SundaySermon - Prince

Seeking God one on one 

How far can we go in seeking God? There are several people in Bible who sought God but one person stands out..... this is Jacob

He fought hard in hand to hand combat with God. And God changed his name from Jacob to Israel..... "struggled with God and with humans and have overcome"

Seeking God one on one involves

  • Guard the affection of my heart
  • Sober minded
  • Being poor in Spirit

Guard the affection of my heart

Verse: Proverbs 4:23

23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it

We may be living our Christian lives perfectly. We do our Christian duties of prayer, reading the Bible. But all of this can happen mechanically and without love for God. So we need to guard our hearts to love God.

Verse: 1 John 2:15-16

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[a] is not in them. 

16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.

There are things that affect our heart.... the lust of the flesh, eyes and pride of life. The desires of the flesh, what we see and our pride affect our heart. Hence somethings in our lifes through which our hearts are weakened needs to be shut out. 

Lust of the Flesh

Paul who was the apostle to the Gentiles said this

Verse: 1 Corinthians 9:27

27 No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Hence the evil desires of the heart needs to be shut out

Lust of the Eyes

Job was clear on what needs to be shut out

Verse: Job 31:1

31 “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.

Pride of life

Achievement that brings pride. And God hates pride. Remember everything is from God and we cannot boast.

Samson who didn't guard his heart

Samson got his heart affected by the things of the world. There were things that Samson had to be careful and shut out different things

Verse: Judges 13:4-5

4 Now see to it that you drink no wine or other fermented drink and that you do not eat anything unclean.

5 You will become pregnant and have a son whose head is never to be touched by a razor because the boy is to be a Nazirite, dedicated to God from the womb

We know that Samson violated all these things and openned his heart to what was supposed to be shut out. And we know that he lost his strength and he was captured

Sober minded

Sober minded means we keep our minds from being passed out by abuse of what is not helpful. We know that meditating on the Word of God is good and brings out the best productivity, bearing spiritual fruits

Verse: Romans 8:6

6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace

In order to be sober minded, we have a helper..... that is the Holy Spirit. 

The change that God brings about puts you in the right

Verse: Mark 5:15

15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid

When we don't have the Holy Spirit to help us soberness, we go into a remission and it becomes worse

Verse: Matthew 12:43-45

43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 

44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 

45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

So be careful and let the Holy Spirit dwell in you.

Being poor in Spirit

The first thing that Jesus said in His best sermon is

Verse: Matthew 5:3

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven

In sufficiency, the need to seek is lost and the requirement for seeking is gone. However the poor in Spirit will prompt an earnest seeking. Hence we need to be poor in Spirit

Verse: Proverbs 30:8

8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.

9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

Lemuel made this prayer so he would always be seeking God. Look at David.... the man after God's own heart. How did he pray

Verse: Psalm 34:6

 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; he saved him out of all his troubles.

He referred to himself a the poor man to hear from God.

Conclusion

Jacob was one man who went beyond. And he went beyond that one encounter he had with God. He did this in his weakness and he worshiped God leaning on his staff

Verse: Hebrews 11:21

21 By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed each of Joseph’s sons, and worshiped as he leaned on the top of his staff.

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