At times I come in contact with a person who does not believe in God. I challenge that person to pray, “God, if you are there, reveal yourself to me.” I also add this, “If He doesn’t reveal Himself, what have you lost. If He does, which I know He will, look what you have gained.” My certainty in sharing this comes from Deuteronomy 4:29. “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” This verse is not just for an open atheist. It is also for all believers as it gives us a “recipe” for getting closer to Jesus in 2020.
You will get closer to Jesus in 2020 if you SEEK HIM RELATIONALLY. “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” To seek God relationally implies you must first have a relationship with Jesus. Christianity is not meant to be a religion about Jesus. It all about cultivating a close, personal relationship with Jesus.
You seek Jesus relationally when you listen to Him intently and when you share your heart intentionally. Seeking Jesus relationally means seeking Him with your heart along with your head. This incorporates the development of relational trust. In a relationship, trust is a must. Trust in a relationship is developed through effective and constant communication that is fortified by faithfulness and availability. Even when we are faithless, God is faithful. You can trust Him. The question is, “Can He trust you?”
You will get closer to Jesus in 2020 if you SEEK HIM WHOLEHEARTEDLY. “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” God, in essence, is saying, “You’ll find Me when you get serious about finding me and desire Me more than anything else.”
If you want to get closer to God than you are, you will need to change your priorities and your choices. If you keep doing what you are doing, you will keep getting what you are getting. If you want something different, you need to do something different. How is what you are doing working for you?
Some people have good intentions to change but …
- they are INTERCEPTED along the way by the enticements that this world has to offer.
- their plans fall INCOMPLETE
- they are TACKLED along the way by the unanswerable questions of life
- they MISS THE POINT of how important it really is
- they PUNT when their expectations are not met.
You will get closer to Jesus in 2020 if you SEEK HIM INCREMENTALLY. “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” No matter where you currently are in your relationship with Jesus, you can start where you are and take the one step the Holy Spirit is leading you to take to get closer to Jesus. Success does not happen in a day. It is all about your daily agenda and what you regularly do on a daily basis. What is one thing you can do today and everyday in the next week that will draw you closer to Jesus? Begin doing that today!
You will get closer to Jesus in 2020 if you SEEK GOD CONFIDENTLY. “But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that “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.” You can seek Jesus confidently because He is faithful. He will do what His Word says. When you seek Jesus relationally, wholeheartedly, and incrementally, you will find Him. He will reveal Himself to you. He will fill you with His Spirit. He will meet the needs you have even before you ask Him.
I want to encourage you to get closer to Jesus in 2020! Start today! Do it relationally, wholeheartedly, incrementally, and confidently. Mark Batterson challenges, “At the end of our lives, our greatest regrets will be the God-ordained opportunities we left on the table.” Every day is a God-ordained opportunity to get closer to Jesus.