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I have chosen to seek Him… "With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments!" - Psalms 119:10 NKJV Have you ever considered what it means to seek God with your whole heart? ‘Whole’ means everything. Not some; not half; not even 99% - it means everything with nothing left over; it means full pursuit; it means your complete desire is for that which you are pursuing, or in this case, Who you are pursuing. It’s not uncommon to hear people say how busy they are, and because of that, it’s easy to let some things slide when it comes to our walk with God. We may not pray every day because we are tired. We may not read our Bible every day because something came up and we didn’t get to finish it. We might say, “I can’t go to church because I’ve been invited to spend time with a friend whom I don’t get to see very often. God seems to get our leftovers sometimes rather than our best. Some may say, “I live under grace, not law” or “God sees my heart…” Luke 6:44 tells us that a tree is known by its fruit, however the word known literally means ‘found out’. God does see our heart because our lives give evidence of that. Let me challenge you from today to begin asking this question: “How important is this to God”. Seeking Him with your whole heart is a lifelong pursuit, but know this, God is pursuing you with His whole heart also, so you can’t lose. Declaration Starter: “I declare that I am committed to a wholehearted pursuit of God. I will live to please Him in all I do. He has pursued me with his whole heart, so I will honour Him with no less…” 
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“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,’ says the Lord God. ‘I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.’” - Revelation 1:8 NLT As human beings, we are limited by time and space. We think in terms of what we can see, comprehend and measure. Just trying to comprehend God never being created is a stretch for our minds because of our limits to time and space. Well, understanding our ability to work with time and space, let’s look at something regarding God that we will understand. God is the ‘Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end’. As He is the beginning, He is also the first. The enemy is not. He always comes to try and bring division. He will tell you that he is too powerful, that you don’t matter that much, or God can’t respond, or whatever lie he can come up with to make you think God is either not going to, or is not able to do anything on your behalf. But lock into the truth that the enemy has no power, God is your first. You are in covenant relationship with Him; you were made in His image; and you have His authority. You are part of Father’s immediate family and you matter a great deal to Him. Now, say this out loud, “My Father is my beginning and my end.” Everything starts and ends with Him. He is your boundary line. Nothing exists outside of Him because everything is in Him. Today, no matter what you face, know that you will do it with God because He is your boundary, He is your beginning and end. Declaration Starter: “I declare that that God is the beginning and the end of everything. He created all things and He is more powerful than anything we will ever face. My trust is in Him...”  "Even Death and Destruction hold no secrets from the Lord. How much more does He know the human heart!" - Proverbs 15:11 NLT How amazing is it that God knows everything? He knows every thought you have, every secret you have, and every struggle you have, no matter what it is, no matter how insignificant or substantial, no matter who it’s about and no matter how happy or painful it may be to you. There is no secret you have that He doesn’t know about. You may wonder why that is so amazing but the truth is, that it means that you can never bring anything before Father that will surprise Him. There is nothing you can say that will cause Him to fall off His throne in shock. Not only that, He can sympathise with our weaknesses because He was tempted in all areas like we are. (Hebrews 4:15). He knows you intimately, and He still loves you unconditionally. That is so freeing, because it means that no matter what secrets we have, we can share them with Him, knowing that He isn’t shocked, surprised, or even disappointed. He wants to us to share everything with Him. Go to Him in faith. The very think you don’t know how to put in words, He already knows. Just go before Him and be open and honest and let Him lead you. You’ll be glad you did. Declaration Starter: “I declare that there is nothing that God doesn’t know. Even death and destruction hold no secrets from Him. He even knows the secrets of my heart and I know can trust Him with them all…”  "Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You." - Psalms 119:11 NKJV When you hide something, your purpose is to stop someone from coming along and stealing it. Think about that for a moment. We all know the enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy, so the purpose of hiding God’s Word in our heart is so that he can’t come along and steal it from us, because he will come along and try to tell us God will let us down, that He won’t heal us, that He won’t provide for us, and that He won’t care for us. He wants to discredit God so that our trust isn’t in Him. Another meaning of the word ‘hidden’, is to treasure, or to store up. The purpose of this is to have an ample supply so that in the time of need, you have exactly what you need. When you have unexpected bills, or when your child makes some bad decisions, or when you have been diagnosed with a life threatening disease or sickness, it’s the wrong time to Google verses that speak about God’s provision, parenting, or healing. You need those verses stored up in your spirit so that in times of crisis you have something already bedded down so tightly that it’s a solid foundation to build on. Start hiding away God’s word in your heart so that when troubles raise their head, you can stand on God’s promises and say with confidence and boldness, “In Jesus name, I declare…!” Declaration Starter: “I declare your word to be a source of both wisdom and counsel. I will choose to hide Your Word deep in my heart and mind so that I will not sin against You…”  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” - 2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV The word heritage is a really powerful word, but when used in this verse, it is referring to ‘property, possession and inheritance’. It is referring to something we have now, not because of who we are, but because of the One Whom we are related to. The moment we accepted Jesus Christ as our Saviour, He forgave us and wiped our slate clean. Not only