Seeking God through Scripture..Craig Denison Ministries

 Seeking God through Scripture

Craig Denison Ministries

Weekly Overview:

Learning to seek the face of God is the foundation for experiencing the amazing life Jesus died to give us. We have available to us through Christ all the wonders, excellencies, and satisfaction we can fathom. God has granted us grace upon grace, mercy upon mercy, affection upon affection, and love upon love. When we pursue him through all the avenues available to us, a door is opened in which we discover all our heavenly Father longs to give us. May you grow in your pursuit of God this week as we study various ways we’ve been given to seek his face.

Scripture:“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  Matthew 4:4

Devotional:

The pages of Scripture are filled with declarations of the wonderful, mysterious, powerful, and loving nature of our heavenly Father. Scripture is one of God’s greatest gifts to his people, who so easily forget the labor of love he has undergone to gain restored relationship with us. The Bible is a companion to those who long to seek and find the invisible God who so greatly desires to be discovered. Let’s open our hearts today to Scripture and the Holy Spirit and receive fresh revelation on how God longs to use his word to guide us as we seek his face.

In Matthew 4:4 Jesus says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Scripture is meant to fill us with life by leading us directly to our heavenly Father. The power of Scripture lies in the fact that its pages are filled with the words of a God who is still active, powerful, and loving. I went years using Scripture incorrectly. I viewed it as a set of rules I needed to read and try to keep rather than as a guide to experiencing the adventure of communion with my heavenly Father. I viewed Scripture as a chore rather than the words of God meant specifically for me. I finally came to the realization that if I wanted to read the Bible, I would be. My problem wasn’t a lack of will but rather a lack of revelation on God’s intention behind authoring the Bible. My problem was that I hadn’t experienced a life lived “by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

Wherever you are in your understanding of Scripture, know that God has fresh desire for his word in store for you today. He longs to fill you with a desire to read the words that will guide you to abundant life. The Holy Spirit longs to speak directly to you through words written thousands of years ago. Our Bible is a powerful miracle safeguarded for the benefit of all who would use it to seek the face of its Creator. May we all have the heart of the Psalmist and grow in our love of Scripture and the God who inspired it:

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, for I keep your precepts. I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word. I do not turn aside from your rules, for you have taught me. How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way (Psalm 119:97-104).

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on the power of Scripture in seeking God.

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” >John 15:10-11

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

2. Where do you need the help of Scripture in seeking God? What lie do you believe about the character of God? What thought or perspective is keeping you from pursuing God with all your heart? Scripture is a powerful tool to combat incorrect thinking with God’s truth.

3. Ask the Spirit to guide you to a passage of Scripture that will speak directly to your situation. Pay attention for a passage or book that comes to mind, or search online for key verses.

May you have ears to hear the voice of God speaking to you through the pages of Scripture. May your heart become soft and open to God’s presence as you open his word. And may you experience the delight that comes from the knowledge of God’s will for you as found in the pages of the Bible.

Extended Reading: Psalm 19

What Makes for A Repentant Heart?..By Lynette Kittle

 What Makes for A Repentant Heart? (Jonah 4:11)

By Lynette Kittle

Today’s Bible Verse: “And should I not have concerned for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals? - Jonah 4:11

Since the beginning of time and all over the world, people have fled from their communities when danger threatens their peace and safety. Seen as failing fast and without hope, individuals can’t seem to leave fast enough to find a safe haven away from the chaos.

And who can blame anyone when facing lawlessness and destruction, especially when they have the freedom to leave?

Hopeless Causes?

It’s easy to feel like people and places have slipped so far into sinfulness that they are a hopeless cause. It’s also easy to judge a community’s actions, and to look at them as merely reaping what they’ve sown.

One biblical example of a city gone downhill fast is in the book of Jonah. Nineveh was entrenched in evil and chaos, when God tapped Jonah on the shoulder and asked him to be the one to, “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me” (Jonah 1:2).

Honestly, like Jonah, wouldn’t most of us want to turn and run in the opposite direction at a request to confront such evil?

Who Deserves God’s Mercy

As the story goes, Jonah’s hesitation to go landed him in the belly of a great fish, where God’s time-out did lead him to repent. In his repentance, Jonah asked for another opportunity to obey God.

Jonah finally did go as God had asked him, but his heart still wasn’t in it. He went looking forward to the destruction of Nineveh.

But a remarkable thing happened when Jonah’s warning reached the king. He called for everyone, even the animals, to fast, be covered in sackcloth, and to repent (Jonah 3:6-9).

