IN PURSUIT OF CHRIST

                                                   IN PURSUIT OF CHRIST
"Oh God, Thou art my God; early will I seek Thee; my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land, where there is no land...because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee...my soul followeth hard after Thee...Psalm 63:1,3,8

 INDEX:
- FIRST TO CALVARY
- DOES GOD LEAVE US?
PRESUMPTION - IGNORING THE COMMAND/WARNING
IGNORING THE TERMS OF THE COVENANT, PLAYING WITH SIN SILENCE FOR THE TEST
- THE PURSUIT OF CHRIST
THE PASSIONATE PURSUIT
YEARNING FOR HIM
THE DRAWING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
THE DAY TO DAY INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP
- TAKING UP THE CROSS
- CONCLUSION

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength…” Mark 12:30

“‘And you shall seek Me, and find Me, when you shall search for Me with all of your heart. And I will be found of you,’ says the Lord.” Jeremiah 29:13-14

“By night on my bed I sought Him Whom my soul loves. I sought Him, but I found Him not. I will rise now and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek Him Whom my soul loves. I sought Him but I found Him not. The watchmen that go about the city found me. To  whom I said, ‘Saw ye Him Whom my soul loves?’ It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found Him Whom my soul loves. I held Him, and would not let Him go…” Song of Songs 3:1-4

 The faith in, and the pursuit of Jesus Christ in our life is to be the most important and all encompassing endeavor of our existence. It is a daily activity, one that requires our whole heart and full purpose of intent. If we are actively pursuing anything where we have to put Him aside, perhaps it is something that we should not be doing, or that that particular activity needs to be reprioritized.  
 

FIRST TO CALVARY

 When we have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ to the saving of our soul, God becomes our Heavenly Father and we are eternally united with Him. He lives in us and we in Him, “…he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” 1 Corinthians 6:17

 This means that He is with us at all times in our daily life. He is with us in our work, or when we are at home, with friends, and when we are  relaxing, or whatever. So whether we are consciously aware of Him or not He will never leave or us nor forsake us “Hebrews 13:5. So if you are not walking in rebellion or disobedience, He is right there with you. But one may ask, “What then is being said?”

DOES GOD LEAVE US?

 From these two passages of Scripture there would seem to be a conflict “I will never leave you, nor forsake you…”   “And He that sent Me (Jesus) is with Me: the Father has not left Me alone, for I do always those things that please Him.” John 8:29
This is a great concern, because, unlike Jesus, we are not always reliable. God, however, graciously gives us examples in the Bible as to what He is referring that we can trust in His faithfulness, and learn from the mistakes of others, and hopefully from our own mistakes.

PRESUMPTION – IGNORING A COMMAND/WARNING Proverbs 1:22-31

 The children of Israel, when hearing the Lord’s judgment pronounced against them for refusing to go up and take the Promise Land after they heeded the bad report of the ten spies, they changed their mind and decided to go up against the land the next morning. The Lord, through Moses, strictly warned them and commanded them not to go “Because you are turned away from the Lord, therefore the Lord will not be with you” Numbers 14:43. Presumptuously they went anyways and were badly defeated. The children of Israel assumed that since they acknowledged that they sinned and that they changed their mind, obviously felt confident that the Lord changed His mind and would go with them. We often make the same mistake forgetting that we can only follow the Lord by His grace and according to His will. Jesus said, “for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5. So the Lord, though He was with them as His people, He was not with them in their disobedient endeavour.

