In Touch Ministries

Dr. Charles Stanley: The only assurance you and I have in this life is Jesus. He is the only assurance we ultimately have. And because he's the Lord and he's the Lord of our life, whether we acknowledge it or not, we ought to be pursuing that relationship above everything else in life because the truth is we're totally dependent upon him and pride and arrogance is absolutely destructive every single time, no exception. He says we're to seek him.

Guest (Male): Have you ever felt spiritually dry? No passion in your worship, no life in your prayers, no excitement in your spirit? What is it that's missing? Well, today on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley, we'll gain some helpful insight for our journey toward a close friendship with Jesus Christ. Here's part two of Seeking the Lord. Let's listen in to Dr. Stanley's message.

Dr. Charles Stanley: All through the scriptures, especially in the Old Testament, we're admonished to seek the Lord. So what in the world does it mean to seek him? Somebody says, why should I be seeking him? I've been a Christian for a pretty good while and I don't know why I would have to be seeking something I already have.

When we are admonished to seek the Lord, that means we are to come to him asking for direction, seeking to build a deeper, more intimate relationship with him because that's what he's up to. He said he predestined that you and I would be conformed to the image of his son and that would involve our having an intimate relationship with him.

So when I seek him, I want to know more about him. I want to have a more intimate relationship. I want to talk to him. I want to listen to him. I want to have a conversation with him. I want to be able to observe him working in my life in some fashion. If I'm seeking him, I want to know him better, more deeply, more intimately than ever before. He says we're to seek him.

Now, which leads me to what I want to consider here for a moment, and that is, so we talk about listening to him, seeking him, and all this. What's required of me? What's required of us if we're to seek the Lord? Listen, we're talking about having a relationship with Almighty God. What's required of me? Can I say, well, when I decide to pray I will, and when I read the Bible I will, and when I go to church I will? Or is this serious business?

First of all, let me say, we're to seek him with all of our heart and that means he's a priority. He's number one. He's first. He's the most important person in our life. Listen to this. Isaiah 55 and because this is very, very, very important. If I'm going to seek the Lord with all of my heart, here's something I have to remember. In this 55th chapter and the 6th verse, it says seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to the Lord.

Now, watch this carefully. If I love him, if I'm seeking him, I'm willing to get rid of all the stuff and things in my life that don't fit who I am as a follower of Jesus. Then when I seek him, I'm going to discover, I'm going to find out something. I'm going to have a relationship that is so deep beyond my comprehension. But I must seek him with all of my heart.

Seeking God is like coming to a gold mine with all the tools you need and you find out that there's no bottom to it. It's endless. Here's what most people do. They say, well, I tell you what I believe about seeking God. I have a whole list of things I'm seeking God for. Here's what I'm seeking God for. You're not interested in God. You're interested in what God can give you or do for you. What he says is, I just want you to be satisfied with me.

Now, if you're not a Christian, that won't make one bit of sense with you and I understand that. But most of you are. You're believers. But where does he fit in your desire pattern? And if you'll think about it, if he's not number one, then I have an idol in my life. You say, oh, my wife's not an idol. Is she number one or is God number one? Are your children number one or is God number one? Is your job number one? Is God number one? What do you treasure most? What do you possess that you treasure most?

You possess Christ. Do you treasure him most or is there something else in your life that you treasure more? Whatever it is, I can tell you, because he loves you, he's going to knock on your door. So I'm to seek him with all of my heart. Second, I'm to seek him diligently. Listen to what he says in Proverbs chapter eight and verse 17. Listen to what he says. I love those who love me and those who diligently seek me will find me.

Now, why does he say diligently? Here's the reason. Because we have a thousand things to divide our mind. Many things to steal our time. If I'm going to diligently seek him, it means I'm willing to work at it. I'm willing to set aside other things. Diligently doesn't mean that I just casually think about it once in a while. Diligently means it becomes a priority. I'm willing to work at it. I'm willing to sacrifice other things for it. I'm willing to put other things aside.

It becomes number one. It's a priority in my life. I'm going to work at that. That above everything else. He says when we diligently seek him, because most people do not. And see, let me just say this and God knows I love you all. When people just go to church, for example, and they say, well, you know, I've sort of done it for this week. What have you done? You've satisfied some sense of guilt you have.

