"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair."~from ISAIAH 61 Bible verse for this Blog

APOLOGY to READERS who followed a SEARCH to HERE & didn't find it

On July 18, 2017, I drafted almost 3000 blog posts that I had published since 2008 when I began blogging, rather than edit each one. So if you clicked here from somewhere else and ended up with the post unavailable or error, I am sorry but this is why. It'd be too much work for me to go back and fix them. There's an explanation on 7/19/17 as I'm still learning.

Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Focus: SEEK ...



Jeremiah 29:13

SEEK: to search out, to strive after

in this verse, this is the meaning

HEB: וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּ֥ם אֹתִ֖י וּמְצָאתֶ֑ם
NAS: You will seek Me and find [Me] when
KJV: And ye shall seek me, and find
INT: will seek and find when


Many of us are familiar with a verse that precedes this one in Jeremiah and use it out of context for our good or the good of someone else struggling (Jeremiah 29:11) but the verse in between and all the previous ones in chapter 29 are important. [the link goes to an article about this, however, I (and perhaps you) are unable to read it without subscribing] so I will just link to another one here or more extensively here] and I'll make my point just by looking at Jeremiah 29:10-13 (or maybe even before this) but mainly the prophet Jeremiah is speaking to a group of "exiles" under God's judgement:

"... 10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Before I get to my verse, I need to realize that I need to call on the Lord.

Pray to the Lord and listen to the Lord.

(also previously in this chapter, it speaks of "false prophets" & lies being propagated)

{Hmmm, sounds a little too familiar.}

Then

SEEK HIM and find the Lord

by SEEKING HIM with all my heart

which means truly searching for Him and striving after Him

turning back our hearts & repenting

being accountable

before

God

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Whew!
(sorry)

I did not come here for this, I really just wanted to share the image and continue on with the verse I chose before I moved onto some other part or different verses with SEEK. Then I got off on that little tangent of mine (without completing my thoughts or a solid lesson about this).

I have encountered quite a few reading plans on SEEK at You Version, even one on SEEKING Justice (for another time). But because of these plans I decided to share more, starting with the various definitions of SEEK (as I started out with above) but not all of them:

"Seek (verb): to go in search or quest of
  • to try to find or discover by searching or questioning
  • to try to obtain
  • to try or attempt
  • to go to
  • to inquire


I did one of the plans: 21 days of Seek, back in Jan. of 2022, in a "season to minimize the distractions & routines" of my life as I started out the new year that year, hoping to hear God's voice & focus on what He is saying to me. It was an intentional time of prayer as I generally do each year. Besides the scripture verses & daily devotions, I found the different topics each day & prayers to be very helpful. Here is a prayer, I've chosen (but not from this plan):

"God, thank You for Your Word and how You speak to us so personally and lovingly. Thank You for being a Good Father who wants to help us understand Your instructions. Please reveal to me in a personal way how You want me to seek You as my vital necessity in my daily life."~ *Rebekah M. Barrett, day 2 of 3 from "Seek Me First"

I'm really enjoying the daily plan & videos from Jovita Sheppard in her plan

"SEEK in SEVEN"

{I think because it's a seven day plan}

"... As we SEEK after God & place ourselves in the posture for an encounter, and as we encounter God, we, too, will begin to thirst after the life- changing experience that comes from being in Almighty God's presence." ... (Psalm 42:1-2)

 " (God) is faithful to come and dwell  when we SEEK Him ... " Jovita Sheppard

this is just a taste of her "devotional for a God-first lifestyle"

which leads me to my next chosen verse with

SEEK

[since there are so many verses & choices]

*"SEEK ME FIRST"
(for coffee drinkers-lol)

"SEEK the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need." Matthew 6:33 NLT

I will be focusing on the seven verses given in Jovita Sheppard's plan for each day.

Psalms 27:8; Job 5:8; Psalms 34:10; Psalms 34:4; Psalms 42:1-2; 

1 Chronicles 16:8-12

"... and SEEK His face always"

when facing troubles & trials, what I encourage myself & others to do is

"SEEK His face, not just His hand"

or 

as this blogger shares 

"Seek God's face before you Seek His Hand"

which is ultimately what we need to do

SEEK both, SEEK Him

completely

"SEEK GOD Through It"
(another YV plan of 10 days)

says it this way:

"...God wants us to seek His face, not His hand. Seek His heart, not His power. In genuinely seeking Him, we gain the abundant life 
that Jesus provides." day 4

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🙏🙏🙏

As I share this
I SEEK God
for a miracle for loved ones
(1 involved in a tragic car accident)
and hope you will join me praying
in Jesus' name

🙏🏼 



To my faithful visitors;
all of you who spend your valuable time here with me
I do appreciate you so much!

Thank you for taking your time to visit!

Love, Sweet blessings & Hugs!

DIOS TE BENDIGA
GOD BLESS YOU

always

Peggy