Pursuit

So, is this on?

It's on? Okay.

So a lot of the things that were done today in worship actually point out to what I'm going to talk about today,

which I found quite interesting because we never talked about it.

And so I think God is really having something on his mind.

I really found it interesting last week when Derek was talking about Daniel

and how he engaged and changed the culture and society around him and the world around him.

And I think one of the reasons why he was able to do that was because he was chasing after God.

He was someone who really wanted to know more about God and that's why he acted the way he did towards the people around him.

And that's actually what we're talking about today.

We're talking about God-chasers.

And what does it really mean to be a God-chaser?

In Matthew 13, verse 44 to 46,

Matthew 13:44–46

Jesus says this,

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.

When a man found it, he hid it again.

And then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls

when he found a pearl.

He was like a merchant looking for fine pearls.

When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

So here we see someone looking for treasures or pearls and finding them.

But what gave him the idea to go and look for treasures or for the pearls?

See, the interesting thing is this man or these people, they were chasing after something.

But the interesting thing is even though it looks like they had the desire and made that decision in their own heart,

it was actually someone else who initiated the chase.

And in our case, the one who is initiating the chase is actually God himself, because he invites us.

And we read in Proverbs 8, 17, it says,

I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.

And in Acts 17, 27, it says, God did so that he would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him.

So he's not far from any one of us.

You saw the kids running around earlier and stuff, and there was a time when I was actually a nanny many years ago.

And I was playing with little kids too, and we were playing catch and catch me if you can.

And so I was pretending to run really fast so they couldn't catch me.

And so they tried, and there were just a few steps behind me.

But at one point, because they are of course cute kids, right?

So I just turned around and let them catch me.

And that's actually how God does it.

God gives us, he shows us, okay, come catch me, catch me.

And it's the heart that he sees in us that makes him want us to catch him, because he sees our heart.

And so he always is there, and he has been there right from the beginning.

Like with Adam, he said, hey Adam, where are you?

Up to when Jesus called down Zacchaeus from the tree and said, hey Zacchaeus, come down.

I want to have dinner with you tonight.

To, hey Heidi, I think it's time you leave those communist ways behind you and you come and follow me.

And so he was chasing me down, and he is chasing all of you, all of us.

At a certain time in our lives, he was chasing us down.

And then he was saying, hey come, I want to be part of your life.

And even before that, he was nudging our hearts.

And even now he's nudging our hearts and saying, hey, how come you're not moving forward?

What is happening?

What is happening if we don't actively pursue him?

Then something really not so good happens, because our lives become stagnant.

And we see that in another Bible verse, in Songs 5, 3-6.

Let me just look at it quickly.

Where are the songs? Come on.

Yeah, there we go.

So Songs 5, 3 and 6.

We see here the beloved, and the beloved are we.

And the beloved says here, hey, I want to be part of your life.

We see here the beloved, and the beloved are we.

And the beloved says here, I have taken off my robe.

Why? The lover came to the door and knocked at the door and said, open the door.

And the beloved said, I have just taken off my robe.

Must I put it on again? I have washed my feet.

Must I solve them again?

And then in verse 6, after rethinking what to do, the beloved came and said,

oh, I opened for my lover, but my lover had left.

He was gone, and my heart sank at his departure.

So we see there are times when we can miss the boat, because the lover has moved on.

In the life of David, we see a story where the stagnation in his life actually led to sin.

And we see that in 2 Samuel 11, verse 1.

2 Samuel 11:1

2 Samuel 11, verse 1.

2 Samuel 11:1

It says, in the spring, at a time when kings go off to war,

David sent Joab out with the Kingsmen and the whole Israelite army.

They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabba, but David remained in Jerusalem.

So David was supposed to lead the army out, because that's how the kings did it at that time.

But he decided to stay at home.

So the victory actually was won by Joab, not by David.

And the really bad thing was that David was sitting on the top of his roof, which is flat in the Middle East,

and he looked over to the neighbors and saw Bacheba taking a bath.

And she looked beautiful.

And the result was that he eventually committed adultery and murder.

So it doesn't have to be that bad.

I hope nobody will ever be in that situation.

But stagnation can lead to something that we don't necessarily like in our lives.

And in order to not get to this point, I wrote down a few points of how our pursuit should actually look like.

And I was encouraged when Derek used this board last week,

and I thought if Derek can do it, then I can try it too.

And please excuse the writing, but my job really has totally messed up my writing.

But I tried to be really good, so you can read it.

I even used a black pen so it's easier to read.

