More: Seeking Jesus
Psalm 63:1
God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.
Annual prayer for Soma in 2021
Father, help us to see you clearly, trust you fully, seek you diligently, obey you completely, and reject all idolatry as we worship you alone.
Jesus said that his followers do not view authority and use power the same way that the world does.
Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Seeking Him Through Giving Like Him
Why seek him through giving like him?
How to seek him through giving like him?
What Now?
Why Seek Him Through Giving?
God is a giver.
John 3:16-17
For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Jesus came to both serve and give.
Mark 10:45
For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
Matthew 6:19-24
Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also… 24 No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
It is good and expected for us to store up treasures.
When we store up treasures in heaven they are safe, secure, and eternal.
Psalm 49:16-17
Do not be afraid when a person gets rich, when the wealth of his house increases. 17 For when he dies, he will take nothing at all; his wealth will not follow him down.
Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
If we treasure the things of heaven, the things of God, then our hearts will be focused on him, our hearts will be at home with him.
Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle
“There’s a fundamental connection between our spiritual lives and how we think about and handle money. We may try to divorce our faith and our finances but God sees them as inseparable.”
Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
Matthew 6:32-33
For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
How to Seek Him Through Giving?
1 Timothy 6:9-10, 17-19
But those who want to be rich fall into temptation, a trap, and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and by craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs… 17 Instruct those who are rich in the present age not to be arrogant or to set their hope on the uncertainty of wealth, but on God, who richly provides us with all things to enjoy. 18 Instruct them to do what is good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share, 19 storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.
We are called to:
a) not to be arrogant about our wealth/standing
b) not to set our hope on our wealth, but on God
c) to do good and noble deeds
d) to be generous and willing to share with others
1 Timothy 6:19
…storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of what is truly life.
What Now?
This week seek Jesus by:
a) Reading five days – Matthew chapters 19-23.
b) Praying every day
c) Fasting one day (minor fast of one meal & soul fast of one day)
d) Serving the church
e) Giving to Christmas Mission Offering
WEEKLY EMPHASIS – Christmas Mission Offering
Mark 12:41-44
Sitting across from the temple treasury, he watched how the crowd dropped money into the treasury. Many rich people were putting in large sums. 42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two tiny coins worth very little. 43 Summoning his disciples, he said to them, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. 44 For they all gave out of their surplus, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had —all she had to live on.”