Vision
Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus we have been afforded an opportunity to live an incredibly abundant life here on earth. Our God is nearer, more tangible, and has a greater ability to make his presence known than we’ve yet realized. He longs to make his children more in tune and aware of the depths of his love, guidance, empowerment, and nearness. He longs for our days here on earth to be marked by unveiled communion with him. As we look at what it is to live an abundant life here on earth, I pray that your heart will be awakened to the reality of God’s presence and affection in your life.
Scripture
“You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.'” Psalm 27:8
Worship
Waste My Life | Craig and Rachel Denison
Devotional
The key to abundant life here on earth is the passionate pursuit of Jesus. I doubt there will be a single believer who ever reads these words that will doubt that statement. But I also know that we often fail to truly believe that statement in our hearts. If we truly believed that the key to abundant life was passionately pursuing Jesus, most of our lives would look drastically different. My life would look drastically different.
If we truly believed that passionately pursuing Jesus would bring us abundant life, the way we spend our time would drastically change. We would choose pursuing the presence of God over entertainment more often. We would structure most of our worship services differently. We would cease working for the opinion of man and start living for the good pleasure of our Creator. And our lives would look simpler, more joyful, more peaceful, and more like the life of Jesus.
The good news for you and me is that there is grace for us today. Isaiah 55:6-7 says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” It’s time for the people of God to wake up to the true purpose for our lives. It’s time that we stop seeking the things of the world and give our lives to the total and wholehearted pursuit of Jesus. And there is grace from on high that God longs to give us today to do so.
The Lord is saying to you and me, “Seek my face” (Psalm 27:8). And we need to reply as David by saying, “My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek'” (Psalm 27:8). All that stands between you and a radical life transformation is turning away from the cares and pursuits of the world and giving your heart to your heavenly Father. We have a daily opportunity to live in total communion with our Creator, receiving and giving love in everything we do. Jesus paid the ultimate price for you and me to live with the tangible knowledge of God’s love for us. We also have the opportunity every day to live marginal lives where we experience and commune with God part of the time and live for the fleeting and unsatisfying ways of the world the other. The choice is yours today. Will you passionately pursue relationship with Jesus, or will you allow the ways of this world to crowd out parts of your life like weeds blocking you from the refreshing, life-giving presence of the living God?
Take time in guided prayer to listen to your Father, meditate on his promise of abundant life, and chase after wholehearted relationship with Jesus at all costs. May you experience to new levels today the abundant life Jesus died to give you.
Prayer
1. Meditate on the importance of passionately pursuing relationship with Jesus above all else. Allow Scripture to fill you with the will to choose God over the things of the world today.
“The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.” Psalm 34:10
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:12-14
“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
2. What have you been pursuing above relationship with Jesus? What has been holding you back from seeking wholehearted relationship with God above all else?
3. Ask the Lord to help you live for him alone today. Take time to receive his presence and receive his incredible, grace-filled love for you. Enjoy his presence and allow it to lay a foundation on which you seek the Lord wholeheartedly.
“You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, do I seek.'” Psalm 27:8
“Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!” 1 Chronicles 16:11
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1
Go…
True passion for God is always kindled as a response to the catalytic love of God. His passion for us, his pursuit of us, ignites a flame in our hearts that the world can’t put out. If you begin to feel passionless, lukewarm in your faith, ask God for a fresh experience with his love. Ask him to remind you of his goodness, his provision, his pursuit. And allow his love to reignite the flame of your heart, that you would live with wholehearted devotion to him. May you discover new passion for God in your life today as your eyes are opened to all the incredible ways he’s at work in you and around you.
Extended Reading: Psalm 84 or watch The Bible Project’s video on Psalms.