Posted:
“Under His Influence – The Design” by Pastor Mark Balmer; 8/1-2/09,
Message #MB383;
Daily Devotional #4 - “Seek & Find”
Preparing the Soil (Introduction): He approaches the line slowly, pulls his arm back, and then releases the ball. All ten pins go down as the score goes up. This may sound like bowling to you, but not the way you’re thinking. There’s no smoky air or smelly shoes, just a gaming system that looks and feels like the real sport, only simulated. People swing their arms to hit balls with rackets and shoot balls into baskets that don’t exist.
For many people this type of fantasy world is reality. They walk through life as they know it, rather than how God designed it to be. Their reality is virtual life—just a simulation and not the real thing.
Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth):
From birth to adulthood, Jesus had a mission.
God sent Him for one reason—to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). For those of you who have a personal relationship with the Lord, think back to the time of your salvation. Most likely you were operating under your own influence or the influence of the world around you. Your destination was uncertain, and life made no sense. You see, when we function outside of God’s blueprint our foundation is unstable and everything we build on it will crumble.
For those of you still trying to build your life without God, stop, look, and listen. Have you ever found yourself in a state of despair or bondage? Can you think of a time when a word from a friend or a song on the radio stirred something up your heart? Did you ever think that was a way God tried to get your attention? We live in a fallen world—one built on a crumbling, sinful foundation.
Deception and temptation meet us at every corner, and people dance with the devil. All the while God reigns supreme over the entire universe. How is it that people cannot see the One who came to seek and save them (1 Corinthians 2:14)?
This concept is hard to explain but easily changed: “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Hebrews 11:3). The physical elements around us are visible, tangible, and believable, but they are not eternal; our soul is invisible but will last forever.
We are spiritual beings living in a temporary, physical body.
Our physical being is a simulation of life—our spiritual being is the real thing. Jesus traveled from town to town teaching and doing miracles. Some did not believe, and there came a time when He left their town and moved on to another. He never stopped seeking those who wanted to accept the message of salvation, and His influence spread from the towns of Israel to the cities where you and I live. Because Jesus had such a profound effect to change the hearts and lives of the people around Him, by faith we can be changed today.
Christ followers are not only commanded to share the Gospel message, but they want others to know that they can build a new life that will never crumble, that they can have victory over their trials, and that they will spend eternity with their Creator. Amen?!
Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response):
How is God trying to get your attention?
Do you have friends who speak to you about Jesus, or have you ever heard a sermon that stirred up your heart?
Have you been in what you thought was the wrong place at the wrong time? God cares so much about your life that He sent His one and only Son in the flesh to show you who He is (Colossians 1:15, John 1:14).
For the short time Jesus walked the earth His influence is still spreading across the globe. Every Word God speaks is living and powerful (Hebrews 4:12), is more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), and never returns void (Isaiah 55:11). Think about your life for a moment. Are you going through the motions of virtual life, or are you trusting that God’s blueprint is the very best design? You don’t want to spend your life wondering what life could have been like. Jesus is still seeking.
Will you be found?
