Seeking The Lord

2 Chronicles 12:14
And he did evil because he prepared not his heart to seek the Lord

This verse has bee non my mind for a few days. I'm reading through the KJV right now, and 2 Chronicles is where I'm at. Chronicles is either a terribly boring history book, or an exciting adventure.

I understand people who don't like the Old Testament. I disagree, but I see their point; on the surface level, the New Testamant seems so much more relevant to today. Besides the 10 Commandments, most of our contemporary ideals on Christian living come from the New Testament.

But. (I'm a big fan of "buts").

The amazing, incredible, incomprehensible thing about God is that His Word doesn't change. It cannot be irrelevant because the Lord intended to last forever, and to be for all people everywhere.

So maybe it takes more though, prayer, time, and diligence, but there is a lot of learn from the OT (and not just Psalms and Proverbs!)

Like that verse from the top. The Amplified Bible says:
And he did evil because he did not set his heart to seek (inquire of, yearn for) the Lord with all his desire.
The he refers to Rehoboam, who ruled Jerusalem for 17 years. It doesn't say exactly what he did, just why - he did not seek our God Almighty.

Back in October, I posted the song "Generations", with the line, "the devil can't make me do anything when I'm calling on Jesus Christ". That's what we get from 2 Chronicles! When you are totally and completely wrapped up in who God is and what He does, it's impossible to sin. Because God is incapable of it, and if He really reigns over your body, so are you. It is so important to fight this battle with our flesh and die to self every single day. The closer we get to the Lord, the more we hate what He hates and love as He loves. When we say yes to God, we're saying no to our enemu. And by the grace of God alone, He will always give us another chance to say yes.



Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 1 Chronicles 16:15

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. Colossians 3:23-24

Attitude Adjustment

After last summer's enriching experiences in traveling ministry, a summer at home was not sounding so great. And honestly, I had a really bad attitude about it. When I got home and found out I was working every day of the week for awhile, and was scheduled during Sunday morning church, it got worse. My parents aren't doing so hot, my sister is a roller coaster and I'm away from my friends. I wanted to understand why God had me home, but I was kind of miffed at Him.

I really needed to just hear from the Lord. And we all know that can happen in different ways.

There I was at work today, very busy and using all of my pleasant energies to serve the customers when in walked my grandfather. I love my grandpa, and seeing him was an incredible surprise. But I think this was the most joy I've ever experienced in running into him. I knew that it wasn't just him. It was the Lord telling me that I was going to be fine because He's going to be with me all summer. Thank You Jesus, because I'm not strong enough to do this on my own.



The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek. Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. Teach me thy way, O LORD, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies.b Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD. Psalm 27

Put Me Back Together

Bad meet doesn't really even describe it. My steps were awful, I lacked confidence and I even landed in the box while my pole went flying over 15 feet away. I was disappointed, but I got the sense that God was trying to speak to me.

My teammates did incredibly well, so it didn't leave me time to retreat, pray, and learn until much later. In the meantime, I helped coach them and was overwhelmed with joy for their successes. Then, I finally got my time with the Lord.

Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 1 Chronicles 16:15

A covenant is a promise and God's promises are always true. He promises to clothe us in righteousness, to never leave or forsake us, to raise us as He raised Christ Jesus, to remove our guilt and shame, to provide an abundant life, to break the yoke of our slavery, and to always make grace abound in our lives.

God's ways are higher than, so of course I wish my meet (and season) would have gone differently. But I know that the Lord was glorified and I was able to stand as a witness of faith to so many of my teammates, fellow competitors, coaches, and even spectators.

We just never know what the Holy Spirit is going to do. All I know is that my Lord is always watching over me; His hand is in every piece of my life. So when I fell and failed, He used His mighty word to put me back together again. I spent every minute of dinner and team meetings just waiting to get back into His presence and hear what He was whispering to me. It's amazing what we can hear when we actually listen.




And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8

In Heaven, There Will Be...

I read a very interesting post about Heaven yesterday from Tenth Avenue North. You can read it here . It's all about how we have these conceptions of what Heaven is going to be like - we're going to have all of our favorite things and be able to hang out and do whatever we want. As the writer points out, there is no biblical reasoning for this conception. It says that day and night, people are bowing down and singing praises to the Lord; we sit forever in His presence.

How often do you hear people saying that they hope they get to Heaven, or that if they know a good person maybe that will help? If we look strictly at the Bible, Heaven really is going to be us in the presence of our Savior, praising Him 24/7 for eternity. If you don't absolutely love God with all of your heart, if He isn't your sole desire, why would you want to be in Heaven?

That verse I talked about earlier, Philippians 1:21 seems to come back to mind. If dying is to be a reward, then your life has to be Christ. If your life isn't built around the cross, Heaven is probably going to be a disappointment.

Well, it just got me thinking and since I have the space to say whatever I want, I figured I would. Amazing how one blog post can cause you to think so critically about your entire life, all of your desires and hopes.