that, He gave us a new heritage. Read this verse again - “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”. When Father looks at you, He sees the new creation that you are through Jesus Christ and if He sees you that way, then it would do you good to see yourself that way. You have both His heritage and His righteousness (Isaiah 54:17). It all comes from Him, and because it is His gift to you, the enemy can’t walk in and steal it. No weapon formed against you will prosper because you are a new creation - a child of the Living God. As you declare whom you are, let the truth of that soak deep into your spirit and become part of your identity. Declaration Starter: “I declare that I have a an amazing, God-given heritage. No weapon formed to harm me shall ever prosper and every tongue that speaks against who I am in Christ is wrong and void of any power. I am who God created me to be. My heritage and my righteousness are gifts given to me through Christ. I am His child, and He is my Father…”  "Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires." - Romans 13:14 NLT What does it mean ‘to clothe yourself with the presence of Jesus Christ’? Well, when you get dressed in the morning and you are considering what to wear, one of the things that influence your decision is what you will be doing during the day. For example, if I am going to do some painting, I have some old clothes that I will wear specifically for that task. If I am going to a wedding, then I might wear a suit. For each thing I do, or place I go, I will consider what I am doing and dress accordingly. The choice of clothing matches what I will doing and I decide before I do it, not after. With this in mind, consider that clothing ourselves in Christ means we would have considered what we will be doing for the day. Our human flesh can cause us to desire certain things, but we need to remember that if we are intentionally clothed in Christ, then realistically we will have predetermined what we will be doing. The verse above warns us not to let ourselves think about ways we can indulge our evil desires. For us to do that, we need to predetermine what clothes we will be wearing. Hebrews 13:5 says that our Father will never leave us nor forsake us, so whilst it might not be easy to ‘take Him off’ we can certainly be intentional choose how we will clothe ourselves. What are you wearing today? Declaration Starter: “I declare that the natural and fleshly lusts have no place in my life because I am clothed with the Lord Jesus Christ. He walks with me; He watches everything I do and say; He counsels me; and He delivers me every day of my life…”  “I declare that God is amazing, wonderful, glorious and all powerful! He is exalted above absolutely everything. May His glory shine over all the earth Because His unfailing love is greater than anything. His faithfulness is far reaching. I choose to thank You, Lord, for all You have done. I will sing your praises among the nations.” (Psalms 108:3-5)
 Last week I preached a message titled ‘Alignment’. There have been a number of sermons over the last 10 months that have looked at ways to equip us and empower us to walk not only as children of God who are in relationship with Him, but as a people with authority. The challenge for us is that if we don’t choose to align with the truth of the Gospel, and walk in obedience to that, then they are nothing more than just messages.
The word Alignment is a noun. It shows something that is complete. For me to be in alignment with God, I need to align myself to Him. That is where the action happens. As I align myself with Him, I make the change. God doesn’t need to come into alignment with me because He is perfect. I need to align myself with Him. I need to do the work. As I said last week, “Too often, we are wanting God to do all the hard work. If we want to be like God, then we need to align ourselves with Him. We need to be the one’s who will pay the price and action out the change.” If you are wondering whether you are in alignment with God, imagine yourself doing an activity you really enjoy. Now imagine the Holy Spirit suddenly asking you to stop doing it. How would you respond? Would you ignore Him, or would obey because you are choosing to remain aligned with Him? The simple truth is that when we are not aligned with God, we don’t care what He thinks. When we choose to be aligned, we respond to His convictions. Sometimes it might be after stamping our foot a bit, sometimes it might be after wrestling with Him over it, but we choose to align ourselves, because we know He has something greater for you. This week, I want to challenge you to ask God to point out things in your life that need adjustment (we all have them). Then simply choose to align yourselves with God. He’s worth it. Have an amazing week, Adrian Nyhuis  Luke 7:36-50 gives an account of a woman who anointed Jesus with a very expensive perfume. In verse 37 she is described as a sinner and her actions show she was weeping, as well as anointing and kissing Jesus feet with expensive perfume that filled the whole room with a fragrance. She wasn’t just a servant doing a job, there was evidently a visible repentance there. What was she doing? She was aligning herself with Jesus.
Alignment is an interesting word. It is not an action, it is something that is complete. We can’t have alignment without first choosing to align ourselves. The action has to come first. Too often we ask Jesus to do the work. I read an article the other day and the heading was “Lord, align my heart with yours.” Too often, we are wanting God to do all the hard work. If we want to be like God, then we need to align ourselves with Him. We need to be the one’s who will pay the price and action out the change. Alignment isn’t always easy or cheap, but it is worth it, and it will be noticed, especially by Jesus. If we look at Matthew and Marks account of the event, we see that the perfume was very expensive. It cost her something, but she didn’t care. Repentance and alignment may cost something, but can we really place a value on our salvation? How much value do we place on Jesus? What cost are you prepared to pay to be aligned with Him. In John’s account, he tells us that the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. You can rest assured, Jesus notices when we sacrifice ourselves and the things of the world, and choose to align ourselves with Him. Alignment can be a challenge for some people, because in order to align ourselves with God, we need to align in everything, not only some thing, but rest assured, the rewards are incredible. God’s plans are to give you a hope and a future, so why not align yourself with Him today. Have an amazing week, Adrian Nyhuis |
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