Seeking God Early - Psalm 63:1

 

Psalm 63:1

O God, You are my God;

 Early will I seek You:

  My soul thirsts for You; 

   My flesh longs for You 

In a dry and thirsty land 

 Where there is no water.

    Ever go on a hike without a water container? Tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth. Hard to speak, much less breathe. Sweat drenches your body for a while, but then evaporates leaving you really thirsty. Are our souls that thirsty? 

    After all, we've been in a dry and thirsty land on our hikes, our wanderings, our walks. Just sitting here thinking about it is making me thirsty  

   and I have a cold bottle of water staring me in the face. There, now I'm not physically thirsty for awhile. But I am oh, so thirsty for more of what God wants to share with me! 

    Psalm 63:1 is one of my favorite verses (I have quite a few faves) and I enjoy studying it out, always finding something new to learn, simply because God chooses to share new things about His Word with me. He wants to share Himself with you, too. Take my hand and let's go for a walk in The Word.

 

    SEEK GOD

Amos 5:4

For this is what The LORD says to the house of Israel: “Seek Me so that you may live."

Isaiah 55:6

Seek The LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.

Matthew 7:7,8

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.

TRUST GOD  

Psalm 31:14

But I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”

THANK GOD  

Psalm 118:28

You are my God, and I will give You thanks. You are my God, and I will exalt You.

1 Thessalonians 5:18

In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

TASTE THE GOODNESS OF GOD  

Psalm 34:8

O taste and see that The LORD is good: blessed is the man that trusts in Him.

John 6:35

And Jesus said to them, "I Am The Bread of Life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."

DRINK THE WATER OF GOD  

John 7:37,38

On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood up and called out in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said: ‘Streams of living water will flow from within him.’ ”

    It is best to seek God early, for He calls out to us early. The devil calls us early, too. Both of them want us, but only One of them Loves us. The devil hates us the moment we are conceived, for we are made in God's triune image, and the devil hates God and everything affiliated with God. 

    Having the strong foundation of Christ upon which to build our lives will only make us stronger as the years go by, as long as we remain faithful to Him. We must fill ourselves with The Word of God on a daily basis. We can start when we wake up from sleep. 

*Thank Him for the new day He has given us wherein we can honor Him and He can accomplish His purpose in us. 

*Sing His praises early in our day.

*Pray with Him at first light or before the sun even rises.

*Praise Him for getting us through the night. Not just for rest, but for being with us in our good dreams and bad dreams. 

*Read our Bibles. We read and study The Scriptures together, when we ask God's Holy Spirit to reveal God's Holy Word to our untrained eyes, and the eyes of our hearts devour what God is giving us. And we want more of The Word, more of God, in us, for He strengthens the weak, and gives life to the dying.

    A daily walk in The Word is a refreshing walk in The Word. I cannot rely on a single bottle of water to quench my daily thirst. If there is any left in it after the first day, then it becomes tepid and flat. Just like us: lukewarm Christianity.

    Lukewarm Christians do not refresh: they repel. Halfhearted Christianity is unfulfilling. Straddling the fence is not choosing sides. In fact to try to attempt to move forward or even backward while straddling a fence is utterly painful. And we look ridiculous. We are fooling no one, not even God. 

    Christianity should be contagious. For the joy of The LORD is risen up within us! We are enthusiastic, bubbling over with gladness and gratitude for such grace as God has shown us! We love to be in His presence! Always radiantly shining His Light into the doom and gloom of someone's life. 

    We love our Lord and Savior and we want you to love Him, too! It is why we can't stop ourselves from talking about Him all the time! We are excited to be Christians--Christ followers--and we want you to be excited, too. 

  

Christianity

   

     Christianity began in The New Testament in Matthew 4:19, when Jesus said, "Follow Me" and the people He called to follow Him, answered His call to follow. That's what Christian really means you know: Follower of Christ. Hearing what He has to say and doing what He says to do. Simple. 

