DEVOTION: You Can Find Him By Pastor Shadrack Ruto‏

DEVOTION: You Can Find Him By Pastor Shadrack Ruto

Jeremiah’s Letter to the exiles was primarily to convinced them to settle in Babylon because the duration of the exile had already been set by God to last for seventy years. This was in response to the prophecies given by the false prophets who had convince the exiles that God was soon coming to take them back to Jerusalem. Contained in this letter was also a message of hope, which assured the exiles that a day will come when they will be return to the Promise Land.

This message of hope is summarized as follows:  

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. Jeremiah 29:11

This message in a broad sense gives the purpose of the exile in Babylon. While it was painful and many lives were lost in the process, it eventually produced the desired result as was intended by God. Repentance and the turning away from the worship of other gods into worshipping the only one and true living God was the primary purpose of this exile.

It is in the context of this repentance that God says to the exiles:

Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:12

Once the people of Judah turns away from worshipping other gods, they will begin to call on their only true God. And they will not only call on Him. This is what they will also do:

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

Then God gives a very encouraging message for these people. The good news is about their attempts to find God. God said:

I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:14

Take notice of how God describes how they would be able to find Him. Here it is just in case you miss it:

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

It is not any kind of other type of seeking; God qualifies the kind of seeking that will result in finding Him. They have to seek God will all their hearts.

APPLICATION:

1. What does it mean to seek God with “All your Heart”?
2. What is the difference between serving God wholeheartedly and Loving God wholeheartedly? Listen to Christ’s answer to both of these questions.

No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot

Serve both God and money. Matthew 6:24

3. Notice that the people of Judah would not call upon the Lord as long as they were worshipping other gods. Once they turn their hearts to the only one and true God with repentance, thus, they would begin to call on the name of the Lord. Here is why?
   1. These Judeans tried to love two gods at the same time. They loved the other gods and pretended that they still loved their only one and true God.  In this way they could not serve Him wholeheartedly.
   2. Because they were worshipping other gods, their love was divided and eventually they hated their one and only true God and loved the other gods.
   3. God described it earlier in this book of Jeremiah as prostitution. By loving other gods, the Israelites were behaving like prostitutes; they were not loyal to one husband but to many.
4. Here is the conclusion:
   1. Serving God wholeheartedly is when nothing else is competing with God for what is priority in your life. When you do anything for God, you give your best. You cannot give your best, if something else in your life is a priority other than God.
   2. Loving God wholeheartedly means God is your first Love and nothing else competes with God for your love.
   3. Here is my favorite statement you have heard me said over and over. Passion precedes availability.

i.     Because whatever you love, you will find time for it.

ii.     If God is your passion, then you will find time for God in your life.

iii.     If you do not have time for God in your life, then God is not your passion. Something else has taken center stage in your heart.

4. Therefore to seek God with all your heart means to pursue God in Love; making Him a priority in your life. The result is a deeper relationship with God. God will not reveal Himself to you, if you are not seriously committed to Him. Study the following verses.

Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:21

The Lord confides in those who fear him;
    he makes his covenant known to them. Psalm 25:14

5. Here are a couple of questions for you to ponder upon today.
   1. Is God the passion of your life? If so how is this manifested in your life? And if God is not the passion of your life, what is it that has taken center stage in your heart?
   2. We learn from today’s lesson that it does not matter how far you have drifted away from the Lord, if you return to Him in repentance and seek Him with all your heart, you will find Him.
   3. How far are you from the Lord this morning?

Passion precedes availability.

 Because whatever you love, you will find time for it.

If God is your passion, then you will find time for God in your life.

But if you do not have time for God in your life,

Then God is not your passion.

Something else has taken center stage in your heart.

But if you seek Him with all your heart

YOU CAN FIND HIM!

Read: Jeremiah 29:12-14

Marked: Jeremiah 29:14

By Pastor Shadrack Ruto

DEVOTION: You Can Find Him By Pastor Shadrack Ruto