Loyal
Touching God!
Acts 17:24,God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Acts 17:25,Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Acts 17:26, And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
Acts 17:27, THAT THEY SHOULD SEEK THE LORD, IF HAPLY THEY MIGHT FEEL AFTER HIM, AND FIND HIM, though he be not far from every one of us:
Acts 17:28, For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
It is interesting to note, that God has determined, (prearranged), the times of every nation on earth, and not only nations but people themselves, when and where they should live, and at what times
in history. He has set the boundaries of every nation, and people. Thank God I live in a time were we have air conditioning, and ice cubes!!! God has prearranged my life, in what time in history I was to live, and he has set the bounds of where I was going to dwell here on earth. If this is true, and it is, then the Lord knew from the beginning everything I was going to experience, and there location on earth from the day I was born, up to my physical death. He knew all my encounters I would face, weather it be good or bad. The Lord knew what my reaction would be to these experiences, we do not know what our reactions will be, until they come. God tells us his purpose in verse 27, “THAT THEY SHOULD SEEK THE LORD, IF HAPLY THEY MIGHT FEEL AFTER HIM, AND FIND HIM...”.
When we suffer the loss of a loved one, especially, some one very young, whether killed through sickness, or other tragic events, it causes us to seek the Lord for answers and comfort. God does not kill in order to draw people to himself, and he does not cause it. The Lord has received a lot of blame for things he never caused. We live in a broken world, and scripture tells us that “the whole world lieth in wickedness, and is under the control of the wicked one”, 1 John 5:19, amp.
The Lord knows every thing before it happens, that's why we have a responsibility to pray for one another so that these things don't happen. Remember when Jesus prayed for Peter?
Luke 22:31, And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luke 22:32, But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
What would have happened if Jesus had not prayed for Peter, would his faith have failed? Probably so. The word, “SEEK”, means. “to inquire, to locate, to discover, and establish the existence of something.” In trying times of our life, when we find no answers that the world can give us to the things we are experiencing, we seek the Lord, we inquire, we try to locate the Lord to get answers to help us.
“...If haply they (we) might feel after him, and find him..”, The word, “HAPLY”, means, “opportunity, perhaps, perchance, possibility”. In trials, tests, and in life's struggles, it gives us the opportunity to seek the Lord , that we,“MIGHT FEEL AFTER HIM, AND FIND HIM...”. The word, “FEEL”, means, “TO TOUCH, HANDLE, TO ACCEPT AS EVIDENCE”. Everything we encounter in this world, every trial, and test, causes us to seek the Lord for the opportunity to touch, feel, handle, Jesus Christ!!! When we find Jesus, we have located where he is, and have obtained the prize that we have been looking for. The word, “FIND”, means "to locate where something is, and then obtain it."
The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:8, says, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under
great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that WE DESPAIRED OF LIFE ITSELF. “
2Corinthians 1:9, Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death .BUT THIS HAPPENED THAT WE MIGHT NOT RELY ON OURSELVES BUT ON GOD, WHO RAISES THE DEAD.(NIV)
Paul said, all these things happened so he would not trust in himself, but in the living God...He thought for sure his life was over, they were under great pressure beyond their ability to endure. Have you ever fell like that before? I have!!
They had the perfect opportunity to seek, and touch Christ to find him in this situation. God's will for his church today, is so that we all trust in him for everything, at all times. The Word of God tells us to, “LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE”, We can not lay hold upon something we can not touch!!!The Word would never tell us to do something we couldn't, would it?
Job learned this great lesson through all of his troubles. Job lost everything including his family, and all of his possessions. Listen to what Job said in the very last chapter of the book of Job......
Job 42:5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; (ESV)
Job went from a person who knew about God through the hearing of his ears on his head, to seeing God. Job “touched” God by seeing him. Does this mean that only through troubles in our life we can
touch the Lord God? Absolutely not!!! We human beings with a human nature have this tendency to once every thing is going well with our life we slack off, and kick back. The hardest time to seek the Lord is when I have plenty of money in my bank account, all my bills are paid, and no one is sick in my family. Why seek the Lord when I have no needs? When things get hard, and there is no money to pay our bills then we seek the Lord, and cry out for help, and wonder why is all this is happening... Lord, I am being good.
We should never stop seeking the Lord whether or not bad or good things are happening in and around us because the Lord will keep us in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him.
