August 30, 2010, "Pursuing God? Or pursuing the benefits of God?

"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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 has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
~ Hebrews 12:1 & 2 ~


Pursing God? Or pursuing the benefits of God?

I was guilty of the second; pursuing the benefits of God.
I focused on being holy.
I focused on the blessings.
I focused on the fruit of the Spirit.
I focused on the provision of God.
I focused on the healing of God.
I focused on the miracles of God.
I focused on the Kingdom of God.
I focused on resisting the devil.
You name it, and I claimed it.
Yet, I realized even in this small focus blunder, it is ALL idolatry. What?!?! Yes, I said it, and I am guilty of it, 'Idolatry'. This may seem a bit harsh, but it's truth and I confess it. Why? Because my focus is not completely and wholly on Him and Him alone!


As my heart has been exposed
I long to pursue God for He is Holy.
I long to pursue God as He is the Blesser, revealing the blessings.
I long to pursue God who is revealed by the Spirit of God resulting in His amazing attributes.
I long to pursue God who is Healer.
I long to pursue the God who performs and creates miracles.
I long to pursue God who is glorious.
I long to pursue God and seek His face as He is righteousness.
I long to pursue God for He is King, and as King He reveals His Kingdom.
I must pursue Him and Him only. I must submit to Him and in that submission there is resistance to the devil who flees as he sees who I am submitting to.


So many times I and so many others have taken James 4:7 out of context. One day, I was in my kitchen preaching to myself, when the Spirit of God spoke through me. "When I submit to God there is an automatic resistance of the devil. It isn't a three step process of submit to God, resist the devil then he will flee from you. Do you know how Mighty I Am?" Almighty God revealed to me that day that when I submit to Him as revealed in Psalm 91; I take refuge under the Amazing power of God. When the enemy attempts to come against me, I have already resisted him by submitting to God and because of that submission the devil FLEES! It's not about my resistance that the devil flees, it is about my submission to God that results in the devil fleeing! It is a basic principle of submitting to one person, you resist the other.


Satan andhis demons are not threatened by my resistance,
they are threatened by my submission to God.


You may be asking, "Teresa, where are you going with this?" Well, I'm being driven to my heart. I'm being driven to yearn after the heart of God, not only His benefits. Does that make sense? I'm so tired of doing things because so many others within the church do it that way. If we are going to lead, we better know our Leader who knows where we are going! If we want to know who we are in Christ, we need to know Who Christ is! It isn't about who we think He is...it's about knowing who HE really is!


I received a profound analogy this morning as I was getting ready.


Here is the scenario:
A woman was reading my book and as she was finished reading, she flipped to the last page to find my contact information which was made available for direct communication with me, the author. Upon finding my contact information, she had a few questions about what I wrote, but instead of coming to me by calling or emailing me, she goes to another reader and asks for the interpretation of what I wrote. Well, the other reader has no idea what my intentions are to the fullest; so to interpret what I wrote would only be based on their opinion and perspective, not based upon the authors full knowing of what was intentionally written. Upon receiving this very live visual, I was led to the reminder of who the Author is of my life. He is not only the Author but He is also The Finisher of my faith. He wrote the book of my life, and for me to go to anyone else in regards to my story that I am to live out would be incredibly foolish. Today, I was reminded that He has given me the contact information to have direct communication with Him through our mediator Jesus Christ as revealed by the Holy Spirit of God. How do I know I have direct communication? Because of the reminder given to Jeremiah as recorded in Jeremiah 33:3, "Call unto Me, and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you never knew."


Are we going through the motions as on a treadmill?
Or are we going through great, purposeful action seeking the beautiful, indescribable, majestic face of Almighty God?


I praise God as more scales are falling off the eyes of my heart seeking Who He is as He reveals Himself so beautifully and so powerfully! I pray you are encouraged to seek Him for Who He is, not only for what He can do.

Comments

  1. Amen, sister! He longs for us to know His ways and by seeking diligently, He is faithful to hear our hearts. Thank you for the reminder that my life here is all about knowing and serving him and seeking daily to know His very love for us, His children. He is an awesome God, but He is also the very loving Father. Run to Him and bask in His Holiness. (Love the music also) MOM

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  2. Amen! Teresa, you are so right. We either seek God's face or His hand. Sometimes, we get them mixed up. Thank you for this great reminder not to confuse the two. Blessings to you!

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  3. Teresa -

    This is a lot to think about. But I do agree that the focus is on Jesus Himself, and not on what He can do for me.

    But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:33

    Great post! God bless!

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  4. Hi Teresa,

    This post was written with wisdom and insight; I am blessed for reading it. What particularly resonated with me was what you said about resistance: "It's not about my resistance that the devil flees, it is about my submission to God that results in the devil fleeing!"

    Thanks for sharing the wisdom of resistance.

    Blessings and peace.

    MTJ

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  5. Pursing God? Or pursuing the benefits of God? It's difficult to separate these two because God is always showering His love and "benefits" on His children. Even when we perceive God's discipline as something "bad" it is still "always" for our good. God's ultimate goal is to conform us into the image of Christ. What a great post!

    ~Ron

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  6. Ohhh... That was a good one! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. I really like this post. Good distinction between pursuing God for relationship and pursuing him for our personal wants/needs. Selfishness can show itself in so many ways, including in how we approach God.

    And your illustration was very good! Why not go right to the author with your questions instead of to someone else who doesn't know the author, either? We do that often with God, don't we.

    Linked here from a comment I saw from you on Alisa Hope's blog. You have a very good blog.

    wb

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  8. Very powerful writing! This line is awesome, "The devil isn't threatened by my resistance, he's threatened by my submission to God." I need to remind myself of this daily!

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  9. I read your blog and I like some of the contains such as "Pursuing God? Or pursuing the benefits of God?" August 29. 2010 to include in our e-magazine upcoming edition. If you interest for this, please send the note to info@emotionofgod.com for next communication. You can see our samples "Best Of Life" Christian e-magazine at emotionofgod(dot)com under “Say By Gift”.
    Peace and joy in Christ, Sheila

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