Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “A Fresh Encounter”
Our Bible verse for today: “You will call to Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:12-13 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “You will find Him when you seek Him.”
One of the greatest truths in all of Scripture is that God wants to be heard and understood by His people. God created people to have a love relationship with Him. That’s your sole reason for existing. God had no other reason to create human beings other than to have a love relationship with us.
That being the case, God is always ready and eager to interact with us. It’s the reason He created us to begin with. However it’s also true that God will not force us into a relationship with Himself. He certainly could force us if He wanted to. I mean after all, He is God. He is all-powerful and He could compel and force our compliance if He wanted to.
But if He did do that then the relationship would be rather meaningless. We wouldn’t be in a relationship with Him because we wanted to be, out of love, but because we were forced into it. Therefore God creates the opportunity for us to have a close and loving relationship with Him – or not. He even goes so far as to entice us and draw us to Himself, but He will not force us.
But to those who will respond, they will find that God is there and that God is ready to have the relationship with us that He created us for. Jeremiah 29:12-13 is just one of many passages in the Bible where God makes it clear that if we will respond to His invitation, we will find Him waiting for us.
Sadly, there are many people who never respond to God’s invitation. Many never even reach the starting point of placing their faith in Jesus so that they can have a relationship with the Father. But beyond that, there are many professing Christians who are casual and even ambivalent about their relationship with God. They put little effort into nurturing it and therefore they have little real fellowship with Him.
Not only is that tragic for them, but it grieves the Father’s heart. Remember, you were created for this. Having a deep love relationship with the Father is your primary purpose for living. Don’t be content with anything less. He wants to be found by you. And if you seek Him, you will find Him. He has promised.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 