Seeking God

August 14, 2009








I remember during my B.C. (before Christ) days wondering about God every once in a while. I wasn't raised in a Christian home. Far from it. Just the opposite really. Fortunately, my non- believing mother did not really force her views on any of us in the family. It just wasn't discussed. My mother was a very strong "old school" school teacher in Arizona before I was even born. She was also an AVID reader and reading meant everything to her. She was determined to instill the love of reading into her four daughters. I am very thankful to her for that. When I started first grade in California which is where we lived by the time I was born, my mother was livid when she discovered they did not teach reading by phonics in the public schools. She was so upset that she yanked me out of that school as fast as she could. Only trouble is.......the only other school she could find to put me in where they taught phonics was a Christian private school. Ironic, isn't it? See? God had a purpose and a plan for my life even way back when I was six years old.


I stayed in the Christian school through the fourth grade. So I learned about God there and experienced His love through my precious Jesus-loving teachers and school principal. My foundations began to be formed by the Lord. We memorized scripture, we listened to and read Bible stories, we learned about the love of Jesus. Everything we did in school was centered around the Lord. Once I learned how to read well, my mother stuck me back into the public schools in fifth grade in order to save money. I'm sure it was a financial burden on the family then to have me in a private school. No church, no Sunday school, no family devotions, no family prayers, no nothing about God in our house from then on. Naturally, I drifted on into the secular world pretty easily. But, I never totally put God out of my mind. He was always there in the back corners of my mind I guess. But definitely on the faraway back burner!


Many years went by and I eventually moved to Kentucky. Yep, the Bible belt part of the nation! Thank God for those so-called Bible belt states! My Kentucky in-laws were all Christian; many of my new friends and co-workers were too. I didn't have a personal relationship with the Lord. Heck I didn't have any kind of a relationship with Him. But, I kept hearing about Him everywhere I went. Even in the shopping malls. I remember one day trying on clothes in a department store dressing room and overhearing the women next to me in the next room talking about the Lord. People were so friendly there too. Different from my whole life living in the Los Angeles area.


I began to wonder who this "God" really was? Or IF He really was at all. I was working at a university there and I had recently accepted a promotion into a new department. Guess what? It was an ALL Christian department as it turned out. All five of my co-workers were Christian! Before too many months went by, I began to sort of seek God just a little bit. I was pretty cautious about it. Pretty slow. Didn't want to do anything too drastic you know. Much too intellectual for that. But, I can distinctly remember one day saying, "God, I don't know if you're even real but if you are, could you sort of show yourself to me in some way. Make me know that you're real. You probably aren't and I'm probably just talking to myself here but at least I have an open mind about it. If you ARE really there then I definitely want to know you."



Well you can probably guess the ending to this story. Suddenly, out of what seemed like nowhere, God stuff (what I now call "Godincidences" began to happen to me. I mean every time I rounded a corner, or turned on the radio or the TV or talked to someone or picked up a book or magazine, it was all about God and, for some reason, all this God stuff was actually interesting to me for the first time in my life. Even I, the intellectual that I thought I was, began to realize that all this stuff cannot possibly be coincidental. So I began to seek God a little more earnestly. I purposely read books about Him (you know me, the avid reader because of my mother). I know. I should have been reading the Bible; not books ABOUT God. But, you know what? All those Christian books actually worked. They did indeed lead me to the Lord. Well, the Holy Spirit really did the leading but all the books and reading and Christian co-workers sure helped! To make a long story a little bit shorter, I finally "got it" and accepted the Lord as my very own personal saviour. The "veil" lifted from my eyes because I had accepted the Lord on faith. That was about 23 years ago. I am so thankful I prayed that prayer that I didn't even know was a prayer at the time. "God, if you're really real, show me, etc...." He did and I am ever so thankful. It's been an incredible journey ever since.


God's perfect Word tells us to seek him:


I Ki 22:5: "...first seek the counsel of the Lord."


I Ch 28:9: "....If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will


reject you forever."


Ps 34:10: "...but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing."


Ps 119:2: "Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart."


Ps 119 :10: "I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands."


Pr 8:17: "I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me."


Heb 11:6: "....he rewards those who earnestly seek him."



These are just a few of the many scriptures that have to do with seeking the Lord. Read them; look up some more. Read the entire scripture. Notice, in some cases, the "other" half of the scripture. For example, in I Ch 28:9 above it says, "If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever." Whoa! Pretty important to read it all, isn't it?


Every word of God's Word is true. It's all real. You can take it literally. What he says, he means and he always keeps his promises. If you know him, you already know this. If you don't know him, you might be a little skeptical. Take a chance. Do what I did. I was a little skeptical too. But, I was willing to "give it a try" so to speak. God wasn't offended by that. He knew my heart was right. I was full of doubt - full to overflowing with doubt. But I really did want to know if it was possible that God really might be real. I asked him to "reveal" himself to me (not in those words) and so he did. What he did for me, he'll do for you too. It was all so simple really and so outright amazing! God is wonderful. Don't miss out on knowing him. Seek him. Just ask him to reveal himself to you too. He will. I know he will. What he does for one, he'll do for another. He is so amazing; so merciful; so good; so kind and so perfect!

Wisdom is Supreme

August 13, 2009

Fellow Believers,


I noticed something new today in God's Word. Well....it's not new at all but I noticed it in a new way I guess. Proverbs 4:4-7 says, "...Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you. Wisdom is supreme; therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding."


God is telling me to really seek after His Words with all of my heart. If I do that, He will give me the understanding. But, not only that, He says, "Keep my commands and you will live." He wants me to keep His commands; to be obedient to Him in all ways. This is the part that we like to kind of just skim over while we're reading it but it's so important. He's telling us that if we keep His commands; be obedient to Him; that we will live. So on the contrary, I can assume that if I don't keep His commands; if I'm not obedient to Him, I won't live. Now that's a heavy duty concept! Obeying God comes first! We don't get the "goodies" (meaning life) unless we are obedient. He tells us to seek wisdom with all of our hearts and that, when we do, we will be given understanding. We will be given God's wisdom, God's understanding of life. When we gain that wisdom, it will protect us.


Godly wisdom will protect us! When we love that Godly wisdom and seek it with our whole hearts, it will watch over us and keep us safe. God admonishes us to never forget His Words and to never swerve from them. Read them; study them; follow them, do them. Be obedient to them (His Words). They are a guiding light for our lives. God says that His wisdom is supreme so we should seek it and He will give it to us. Even if it costs us everything we've got, we need to receive God's wisdom and understanding.


Even if it costs us everything? Yep, that's a hard pill to swallow, isn't it? But God said it and He means exactly what He says and He says exactly what He means. It's worth it! Well worth it! Following after God is a pleasure and a privilege. I wouldn't trade it for anything.


Hmmmm.....God's Word also says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. But that's a topic for another day.