a huge reminder...
@debbie - yup power is a powerful weapon, now include fasting into the equation and you got a knock out blow delivered to the pits of hell. !
@rinsola, yup, he's always waiting in the wings waiting for us to open the door of our hearts. It is a concious decision we have to make, "to open, or not to open" Holy spirit help us.
@Jaycee, girl, this was what I learnt too when I wrote this post. Its amazing that even as I write I read back and I learn from it! - well it is the Holy spirit's words. But yes, the very blessings and gifts God bestows to us, fights for his very attention, and if we are not careful, we start to embrace the gifts and not the giver of the gifts! God forbid.. Father keep us strong and focused on the essence of who you are - Amen
the part dat caught my attention was the getting carried away by His blessings,which is so true..we can even getting carried away by His promises which hav not even yet been fulfilled..but God help us to put you as no.1.
A question: how often is it good or alright to fast...like sometime last month i fasted twice, 2 weeks apart..but the 2nd one didn't seem as helpful or powerful as the first...i want to know cos i want to participate in dis seeking his face fast but feel dat it wont be powerful for me.
nice post!
@ Annonymous, thanks for visiting. Yes if we call on God and seek his help, he is willing and will help us focus on him. With regards to fasting, it is expected of us, as the bible says 'when ye fast' not 'if ye fast'. Now the times and frequency is really between yourself and God. Sometimes God will lay it in your heart to fast for a particular reason, an issue or for someone and he will guide you as to when and how long you will fast for. At the moment, where I worship, God has called us to fast as one body and it is for the whole month of June, and you are most welcome to join in. We nomally do this to further seek the face of God and and usually he gives us a mandate and this time it is to pray for strength and to interceed for the nation. But as I said, speak to God and tell the holy spirit to give you further understand, and he most definately will... lots of luv
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