The red pen was not so good.

But anyways, so the first point is pursuit has to be consistent.

Titus 2.7 to 8, and I'm giving you a lot of Bible verses here,

because I think it's important to see what the Bible says about this.

Titus 2.7 to 8 says,

because I think it's important to see what the Bible says about this.

Titus 2.7 to 8 says,

I thought it was interesting when Derek shared this example about his trip overseas,

and how God in a way corrected something,

so that people still saw there's a consistency in his life that reflects God.

And I think God once said in all of our lives,

one of my colleagues, we have been working together for a long time,

we moved from one unit to the next unit together,

and one time I was really mad, like mad inside and cranky and all that,

and I really thought everyone around me would notice of course,

and so I actually apologized to her because she was the one who I was working with.

And she was totally stunned because she said she never noticed that I was cranky or in a bad mood,

but I really thought to myself, okay, so is that now?

Because she said, I've never seen you in a bad mood all these years that we have been working together.

And that is something that even though I didn't feel like,

and I felt I need to talk about and confess to her that I was actually not that consistent as she thought,

but she didn't notice, and that is something that God instills in us,

that in everything that we do that we should set an example,

in where we work, in the people that we hang around with, and he will help us.

And the second one is pursuit demands purity.

Daniel last week, if I can go back, he showed a lot of purity in his life,

and it came through in the things that he did and said,

and Jesus actually says in Matthew 5, 8, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

And again, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 6, verse 6,

2 Corinthians 6:6

if you read the whole chapter from verse 3 to verse 13, which I will not read now,

it says actually one of the things that was part of their ministry was doing things in purity,

in understanding patience and kindness in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love.

So again, there is the need to be pure in everything that we do and seek.

The next one is pursuit is evidenced in foolishness and obedience,

and we just talked about David, poor David, he got that bad rap,

but you know there was one thing about him that we can really learn

and see that he was not afraid to be foolish.

In 2 Corinthians 6, verse 12 to 22, we read,

12, okay.

Okay, so David went down and brought up the ark of God from the house of Abed-edom

to the city of David with rejoicing.

When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps,

he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.

David, wearing a linen effort, danced before the Lord with all his might,

while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord

with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

And his wife saw him doing this and she thought he was such a foolish guy

and she pointed it out too, but the Lord loved it.

See, there was one thing about David that was he was foolish in some ways

and he was also obedient on the other hand, that is also important,

that he was called a man of God, and he was called a man of God,

and on the other hand, that is also important, that he was called a man

after God's own heart, because he was not afraid to look foolish.

Most kids, when they're little, they look foolish, but we laugh about them.

We don't take it as something that is, oh, you're foolish, whatever.

No, but David was doing something because he loved the Lord and he expressed that.

I think that's something that we should know that we can be foolish.

In 1 Corinthians 1.27, Paul says actually,

but God choose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise.

God choose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

And then Jesus also says in John 14, 23 to 24,

He said, anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.

My father will love them and we will come to them and make our home with them.

Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.

These words you hear are not my own. They belong to the Father who sent me.

So both come together, being foolish but also obeying Him.

That's part of the pursuit.

That's part of the pursuit of chasing after God.

Now, Don was just talking about how things are sometimes in difficult situations

and how we can reach out to God and trust Him to come into that.

And that's another one. It's to trust Him and to pursue Him even in difficult circumstances.

It's best to pursue Him than not the outcome.

So I had a few interesting weeks lately.

A few weeks ago I had a mammogram done and then went away for a few days.

And shortly after that mammogram while I was away,

a number of phone calls or messages were left on the home phone to call the center, the mammogram center.

And so I finally called them and they said,

We saw something but it might be nothing. Just come back. We need to do more testing.

And that was scheduled for a few days ago on Wednesday.

I said, Okay, I'll come and do that.

Then on Sunday night, last Sunday night I went to work and it was a real crazy night.

And on top of it a patient threw up on me.

I mean throwing up hit me all over the place to the point that I actually had to go to a merge

because I was exposed to body fluids.

And I'm like, Oh great. On a very busy night I have to leave and go to a merge.

And they had to do all the blood work and did all the things and send it off to provincial health and that stuff.

So on Monday, kind of on the way to work, I said, So Father, what is this all about? Circumstances.

Circumstances. What do you, what should I do?

Am I missing something? Am I, is there something?

And then he said, You know what? It didn't come from me. I didn't send this to you.

You run after me and things will be okay.

And he showed me what to do in the process as well.

Like he didn't leave me hanging. He also showed me, Okay, this is what you have to do.

