Intimacy with God

Scripture 

"Seek the LORD and His strength; seek His face continually." -I Chronicles 16:11

There comes a time in your Christian life when you must come to know God for yourself. When I reflect on my journey, I realize that I only knew God through church and my parents. The problem was the church, which was made up of people, and my parents were all flawed. So, you can imagine how distorted my understanding of God was if I was basing my knowledge of Him on the people in my life. Yes, He is the God of my parents and grandparents, but that did not mean I knew Him because of their relationship with Him. I had to seek God's face and cultivate a relationship with Him for myself. So do you, Beloved.

Today's scripture is nestled within a hymn of praise for the Ark of the Covenant had returned to the people of Israel. It signified the restoration of God's manifested presence among His people. David gave the simple yet profound instruction to the people to seek the Lord, His strength, and His face. What did he mean when he said to seek the Lord and His strength? What does it look like to seek God's face? Seeking the Lord and His strength means that we rely on God's strength in every experience. Seek Him from the mundane things in our lives to the miracles we need. We release our need to control our lives and submit to Him. We rely on Him to carry us through our lives. 

To continually seek His face means to cultivate an ongoing, intimate relationship with Him. The term 'face' refers to His presence. It's beyond religious rituals and habits. Beyond intellectual knowledge of Him. Beyond inconsistent fellowship and worship. David is telling us to be all in with God. We create a lifestyle of continuous pursuit of God. Our lifestyles should be that of prayer, studying His word, worship, and sitting in His presence. We should crave being in His presence and beholding His glory. The more we do this, the more of Him we will receive. Our perspectives of Him will change. Beloved, are you ready to seek Him today?

Prayer

Father, we seek you for a deeper, more intimate relationship with you. We know that you are always near, but we long for a closer connection.  We pray that you will guide our steps and strengthen our hearts to grow in your presence. Amen