“There is only one relationship that really matters, and that is your personal relationship to your personal Redeemer and Lord. If you maintain that at all costs, letting everything else go, God will fulfill His purpose through your life. One individual life may be of priceless value to God’s purposes and yours may be that life.” -Oswald Chambers

Above all else, God wants us to seek Him and know Him with all our heart!

There are three verses found in scripture that have challenged and encouraged me through the years. The three verses all have the same message: Seek the Lord with all your heart.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. -Hebrews 11:6

But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. -Deuteronomy 4:29

Then you will come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:12-13

When I was a little girl, we used to play hide-and-seek. One person would be designated as the finder and all the others would hide. After about 10 seconds, the finder would yell, “Apple, peaches, pumpkin pie, who’s not ready, holler I.” If someone had not yet found a place to hide they would yell back “I “and the process would start again until all were hidden. Then the search began.

Please understand friends, God is not playing hide-and-seek with us. Merriam-Webster defines seek as, “to go to” or “to try to discover.” God wants us to go to him. He wants us to discover who He is and choose a personal relationship with Him. He is not hiding behind a tree or under a bush making it difficult for us to find him.

God wants us to seek Him with ALL our heart…not just some of our heart. I struggle at times with a divided heart. The busyness of life, the responsibilities of family, juggling work, and sometimes just plain laziness or apathy, all vie for my attention and cause my heart to be divided. We must fight against this at all costs. It is spiritual warfare. We must guard against anyone or anything that will take our eyes and hearts away from God.

Through the years I have been diligent in developing an intimate relationship with God. One of my greatest joys through years of Bible Study and prayer is this truth: The more I know God, the more I love him and the more I trust Him. He hears my prayers, my cries, my praise, my fears and my hurts. He cares. He knows my heart. He loves me.

Over the years, I have had the privilege of walking alongside friends who are facing death. What they have taught me in the last months and weeks of their lives, is in the end, only three things really matter: their relationship with God, their relationship with family, and their relationship with friends. It’s not the stuff, the accolades, or accomplishments. It’s the peace that comes from knowing God is with them, the power of human touch, and the sweet familiar voice sharing love through words or even a song.

Together, let’s seek God with ALL our hearts!

1. Identify what has been a hindrance to developing a deeper relationship with God. It’s different for everyone depending on the season of life you are in. Ask God for help in this area and move forward.

2. Find a friend or two (or more) and read the same daily devotional. Your conversations will reflect what you’ve read. One year we had over 15 people doing the same devotional. Our conversations were amazing and we were in awe of how what we read for the day was exactly what we needed to learn.

Daily Devotionals I Recommend:

–My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers

–One Year Book of Encouragement by Harold Myra

–365 Moments of Peace for a Woman’s Heart– This devotional was a gift I truly enjoyed. Knowing different ladies were praying me for in our church each day in 2016 blessed my socks off.

3. As 2019 approaches, choose to stand in awe of God, to continually seek Him, know Him, and love him!