And I was then talking with him on the whole way to work.

And it was a totally different night.

Like it was quiet and peaceful and patients behaved.

And so it was really good.

So on Wednesday I went for my follow up mammogram and ultrasound.

And I was told, We still see something.

And he showed it to me. I said, Mm-hmm.

And he said, You have to come for a biopsy.

So I was scheduled for a biopsy two days ago, Friday morning.

Wednesday evening we had house church. Everybody was praying for me.

And yes, I was a little bit nervous about the whole thing when he told me on Wednesday, Okay, we saw something.

But I remembered what he said.

Hey, remember, remember what he has done.

So I went to the biopsy on Friday morning. Don't wish it on anyone.

But it's okay. It's not that bad.

But it was better not.

So she was getting the first sample.

And then, and it is all under ultrasound.

And then she said, Oh, it's collapsing.

I'm like, Uh-huh. Okay.

So if it's collapsing, then it's not like a tumor thingy.

So it might be more like a tissue that we have to get a second sample because we just have to have it.

And I said, Okay.

So she did that.

And I left the place.

And I felt actually that it will be all good.

And I don't have the result yet.

I'm saying this in faith to all of you here.

And that in seven days when I'm supposed to get the result, that it will be all good.

But these are circumstances.

And now your circumstances might be different than my circumstances from the last few weeks.

But we still need to look at him, not at the outcome, regardless of how the outcome might look.

And sometimes it might look scarier than it is.

And it might turn out to be nothing.

So, so yeah, so that's one of the things that, um,

we need to, to see and trust him.

Uh, pursuit also means that we must reach beyond our own means and bring us into a new place in God.

And I know you, probably everyone here has had to reach beyond your own means in some way or another.

I remember when Jacob said, um,

10 years ago, okay, let's go to India for four days.

And, um, okay, just four days to India and paying all the flight and everything.

And God provided everything.

And in the process, every time that he has sent me or others here from the church, from the body, he always does provide.

And it's not just trips now.

It's, um, it's other things in our lives where he provides, uh, where he stretches us.

This is stretching.

I know the young adults are going to Brazil in a few weeks and probably for some of them, this is a stretching in the way God provides for them,

but also in what they will encounter while they're there.

But God will do something with it.

God will do something with it and he will bless you guys because he will, even though he will bring you beyond your means,

he will bring, bless you in new places and with new experiences that he will be able to come home to and talk about and, uh,

let everybody see how God really takes care of these things.

Uh, the next pursuit is number six is it is an act of the will and, and not about feelings.

Okay.

Now we are all allowed to have feelings.

Um, that's who we are, but, um, sometimes we have to, to do something, not because we feel good,

but because we know it's the will of God to do something.

In Philippians three, verse 12 to 14, it says, not that I have already obtained all this or have already arrived at my goal,

but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it,

but one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Yeah.

What, um, Dawn said we look back to see God's faithfulness,

but now we also have to move forward and press forward towards the goal that God has in front of us.

Always remember how faithful he has been in the past and how faithful he will be in the things to come.

And the most important thing here is he requires us to feed on his word.

To feed on his word.

I went to Bible school a long time ago before I went into nursing, and the Bible school wasn't really that great.

Okay, so it didn't really help me in a way that it introduced me to God the Father as he is in his character,

and I almost kind of struggled a lot after leaving Bible school,

but the one thing that was positive about the Bible school was that it instilled the reading of the Word.

And in those certain passages in the Old Testament I wasn't so keen about, but we had to read them.

So it is a good thing. We had to read them over and over again, and I didn't like them any better,

but the good thing was eventually once I discovered who God really was, once I discovered his character,

it made much more sense. And suddenly the Word became more life.

We see the story of Mary and Martha. You all know Mary and Martha.

Mary was sitting at Jesus' feet and listening to what he had to say, and Martha was cooking.

I find myself sometimes like, Martha, hmm. But anyways, that's what he was looking for.

He was looking for Mary to sit at his feet and to learn from him directly, to read from him,

to listen to the words that came out of his mouth. That must have been so cool.

I sometimes think this would be so cool, but we have it right here.

The Word is right in front of us. We cannot chase God without chasing his Word.

Psalm 119. Psalm 119.32 says,

I will run in the way of your commands, for you shall enlarge my heart.

You know, it's interesting that athletes have a really large heart.

Their hearts enlarge as they go further, they train more, they run,

the heart is able to pump more blood through their system. Their hearts get larger.

