Are you seeking after God’s plans?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. “
(Jeremiah 29:11-13 (NIV))

What is it that you seek after will all your heart?

Is it wealth? Is it fame? Is it fortune?

Is it God?

Far too many people seek other things before they seek God. They give “lip service” to God and then live as if they did not proclaim Him as Lord. In other words, they do not seek Him with all their heart. They have replaced God with a multitude of personal “gods” that they let control their lives. All of this is done in the name of prosperity, greed, security, and a number of other ideals that they have set for themselves. They look upon God as a benevolent, jolly “old man” who watches as his children do something not quite righteous. They then expect God to tell them that what they are doing is ok because they are loved and can do no wrong.

God is not like that!

He wants each of us to turn from our sinful ways and to turn one hundred percent toward Him. He longs for us to seek after His heart, for He longs to prosper us in ways that we cannot imagine. He longs to give us hope and a future. Unfortunately, too many of us look toward ourselves for the hope of the future and we look to God as our “parachute,” our safety net.

We need to look to God first in all things!

God created each of us for a purpose. That purpose was not to lay devastated within our sin. He created us to be with Him. Do you think that the creator of all the universe lacks for anything? He is ready to prosper each of us according to His riches, but first we must have a change of heart. We must stop seeking after the prosperity and seek after God first.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
(Matthew 6:33 (NIV))

Are you seeking after God’s plans?

Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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What is it that you possess?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked;
(Psalms 37:16 (NIV))

What is it that you desire?

Do you seek after the riches of the world or the righteousness that is only available from the Lord?

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
(Matthew 6:19-20 (NIV))

Human nature is such a strange thing. To be honest with you, I am surprised that we can even begin to say that we long for the righteousness of the Lord when we are so self centered by nature. The fall from grace in the Garden of Eden really placed us in a no win situation. We say that we want to be righteous in God’s eyes, but we do so many things that take us in the exact opposite direction. That has been our lot in this sinful, fallen world ever since we disobeyed God in the garden. Even the strongest of us fail to do what we know that we should do. Paul, who is credited with spreading the Gospel to the Gentiles, fought with this.

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
(Romans 7:15 (NIV))

Thankfully, we have a God who knows that we are not capable of overcoming this on our own. He has provided His Son as a Savior to those who truly desire to overcome human nature and seek after righteousness. Even so, we all face the wickedness of the world. We all face the glitter of the gold.

I have read studies that show the most generous group of people by income levels are those who we consider the middle class, and some studies actually say the lower middle class. On average, they give so much more as a percentage than those who are considered wealthy. People whom you would think can afford to be generous are actually the least generous. Have they been blinded by wealth to the point that it has become their god? How sad it is to see people place their priorities and faith in something that can be gone in an instant.

I have come to the conclusion that there are two possible scenarios in this life. We can have and use possessions, or they can have and use us!

What is it that you possess?

Copyright 1998 – 2018 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you seek human accolades?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living

How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
(John 5:44 (NIV))

Why do we seek approval and praise from each other when the one that we should seek approval from is ignored?

Think about that for a moment. Now, think about the following questions.

Is there a particular person or group of people that you wish would accept you and praise you? Why do you desire this adulation? What is it about this person or group of people that makes this acceptance so important to you? Do you idolize them for something that they have accomplished or do you simply want to fit in with a different crowd than you currently associate with?

Trying to figure out human nature is difficult when you are trying to look at yourself. It is much easier to spot the frailties and character flaws in other people, but it is difficult to see them in yourself. It is easy to look at someone else and come to the conclusion that they are trying to fit in where God did not intend for them to fit.

Why do we do it?

Everyone longs for acceptance. We all long to be validated as a person of worth. We think that we can gain that validation, that worth, if we just get accepted by a different group of people. What we fail to realize is that this different person or group is seeking validation as well. Far too many find their validation by being obnoxious and arrogant to others. They take pleasure in elevating themselves by cutting down others.

God made each of us unique. He created you to be the best you that you can be. This means that you seek His will and His glory instead of the fleeting glory that comes from others. This means spending time in His presence!

Be still, and know that I am God
(Psalms 46:10a (NIV))

I find it interesting that our human nature makes us want to be with the ones who we desire praise from. Perhaps this is why John asked how we can believe since we accept glory from one another. He knew that human nature will make us seek out what is truly in our hearts.

Do you seek human accolades?

Copyright 1998 – 2017 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Do you seek His righteousness?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
(Matthew 6:33 (NIV))

What do you seek first in life?

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
(Matthew 5:6 (NIV))

Based on just these two passages, we have it all backwards! Our society tells us to seek after everything that we want as our primary objective and goal in life. How is that going for our society? How is that going for each of us that have to live in our society?

Do we live in a state of being in which we act in accordance with God’s divine or moral laws? If we do, then we are truly seeking His righteousness and we are answering God’s call to live according to His purpose.

There are numerous passages that talk about righteousness and what it means to be righteous in the eyes of God. All of us who profess a faith in Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior long to be righteous in the eyes of God for we are called to be righteous. We are told to take up our cross and follow Jesus. Jesus showed us what it takes to be righteous. He also showed us a way to be righteous even in our humanity. We can accept the grace and mercy that was freely given on the cross. We can be made righteous by a simple proclamation of faith in Jesus!

When we seek His righteousness, we repent of our sinful ways and walk with Jesus. We will falter along the way, but, if our heart is true, then Jesus will pick us up, dust us off and continue on the journey with us.

Perhaps that is the best way to think of yourself when you seek His righteousness. It is not something that will happen over night. It is a journey. It is a life long commitment to walking with Jesus in all things.

We are called to walk in righteousness!

Does your life show that you have answered the call?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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