Pursuing Hard After God

 Authentic Christianity begins with one main experience: pursuing hard after God. What does it mean to pursue hard after God?

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me

~ Psalm 63:8, ESV ~

---

A. W. Tozer writes:

We pursue God because, and only because, He first put an urge within us that spurs us to to the pursuit (The Pursuit of God, 2013).

We approach the Sovereign creator because he first calls us into relationship with Him. Not of any good we have done in our own lives. He regenerates us by creating a new heart and gives us a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26). We are drawn to Christ because it is God who draws us (John 6:44). Tozer continues:

...it is by this very prevenient drawing that God takes from us every vestige of credit for the act of coming. The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him; and all the time we are pursuing Him, we are already in His hand...

This idea of pursuing God requires we hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matthew 5:6). It is our genuine response to what has already occurred in our own lives. We cultivate a genuine and personal relationship with the Savior because of God's grace in that while we were yet sinners, Christ had died for us (Romans 5:8).

Being made in His image we have within us the capacity to know him. ... The moment the Spirit has quickened us to life in regeneration our whole being senses its kinship to God and leaps up in joyous recognition. That is the heavenly birth without which we cannot see the Kingdom of God. It is ... not the end but an inception, for now begins the glorious pursuit, the heart's happy exploration of the infinite riches of the Godhead (Tozer, 2013).

Are you pursuing hard after God? Have you experienced the power of God's sovereign grace in your life and received a new heart and spirit whereby you hunger and thirst after His righteousness? Have you truly been saved and been born-again by the simple message of the Gospel and have truly received Christ as your Savior? Where do you stand in relation with God?

The days are growing short, the time is almost at hand. Come unto Christ and know that through God, we receive eternal life because he sent His only Son to die for each and every one of us. Through Christ, we receive forgiveness of our sins, and it is through Christ we may enter into the Kingdom of God.

 

How Opposition is Beneficial to an Authentic Christian Life

 For it must needs be, there is an opposition in all things ~ 2 Nephi 2:11

... it is as necessary that we should have difficulties to contend with, in order to make intelligent provision for our spiritual concerns, as it is that we should have the winter frosts and stormy weather to enable us to make discreet provision for our temporal necessities.

(Benefits of Opposition: Richards, Franklin D. Provo, Utah April 4, 1886).

---

We live in a very fragile and vulnerable world. At any given moment, tragedy may strike us unannounced - leaving us devastated with great loss and mourning. Others struggle with vices they are no longer able to control. Still, many find themselves isolated, alone, and wondering if anyone truly cares. Each one of us are battling our own demons and face our own struggles. We question, become angry, and feel weighted down by these challenges. We are wrestling alone and in silent.

As Christians, we understand that there are going to be trials we will face. Through these trials, our faith will be increased.

How then does opposition benefit us? We know the reality of our fallen world. We know there is sin. We know that there is exposure to various trials and temptations. We understand that because of our fallen world, many have turned away from Christ. For us as Christians, there is peace and hope that many others are not fully aware of or are understanding toward.

This does not mean that we will have an easy life. This does not mean that we will not face our own struggles. What this means is how we are anchored in knowing that through these trials we are walking through, there is peace and sustaining support from our beloved Savior. If only we turn to him, even with very little faith, he will help us through those storms and those struggles.

 

The Year of Cultivation of a New Life

 

The first week of 2018 is almost closing out. How far along in your new year's resolution changes have you fully committed too? It is not too late to make necessary steps toward change. It begins with making an honest commitment to begin moving towards intention, purpose, meaning, and conscious living. Make 2018 all about cultivating a new life.

This single moment of commitment stems from the deep sense of impulse of one's desire to grow and change. This authentic impulse yearns for each of us to expand, embrace our larger potential and means to influence others. However, many of us make good intentions of wanting to change, yet we never follow through on those intentions. All paths that lead to hell are paved with good intentions.

Hell, in this context, is misery, pain, inadequacy, and suffrage. We desire to change, however, lack the commitment and motivation to follow through with seeing ourselves changing, growing, and enlarging into better people. Our desire for change requires a serious commitment and motivation for change to happen. This is one key principle I share with my patients. This does not make the journey, or the process, toward change an easy path to follow.

Commitment leads to sacrifice based on our willingness

The beginning path of conscious living, where we have meaning and purpose, begins with the understanding of our own willingness to commit ourselves toward necessary change. This requires necessary sacrifices needed to begin transforming our lives. For the person whose new year's resolution is to begin exercising requires the willingness to commit to exercising. Requires the willingness to change one's diet and eating habits, and making the sacrifices of time, money, and personal change of habits. For the person whose new year's resolution is to quit smoking, the willingness and commitment toward tobacco cessation.

Our level of commitment is our level of willingness. Lower our level of commitment, the lower our level of willingness to make change happen. The higher our level of commitment, the higher our willingness to make change happen becomes. And our commitment comes with sacrifice. That, I believe, is what frightens people from making an effort toward change. Our very desire is our very fear.

Without motivation, our commitment and willingness are futile

The final truth is this: it is not about our intentions. It is not even about our commitment, willingness, and our needed sacrifices. It is about what motivates us to not only start our journey, to keep going through those difficult times while we are engaged in change.

A farmer does not look at his land and say, "this is too difficult." Instead, he sees the various possibilities the land has in producing a bountiful crop. He is committed to cultivating the land, making the necessary sacrifices, and is willing to spend each day nurturing and cultivating. His motivation? It's not the actual bounty of the harvest he may gain. His motivation is the process of each day working, tilling, planting, nurturing, and being focused on what he has accomplished for that day alone.