If that's all the relationship you have with Jesus Christ, then there's something desperately wrong. We're to seek him diligently. For example, you're looking for a job, for example, and they give you a test and you're diligently studying if you knew that your livelihood and your future was determined by how you did well on this exam. What would you do? You would diligently study it.

I mean you'd stay up all night and I can remember at times in college when they'd have two exams on the same day, four-hour exams on the same day. Staying up all night was not even an issue. I had to. I was forced to. I diligently studied to be sure I passed. What are you diligent about? Are you diligent about anything? Are you willing to exert the effort and the time? For example, are you diligent about your children, spending time with them?

Are you diligent about your wife or husband? Are you diligent about how you handle your finances? Are you diligent about your health? Do you exercise? Do you eat right? Do you get enough rest? Or do you not care? To be diligent means it's important and I'm going to give it time. I'm going to study. I'm going to pray. I'm going to seek. How can I do my very, very best? To seek the Lord diligently means I'm not putting something else in front of it.

And then we should seek him continually. Let me ask you a question. Can you name anything in your life that you should never pray about? Anything? Is anything that you don't need to pray about at all? You say, well, I don't need to pray about what I'm going to dress, how I'm going to dress tomorrow. Well, that depends on who you are and how you dress. Can you name anything of any significance at all that you shouldn't be praying about and asking God about living in the society in which you and I live?

We should be praying and seeking the Lord. In other words, every time you and I have a decision to make, he is the number one person to consult. Number one. You say always? Always. Why? We're to seek him diligently and we're to seek him continually. Not sometimes, but all the time. Go back to Isaiah again and here's a passage that says, yes, I should be diligently seeking him, but I should also, listen, I should also continually do so.

And here's the reason why. Let's say, for example, this week you're going to face some decisions. We may all face decisions this week that we had no plans for whatsoever because we didn't know it was going to crop up. But whatever the issue may be, here's the reason you and I should be seeking him at all times because he says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor my ways your ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

So if I want to make the right decision in a situation, I should go to someone who has the highest of thoughts, the highest of ways, who knows every single solitary thing there is to know about this situation or circumstances. For example, you plan to get married, you think you love somebody and I would simply say to you, you need to be very diligent and you need to be continually seeking the mind of God about whether this is the right person or the right time.

Because listen, he's so willing. He's so willing to accurately guide you in every single decision you make. And this is why people say, well, I don't have to pray about that. That's just natural. Well, you know what natural is in the Bible? It's bad news. The natural man is a lost man and it's our naturalness that gets us in trouble. And so we're to seek him continually and the reason we're to seek him continually is just what he said.

He said, seek me continually because my ways are higher than your ways, my thoughts are higher than your thoughts and if you're always seeking me and seeking my divine guidance, I'm going to protect you from making the wrong decision, which could be a terrible decision in your life. Then of course we're to seek him confidently. And you see, this is part of the issue. Some of you have been sitting here already and saying, well, that's what he does in your life, but he won't do that in my life.

Yes, he will, because he loves every single one of us. And that's why he says those who come to him must come to him believing him, trusting him, seeking him. More homes, more people, more trouble, more trial, more heartache, but more uncertainty for the future than ever before in the history of this nation. We need a personal intimate relationship with God, second to none, seeking him above everything else there is in life.

And when we do, we're going to come out wise. Then he says we're to seek him, for example, humbly. And Psalm chapter 10 for a moment. Listen to this passage. Everything that we need some direction about is in the word of God. Listen to what he says in the fourth verse of the 10th Psalm. Watch this. The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek him. All his thoughts are there is no God.

Here's the worst thing that can happen to you. When you get to the place in life you think, I don't need to go to church, I don't need God and you think, well, people don't say that. Yes, they do. Here's what they'll say. They'll say to me, why do I need God? I have my family, I have a nice home, I have a nice car, I got a good job, I got income, I got plenty of money in the bank. Why do I need God?

And I want to say to them, the only assurance you and I have in this life is Jesus. He is the only assurance we ultimately have. And because he's the Lord and he's the Lord of our life, whether we acknowledge it or not, we ought to be pursuing that relationship above everything else in life because the truth is we're totally dependent upon him and pride and arrogance is absolutely destructive every single time, no exception.