And it's the same thing with us. As we go more into the Word of God and chase him in the Word,

our hearts enlarge too. Enlarge more to what he wants to give us,

what he wants to enable us to do.

That thought just came to me actually before we came here. I thought, this is actually so true.

So very true. Then there is also in Psalm 19, when we see Psalm 19,

and I want to read this because I made all these notes on my Bible.

Okay, here we see, if we read the whole Psalm, and I will read this.

The heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Days after day they pour forth speech. Night after night they display knowledge.

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun, which is like a bright room coming forth from his pavilion.

Like a champion rejoicing to run his course, it rises at one end of the heavens and makes its circuit to the other.

Nothing is hidden from its beat. The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.

Isn't that cool? The law of the Lord is perfect. His words, they revive our soul.

The statues of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.

He gives wisdom if we need to make decisions. That's what he does through his word.

He gives wisdom to make the right decisions. Sometimes it would be good if some politicians do that.

Anyways, the precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.

See, he gives us joy in our lives through his word.

The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

It gives us revelation.

The fear of the Lord is pure and enduring forever.

So we have a right standing in front of the Lord and of people.

The ordinances of the Lord are sure and altogether righteous.

They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold.

They are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.

By them is your servant warned. In keeping them there is greater reward.

So the word of God also warns us of things.

And it's for our own sake to keep us safe.

It leads us into treasure and gives direction. Who can discern his errors?

I'll just mention some of those.

Keep your servant also from willful sins. May they not rule over me.

They will be blameless, innocent of great transgressions.

It leads to treasures, gives directions. It's essential for bearing fruit.

If we want to bear fruit we have to be able to hear him through his word.

Abiding in his love and walking in impurities.

All these things we talked about earlier, but these are important parts of feeding on his word.

Now there's somebody who doesn't really like us to feed on his word.

And that is Satan who likes to snatch away seeds of the word by different things.

And in Matthew 13 verse 19 we read,

Matthew 13:19

When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it,

the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in the heart.

This is the seed sown along the path.

And we know that Jesus was just telling them about the parable of the sower,

how some of the seed fell along the path and the birds came and some fell on rocky places,

and it didn't have much soil and so on.

So there are certain places when the seed falls on,

Satan comes and snatches away the word that has been sown.

And how does he do it?

He's blinding our mind through traditions of men, past experiences, pride, strongholds, false doctrine,

and preventing us to hear the truth.

When Jesus was saying in Matthew 13 verse 13 to 15, he says,

Matthew 13:13–15

This is why I speak to them in parables. He mentions that to the disciples.

For seeing they do not see, for hearing they do not hear or understand.

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah.

You will ever be hearing but never understanding.

You will ever be seeing but never perceiving.

For this people's heart has become calloused.

They hardly hear with their ears and they have closed their eyes.

Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,

understand with their hearts and turn and I would heal them.

So there's a lot of this that can blind our minds to the truth, and we need to be aware of that.

Here we see also that they were abandoning the chasing of truth when it contradicts their understanding

or when they are challenged of not able to comprehend or understand and then just walk away.

That's what it says again in verse 19,

when anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it,

and then the enemy comes and snatches it away.

And in other places in the gospel we see when Jesus was saying the words

and they were difficult to understand for them and he walked away.

A number of disciples walked away because they couldn't understand, it was too hard for them.

And part of it was they missed out in chasing after the truth.

Instead they were chasing after the traditions of men and other things, their own experience.

It's easy sometimes to fall back into our own experience, oh, 20 years ago it was different.

But no, but God is the God who speaks now with a now word through his word

and we have to open ourselves up to what does he say?

Are we chasing after this word that is true and important right now?

So there is a misunderstanding or not willingness to understand.

Another one is by a famine of hearing.

In Amos 8.11 it says,

The days are coming, declares the sovereign Lord, when I will send a famine through the land,

not a famine of food or thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.

So if we are not diligent to hear, then we are disadvantaged.

So we have to ask, Father, oh, what is it you want to say?

Is my ear open to what you want to say?

Is it something that I don't want to hear?

Because maybe there is some correction, maybe there is some correction from someone else,

not just from the word, maybe somebody else says it.

And I say, well, only Jesus can correct me, nobody else.

And there is a reason why God has placed people into our lives to help us, not to put us down.

If correction is done out of selfish reasons, don't listen.

But if it's done out of God wanted to bring correction into your life,

not to put you down, but to build you up and to help you back and to walk,

then we have to be open for that too, because that's what God put into our lives.

And I give a number of people permission to kick me if they notice that I need it.

