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Friends United Meeting |
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September/October 2006
Seeking
and Obeying God,
Necessary Beyond Salvation
By Paul Makhino
Many believers have no access to spiritual resources because they fail to follow steps beyond original salvation. We are meant to exploit these heavenly resources, not just as children of God, but as his friends, too. Of course, accepting the Lord Jesus as our personal savior is the primary foundation of salvation, but there are steps one should take after this first and most important step to realize a difference.
Jesus said “seek the kingdom of God and these things shall be added to you.” A commitment to seek the Lord’s face, to seek an encounter with him is the second step many of us are not perusing with relevant strength. A personal encounter with God to me is the most beautiful and precious experience any one can ever encounter, and it’s at this point where we find meaning.
Many Christians expect a difference immediately when they accept Jesus as their personal savior, but there is impeccable difference at the top of the second step, which is to seek his face until he reveals himself fully to you. This is when he opens your eyes to see with a clear reflection and understanding. He equips you with knowledge, not just as a shield but as a weapon too. Most of all you get to know him; the whole lifestyle becomes easy to live because one becomes a friend to Jesus, compared to a believer who has never had this encounter.
Isaiah wrote “seek the lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.” There is no way one can encounter God and be the same because when you encounter him, he fills you with wisdom, understanding and power that is beyond description. I don’t think there lives anyone who has encountered God and later yielded to sin apart from Satan. Because such a person has truth in himself or herself, it is truth that he cannot hide from.
There is great difference between a person who has encountered God and one who has not. I try to imagine a couple in this situation. The two could live together in the same house, but in actuality it is like they were living on different continents. One is in comfort, love and with impeccable hope no matter the situation the family is facing, but the other could be suffering stress, anger and many vices even though he/she accepted the Lord Jesus.
There is power in allowing the Lord in our hearts, but it becomes more in the second step of seeking him and even more in the third, which is being obedient to his call. Growing in salvation is absolutely different than a science course where things get tougher in the next class. In the salvation of God, things get easier in the next class and this is the trick, seek to go higher (nearer to him) than to be closer to evil.
I heard a man of God say, “I don’t see myself going back to the sinful life I lived before. The things I enjoyed doing don’t make any sense right now.” This man is seeing things absolutely different now; he had an encounter which propels him to meaningful living. How many of us struggle to maintain Christ at heart and fail? We still do things we really don’t like doing. We have sin in our intentions and our doings.
As much as we pray for deliverance and renewal of mind, the important thing is to seek him who is high and all these weaknesses we have will automatically go away when he reveals himself to us. My prayer is that God will reveal himself to us who have not encountered him.
Paul Makhino is a member of Nzoia Friends Meeting and Elgon East Yearly Meeting, Kenya. He earned an IT Diploma and is searching for employment.