“13And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” ~Jeremiah 29:13 KJV
(Father God speaking directly to the Israelites and indirectly to all His children)
“37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
~Matthew 23: 37 KJV (Jesus speaking to the Jews)
“20 Neither for these alone do I pray +[it is not for their sake only that I make this request+], but also for all those who will ever come to believe in (trust in, cling to, rely on) Me through their word {and} teaching,
21 That they all may be one, +[just+] as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe {and} be convinced that You have sent Me.” ~John 17:20-21 Amplified (Jesus’ prayer for his disciples)
- Through out time God has reached out to those who seek Him. God loves us and wants us to love Him. Sadly, like Eve turning to the forbidden fruit, we choose to turn to idols to satisfy us. We believe Satan’s lie that God is not enough and that he’s holding out on us. Sure we may profess faithfulness but because we still live in a fallen world and dwell in curse ridden flesh we often play the harlot. Paul described it this way:
“22 For I endorse {and} delight in the Law of God in my inmost self +[with my new nature+].
23 But I discern in my bodily members +[in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh+] a different law (rule of action) at war against the law of my mind (my reason) and making me a prisoner to the law of sin that dwells in my bodily organs +[in the sensitive appetites and wills of the flesh+].
24 O unhappy {and} pitiable {and} wretched man that I am! Who will release {and} deliver me from +[the shackles of+] this body of death?
25 O thank God! +[He will!+] through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One) our Lord! So then indeed I, of myself with the mind {and} heart, serve the Law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” Romans 7:23-25 Amplified (emphasis mine)
- If you’re new to the faith then you’re probably wondering what playing the harlot means etc. Spiritually we are one with the Lord when we become God’s children. The Bible uses the relationship of a husband and wife to describe the closeness we now have with Jesus (God) and that barely scratches the service of what we have. The Holy Spirit comes to live in us. When we seek idols it’s like playing the harlot and committing adultery. I’m not talking about idols like statues though that can happen too. These days idols take other forms.
- Here’s a good quote by Richard Keyes in Kelly Minter’s devotional “No Other Gods”
“An idol is something within creation that is inflated to function as a substitute for God. All sorts of things are potential idols, depending only on our attitudes and actions towards them…Idolatry may not involve explicit denials of God’s existence or character. It may well come in the form of an over-attachment to something that is, in itself, perfectly good…An idol can be a physcial object, a property, a person, an activity, a role, an institution, a hope, an image, an idea, a pleasure, a hero–anything that can substitute for God.”
- A couple more quotes from the same devotional and this time in Kelly Minter’s words.
“…a professed god is who or what we say our god is; a functional god is who or what actually operates as our god.”
“Whatever we fear is our god. Fear itself is not the god; the object of our fear is the god.”
- This was interesting. When God led the Israelites out of Egypt they were blessed with the riches of Egypt. The Israelites later turned around and used that same gold to make an idol.
“The Israelites turned God’s gifts into gods.” ~Kelly Minter
- How often do we do this too? God blesses us with a job or a house and we begin to worship it instead. It can even be family or a talent. But if tragedy happens and that thing gets taken away we get mad at God. Here’s a great video that shows when we worship God’s gifts instead of God.
Email subscribers please come to my blog to see this video and the one at the beginning of this post ;).
- I really like the lyrics of the music video at the beginning. You can scroll down and read them at the bottom of this post. I hope you were able to listen to the song by Tenth Avenue North. It talks about how we look for love as if God isn’t enough. It talks about how we run to other things when God is right there with arms open. He wants us to come to Him to meet our needs. We were created by God to have relationship with Him…to be completely fulfilled in Him. Sadly, the fall back with Adam and Eve messed us up.
Like I said in the beginning, we run to idols and so many times we don’t understand why we keep distancing ourselves from Jesus. He never leaves us but we can tune the Spirit out to the point that we are numb. When we grieve the Spirit that way we can’t hear God’s voice clearly and often our prayers go unanswered. Think about it. If you were ignored by someone and pushed away would you just take it? God is so much greater than us and He is full of mercy. He will go as far as it takes to bring His own back when we stray. His love and mercy cover us no matter what but the blessing of intimacy with God requires that we seek Him. When He calls us back we must go to Him. Sometimes people stray and sin away their testimony until God takes them out physically. I’ve seen it happen and it’s sad.
- My Dad often said “God always brings back His own, either on their knees or in a box.” That’s not Bible but the truth of the statement is supported Biblically. I would much rather come back on my knees.
- When I was a young believer, I prayed that God would do whatever it took to keep me close to Him. That is one prayer that I know He said yes to and I’ve seen it answered time and time again. Often hardship has brought me back when I stray. There’s this desperation when I stray to a certain point. It’s like a thirsty man in a desert. Every time I get to that point I know why….I’ve neglected the Lord. My need for Him is so apparent. Depression sets in so quick. The only salvation for my soul (my emotions not my Spirit) is to spend time with Jesus. Then the peace comes.
There’s so much I want to say and other Bible verses/stories to go into but this is getting long. So I’m going to split this up into a series. Below are the lyrics from the song for you to look at. I can’t guarantee that I’ll post on this every week but it is in the process ;).
God bless & remember the High King lives! ~Amber Dover
By Your Side
By Tenth Avenue North
Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don’t turn away
Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching
As if I’m not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run
‘Cause I’ll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don’t fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Look at these hands at my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world’s sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life
And I’ll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don’t fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Here at my side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don’t fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
‘Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, yeah I’ll love you
I’ll never let you go, no, no
And I’ll be by your side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don’t fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Here at my side wherever you fall
In the dead of night whenever you call
And please don’t fight these hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you
Here at my side, my hands are holding you
Ohhh…
Lyrics from <a href=”http://www.elyrics.net”>eLyrics.net</a>
amberdover 