In response, God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, and relented from bringing destruction upon them (Jonah 3:10).

But Jonah wasn’t the least bit happy about it. He adamantly believed they deserved God’s wrath and judgment, and passionately wanted them to experience it. Jonah wanted all of Nineveh including people, animals, everything, to be annihilated. Poof! Up in Smoke! Gone!

So when God demonstrated His great compassion, grace and forgiveness towards, Nineveh, Jonah 4:1 records his response. “But to Jonah this seemed very wrong, and he became angry.”

Jonah goes on to explain to God how the whole reason he didn’t go to Nineveh in the first place, is because he knows God is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in love, and relents from sending calamity (Jonah 4:2).

So distressed at Nineveh being spared, Jonah asked God to take his own life, expressing his great disappointment in God’s response (Jonah 4:3).

Who’s Ready to Repent?

Have you ever wondered how these extremely wicked people were so ready to repent? Outwardly their actions and lifestyles looked like they were in no condition to listen to a visiting prophet.

Nineveh sounded like the least likely candidate for a revival, especially from a prophet who despised them and hoped for their total demise.

The whole scenario goes against what we consider an atmosphere for repentance. A compassionless prophet and an overly wicked city just don’t seem to add up. It just doesn't fit the Evangelism 101 manual on how to bring Salvation to the lost.

Yet God moved beyond these preconceived ideas reminding us that we see the outward appearance of men and women but He sees their hearts (1 Samuel 16:7). He knew their hearts were primed for repentance.

How often do we discount what God can do with a city or a people whom we believe are too far gone, living too sinfully, to ever consider repenting before Him?

Instead of going on our own feelings or observances, we can choose to surrender to God’s leading, trusting His wisdom above our own opinions.

A Prayer When Battling Rejection..Emily Rose Massey

 A Prayer When Battling Rejection

By Emily Rose Massey

 “…for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” so that we confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.
What will man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5b-6, NASB). 

I woke up one morning recently crying after having a very vivid, heart-piercing dream. It was almost as if my current heart-struggle was being played out right before me; I could honestly see this dream happening in reality. The words that were spoken (in the dream) to me and my husband cut to the core, and they hurt so badly that my first reaction was tears so strong that they stained my cheeks when I awoke.

Being a story-teller allows for intense dream-tales in my mind while I’m supposed to be resting, sleeping. It’s something I have always dealt with since I was a child- I wake up trying to shake the mental visions, telling myself over and over again that it’s not real. Eventually, the emotions fade, and I can go on with the rest of my day.

In this recent instance, I had trouble getting passed the pain and just began talking to God about it. It was very obvious and simple- I was still dealing with rejection and it still hurt, but I was reminded that there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24).

Although Proverbs 18:24 doesn’t necessarily say that friend is Jesus, I know that He will always be there for me even when everyone else fails me. Scripture tells us that God never leaves us or forsakes us in Deuteronomy 31:6. This truth from the Old Testament about our never-changing God is also stated again as a reminder in Hebrews 13, along with this powerful truth that people will fail us, and people may reject us, but we should not fear, for God is on our side. He is our helper.

“…for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,” 6 so that we confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.
What will man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5b-6, NASB).

When we face rejection from others, we must remember that Jesus understands more than anyone what rejection feels like, as He is very familiar with it Himself. Many people rejected Jesus (and continue to do so) while He was here on earth, even one of His very own disciples (Judas) rejected Him and betrayed Him. And just a couple hours later, another one of His closest disciples (Peter) rejected knowing Him. Three times to be exact. Aren’t you so thankful for Jesus’ forgiveness when we turn our backs on Him! He gives us so many opportunities to repent and make things right in our relationship with Him! His mercies towards us are new every single morning…oh, what love! The Lord understands our pain regarding rejection and His arms are open wide, so let us be quick to draw near to Him. Lo, He is always with you…even to the end of the age!

Let’s pray:

Abba Father,

I’m hurting. I don’t want to hold onto this pain of rejection. I want to heal from the wounds of those who have hurt me. I choose to forgive. I want You to bless those who hurt me, even if they don’t want me in their life anymore. Your Son was rejected, even by You, for a moment when He took the punishment of sin, out of love for me. Thank You, Jesus, for being the friend I need who sticks by me no matter what. I love You, Lord. Thank You for always loving me and never leaving me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

When You Feel Stuck..Anne Peterson

 When You Feel Stuck

By Anne Peterson

“The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills.” - Habakkuk 3:19

Being a soldier’s wife in Germany was an adventure. The hardest part was when our husbands went on 30-day field trips, twice a year. I discovered I liked Volksmarches. That’s where you walk designated paths that totaled about 3 miles or so. There are check-in points with refreshments, and at the end of the walk, you receive a little memento. I’m a token reinforcement kind of person, so it was fun to have these little prizes to show my efforts. And I loved seeing the German landscapes. 

