The Pursuit: Seek First

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Pastor Ed Crenshaw senses a season of awakening, revival, is imminent and that the Lord is directing us to PURSUE Him. Thus, the current sermon series, "The Pursuit". We are seeking God at Victory! You can experience Him there.

The Pursuit: Seek First

Matthew 13:44-45 (New International Version, ©2010)

The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl 44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Here Jesus compares the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price to the "kingdom of heaven", a circumlocution of the Kingdom of God. Matthew, a Jew, never used the name of God, which they viewed to be too sacred to say or spell. But here Matthew recounts the same passages as the other Gospel writers who quote Jesus saying the "kingdom of God".

The Kingdom of God is wherever Jesus is, where He rules and reigns, where He is Lord. That's why Jesus said to believers that "The kingdom of God is within you." in Luke 17:21. When He was among the scribes and the pharisees who hated Him, because He was there, Jesus stated, "The kingdom of God is in your midst."

In both cases a man sells all he has and buys the field in one parable, the pearl in the other. Jesus is saying whatever it takes to obtain the treasure is worth it. And what is the treasure? The Kingdom of God. Nothing is more important.

For that reason the man sold all he has "with joy". Sure it was sacrifice, but the sacrifice was well worth it, so much so the sacrifice was made with joy!

Paul considered everything he had accomplished and all that he had a loss "that I might gain Christ."

Philippians 3:7-8 (New International Version, ©2010)

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ

Knowing Him, alone, not what "things" did for him was "surpassing worth". But if need practical help, if I need food, a job, rent money, is knowing Jesus a practical solution?. If you know Him as your Jehovah Jireh, He is your provider. If you know Him as Jehovah Raphe', then He is your healer. In Him is everything we need in life. Knowing Him is the most practical thing you can do!

Really? If we seek to know Jesus all my problems are solved? Well, sort of. Look further at what Jesus says:

Matthew 6:33 (New International Version, ©2010)

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Jesus says this in context of discussing worrying about food to eat and clothing to wear. Jesus didn't argue that you don't need these things as some religious folks sometimes seem to say. No, Jesus was talking here about priorities. If I make those needs a priority I will not be in the flow of God's blessings. When I make the Kingdom of God my priority, Jesus promises, all the things I need will follow. Make Him the treasure you are willing to sell everything for!

Hebrews 11:6 (New International Version, ©2010)

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

Want to please God? It takes two kinds of faith:

1) that He exists, and 2) that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

Do you have BOTH kinds of faith? No, seeking His gifts, His provision, ONLY, is not good enough. Seek Jesus! Seek Him for the love of it. But have faith that He WILL reward you, not just spiritually, but in meeting your needs as He promised.

Craig Groeschel. the founder and senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv, identifies the following practical steps in seeking the Lord first:

1. Put God first in your day - when you wake up. In Psalm 63 David says "early will I seek you" in the New King James Version. The NIV translates it "earnestly" instead of "early" because the Hebrew word actually means both. If you are earnest then you will be early.

In Mark 1:35, as well as at other times, Jesus went very early to secluded place to pray.

Most people fail because they fail to plan. Get on a Bible reading plan.

2. Put God first in your week - Sunday worship In Acts 20:7 the early church started the week with corporate fellowship in worship. It was a celebration of Jesus rising from the dead that first day of the week, of our victory over sin and death. That's a good reason to worship!

But Hebrews 10:25 warns us "not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another..." We need the worship experience together on a regular basis to grow and be strong in the Lord.

A recent study shows that 48% of "church goers" in America only attend church once a month, over 70% only twice a month. Is there any question as to why the church needs an awakening in America?

3. Put God first in your month - tithe. The Bible was written in agrarian times, an economy that was cyclical based upon the seasons and the months. In Exodus 23:19, the Lord says, “Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God." That means bring God your best, first, then spend, save, or pay the bills.

Leviticus 27:30 states that the tithe belongs to Lord. It doesn't say "give" it to Him, it says "bring" it to Him. The tithe is already the Lord’s! That's why Malachi 3:7-11 says:

Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the LORD Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the LORD Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the LORD Almighty. The Lord calls us to return to Him, part of our awakening, and He says "Return to Me and i will return to you." HOW we return to Him, the Lord specifies here, is by "Bring[ing] the whole tithe into the storehouse..." He states they "robbed" Him by holding onto all or part of the tithe and that they "are under a curse" . That's right, keeping the tithe opens one up to a curse, not so much from the Lord as it brings one out from under His protection. We understand this because He goes onto say "I will prevent pests from devouring your crops." Other versions translate this more accurately saying, "I will rebuke the devourer."

Jesus made it clear who the Devourer is in John 10:10:

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

These days almost everyone has a heartbreaking story of someone in their extended family who is addicted that steals from grandma, Aunt Betty, or whomever. You can't leave cash around or a purse or wallet because of them. You have loved this person since you held them in your arms as a baby, yet their breach of trust by stealing has hurt your relationship. God's heart aches because of the theft that keeps Him from His sons and daughters who hold back the tithe. He is calling us back to Him!

The tithe is way of saying to the Lord, "You are everything!" God is not needy of your money. He wants YOU! The Jews gave the tithe to the priest and the Pharisees of Jesus' day took it to an extreme but missed the heart of God in it, Matt 23:23:

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Note that Jesus says not to "neglect the former", indicating that we, as Christians today, still need to tithe to gain that close and intimate relationship with God. It is not that you buy your way into God's presence, but holding back what is God's becomes a barrier to your getting intimate with Him. Return to Him!

4. Put God first in your year - Let us fast and pray!

In Joel 1:14 The Lord says:

Declare a holy fast; call a sacred assembly. Summon the elders and all who live in the land to the house of the LORD your God, and cry out to the LORD. We need to start the new year with such a declaration. The new year is a wonderful time to pursue after God, and Pastor Ed senses this is a special season to do so. He heard the Lord say, "You can have revival if you want it!" It is time to pursue it!

Jesus taught on fasting in Matthew 6:17-18 stating that we must not make a show of it or it defeats the purpose. Fasting is about humbling ourselves before the Lord in pursuing Him.

Psalm 35:13 (New International Version, ©2010)

Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting. When my prayers returned to me unanswered,

According to both James and 2 Peter, if you humble yourself before God He will lift you up. God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.

Do you want to pursue God? Do you want to get real close? Hebrews 4:16 states:

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Fasting humbles the heart with a hunger for God that accesses grace, a grace that allows you to approach the very throne of God with confidence!

Jeremiah 29:13 (New International Version, ©2010)

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Let us PURSUE God this 2011!

Hear The Pursuit: Seek First sermon at:

http://getvictory.net/_Listen.ihtml?id=321805