IGNORING THE TERMS OF THE COVENANT – PLAYING WITH SIN

 Samson was a very peculiar case. He did things that God told Israel not to do, like marry a foreign woman. Nevertheless the Lord used it to get at the Philistines who were oppressing the Israelites. Samson had a special call and anointing in his life. He was called to be a Nazarite from his mother’s womb. A Nazarite was not to cut their hair nor drink alcoholic beverages for the duration of their separation. In his case, it was to be for his entire life. For the task he was to undertake as judge in Israel he was given supernatural strength to fight the Philistines who were oppressing and ruling over the Israelites. We can see as we follow his life that he seemed to be somewhat self-willed and even spoiled. Notice how he addresses his parents when he wanted to take a Philistine wife, “Get her for me, for she pleases me well.” Judges 14:3

  As time went on, he began an affair with a harlot, Delilah. His enemies used her to find out the secret of his strength. He made a game of it, and she played him for a fool and tormented him until he surrendered (“Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked.” Proverbs 25:26 NIV).

 You know the rest of the events. What is critical here is this verse, “But he did not know that the Lord had left him.” Judges 16:20 NIV  In his folly, he made a breach in the covenant that the Lord had given him, and in his time of need the Lord was not there for him. We cannot play games with God and expect that He will always be there to bail us out. We will reap what we sow. Galatians 6:7-8

 The redeeming part of the story is that as his hair grew, the Lord Who is faithful to His covenants, restored his strength and allowed him to fulfill his calling (so to speak). My favorite verse in this entire passage is, “O Lord God, please remember me and please strengthen me just this time…” Judges 16:28 NAS

  We cannot play games with the Holy Covenant of Christ and then expect He will just freely be there for our every beckon and call. We need to beware lest He leaves us to reap the folly of our choices.

SILENCE FOR THE TEST

 King Hezekiah was an extremely faithful servant of God who followed Him wholeheartedly throughout his reign, but there seemed to be something in him that the Lord had to put to the test. The pinnacle act of faith that he seemed to have demonstrated was when he believed God for His sovereign deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib’s deadly invasion. Sometime later after Hezekiah had been healed by the Lord from a near fatal sickness, Babylonian ambassadors came with kind regards concerning his sickness and recovery. It is here that the Scriptures point out that, “… God left him, to try him, that He might know all that was in His heart.”2 Chronicles 32:31

 Living in the grace of God we can ride high in a place of blessing, success, and even godliness, but none of these things are an actual indication of what is going on in our heart and character development. When the way is easy our hearts can begin to drift without us being conscientiously aware. Or badly needed traits in our character are not being strengthened or developed, much of which only comes through exposure to adversity. At times God graciously lifts His hand to reveal not only to Himself (though He already knows), but also to us where we are really at in our heart, and what is lacking in our character.

 So the Lord isn’t abandoning us, but merely pulling away for a time to leave us to ourselves even as a parent lets a small child stand on their own so they can learn to walk. Or as they are becoming adults, they give them more responsibilities to see if their training had taken root, and to see the type of character they are becoming.

THE PURSUIT OF CHRIST

 The same question we can ask is, “Why pursue Him if He is already with us?” We pursue Him because it is a relationship we have entered into, and not just a belief. One might also ask, “Why pursue our wife when we are already married?” Sounds logical, doesn’t it, except it might not endure. In the course of daily life and unending cares and responsibilities we can slowly drift apart ("...because you have left your first love." Revelation 2:4). We all know this and will actively apply ourselves if we are committed to keeping our love alive and our hearts steadfast. It is the same with the Lord. "And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares   and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection."  Luke 8:14.  What is more is that we are pursuing our invisible God in our natural world, and our flesh wants to go the other way.

 Our experiences with the Lord are as variable as our numbers, but the end product of our faith and revelation of Him should somewhat be as the apostle Peter described, “Whom having not seen, you love; in Whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.” 1 Peter 1:8

 What we are trying to say here, after repenting of our sins and believing on our Lord Jesus Christ, experiencing the forgiveness of sins and His amazing peace, the greatest and most wonderful aspect (if we dare even categorized these) is that we have made connection with Him with Whom we have to do, and Whose we are. We have been joined to our Creator Who Loves us and gave Himself for us, and with Whom we will spend eternity, the Love of all loves, our God! So keeping the fire of our faith and love for Him should be the greatest pursuit of our lives, and should encompass all that we do (He will work out the how to's).