    We could go back farther, though, before Christ was born in that manger, before The Word was born in flesh. We could go back to Genesis 4:26, when Seth began to call on The Name of The Lord. "And to Seth was born a son, and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon The Name of The Lord." 

     

     The Name of The Lord has not changed in power, in description, in Name. The Name of The Lord saves: Romans 10:13. The Name of The Lord is to be praised: Psalm 145:1-2. The Name of The Lord is to be feared: Isaiah 59:19. The Name of The Lord is to be revered: Numbers 15:30. The Name of The Lord is to be glorified within the church, and thus, the Christians who make up the church: 2 Thessalonians 1:12.

    The Name of The Lord is Jesus Christ. He is Savior. He is Praise and ascribed praise. He is Fearful. He is ascribed Honor. He is The Unveiled Splendor radiating outward from the inward change which faith in His Name has wrought within the believer. 

    Christianity is when we fulfill that call to Follow Christ and choose to have The Word of God LIVE in us by the power of His Holy Spirit. We choose to display the fruit of The Spirit in our lives that others may see the Goodness of God in us and be drawn to The Light of His Love and The Joy of His Communion. We make a conscientious decision to be obedient to The Word of God and allow His Holy Spirit to not just modify our behavior, but radically change us. 

    From the beginning people were made in the image of God. From conception each of us are stamped with His image. But from the age of understanding and reason, we are each faced with the decision to either follow Christ or reject Him. This age is different for everyone, though some children understand Who Christ is and what He did for them from a very young age (3); yet the basic age of understanding and reasoning out for ourselves is usually around 12-13, when we begin to question what is real, what is right and what is truth. 

    Christianity builds itself on The Chief Cornerstone, Jesus Christ. It is built on the patriarchs and prophets, who foretold of the birth of Christ, the ministry of Christ, the death of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, and the Kingship of Christ. 

    Christianity is to give ourselves to The Lord. Isaiah 44:5-We take His Name to ourselves. Deuteronomy 26:17, 18-We call Him our God and He calls us His people. 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20-We are His temple and have been bought with a great price. Romans 14:8-In life and in death we belong to The Lord. Galatians 3:29-We are heirs according to the promise [Romans 9:8].

    Acts 11:26 tells us that we were first called Christians in a town called Antioch, the third-largest city of the Roman Empire and the capitol of Syria. Followers of Jesus. Setting us apart from any ethnicity (for whether we are Jewish believers or Gentile [any non-Jew) believers, we are all believers in The Name of The Lord Jesus Christ.           We are set apart from community organizations, for our reasons for coming together are to exalt The Name of The Lord in worship and in testimonies; in service and in sharing the gospel and hearing the gospel. 

    Christianity is exclusive. It does not partake of any other religion's activities, nor that religion's beliefs. It does not join itself to another's religion in any way, sense or form. For CHRIST JESUS is ABOVE all gods. And His Name is Jealous. Chrislam is blasphemy against God. Christian Nationalism is blasphemy against God. Mixing any religions' "best qualities", including Christianity, into one's personal religious faith is blasphemous. Be very careful and make wise choices. 

    Christianity is not inherited. Each one of us make a decision to believe in The Name of The Lord Jesus Christ for ourselves. Grandma and Grandpa's belief on Jesus' Name will not save you or I. Momma taking us to church every time the doors opened will not save us. Tradition and familial resonances will not get us into Christianity. Only Christ and following Him upon belief in Him plants us in Him. 

    Today is the day you must make a decision for Christ, if you have not done so already. Hebrews 3:15 "As it has been said: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts, as you did in the rebellion.” (cf. Hebrews 4:7; Deuteronomy 30:19, 20; Joshua 24:15). 2 Corinthians 6:2 For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.

CALL YOUR NAME - Dan Bremnes

WHEN I CALL ON JESUS - Nicole C. Mullen