I feel a change happening. I’m not totally sure what this change is but I know it is very present. More and more throughout my day, I find myself seeking God almost like a urgency to find Him in a different way.
Seeking God is not new to me but this seeking I am experiencing now is new and different. My previous days of turning to God were more for guidance and strength. The day-to-day drawing to Him now is more about better understanding His promises. I have heard different reports on the number of promises that God gives us in the Bible and it varies from 3,000-7,000. To me, either number is astronomical, and fathoming that type of goodness is mind-blowing. I know I cling to a few but need to experience more of them.
The first thing to realize about God’s promises is that God cannot lie. His goodness doesn’t fail Him so He will not and cannot lie to us. His promises are true. I know sometimes we fudge the truth by either embellishing or leaving out facts to suit our needs. God is not like us, thank Heaven. We have great shortcomings that cause us to be insecure and untrusting. God doesn’t offer insecurity or distrust. I don’t have to understand God’s promises, only that He offers them to believers. It’s like faith, we don’t see but we trust God to be who He says He is.
Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
God offers to take care of us when we seek Him. This has been a big one for me lately. I have been constantly asking for His guidance to know more about His Word, Jesus, and the service we are to do in His name. I was blessed with this beautiful ministry four years ago. A ministry that started simply by offering more gratitude to others. I shared gratitude hearts with people I appreciated or who were kind to me. It made me feel fulfilled and more appreciative by expressing gratitude. Then God changed that ministry. He wanted deeper and more meaningful service from me.
God led people to me that were needing HOPE and things became more complicated. I was sitting and praying with people I had my choice chose to sheltered from, victims of violent crime, food insecure, homeless, and many others. I knew these people were in my community but I didn’t see them. I chose to look the other way. If something wasn’t in my life I wasn’t going to go seek it until God put them in front of me so I would seek Him. He knew I would have to turn to Him for patience, guidance, compassion, and love for my new friends. He was going to have me see His people, all of the people He loved but were struggling when I was not. I remembered the promise of Jeremiah 29:11-13.
Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
I know most people will just stop after only quoting verse eleven but I need verses twelve and thirteen. It seals God’s promise to me. Yes, He had the plan to give me this beautiful ministry BUT, He asks me to call on Him and seek Him with all my heart. He promises to listen to me when I come and pray to Him. He promises I will find Him and not just once, but everytime. This has to happen constantly in my life to grow in His work and plans for me. I can’t do this alone, nor would I want to.
God blessed me with this ministry yet I move through it at His pace for me. He opens more doors and shows me more of His love each day I walk with Him. This is His work for me, not my dream and goal that I am seeking help for. Yes, there are days I have ideas that really aren’t based in His plan and I quickly recognize this because of how uncomfortable I feel. It will feel awkward if I start to plan and it’s not His plan. I will sit and spin in circles and nothing will fall into place. When it is God’s inspiration and plan everything moves like He does, confident and smoothly.
Another promise that always keeps me going and continually seeking God is John 14:16-17. God promises to be with me always and within me as the Holy Spirit.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
The moment I surrender to Jesus and asked Him to free me of anxiety and the dispair found in this world a sudden peace overcame me. A peace that I can only discribe as pure comfort and love. I felt God in my mind say, “My child, everything will be okay.”. You know what? It is okay.
I have faced many serious trials since that promise God blessed me with personally that evening. Cancer with my parents, extreme financial issues, the passing of my father, sitting in my ministry with others that were broken and hurting just to name a few. Although, it was tough and still is tough, my peace that God gives me and the assurance of an everlasting existance of God within me makes life on this earth worth living. I feel Him in me. I feel Him with me.
As I am moving in this growth and in seeking God, I have enrolled in The Lee Strobel Center for Evangelism and Applied Apologetics at Colorado Christian University. I am becoming certified in apolgetics. Apolgetics is branch of theology that is concerned with defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines. I want to be able to answer questions to be able to defend God’s Word and who Jesus is to others that find doubt in Christianity. I know my life is so much better being a Christian that I want others to know that goodness and have the promises I have. I want them to feel that peace God gave me in the Holy Spirit.
This process of certification will take much time with a lot of reading and study but it is so worth it to me. Jesus taught us to share the Gospels and minisiter to others showing that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I want to be confident that I am teaching correctly and helping others know the beautiful and blessed life that comes with knowing and accepting Jesus as our Savior.
I pray for you that are reading this blog that you may know God’s peace and promises every day. My love and gratitude-LoLo
gratefulgratitude.net 