Are you seeking God's presence or His presents?

You can learn a lot about what you want simply by examining what you are praying for.

King David said, One thing I ask of the Lord ... (Psalm 27:4). He had just one thing that was important to him -- just one thing! Are you begging God for many things, or are you asking Him for just that one thing: ... that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple" (Psalm 27:4)?

In that psalm, David was praying that he would dwell in God's presence and seek Him. Notice that his prayer had nothing to do with getting more worldly things from God.

So, instead of begging God to give you more worldly things, pray that you would dwell in the house of the Lord, knowing that when you seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, ... all these things will be given to you as well (Matthew 6:33).

When you seek God, He promises to take care of all the things you need! Start seeking God's presence, and He will give you His presents.

Weekly Wisdoms for the week of December 21, 2009
http://www.christnotes.org/ww.php?d=2009-12-21

If you're not choosing to spend regular time with God, then you're choosing to die spiritually.

In many cultures, life is centered around food. Very few people in the western world would go for more than 10 or 12 hours without food or drink. Besides the fact that food is built into culture, doing so would make one very hungry.

Many people wouldn't dare going physically hungry; yet they starve themselves spiritually. If you ate food only once a week, you'd certainly die of starvation and malnutrition. Yet countless Christians do exactly that in their spiritual lives.

It is no wonder that Jesus called himself the bread of life (John 6:35). In order to grow spiritually, you must feed on spiritual food -- God's word.

Have the attitude found in Isaiah 26:8: Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. Make it your desire to know God better.

When you regularly spend time with God -- praying, seeking him, and studying his word -- you will thrive spiritually. Take some advice from the psalmist: Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always (Psalm 105:4).

Make time with God a priority in your live. If you made being well fed spiritually as important as be well fed physically, your relationship with God would thrive.

Weekly Wisdoms for the week of December 7, 2009
http://www.christnotes.org/ww.php?d=2009-12-07

Seek Ye First ♫

Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
And His righteousness
And all these things shall be added unto you
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Man shall not live by bread alone
But by every word
That proceeds from the mouth of God
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Ask and it shall be given unto you
Seek and ye shall find
Knock and the door shall be opened unto you
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

If the Son shall set you free
Ye shall be free indeed
Ye shall know the truth, and it shall set you free
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Let your light so shine before men that they may see
Your good works and glorify
Your Father in heaven
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart
He shall direct thy paths
In all thy ways acknowledge Him
Hallelu, Hallelujah!

"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;and all these things shall be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

How do you hear God's Voice?

How do you hear God's Voice? How do you know when God is telling you to do something? These are great questions that many people struggle with. I know that many times I hear people say, "I would obey God if I just knew what He wanted me to do." There is some truth to it but the problem doesn't lie with God not communicating to us it is with us listening to Him.

I love taking my students to Look-up Lodge Christian Retreat in SC because the speaker Greg does an amazing job in communicating Who God is to the students. We took our High School students there last week and one of the things he talked about what what is one of the greatest characteristics of God. People mention God's Love, His Grace, His Mercy, His Patience, His Faithfulness and many others. Greg stops and points out that all those are absolutely amazing but he feels that the greatest characteristic is that God is a Great Communicator. How could we know about all those things about God unless He communicated them to us. This is where hearing God's voice comes to play.

I usually tell people that there are several factors in hearing God's voice. The first thing we have to remember is that God is soveriegn enough and cares enough to tell us what we need to know. It would be sort of silly for us to sit back and think that God would want us to know something but would struggle with figuring out how to communicate that to us. So our first step is to realize that God can and does want to show us His Will.

Greg also asked the questions to the students, "Does anyone want to know God's will for their life?" Of course hands went up all over. Greg pointed to someone and said, "Do you really want to know?" He then went on to tell them, "If you really want to know God's will, then your in it. The first step to doing God's will is to want it." (paraphrased) He then continued to say that God's will is simply Him saying, "Follow me!" In order to be in God's will we must want it and be willing to follow Him wherever he takes us.

So now you want God's will, your willing to follow Him you just don't know where, what, how, why and when! This is the part that is so great about God. He desires to communicate Himself to us. He has given us His Word, the Bible, to show us more of Who He is, and guide us in the way we should follow Him. You see the whole word of God is to point us to this Holy and Righteous God. As we seek to know this God and love Him we will find that we remain in His Will (John 15).

But Kevin...what about the specifics of my life? Well great question there reader of this blog! I have in the years of being a Christian realize that Christ Lives in me and His Holy Spirit is in me to guide me. I have to trust that God is powerful enough and cares enough to guide me exactly where He wants me. I know that He asks me to be willing to do whatever He desires, where ever He desires, whenever He desires. I must now trust that He will clearly guide me there. The question you have to ask is when He has shown you specifics of His will for you how did He speak to you? If you can learn to hear how God speaks to you then you can really learn to hear His voice. John 10:4, "When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice." Do you know How God has spoken to you? Do you know God's voice? If you struggle with this answer then I encourage you to go back and spend time getting to know this God. Take His Word and get out into His creation and pray and ask Him to teach you who He is.

There are many ways that God speaks to people. Most people hear His voice through a small still voice in their heart, through peace, through open doors and closed doors, through His word. Other times God may speak through dreams or visions or miracles in your life. I would say sometimes God speaks through people as well, but be cautious with this one. I have seen many Christians go to people for counsel and only seek the counsel of people who they think will say what they want. Make sure it is God directing them and not just their thoughts on your situation.

Keep Seeking God with Passion. Know Him, I mean really Get to Know Jesus and don't settle for anything less!!

In Christ,
Kevin Deming

http://ymhelper.blogspot.com/2007/06/how-do-you-hear-gods-voice.html