Where Do I Find Help This Coming Year? – A Look At Pursuing God
INTRO: Three weeks ago I talked about friendship and how it can help our lives. I spent time looking at Moses and how the Lord had friendships all through his life to help him along the way. Two weeks ago I looked at Daniel. Daniel could be listed as having several godly traits. Of all his traits I spent time on his faithfulness. Last week, I looked at teamwork and Joshua. Joshua was the Children of Israel’s leader after they lost a great leader named Moses. He was a great military leader, but he was also a team player. Today I want to spend time looking at David and pursuing God.
I know the scriptures teach in John 6 we cannot come to God unless He draws us, however it also teaches in James 4 the benefit of our pursuing Him. We need to be like little David was as he sought out God and His ways.
The name David means beloved.
John 6:41-51 KJV 41The Jews
then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from
heaven.
42And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father
and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
43Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among
yourselves.
44No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw
him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
45It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of
God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father,
cometh unto me.
46Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he
hath seen the Father.
47Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath
everlasting life.
48I am that bread of life.
49Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may
eat thereof, and not die.
51I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat
of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my
flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
James 4:1-10 KJV 1From
whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even
of your lusts that war in your members?
2Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot
obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it
upon your lusts.
4Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of
the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world
is the enemy of God.
5Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit that
dwelleth in us lusteth to envy?
6But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the
proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you.
8Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your
hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double
minded.
9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to
mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you
up.
We all know the story of David. The youngest of eight sons, he was, no doubt the object of work details that he did not want. He was required to tend the sheep when the older brothers had more “important” jobs to do. He was no doubt thought of as unimportant by many. But he was special. WHY?
Was it the fact he was good with a sling? Is that all we need to be successful? The fact that we can hurl stones at people with great velocity determines our success? I know baseballs and stones are two different things. Is our ability to do things well what really makes us special in God’s eyes? I don’t think so. He wants us to be one who seeks after his own heart – just as David
1 Samuel 13:14 KJV But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath
sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be
captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD
commanded thee.
1 Kings 8:17-19 KJV 17And it was in the heart of David my
father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel.
18And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine
heart to build an house unto my name, thou didst well that it was in thine
heart.
19Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house; but thy son that
shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name.
God’s truth
God’s rightness (I like being on the right side)
God’s blessings
God’s Manna or Bread of Life
God’s parental teaching (1 Kings 8:18-19)
God’s guidance
God’s closeness (draw nigh…)
God’s strength
God’s way of life
Pursue the impossible
God’s opportunity given
God’s opportunity recognized
God’s opportunity taken
When we look at this, David did not have a chance. David did not deserve to be there (in our eyes). David could not succeed.
But, in God’s eyes… David had been pursuing God with his heart. David wanted to do his best for God. David only cared about what was important to God. What do you care about? What is important to you?
David picked up 5 smooth stones before he went to battle Goliath. There are so m any different messages there. What were the 5 stones? We can assign many things to them…such as TRUTH, DETERMINATION, etc. let em tell you none of them were written with the word impossible on them. David knew God would stand with him. But there were others standing by who saw David and thought, “Impossible!” Had David listened to them or thought like them, he would have never attempted to do one of the great things in the history of man.
We need to learn and decide to pursue the impossible (in God).
David was chosen by God to be King over Israel. Impossible? No not really. Improbable? Yeah most certainly. Even though it seemed most uncertain, it was not impossible to imagine David becoming a king. We have ourselves just seen an election of an improbable candidate, the son of an African immigrant and a single mother become our 44th president. Improbable? Yes! Impossible? NO!
If we are not careful, we will let anything that is just difficult or improbable prevent us from doing what God wants in our lives.
When we look at David’s life we see…
By David
By others
David was taken to the king’s court
David was around people in a leadership role
Opportunity brought advancement
Not self-serving
David experienced the difficulties of life too when he was chased by Saul
When we seek God out and pursue Him, He will use us
When we prepare to be His servant we will
When we listen to His voice, He speaks to our heart
When we seek His heart he listens to our call
We should always pursue the obvious
We also should not discount pursuing the impossible
And don’t be so quick in discounting pursuing the improbable
Are you pursuing God?
Are you pushing God away?
Gary Marcum - New Beginnings Church – 012509am