Acts 17:24,God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Acts 17:25,Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Acts 17:26, And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
Acts 17:27, THAT THEY SHOULD SEEK THE LORD, IF HAPLY THEY MIGHT FEEL AFTER HIM, AND FIND HIM, though he be not far from every one of us:
Acts 17:28, For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
It is interesting to note, that God has determined, (prearranged), the times of every nation on earth, and not only nations but people themselves, when and where they should live, and at what times
in history. He has set the boundaries of every nation, and people. Thank God I live in a time were we have air conditioning, and ice cubes!!! God has prearranged my life, in what time in history I was to live, and he has set the bounds of where I was going to dwell here on earth. If this is true, and it is, then the Lord knew from the beginning everything I was going to experience, and there location on earth from the day I was born, up to my physical death. He knew all my encounters I would face, weather it be good or bad. The Lord knew what my reaction would be to these experiences, we do not know what our reactions will be, until they come. God tells us his purpose in verse 27, “THAT THEY SHOULD SEEK THE LORD, IF HAPLY THEY MIGHT FEEL AFTER HIM, AND FIND HIM...”.
When we suffer the loss of a loved one, especially, some one very young, whether killed through sickness, or other tragic events, it causes us to seek the Lord for answers and comfort. God does not kill in order to draw people to himself, and he does not cause it. The Lord has received a lot of blame for things he never caused. We live in a broken world, and scripture tells us that “the whole world lieth in wickedness, and is under the control of the wicked one”, 1 John 5:19, amp.
The Lord knows every thing before it happens, that's why we have a responsibility to pray for one another so that these things don't happen. Remember when Jesus prayed for Peter?
Luke 22:31, And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
Luke 22:32, But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
What would have happened if Jesus had not prayed for Peter, would his faith have failed? Probably so. The word, “SEEK”, means. “to inquire, to locate, to discover, and establish the existence of something.” In trying times of our life, when we find no answers that the world can give us to the things we are experiencing, we seek the Lord, we inquire, we try to locate the Lord to get answers to help us.
“...If haply they (we) might feel after him, and find him..”, The word, “HAPLY”, means, “opportunity, perhaps, perchance, possibility”. In trials, tests, and in life's struggles, it gives us the opportunity to seek the Lord , that we,“MIGHT FEEL AFTER HIM, AND FIND HIM...”. The word, “FEEL”, means, “TO TOUCH, HANDLE, TO ACCEPT AS EVIDENCE”. Everything we encounter in this world, every trial, and test, causes us to seek the Lord for the opportunity to touch, feel, handle, Jesus Christ!!! When we find Jesus, we have located where he is, and have obtained the prize that we have been looking for. The word, “FIND”, means "to locate where something is, and then obtain it."
The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:8, says, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under
great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that WE DESPAIRED OF LIFE ITSELF. “
2Corinthians 1:9, Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death .BUT THIS HAPPENED THAT WE MIGHT NOT RELY ON OURSELVES BUT ON GOD, WHO RAISES THE DEAD.(NIV)
Paul said, all these things happened so he would not trust in himself, but in the living God...He thought for sure his life was over, they were under great pressure beyond their ability to endure. Have you ever fell like that before? I have!!
They had the perfect opportunity to seek, and touch Christ to find him in this situation. God's will for his church today, is so that we all trust in him for everything, at all times. The Word of God tells us to, “LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE”, We can not lay hold upon something we can not touch!!!The Word would never tell us to do something we couldn't, would it?
Job learned this great lesson through all of his troubles. Job lost everything including his family, and all of his possessions. Listen to what Job said in the very last chapter of the book of Job......
Job 42:5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; (ESV)
Job went from a person who knew about God through the hearing of his ears on his head, to seeing God. Job “touched” God by seeing him. Does this mean that only through troubles in our life we can
touch the Lord God? Absolutely not!!! We human beings with a human nature have this tendency to once every thing is going well with our life we slack off, and kick back. The hardest time to seek the Lord is when I have plenty of money in my bank account, all my bills are paid, and no one is sick in my family. Why seek the Lord when I have no needs? When things get hard, and there is no money to pay our bills then we seek the Lord, and cry out for help, and wonder why is all this is happening... Lord, I am being good.
We should never stop seeking the Lord whether or not bad or good things are happening in and around us because the Lord will keep us in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on him.
