“Seek ye the LORD while
he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near”- Isaiah 55:6
“If my people, on whom
my name is named, make themselves low and come to me in prayer, searching for
me and turning from their evil ways; then I will give ear from heaven,
overlooking their sin, and will give life again to their land.”- 2 Chronicles
7:14
It is an
eternal attribute of God to seek man while it is in the nature of man to run
from God as a result of the fallen nature he inherited from Adam.
To seek God
means to look for God. It means to chase God. It means to pant after God. To
have an unquenchable desire to know God and to serve him. To seek God means to
mourn over your sinful life, to be unhappy when you fall into sin as a
believer. Seeking God means forsaking ones sinful ways and cleaving unto righteousness.
It means continually thirst and hunger for the presence of God. Securing His
presence means securing His glory and His blessings.
To qualify
for the day of the lord you must be a continual God chaser, an addicted God
chaser. You must keep turning to God and turning away from sin to make heaven.
Benefits of seeking God (2 Chronicles
26)
ü Verse 5- Supernatural Prosperity: When you seek God things will go well with you. Uzziah
sought the lord and God made him to prosper.
ü Verse 7-Supernatural help from God: God helped Uzziah against the philistines and the
enemies of his Kingdom. When you seek God He will help you. He will deliver you
from evil and even make your enemies to be at peace with you.
ü Verse 8 – Supernatural Provision: The needs of Uzziah were met and God made him to be
exceedingly great. When you make seeking God your priority He will meet your
needs. Psalm 34:10 says “The young lions are in need and have no
food; but those who are looking to the Lord will have every good thing.”
God can take you from the pit and make you to sit with the princes.
ü Verse 10 – Supernatural empowerment for exploits: Uzziah was enabled to build tower and
many wells in the desert. Have you been to a desert? How easy it is to make
wells in a desert let alone building towers. But with God all things are
possible. When you seek God He will enable you to do exploit even in areas
where others have failed. Communion with God brings about creativity and
excellence. The nature of God rubs on you.
ü Supernatural Protection: The Good News Version of Psalm 63:8 says “I cling to you and your
hands keep me safe” If you cultivate the habit of seeking God then you
are safe in His hand. He is our strong tower. He is our refuge. He is the strength
of our lives. God delivers His own from evil. He will deliver you.
ü Supernatural Lifting: God is a specialist in promoting people. When you seek God He lifts you
up physically and spiritually. He renews your strength and lifts you up by His
everlasting arms. “Lifting the poor out of the dust, and him who is in need out of the
lowest place, to give them their place among rulers, and for their heritage the
seat of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has made them
the base of the world.” – 1 Samuel 2:8
ü Supernatural peace: All round peace. True peace comes from having relationship with God and
cultivating the relationship by active fellowship with the living God. “And
all Judah was glad because of the oath, for they had taken it with all their
heart, turning to the Lord with all their desire; and he was with them and gave
them rest on every side” – 2 Chronicles 15:15
Dangers of not seeking God
Ø Regret at old age: Regret is waiting for any young person who refuses to seek God in his
youthful days. Imagine a young girl who sits in front of a mirror for 30
minutes every day but never spends 10 minutes with her Bible. She is being deceived
by her beauty. She has forgotten that she won’t remain young forever. May be
her grandmother did the same thing many years back. She should pay a visit to
her grandmother now. A young man who rejects God when young might end up
reading the Bible with hand lens and fasting twice a week at the age of 60.
Spend and be spent for God when you are young.
Ecclesiastes 12:1-14.
Ø If you don’t seek God, you will need Him one day and He will deny you. “Then he whose seat is in the heavens will
be laughing: the Lord will make sport of them.”- Psalm 2:4. A time will come when you will need
God and He will laugh at you. I entered the University saved in the year 1999
but due to peer influence and desire for approval I began taking alcohol and
attending night parties. I was in a backslidden state. At the end of my first
year in the University my grade point average was very low. I came back to my
senses and recognized that I couldn't go on without Christ. I rededicated my
life to Christ, broke up with unhealthy relationships, chose new friends,
became serious and of course He had mercy on me and I graduated in Christ with
a good grade. Thank God I took that decision. Some of my friends that time
never graduated from the university and some lost their lives.
Ø Lack and insufficiency: When you don’t seek God you open up yourself to lack of
peace, joy and fulfillment. You just discover day by day that something is
missing in your life. Until you give your life to Christ and continue to seek
Him, you leave a vacuum in your life that only God can fill. Also you lack the
creative nature of God and other vital things needed to live a successful life.
Ø Eternal damnation: “And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve
him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all
hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek
him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off
forever.- 1 Chronicles 28:9. If you live your life anyhow on earth
without Christ then God will be just to cast you off forever in hell. It is
your choice on earth that will determine your eternal destiny.
How to seek God!
You can’t
know God by working for Him you will know Him by walking with Him. You will
know God by spending time with God on daily basis. Make it a priority to READ, STUDY, MEMORISE, AND MEDITATE on
God’s word. Be hungry for God and be thirsty of His presence in your life.
Talk to God again and again. Spend
time in PRAYING. You
don’t talk to your physical parent just once or twice a day. Talk to God on the
job, talk to him in the bus, talk to him in the laboratory, talk to him in the
toilet, and let the love in your heart for God flow out freely anywhere and anytime.
He is your father. Tell him about your weaknesses. Open up to Him and He will
make you. Spend quality time praying in
the Spirit.
As a child of God you don’t live in
sin habitually but if you mistakenly fall into sin, confess the sin, ask for
forgiveness and forsake the sin. Don’t dwell in your vomit, get up, clean up with the blood
of Jesus and continue to chase God. Continue to desire to be perfect and holy
like Him and His grace will see you through. Jesus Christ is our advocate.
Prayers:
Lord,
increase my thirst and hunger for you, your righteousness and your kingdom.
Father,
unite my heart with your heart and make it impossible for me to deny you.
Amended version of the Sermon preached at the Youth Fellowship Annual Convention of Christ Life Church, Alakia- Isegun on December 29th 2008.
