ROOTED RENEGADE

Jeremiah 29:13 says “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart.”

What is it that you are seeking with all your heart these days?  

Is it more power and prestige within your sphere of influence?  Is it more honor within your family or among your peers or coworkers?  Maybe you are seeking to make space for yourself in an atmosphere where there is already space for you, you just have yet to walk in it?  Or possibly the thing you are seeking with all your heart doesn’t have to do with position or placement but rather people.  

Could it be that you are seeking a person to validate you in ways you don’t feel internally?  Are you suffering from low self-esteem or lack of confidence in the abilities God gave you so, from your heart you start seeking that person who will affirm you…no matter the cost?  Maybe, you are the one whose behaviors are leaning more towards the one who runs down the white rabbit holes of chaos and destruction because you haven’t figured out a way out of them and asking for help may look like weakness or insecurity, you don’t, but instead you inadvertently bring people along for the ride or to provide assistance in crisis.  

You could be the person who seeks nothing from no one.  The independent type who can do it all by themselves, because after all, everyone lets you down anyway, and it’s just better to do it alone, right?!  You might even be the type who sees the world through a bird’s eye view and thinks that if the world owes you anything it’s a pat on the back for how hard you have worked to get where you are!  After all, it wasn’t easy after all you have been through and the mountains and latter you have climbed (maybe even people).  

Hey, maybe you are that loving, gracious type that wants nothing more that world peace and you seek with all your heart to end world hunger and kids being sold into slavery.  I’m right there with ya!  But I have to tell ya…I know there is more.  

You see, what we seek with ALL our heart ends up taking the place of our devotion to God. It ends up becoming an idol and therefore replaces what we should hold in our hearts and have overflowing from our hearts first and foremost…true devotion and worship to God.  We get so caught up in the day to day activities of our lives, and often who we think we are or should be, that we remove God from our hearts and begin to fill it with other things.  Such as our favorite Starbucks drink every morning that we rush to get when we used to spend that time in devotion before heading to work.  Or that new outfit that costs $100 each month that now replaces our tithes and offerings at church because we signed up for this new clothing box each month from an ad we saw on Instagram.  Maybe we spend more time on the sofa Netflix and chillin’ because we started binge watching this new series and quit our daily Bible reading which has now turned into six months of “binge” watching.

You see, when the prophet Jeremiah was told, “You will seek me and find me when you search for me with with all of your heart”, it was not a passive message from God.  It was a call to action.  It was a message of action for Jeremiah and the Israelites to seek out the Lord God in everything they did, search for the Lord God everywhere they were to go and in everything, and to make sure their heart posture was solely set on the Lord God.  It was not a passive message of, “Well today if you feel like seeking me, that’s cool, I will just be hanging out in this corner, no worries”.  It was a “Hey!  I’m here, I have this really amazing plan for your life, but I’m gonna need you to talk to me, because I want to give it to you.  I’m not some random idol that is sitting on a shelf here.  I’m God.  You know the One Who Made You!”  

You know, maybe it is just me, but I feel God is that personal.  I feel like He is that BIG and that loving to be like: “Hey! Just need you to talk to me because like my Word says, got these amazing plans for your life, to bring me glory, just need you to listen because it is really good.  You may not always agree, but if you just could see what I see!  Whoa!  It would blow you away how much I love you!”

Maybe we would begin to seek him with ALL our heart instead of placing other things above him.  The words on the pages of the Bible are not just words…..they are alive, active, and will help you activate whatever needs activating in your life.

Are you ready?  Do you want to seek the Lord?  Do you need to remove some things  off the thrown of your heart so that He can have His rightful place on it?  It is never to late to start and you never have to be perfect.  He leaves the 99 for the 1 every time. 

Start now my friend….it is the redemptive work of the cross where the blood of Jesus sets you free.  Be covered and washed by the Blood of the Lamb!  

Walk in freedom today!

Praying for you friend!

Faythe Kadona