GOD BEING WHO HE is must always be sought for Himself, never as a means toward something else.Whoever seeks other objects and not God is on his own; he may obtain those objects if he is able, but he will never have God. God is never found accidentally. "Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13) .Whoever seeks God as a means toward desired ends will not find God. The mighty God, the maker of heaven and earth, will not be one of many treasures, not even the chief of all treasures. He will be all in all or He will be nothing. God will not be used. His mercy and grace are infinite and His patient understanding is beyond measure, but He will not aid men in their selfish striving after personal gain. He will not help men to attain ends which, when attained, usurp the place He by every right should hold in their interest and affection.Yet popular Christianity has as one of its most effective talking points the idea that God exists to help people to get ahead in this world. The God of the poor has become the God of an affluent society. Christ no longer refuses to be a judge or a divider between money hungry brothers. He can now be persuaded to assist the brother that has accepted Him to get the better of the brother who has not.A crass example of the modern effort to use God for selfish purposes is the well-known comedian who, after repeated failures, promised someone he called God that if He would help him to make good in the entertainment world he would repay Him by giving generously to the care of sick children. Shortly afterward he hit the big time in the night clubs and on television. He has kept his word and is raising large sums of money to build children's hospitals. These contributions to charity, he feels, are a small price to pay for a success in one of the sleaziest fields of human endeavor.One might excuse the act of this entertainer as something to be expected of a twentieth century pagan; but that multitudes of evangelicals in North America should actually believe that God had anything to do with the whole business is not so easily overlooked. This low and false view of Deity is one major reason for the immense popularity God enjoys these days among well-fed Westerners.The teaching of the Bible is that God is Himself the end for which man was created. "Whom have I in heaven but thee"" cried the psalmist, "and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee" (Psalms 73: 25) . The first and greatest commandment is to love God with every power of our entire being. Where love like that exists there can be no place for a second object. If we love God as much as we should surely we cannot dream of a loved object beyond Him which He might help us to obtain.Bernard of Clairvaux begins his radiant little treatise on the love of God with a question and an answer. The question, Why should we love God" The answer, Because He is God. He develops the idea further, but for the enlightened heart little more need be said. We should love God because He is God. Beyond this the angels cannot think.Being who He is, God is to be loved for His own sake. He is the reason for our loving Him, just as He is the reason for His loving us and for every other act He has performed, is performing and will perform world without end. God's primary reason for everything is His own good pleasure. The search for secondary reasons is gratuitous and mostly futile. It affords occupation for theologians and adds pages to books on doctrine, but that it ever turns up any true explanations is doubtful.But it is the nature of God to share. His mighty acts of creation and redemption were done for His good pleasure, but His pleasure extends to all created things. One has but to look at a healthy child at play or listen to the song of a bird at sundown and he will know that God meant His universe to be a joyful one.Those who have been spiritually enabled to love God for Himself will find a thousand fountains springing up from the rainbowcircled throne and bringing countless treasures which are to be received with reverent thanksgiving as being the overflow of God's love for His children. Each gift is a bonus of grace which because it was not sought for itself may be enjoyed without injury to the soul. These include the simple blessings of life, such as health, a home, a family, congenial friends, food, shelter, the pure joys of nature or the more artificial pleasures of music and art.The effort to find these treasures by direct search apart from God has been the major activity of mankind through the centuries; and this has been man's burden and man's woe. The effort to gain them as the ulterior motive back of accepting Christ may be something new under the sun; but new or old it is an evil that can only bring judgment at last.God wills that we should love Him for Himself alone with no hidden reasons, trusting Him to be to us all our natures require. Our Lord said all this much better: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33) .

A.W. Tozer's materials are a mainstay in Evangelical churches in our day and he is one of the most quoted authors. He was a prophet in his day and his writings are even more influential in our day. One of his books: The Pursuit of God, has had over 1 million copies sold world-wide.

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer

Man - The Dwelling Place of God - God Must Be Loved for Himself

A reference to the context will show that this declaration is intended for those who are smarting under the chastisements of God; for those of his professing people who have brought upon themselves by disobedience and worldliness, the rebuke of the Most High. Out of the cloud there comes a voice telling of the blue sky beyond and of the way in which it may become visible. The blessings connected with the uplifted light of God's countenance are not to be recovered by those who have once enjoyed them, save by a whole-hearted, intense, persevering, all-sacrificing search for them. It has pleased God at various times in the history of his Church, to bestow upon her some distinguishing tokens of his regard. Legitimately these should have had no other effect than to make her more humble, more self-mistrusting, more zealous, more earnest in the pursuit of perfection. But often a different result has been witnessed. She has plumed herself upon these as constituting a glory of her own; or she has rested satisfied with these, so as not to long for something better and more essential; or she made light of them as though there were nothing special about them. Then God has revoked the blessings, and left the Church to her denuded and inglorious state. Thenceforward, God is in no haste to bestow anew what has been so deliberately forfeited. He is wonderful in the inflexibility with which he has carried out this principle. The distinct understanding of it would be of immense benefit to the Church and to each member of the Church. Search the annals of the Church. Bring the Church as she now is into contrast with the Church as she once was, and see how much she is without. Impute it not to the sovereignty of God, to an arbitrary and unexplained exercise of his royal will, that we languish now under many disabilities. The privileges that have been withdrawn were lost through the gross and culpable negligence of the Church. They are recoverable; for the promises relating to them have not been torn out of the Bible; but they are only to be recovered by a whole-hearted, fervent, and indomitable travail at the throne of grace, accompanied with a thorough consecration to his word. " If the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted?" is a text that might utterly discourage us but let us lay hold of this kind and loving assurance: " Ye shall seek me, and find me. when ye shall search for me with all your heart."

A daily devotional written by a Baptist Missionary to India, Reverend George Bowen (1816-1888) over 150 years ago.

Bowen's Daily Meditations

"Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." - Jeremiah 29:13. 

Who among you fears the Lord? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and rely upon his God. You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. § Seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. § But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ … For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. § If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. I am with you always. § I will never leave you nor forsake you. § Another Helper … dwells with you and will be in you.

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Evening Daily Light

 Oh, that I knew where I might find Him. 

Enoch walked with God. § Can two walk together, unless they are agreed? § It is good for me to draw near to God. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you … When in their trouble [Israel] turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way … and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith.

 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 

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

You will seek<cr>1</cr> me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.<cr>2</cr>

Jeremiah 29:13

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

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

 You will seek   me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  

Bible Verse of the Day

March 21, 2024

Jeremiah 29:13 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

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