And some of them have taken that. Sometimes not really good.

But most of them have been okay. And it's a good thing.

It's a good thing.

So we have to be open for correction, because God has put them in for a reason into our lives.

Not to harm us, but to build us up and to bring us back onto this pursuit

that is a good and positive pursuit.

In order also to receive the sent word, we need to be open to receive the one who has been sent.

See, in Luke 9 verse 5, Jesus sends out those disciples.

Luke 9:5

If you remember, they were sent out.

And Jesus said to them, what was it? Luke 9, 5.

He says, whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town.

If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town as a testimony against them.

So how do we receive the ones that are sent to us to speak to us?

In a few weeks, Pastor Chad will be coming from Chennai.

And I'm sure God will give him words for us.

I'm sure he will be preparing him already probably.

But he will know by the time he will come here and he will speak the word that God wants him to say.

So he's the sent one by God to us.

And he most likely doesn't know most of us.

But he will still speak the sent word.

So are we open to receive it?

Are we open to receive it?

Hey, I was a little bit unsettled actually when Dawn was going on and on.

I'm like, oh man, Dawn is going on and on.

I'm probably running out of time.

Anyways, no.

But it was good what Dawn said.

Because he reminded us of the important things.

Next time, five minutes less, Dawn.

Okay, but it was good what he said to remind us to look at the things that God has promised.

To remember them and then to also move forward.

And to see, okay, God was faithful then, he's faithful now, he will be faithful in the future.

And he will carry us through.

So these are words that have been sent to us being announced.

And we have to be open and receive.

And see what, oh, this is something that is helping us in pursuing him.

Chasing after him.

Looking more like him.

And then there's one more point.

The deception of hearing the word but not doing what it says.

In James 1, verse 22 to 24.

James 1:22–24

You know, I always want to put James after just in front of Revelation.

I don't know why.

And with James 1, 22 to 24, it says,

So we have to be also doer of his word.

Hearing and then doing.

And I know that sometimes it's not easy to hear.

Even when we hear so many awesome teachings and words.

And then to go and take it and say, okay, I want this to make it part of my life.

I want to change, move around.

I want to chase after him and following what I just heard.

Not leaving it just up here but let it go deeper so that, yes, my heart can enlarge much wider.

And that I suddenly the circulation in my system in the way I move and follow God will be just as large.

And I can experience him in another way, another realm, much deeper.

So I just want to close it in a few points.

So pursue him with holy awe and humility.

Pursue him with holy awe and humility.

Pursue him with disciplined reading, hearing and being taught.

Pursue the spirit by obeying the first step so he can show you the second.

Isn't that so cool? He doesn't jump steps.

He wants us to do one step and then he can show us the next step.

Because once we are ready to take the first step, we'll be ready to take the second step.

Pursue being reliant on the body, not as an independent runner.

This is so important.

We are not, even though our society so much says, oh, we are the individual kind of decision makers.

But in our lives, as followers of Christ, we are supposed to be part of the body.

Because that will help us in our growth, in the way we walk and follow, in correction, in encouragement, in helping us to walk with him.

So what do we do now? Chase after him. Run after him.

And expect him to help you in your running because he's the one who's chasing you first.

Diana has a question.

Pursue him with disciplined reading, hearing and being taught.

Did you get a third one?

Okay, sure.

Okay, the first one is pursue him with holy awe and humility.

Pursue him with disciplined reading, hearing and being taught.

Pursue the spirit by obeying the first step so he can show you the second.

And fourth, pursue being reliant on the body, not as an independent runner.

Okay.

So as we go, let's chase after him. He loves it.

He will turn around to catch us.

And he will be happy if we run and chase after him.

Even if we stumble, he will be still there.

Sure.

I think that's part of physical things too.

I think that's part of physical things too.

Our job is to believe that God will do his job.

So one of them, one of the members sort of fits in with the teaching of the day and God is saying to somebody,

your job is to believe that I will do my job.

So I think that's part of physical things too.

Our job is to believe that God will do his job.

So Diana was saying just for the tape that our job is to believe that God will do his job.

Okay. That sounds good.

So know that for this coming week, God knows he's doing his job and we are supposed to run after him and chase him.

Okay. So it is that time.

There will be some people here to pray for you after if you need prayers.

And otherwise I'll just send you off.

So Father, I thank you that you are chasing us, that you always have been chasing us.

From the moment we were conceived actually, you were chasing after us.

And you never let go.

And I thank you that you so love, love it if we chase after you.

And you love to be, to be kind.