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What am I seeking for?

Matthew 7:7-8 (AMP) Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened.

What is it that we are to be seeking after? Is it health? “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was crushed for our wickedness [our sin, our injustice, our wrongdoing]; the punishment [required] for our well-being fell on Him, and by His stripes (wounds) we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). My health is secured in His work, I do not have to seek after it. The Apostle John even speaks about our health in 3 John 1:2, “Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health [physically], just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually].“

Is it that my needs will be met? Are my bills going to be paid? Are we going to have food to eat? Will we be able to fill up the gas tank this week? Will we have clothes for our growing children?

Matthew 6: 25-33 (AMP) Therefore I tell you, stop being worried or anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted) about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, as to what you will wear. Is life not more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow [seed] nor reap [the harvest] nor gather [the crops] into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by worrying can add one [l]hour to [the length of] his life? And why are you worried about clothes? See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin [wool to make clothing], yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive and green today and tomorrow is [cut and] thrown [as fuel] into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Therefore do not worry or be anxious (perpetually uneasy, distracted), saying, ‘What are we going to eat?’ or ‘What are we going to drink?’ or ‘What are we going to wear?’ For the [pagan] Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; [but do not worry,] for your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.

Do I need to be seeking after relationships? “For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is fulfilled in one precept, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, you shall have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit]” (Galatians 5:14). In order to have relationships we have to be willing to meet people. I am a recovering introvert. I do know this, His Word is true. All of it! Since belonging to a church and actually getting involved (which is not the same as attending and walking in after it has started and leaving as soon as the service is over), I have grown to put into practice this commandment. When people know that you genuinely care for them, without seeking a benefit for yourself, then we have the type of relationship that produces for the Kingdom.

Hebrews 10:23-25 (AMP) Let us seize and hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word]; and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds, not forsaking our meeting together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more [faithfully] as you see the day [of Christ’s return] approaching.

I do not need to seek after health, finances, nor relationships. They are all promises to me (not to say we do not need to pray regarding them). They are a part of the SOZO package. SOZO is the Greek word for salvation. It means wholeness. Wholeness in spirit. Wholeness in soul (mind, will and emotions). Wholeness in body. Seeking after would be where we are putting our focus.

Revelations 3:20 (AMP) Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me.

Now that I have been made whole, what is it that I seek after? I seek to know Him more. I want to dine at His table. The banquet has been made ready. I walk in wholeness because those are the clothes He prepared for me. I do not need to seek after them. I need to recognize who I am securely in Him.

Philippians 3:10 (AMP)  And this, so that I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did]

This was the word that I heard yesterday in prayer. What is is that you are seeking after? I was praying over those that serve in our church, and this is was what He wants to know. What is it that we are seeking after? I want His heart. I want His face. I do not need to seek after His hand. He says that I can come boldly into His throne room of grace (Hebrews 4:16). There I can find His amazing grace to help in the time of need. This is not something I have to keep knocking for. He wants me to come after Him over and over again to dine in His Presence. He wants me to hunger for nothing but Him. This is what we need to be seeking after. Both of us are knocking. When He knocks will we answer? When I knock He always does. He wants me to come time and again. The door is always going to open. That is what it is like for friends. To quote Fuller House, “It’s always open!”

Here is a promise when we seek Him: “Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left” (Isaiah 30:21). “Whoever is of God and belongs to Him hears [the truth of] God’s words” (John 8:47). Those people are doers of the Word (James 1:22). His Word is our direction.

King of all, Creator and Adonai, we honor You with our praise and thanksgiving. We are ever so thankful for Your Son. We are thankful that because of His sacrifice we can walk in wholeness. We have been put into right standing with You. We are thankful for the Holy Spirit, the same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead now dwells within us. Wholeness is not something we have to seek after, wholeness is a part of the promise of being in Christ. We repent for worrying and striving for the areas that you have already provided for. We repent for seeking Your hand instead of Your face and heart. We repent for making our prayer time all about our needs and not about seeking after You. We desire to establish Your Kingdom here on earth. We are choosing to surrender to You. We are choosing to forgive. We never want to lead others away from You. When we come into Your throne room we know that Your grace and mercy is there. We know that whatever we ask in prayer, if we believe, we will receive (Matthew 21:22). We trust in You. We repent for striving to make ways that You never intended. We repent for taking advantage of Your goodness and trying to manipulate outcomes. We honor You with everything, because without You there is nothing. We choose love today. We choose hope today. We choose faith today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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Mirror the Glory

2 Corinthians 3:18 (AMP) And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.

Progressive is an adjective (a describing word) meaning: happening or developing gradually or in stages; proceeding step by step. I am progressively being transformed. What am I transforming into? His image. By glory to glory.

We were created in His image. What image? His glory! When He breathed His Spirit into man (Genesis 2:7) we took on His likeness. This is part of the restored purpose that Christ came for.

Genesis 1:26 (AMP) Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness.]

You were created for more than just to exist. You were designed to take on His spiritual personality. John 15:4-5 tells me that I am nothing in myself, but in Christ, I am everything I need to be. My self image matters.

Ruth, often preached as a love story, is a story of perseverance. Ruth was a brave woman. Being a Moabite, Noami’s sons were not supposed to marry them, but they did anyways. Why? Moabites are from Moab, the son of Lot and his oldest daughter. They worshiped idols. In Ezra we see the Levites disowning their wives and children from those unions because they were told not to marry them. However, Ruth set out to change her destiny. Do you know what the future held for a woman that was widowed and had no children? They were either to become a beggar or a prostitute. Ruth did not have to follow Naomi, she chose to. Ruth did not have the right to glean in the field, that is why she went behind everyone else. Everything was set against her. Her race, her culture, her status.

