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bigmike

5 Steps to Satisfaction in God
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13
If you have an unsatisfied hunger for God deep down within your heart, no matter how far away he seems or how miserable you may be, be encouraged. You are spiritually alive God’s Spirit is prodding you to seek and to find him. But you may be thinking, “you don’t understand. I’d like to know God, but I’m not even sure he’s there, so how can I find him?”
Now, that’s a legitimate concern. Guy Duffield used to tell of a man who was in trouble in his personal life. A friend suggested that he pray about his troubles. But the man countered, “how can I pray when I don’t know whether there is a God or not”? Luck countered the friend, “If you are lost in the forest you don’t wait until you find somebody before you start shouting for help. You shout to find out if someone is there.”
How do you find God? It’s not as difficult as some make the task. Actually, a lot of people talk about searching for God when they really don’t want to encounter him any more than a thief wants to run a red light and rear in the police car. Here are several simple guidelines that will help you find God.
Guideline #1: Overcome your awkwardness in reaching out to a God, whom you cannot see. Some folks talk about “finding God” when in reality, like a shepherd searching for lost sheep, he’s been there searching for them, allowing them to get to the end of their resources so they will hear his call and grasp the hand of the shepherd which has been reaching out towards them.
Guideline #2: Ask God to reveal himself to you. That’s like driving a stake in the ground or running up a flag that says, “I’m lost, but here I am. Now God, send someone to help me find my way back home.” God is far more desirous of a relationship with you than you are with him. He gave us some powerful promises in his word. Like what? Jeremiah 19:13 says, “you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Most of us don’t doubt ‘that God is there. We simply don’t know how to connect with him. When you pray a simple prayer like, “God, I know you’re there, and I want to know you personally,” you have gone on record as being a seeker.
Guideline #3: Talk to someone who knows him. The television program called “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” captured the interest of people. When a contestant gets stuck, he can make a phone call to an expert. He wants to talk with someone who has the answer. Do the same thing in your quest for God!
Guideline #4: Find out for yourself. What book tells us about God? There is one which is tested and true. It’s called the Bible. Now I’ve spent a lifetime studying this book, and I’m convinced the message is accurate and true. It answers the hard questions of life: Who am I? Where did I come from? Where do I go after I die? It tells me that God’s grace and forgiveness are the answer to my failure, And if you want to know who God is, this book accurately and simply answers that question.
Guideline #5: Accept and embrace the truth as you encounter it. “But doesn’t everyone?” you ask. Not really. Some confront the truth and, fearful that God might not be as good as others say, they just keep on walking through the wood yelling for help, rejecting the shepherd of their soul who is trying to show them the way home. Remember, when you’re lost in the forest, you don’t wait until you find someone before you shout for help.
Resource reading: John 3:1-21

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