 Carefully, it does not depend on how well we think we can perform, but His grace that enables us to will and to do according to His good purpose (Philippians 2:13), but He so desires that our love be reciprocated.

NOTE – If you have believed since you were so young that you cannot remember, He is such a Part of your life that you cannot imagine life without Him. Your love need not burn any less for Him than for someone who has been recently converted, because the grace and love that saves us is the very same grace and love that keeps us. You are in no way behind!

THE PASSIONATE PURSUIT

Again this is figurative, and as varying as we are, but in the SONG OF SONGS, a couple of passages that Solomon wrote regarding the Shulamite’s pursuit of the King, and gives us a picture of the deep intimate drawing of the Lord in our lives. In chapter 3 she describes how she sought him on her bed, but could not find him. So she rises up and goes out into the night in search for him until she finds him.

YEARNING FOR HIM

 Many times we find ourselves yearning for Him and searching for Him while in bed at night or perhaps while in a busy public setting and cannot find Him. Then in our heart we separate our self in pursuit of Him Who is our life. Jesus too would withdraw Himself and pray, sometimes all night to the Father in earnest pursuit of Him Who was His Help and His All in All. “And you shall seek Me, and you shall find Me, when you shall search for Me with all of your heart.”

THE DRAWING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT 

 In chapter 5, this time he comes to her house and calls her, but she gives an excuse why she could not come out to him ("I have put off my coat, how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them.").So he pulls away and leaves. Realizing that she made missed an opportunity to be with him she dashes out in anxious pursuit into the night in search for him. It appears that the night watchmen assaulted her while she was searching for him, but relentlessly she found him nonetheless. How many times has the Lord called us apart or awakens us to pray, and we have an excuse because of the inconvenience. Often, it is only afterwards that we realize we have missed an amazing opportunity to be with Him.
  All this is a picture of Christ and His bride, the church, but we also as individuals are His beloved. He too calls us, and at times seems to withdraw so that we may pursue Him with all our heart. Throughout the centuries, many Christians while in pursuit of the Lord in the world have been abused by supposed countrymen. Nevertheless these saints persisted, and countless many have benefited from their efforts, trials, and sufferings. 

THE DAY TO DAY INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP

(There is a beautiful book called HE AND I, by Gabrielle Bossis, which is a wonderful illustration of the intimate relationship we can have with Him).

  As we grow and mature in our walk with Jesus, our relationship becomes more natural and spontaneous, almost like breathing. We become aware of His Presence and familiar with His voice. When we cannot sense Him we panic less and ponder more, knowing that He will never leave us nor forsake us. Instead we search for His counsel and wait patiently to learn the lesson He is teaching us. This does not mean that life will at all get any easier, but that we are able to face and endure trials which we may not have been previously ready for. In the end, it is still about Him and you.

TAKING UP THE CROSS

 Jesus’ call for His disciples to follow Him has led and will lead them into an amazing, wonderful adventure with a glorious eternity, but it also requires us to take up our cross to follow Him. “And He said to them all, ‘If anyone would come after Me, He must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it.’” Luke 9:23-24

 The cross leads us into the crucified life of “not my will, but Thine be done.” What is involved is not only discipline, correction, and obedience, but a complete and total reliance on Him and His grace, not only do His will, but to draw from Him His strength and His very Life, His Holy Spirit. This requires, and is the fruit of a close walking relationship and intimacy with Him  and where He no longer calls us servants, but friends, John 15:15.

 In this place of intimacy there are burdens, tears, revelations, and inexpressible joy. In this place we share what is in Him, and not only what is in us, “I have no one else like him (Timothy), who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ’s.” Philippians 2:20-21 Intimacy with Jesus is through the cross.

“Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, Who, for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:2

 

Conclusion – Pursuing the Lord keeps our relationship fresh and our hearts tender to that which we have been eternally designed for, an intimate and loving relationship with God our Creator and Saviour, and a faith that is active and fruitful in this life.