And ye shall seek me, and find me,
when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
We are all invited into His courts
The request is to all
Not all will accept
Some will accept partially
they may give Jesus some of their life,
some of their time,
some of their heart
They, who only give God some of themselves,
may one day be called least in the Kingdom of Heaven or not make it at all
Yesterday a friend told me of someone she led to the Lord years ago
She said the person cried and said:
“I will never know the Lord the same way as you”
We all have a different relationship with the Lord because God is alive
Our relationships with the Lord develops uniquely
He created each of us and has great interest in us
There are depths of knowing the Lord and the levels are different
It is the same Lord Jesus who came in the flesh
that we learn of and develop a relationship with
The depths that we choose to know the Lord is different for each of us
As with any relationship, our relationship with God
develops differently from the next person
Each of us is unique and we have all spent different amounts of time,
have had varying experiences with Him as we walk with Him
We each have different gifts and talents
This is not a competition, this is about
learning as much as we can about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
while we walk on the earth
Once you know Him, getting to know Him more will come naturally
If you get distracted and focus on the doctrines of man,
or perhaps another’s perceptions of who they have found Jesus to be,
you will be missing out on your individual relationship with Him
Learning from others is often beneficial,
but don’t let that stop you from seeking Jesus yourself,
from getting to know Him intimately
and letting His candle burn in your heart
Jesus can be your first love:
The One you look to, the One you trust, the One you turn to first,
the One you cherish above all else
Knowing the Lord intimately, having Him as our first love,
our number one priority, and whether or not we place Him
far above anyone or anything else in our lives is our own choice
God cherishes and honors our dedication to Him
He honors us when we give up our houses
and our lands and our fathers and mothers and our children for Him
He notices every single time we choose Him over this world
Jesus gave us several parables about how important it is to put Him first
The Pearl of Great Price
Treasure Hid in a Field
Lost Coin
The Parable of the Talents
Jesus spoke of the importance to be placed on Him
in the Sermon on the Mount
Paul wrote of not loving the world
If we could see in the spiritual,
we would see the natural world for what it is and the Kingdom for what it is
The problem is the Kingdom of Heaven is hidden:
its riches, its beauty, its eternal value
What we see, hear and feel dominates us every minute of every day
The only way to make the world less important
is to seek God in a very robust way
and put aside the fleshly lusts that call us away
Choices
We all have them
We all make them
Every minute of every day
The upward call in Christ Jesus
It takes practice
It takes spiritual work to keep Jesus at the preeminence of our lives
Walking that narrow road, carrying our cross,
ignoring the flesh that compels us
Honoring God’s word above all else
and striving to go into the secret chambers of the Most High
We are all welcome to meet with Him, to learn of Him, to know of Him,
to realize Who He is: The Maker of Heaven and Earth
He covets time with us and He has a jealous love over us
When we enter His courts with a worshipful heart,
realizing Who He really is, we will find Him
To know Him is to love Him
Scriptural References:
For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.
Luke 20:38
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments,
and shall teach men so,
he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven:
but whosoever shall do and teach them,
the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:19
For as we have many members in one body,
and all members have not the same office:
Romans 12:4
Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee,
because thou hast left thy first love.
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent,
and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly,
and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
Revelation 2:4-5
But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men:
for ye neither go in yourselves,
neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
Matthew 23:13
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me,
ye that work iniquity.
Matthew 7:23
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead;
that in all things he might have the preeminence.
Colossians 1:18
Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way,
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Matthew 7:14
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
Matthew 16:24
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die:
but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Romans 8:13
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Psalm 91:1
Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold,
the kingdom of God is within you.
Luke 17:21
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
1 John 2:15
And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren,
or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children,
or lands, for my name’s sake,
shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.
Matthew 19:29
Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us,
and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise:
be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Psalm 100:3-4