One day it was quite challenging. It had rained the night before, and everywhere you looked was mud. But my friend, Kathy, and I decided to tough it out. We had a great time, but I learned quickly that jeans covered in mud are much heavier. And more than once, I felt stuck in the mud. Sometimes the circumstances in our lives cause us to feel stuck, too. God knows that, and He is always ready to lift us out of those hard places. We just need to call on Him, wait for Him, and follow His lead.

Calling on God
I learned early in life I can do hard things. As a young person losing my mom, I grew up way too fast. I’m so thankful God led me to a Bible study where I accepted the Lord as a young adult. Our Bible teacher taught us early on that life would have it’s challenges. She taught us how God is always available. I had to learn to call on God instead of figuring things out for myself. 

The more I called on God, the easier it became. Years later, I’ll never forget the time my daughter and I were on our way to church one freezing, winter day. We drove onto the highway ramp when all of a sudden, our car started sliding. “Lord, help,” I called out, picturing us hitting the side rail. And the next thing I knew, our course had changed. There was no impact, but instead our car slowed, and we were out of harm’s way. Fortunately, no car was behind us.

Looking down, my daughter asked, “How did we get in neutral, Mom, did you do that?”
“No,” I responded, catching my breath.
“I didn’t do it either!” she said. Calling on God was the thing to do.

King David learned the benefits of calling on God. David decided he would do it as long as he lived (Psalm 116:2). Calling on God was something I learned easily but waiting on God was much harder for me.

Waiting on God
In my early years of walking with the Lord, I quickly realized God and I do not think alike. This became clear when it came to when things should be done. To put it mildly, I thought God took longer than I wanted to take, at times. And the only way I could grow in this area was for God to teach me patience. Waiting is necessary.

If God has us wait for something, it’s because God needs to work on other people who are involved, God needs to work on the situation itself, or God is working something in us. Paul tells us, God who began a good work in us will continue to work until it’s done, which is when we see Jesus (Philippians 1:6). 

Waiting on God continues to be a challenge, but I am getting better at it. I have spiral notebooks full of times I spent in the Bible. At the end of each book is a handwritten prayer list. There are asterisks which indicate my prayers were answered. Some unanswered prayer requests were transferred to subsequent books. I must say, waiting on God is not as painful as it used to be. The longer I know the Lord, the more I learn about His character. 

God’s ways are perfect. Something I never would have realized if God always answered my prayers as I wanted. God is more interested in what He’s doing inside of me than whatever is going on in my life. God is making me like Jesus. And yet, there are still times I have wanted to take the lead.

Letting God lead
Giving up control of things has always been a struggle for me. When you grow up in an abusive house, you never know what’s going to happen next. Control is one survival technique. You swore to yourself you would never be in a powerless position again, and you spend your life making sure that never happens. The problem is, those survival mechanisms don’t work in real life. People don’t like to be controlled. And Almighty God will not be controlled. And yet, there are times I smile, thinking about how I hung on with all my might rather than submitting to Him. But the more I learned about God and who He is, the more I loosened my grip. 

Sometimes we do get stuck in life, but when that happens and we can’t seem to move, we need to call on the one who is waiting to hear us, to wait for His answer and to follow His lead.

Intersecting Faith and Life:
Where in your life have you found yourself stuck? Which part do you find most challenging, calling on Him, waiting on God’s timing, or letting God lead? Hindsight is 20/20, but those times I have let God lead have been the most rewarding. For God knows what is ahead of us. He will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). And God can make our feet as hinds feet so we can walk on high places. Only He can do that.

Let Go
My hands are clenched,
My knuckles tight,
I’m hanging on with all my might,
And then I hear God whisper low,
Come on, My Child, let go.

Anne Peterson ©2019

Lord, I pray that you continue to lead us each day. And Father, when we resist you, I thank you that you are patient with us. You are tenderhearted and You have given us free will. Because you are long-suffering, you will wait as long as it takes. God, I pray that you help us so we call on you sooner, wait for you better, and follow you wherever you lead us. We pray this in your Son’s precious and Holy name, in Jesus’ name. Amen.