He says we're to seek him and that is we are to come to him because we know we need him and we desire him and love him. Now, there are so many other things I could say, but I want to bring this down to when should the unbeliever seek the Lord? I could spend time telling you what God promises to do when we seek him and there's a list of things. He, for example, he says he'll reward us, bless us, be good to us, do good things for us. We won't miss out on any good. In other words, his promises are multiple.

But what about the unbeliever? When should the unbeliever seek God? So I want to give you a couple of verses and I go back to Isaiah 55 for a moment. When should the unbeliever seek God? And here's what he says. Read it to you already. There's a key word here. Look at this. The Bible says, watch this, verse six. You listening? Say amen. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Secondly, call upon him while he is near.

While he may be found. If you sin and sin and sin and sin and you become hardened to the things of God, what happens is you don't care. It isn't that God ceases to care. You don't care. This is why it is so absolute dangerous to listen to the gospel. He said seek him while he may be found. When you listen and you sense something in your heart, it may be conviction, it may be questions, doubts, whatever it is. But listen, while he may be found.

Oftentimes God is knocking on your heart's door and you don't even realize it. You think it's something somebody else is doing. Seek him while he may be found. Listen, he says call upon him while he is near. That is a sense of the nearness of God. You can't put your finger on it. You can't explain it. You just know that God's there. And you know what that is? That's the Holy Spirit making you aware that you are sitting or standing or lying in the presence of Almighty God and he is ready to do something in your life.

And if you're willing to ask him to forgive you of your sins and to cleanse you based on what he did at Calvary, he's ready to radically change your life in that given moment. You will have responded to the conviction of the Holy Spirit and in doing so he forgives you, cleanses you, writes your name in the Lamb's Book of Life. Your life is changed forever. He says seek him while he's near. While he can be found.

Or if you let your heart get hard and you listen, you walk out of church and you say, well, I got some friends I'm meeting with and you go out tonight and you drink and you carouse around and you know what happens? You just got a little bit harder. It's dangerous. It's dangerous to hear the gospel and to reject it. The hardness of your heart. You become callous. You say I've heard that for years and years and years and it hasn't made any difference in my life. Could be one of the worst things you could ever say.

He says we are to seek him and we are to seek him with all of our heart. There's no time in life when we shouldn't be seeking him. And when he says when he's near, you say, well, what do you mean near? I mean near. And if you're a believer, you understand what I'm saying. I give you an example in my own heart. There are times, for example, and this is not the only time, especially when I'm studying and I'm sitting there reading the word and I'm not trying to get something for me.

I'm just sitting there reading the word of God and sometimes I'm just working on a message. All of a sudden, I break out crying. It used to confuse me and then I began to realize, God, you're just giving me the awareness of your awesome presence. I have no explanation. I don't have to explain anything. I just know he's there. And sometimes I just get on my knees and weep and weep and weep and you know what? When I get up, if you asked me, well, what happened? I guess God was just loving me. That's all I can tell you.

Watch this. It has nothing to do with being a pastor. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing. It has to do with if you and I are available for the Lord to show up sometime and just love on us and remind us how good he is and realize why we should be seeking him because he's seeking us. He's seeking to sit on the throne of your heart. He's seeking to be number one in your life. He's seeking you to listen to him so he can position you, so he can bless you with his best.

It's God working. It would be a shame for you to listen to this message and just let it aside. It would be worse than a shame because remember this, you and I are responsible for all the truth that we hear and all you've done is hear the truth. And all I've really said to you is listen, seek the Lord. Talk to him, listen to him, build a relationship, watch how he works, observe his work in a way that you can profit from it, that you can be drawn closer to him, more intimately with him, so he can use you to the maximum of your potential.

You don't want to waste your life. You don't get but one trip. And that's my prayer for you. If you've never trusted Jesus Christ as your savior, here's what you can do. Realizing that you've sinned against God and that your sins, the Bible says, God says, have separated there is between you and God is that sin. And that sin blocks out his blessing. It hinders what he wants to do in your life. He will radically change your life for good.