Ruth 1:16 (AMP) Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God.

According to the US Census Bureau data released in 2015, the poverty rates for women are substantially higher than the rates for men. The overall poverty rate is 3.8 percentage points higher for women than for men, and difference in the poverty rate among those over the age of sixty-five is even higher, with nearly one in five women who are over sixty-five and live alone in poverty.  (nwlc.org/resources/national-snapshot-poverty-among-women-families-2014)

Ruth is in the lineage of the direct descents of Jesus. Do you think that your past, or what you went through, can keep you from wholeness?

Break the generational bondage in your family. Break the poverty spirit. Break the orphan spirit. Break the spirit of anger. Break the spirit of not being able to accept love. Break the abandonment spirit. Break the spirit of rejection.

What holds you in bondage has control over you. Often we do not understand why we react a certain way is, it is because there is a form of bondage that has been attached to you. It is time to break free.

For me, I battle with not feeling accepted or wanted. There are many women in my family that struggle with the same thing. Where did this root come from? Where did it start? I have no idea. It started to take root in my oldest son and then I became aware that it was generational. What made me feel rejection was starting to show in him.

Ephesians 3:17-19 (AMP) So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].

I was created to present His glory. He came to make me whole so that I could fulfill that purpose. We were given the Holy Spirit so that we can fulfill that purpose. I am not the result of my past. I am the result of the Holy Spirit taking root in me. I am rooted and grounded in Love!! Do those thought still come up? Yes, I have to choose to put them aside and think on what is true, honorable, confirmed by His Word, what brings peace, and anything worthy of praise (Philippians 4:8). It takes practice. We can choose different because we were created to reflect His glory.

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Goal of Progress

It is New Year’s Eve, tomorrow starts a new decade. I just learned this year from my thirteen year old that decades do not start with the zero at the end of the year, it starts with the one. Fun fact, look it up, it is true. We will enter a new decade tomorrow. Many people will make new year’s resolutions and feel shame when they do not follow through.

Today I was scheduled to be at the Cincinnati Zoo, although it was forecast to rain. This was my Christmas present from my husband. I follow the animals at the zoo on Instagram, especially Fiona the baby hippopotamus. The zoo allowed us to change our zoo reservation, but I did not get to see Fiona. It was okay because I did not feel like being very joyous that day. My grandfather passed away suddenly that morning and I felt guilty for not leaving right then to drive the seven hours back home. I had to remind myself that guilt and shame were not places that I am suppose to reside. I have made lots of progress these past few years out of those areas and had to remind myself not to stay there.

Last week I was in Isaiah because it was Christmas week and I ran across these verses. First what stood out to me was a warning, Isaiah 6:9-10 (MSG) He said, “Go and tell this people: Listen hard, but you aren’t going to get it; look hard, but you won’t catch on. Make these people blockheads, with fingers in their ears and blindfolds on their eyes, so they won’t see a thing, won’t hear a word, so they won’t have a clue about what’s going on and, yes, so they won’t turn around and be made whole.“

Then there was the promise, Isaiah 9: 2-7 (MSG) The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. For those who lived in a land of deep shadows – light! sunbursts of light! You repopulated the nation, you expanded its joy. Oh, They’re so glad in your presence! Festival joy! The joy of great celebration, sharing rich gifts and warm greetings. The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants – all their whips and cudgels and curses – is gone, done away with, a deliverance as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian. The boots of those invading troops, along with their skirts soaked with innocent blood, will be piled in a heap and burned, a fire that will burn for days! For a child has been born—for us! The gift of a son—for us! He’ll take over the running of the world. His names will be: Amazing Counselor, Strong God, Eternal Father, Prince of Wholeness. His ruling authority will grow, and there’ll be no limits to the wholeness he brings. He’ll rule from the historic David throne over that promised kingdom. He’ll put that kingdom on a firm footing and keep it going with fair dealing and right living, beginning now and lasting always. The zeal of God-of-the-Angel-Armies will do all this.

I never want to get to a place in my walk with God that I am satisfied and can live in such a way that I do not desire growth for myself. Jesus came so that I can be made whole, not to just survive. Survival is good for a moment. There are things that have happened that I am amazed that I am still standing. However, I do not want to get stagnant.

Jesus came so that I can be made whole, not to just survive.

John Bevere, in his new book X:Multiply Your God-Given Potential writes, “Unless we push ourselves beyond our level of comfort and skill, we’ll never grow. If we aren’t “purposeful,” the danger is that once we reach a level of “good enough,” we can easily become complacent. Then it’s only a matter of time before we become sloppy in our practice, which will ultimately have a negative effect on our performance and hinder further multiplication.”

I am not a fiction reader. I read nonfiction books (books that are inspired by the Word of God), devotionals, and my Bible. I have nearly completed reading through my Message Translation Bible this year. Next I plan on reading through the Chronological Bible. The first book I have picked out for the new year is Bob Goff’s Dream Big: Know What You Want, Why You Want it, and What You’re Going to Do About It. My goal is not to make a resolution that I will quit within the first few months, but to continue in my growth towards wholeness. I want to surrender more of myself this year, and to worry less. Lord, I want to be made whole. I know it will be a process. I have already allowed Him to do so much in me these past few years that people would not even recognize me.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (AMP) And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image (one degree of) glory to (even more) glory, which comes form the Lord, (who is) the Spirit.

Let 2021 be a year of progress!