"If your heart takes more pleasure in reading novels, or watching TV, or going to the movies, or talking to friends, rather than just sitting alone with God and embracing Him, sharing His cares and His burdens, weeping and rejoicing with Him, then how are you going to handle forever and ever in His presence...? You'd be bored to tears in heaven, if you're not ecstatic about God now!" Keith Green





Lord, let me be so lovesick for You alone. Change my heart that You would truly and honestly be the deepest and sole desire of my heart. Let my love for You grow eternally, and let me look forward to sitting in Your presence and singing Your praise unceasingly. Help me to let go of all the world holds dear and cling to Calvary's cross. Make my life Your own. Amen

I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm 34:1

And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. Revelation 4:8

As Long As I'm Here

Yesterday was a long day for me, emotionally. Let's talk about it.

After I got done with some odd jobs around work for the morning, I checked my phone.

My friend: I have something to tell you.
Me: Yes?

She went on to drop something huge on me that I wasn't expecting; I thought it was a joke before she explained further (I'm not going to say what or who it is, because that's rude and a breach of trust). She was very conflicted about this. I have absolutely no experience dealing with this type of thing, nothing even remotely close, so I know it was Christ's love and kindness when I responded, "do you want to talk about it?" Selfishly, I almost hoped she'd say no - what could I possibly have to tell her? But, of course she said she'd love to, but later, after finals.

So I'm sitting there crying because I love her so much and am just imagining all the things she's feeling, trying to get a sense for where she's coming from . And then I get anxious about our pending conversation. She has so many other friends who have more experience in this department. But then, suddenly, I was overwhelmed with this tremendous sense of gratitude towards the Lord. I just met this girl this semester, but we've become pretty close. I had to just thank God for the fact that He put us together as friends and for preparing both of us for that very day and situation. As difficult as it was, I felt so blessed to see the way everything had been according to His plan. I also felt very grateful for the fact that I didn't have anything to do the rest of the day; I spent almost all of my time in prayer, listening closely for the words I needed to speak.

I kept getting verses about God's faithfulness, His love, and His constant presence. The Lord was telling me that although my friend didn't understand or know Him yet, He could love her through me, and that I had to just be there for her in Christ's love. And I think she really did understand that I was there for her and I wasn't judging her; I love her too much for that. The same way that God doesn't see our sin when we are in Christ, I did not see what she'd done, because that's not who she is.

I came out of this so amazed that my friend would trust me for something like this, but even more amazed that God would trust me. He used me to give His love away. That's what truly incredible here.

I knew God wasn't going to give me a week off with no purpose or use for them. As long as I'm here, I might as well do something.



I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. Hosea 14:3

And the Lord was gracious unto them, and had compassion on them, and had respect onto them, because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and would not destroy them, neither cast he from his presence as yet. 2 Kings 13:23

And he heard the Lord say unto him, "I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued to extend faithful love to you" Jeremiah 31:3

One Thing Remains

This track season has been pretty rough, and my collegiate career has, in general, been nowhere near my high school one. I was thinking about this last night; even though I was so much better in high school, I really wasn't that upset about it. God has given me such peace, because I know I'm where He wants me to be.

This morning, I found out that the marks at the meet were wrong; I thought I'd made a lower height than I actually did. The height I really made was my best one this season, and I've improved at every meet this outdoor season. Even though it's still not as good as I was several years ago, it feels good to know that I am getting better relative to the right now.

So what have I learned through this? I think it's that no matter what is going on in life, the Lord is still God, and He is always good. His grace is freely given; His love is unending and overpowers absolutely everything. I also think that peace stems from joy, and not happiness. Happiness is an emotion that is fleeting, but joy comes from deep within, that sense that God is good at all times, in every season. Yesterday, I just felt so incredible. I didn't do that well, my teammates didn't do that well, but it was a nice day, and the joy of the Lord was satisfying me. I just love how He's always pursuing us, and never tires.



Lord, thank You for being a loving, sovereign God. I love Your presence; I could sit in it forever. I am just overwhelmed by how much I love who You are. Amen.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39

A Piece of History

Tomorrow is the National Day of Prayer. I've participated in this day almost every year since I can remember, but I've never known much about its history. For instance, the first national call to prayer was by the Continental Congress in 1775, before the American Revolution even started! This day has been part of our country before we were even a sovereign, independent nation! But we've always had a sovereign Lord looking out for us.

Throughout history, 33 of the 44 presidents have issued proclamations for a national day of prayer (and 4 of those who didn't died in office). Then, in 1952 it became official: Harry S. Truman declared a National Day of Prayer and signed it into law. In 1988, Ronald Reagan regulated the day - he amended the law to say that the National Day of Prayer would be the first Thursday of every May. And in 1998, a resolution was passed saying that the President is to issue a proclamation of the day each year.

I just think it's so incredible to have a national holiday whose purpose is prayer. By taking part in its observance, we are doing what our founding fathers did, and what the Lord's faithful ones have done all throughout time. We are bowing down before God and asking Him to carry us through. And His promise says He hears us.

The theme this year is "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"



I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Psalm 91:2

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14