Listen, you will be eternally grateful that he put up with you and was patient with you until the moment you trusted him as your savior. If you ask him to forgive you of your sins, not based on how good you've been, you don't have any goodness. But based on the fact that he went to the cross, laid down his life, paid the price. You say, what's this price? God is a just God. Watch this carefully. God is a just God, which means he only does what's right.

When he said the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The wages of sin is death. Well, how can God forgive you when he says the soul that sinneth, it shall die spiritually, eternally? Here's how he did it. When God the Father who gave the law sent his son to die on the cross, he was his perfect son, the perfect sacrifice. He killed his son on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for your sins. The only sacrifice that could possibly have been acceptable because he was perfect.

And it's his death and God's acceptance of his death as payment for the sin of the world so that any person who comes to him based on the fact they're accepting Jesus Christ as their personal savior, you're forgiven of your sins. Your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. You're forever a child of God. That's what can happen to you right now if you'll let him do it. Surrendering your life to him and from this moment on, make him the priority of your life. Everything changes.

Guest (Male): Thanks for joining us on In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. Seeking God requires patience and persistence. Believers who develop genuine intimacy with him realize that nothing can compare to a growing relationship with Christ. To hear this message again, click Today on Radio at intouch.org and look around our website to find helpful resources to guide you as you walk through life with God.

If you go to the bookstore page, you can order a copy of Dr. Stanley's complete message, Seeking the Lord. Again, you'll find these resources at intouch.org. And to call or text, the number is simply 1-800-INTOUCH. To write to us, address your letter to In Touch, Post Office Box 7900, Atlanta, Georgia 30357. Is your moral alarm system functioning properly? Consider the state of your conscience on today's moment with Charles Stanley. That's on the way.

Guest (Male): We're not the first to seek a life of purpose. The Bible tells of many who followed a specific path step by step, with courage, with surrender, for a deeper purpose, a stronger passion, a lasting peace. Introducing Your Path to Purpose, Passion, and Peace, a new 90-day devotional inspired by the timeless teaching of Dr. Charles Stanley. Available now at intouch.org/store.

Guest (Female): From the Pastor's Heart is an in-depth teaching letter inspired by the teachings of Dr. Charles Stanley. To receive In Touch's From the Pastor's Heart letter, call 1-800-INTOUCH or visit intouch.org/pastorsheart.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Let your time and your schedule and everything about you revolve around this. That you and I are to develop and continue to develop this ongoing, intimate, wonderful, exciting, satisfying, indescribable, wonderful, incomparable relationship with a personal God.

Guest (Male): Dr. Stanley devoted his entire life to helping us get closer to Jesus, as we all want to do. You can learn how at charlesstanleyinstitute.org. You're listening to In Touch.

Dr. Charles Stanley: Everybody needs an alarm system. I'm talking about on the inside. And you do have one whether you're listening or not. Now, I can tell you how mine sounds. Mine doesn't have an audible sound, but it sounds like in my spirit, static. Something's not right. When I get static in my soul, I know I'm heading in the wrong direction. I'm thinking the wrong thing. I need to back off and say, okay, God, what are you saying to me?

You say, well, God doesn't operate my life that way. Yes, he will. Your static may not be the same mine is, but what he does, it's that sense of uncertainty, that sense of lack of assurance. Can't put your finger on it. You can't exactly name it, but you know it's static. And every time I have ever violated that, it was the wrong thing to do because listen, God has given you a conscience and he's given you knowledge and understanding and if you have a relationship with him, listen, if you want your alarm to work every single time, obey God.

Commit yourself to live obediently to him and you know what he's going to do? Anytime you're heading in the wrong direction, static comes on. Why? Because he loves you. Because he's so willing, he's so willing to accurately guide you in every single decision you make.

Guest (Male): A believer's life is best lived in surrender to Jesus. Learn more at intouch.org. How are you encouraged by today's moment? Please let us know about it. Tomorrow on In Touch, we all have needs and we all want solutions, but what we need to do is wait on God's timing and provision. Our next program teaches us an important lesson on how to get our needs met God's way. I hope you'll join us Friday for In Touch, the teaching ministry of Dr. Charles Stanley. This program is a presentation of In Touch Ministries, Atlanta, Georgia, and remains on this station through the grace of God and your faithful prayers and gifts.