A blessed season: Drawing closer to Jesus.

So when you actually see the screen in front of you, all the revelations, wisdom, God has lent to you seems to transpire the words that flow through your mind. To try and put words to the Truths that God has shown me leaves me now with the feeling that I really should have written a blog long ago.

 Thank You Lord, that that is the case. That you have done so much for me, have shown Yourself to me in so many ways, that explaining it leaves me without words.

If you are reading this, and wondering: “Why did this guy wait until now to blot down His Truths that He so lovingly revealed to him?” Then my defence would be: … None. There has been so many times when my heart rang with fiery praise, and all I wanted to do was share it with people. So I guess I shared it with my team mates and those at home (when the time allowed). But I am getting pretty bored now with talking without saying something. So here is what matters. This is what the love of Jesus revealed to me in my last few days.

Matthew 6:33 says:  “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all things will be added to you.” 

I remember the first time I saw this verse. I was in grade 10 (and still quite unaware of the amazing Truths the Scriptures could contain), and saw it pasted on one of my closest friends’ bedroom wall. Yup, quite a well-known verse… Then I guess there is a reason God uses it so often? He surely used it mightily in my life.
The part leading up to this verse contains the beautiful reassurance that if God feeds the sparrows and dresses the lilies só beautifully, how much more will He not feed and clothe us? It goes further to say that we then should not worry about tomorrow or yesterday. That today has its own worries that we must overcome with the Holy Spirit in our heart (and with God’s faithfulness as our beloved companion). And when I read it, the whole passage kind of exploded into verse 33. The Bible is alive, and might show you something else. But when I came to verse 33 the orchestra exploded into the climax, the angels were queued to strike the harps.

“Seek first” – Before you (speaking mostly to myself here) let your mind worry about tomorrow, before you let your thoughts tumble into the chaos of the “how-can-I-do-something-to-better-this‘s”, find Jesus. In these last few days, weeks, Jesus has called me out to deepen my relationship with Him. He has let my heart ache with a longing to search for His voice, love and wisdom for every moment of today (every day’s today). I have developed this need to ask Him at every choice, emotion and decision of the day: “What do You want me to do with You here? Tell me Dad. Tell me King. Tell me Teacher.” And even if I don’t get to hear His voice, His direction at that moment (because God’s timing and ideas are WAY better that our planned out ‘good’), I cannot but smile to know that with this possibly difficult decision, He is within me, smiling at my conversation with Him. I experience that simply by asking Him, He gives me the strength to make the decision, continue the day’s work, find the day’s hidden secret. I find Him reassuring me so powerfully about His presence, that I don’t need an audible answer. I just REAAALLY want to ask Him.
“… The kingdom of God and His righteousness...” – A passionate follower of our Lord Jesus (and teacher to me) once explained to me that to be righteous (in the way the Bible refers), means to be “in right standing with God”. In my past few weeks that has been then to seek a right standing (and extremely intimate) relationship with Jesus. To know where, how and why He wants me to stand with Him. To know where He has gone before me (by asking Him in the early morning hours, the late night awakening, and the day’s every hour) so that I can simply follow.
“… and all things will be added to you.”  A promise of the Almighty God! … You know how important it is for you to keep your promises? How much more important will it not be to the Creator to keep His promises? Thus, He will be faithful… and He is. Example: Simply by giving all my worries for my little brother’s salvation to Him, He has been faithful to the extent that… He has led my brother to find Him, be washed and tremor by/through the Holy Spirit, and to be baptized, this all to an extent previously unfathomable by my mind. This happened during the time He led me toward a more intimate relationship with Him. Exactly in the few days where the verse was to lead my thoughts of the day. This, and SO much more God blessed me with, when my hearts only desire was to draw near to Him.

So as I promised, these words could not even have done half the credit the revelation is due. I simply urge whoever is reading this, to inspect your relationship with Jesus.  Not because I (or He) wants to give you a slap on the hand, but because you need to get to know your King and General personally if you want to survive this battle. You need to know your Father if you intend on going Home one day. You need to intimately know Jesus, if you want any good in this world. For only by knowing Jesus’ heart, can He lead you to show it to others. And finally, when you draw closer to Him, He will simply pour out blessings all around you. (He will bless you in any case (whether you know His Love or not) but you get to feel, experience the blessing, when you seek the intimate relationship with Him.)

I pray that you find the Love of Jesus a tangible presence in your questions and decisions.
Thank You Jesus, thank You Father, for wanting to Love me intimately. I love You. (And I am very joyful that I am not expected to exist without You!!)