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May grace take you from where you are in your life to where God wants you to be, that you may experience His peace that is wholeness in your life. And it does not happen automatically; rather it is a process that involves your faith and focus, a desire and determination in you, one that the apostle Peter describes in God’s word as, He who would love life and to see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil to do what is good; let him seek peace and pursue it. [1 Peter 3:10,11] The peace that comes to you from God is one that removes the lack that you may be experiencing right now in any particular area of your life, through receiving and applying all that He has prepared for you. It is a promise that comes with an accompanying procedure that makes it all possible. A covenant relationship with Him is how it comes to you, an everlasting covenant of peace.
And in the New Testament, the dispensation in which you and I are privileged to live now, it is the new covenant that is in operation. It is one that was instituted and inaugurated by the Lord Himself on the night that He was betrayed. He knew what lay ahead of Him on that terrible Cross. He knew that the chastisement for our peace would be laid on Him when He said to the disciples, as He broke the bread, ‘Take eat, it is My Body that has been broken for you’, and lifted up the cup of wine to say, ‘This is My Blood of the New Covenant that has been shed for you for the remission of your sins’. The Lord has through His death on the Cross, by one perfect sacrifice, perfected forever those who draw near to God through Him in faith. It is through Christ’s work on Calvary’s Cross that the new covenant was ratified, to blossom in your life as a life that is abundant and eternal, one that has been set free from the clutches of sin, death and the evil one. He has paid the price, and done it all to purchase a redemption that is eternal.
And where does your responsibility lie, in order to partake of the goodness that is yours through it ?
It is to put your faith in the covenant, even as the eternal God, who loves you with an everlasting love, remains faithful to His covenant forever. His covenant is one that is eternal. It is an everlasting covenant in which He promises to establish and multiply you and make you increase, and not diminish.
Planted in the house of God :
This is the manner in which God desires to make you increase and flourish, to prosper and experience peace in your life. The psalmist captures the essence of it, as he compares the man who is blessed by God, to a tree that is rooted and planted. And, the key lies in where he is planted, for David, the psalmist specifies that, Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. [Psalm 92:13] David earlier, in the psalm that is so familiar to one and all, establishes the connection between dwelling in the house of God forever, and goodness and mercy following him all the days of his life. [Psalm 23:6] And, not just as a single entity, when the children of God are gathered together in His house in an assembly, the psalmist declares that in such a scenario, all of them are abundantly satisfied by the fullness of His House. [Psalm 36:8] It is why the writer to the Hebrews cautions the children of God who find themselves in the habit of neglecting the gathering of saints.
For being part of a local church, and participating in it is vital in order to receive eternal encouragement that leads a person towards progress and growth. It is the thrust of the truth that the writer establishes. [Hebrews 10:24] The psalmist on the other hand had a great revelation concerning the house of God that led to tremendous reverence in him towards it. And, it is reflected in his words of passion and zeal, as he expresses his feelings regarding God’s temple, His House and His courts.
A day in the courts of God & a doorkeeper in His house :
Better is one day in the courts of God than a thousand elsewhere; and I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God, than dwell in the tents of wickedness. [Psalm 84:10] The verse above describes not just the depth of emotions that David had for the house of God, but reveals also the importance of it in his life. And it is the perspective that needs to be in every child of God concerning the local church. For, church is not just about membership. The truth of it extends far beyond it into the spiritual realms. And it is they who are planted in the house of God who prosper and flourish in their lives, to remain fruitful even in their old age.
David knew the value and significance of the house of God in his life, knowing well that it was the word from God that he received there, which would make him live and not merely survive in the world. He knew what needed to be the priority in his life, and also the right approach to it. And today, his prayer serves as an invaluable benchmark of your relationship with God. It is also one that you can offer unto God, to see transformation begin to happen within you.
‘One thing I ask & that which I also seek’:
David, a man after God’s own heart, displays in his words of focus and passion, the undivided attention that he desires to have when it comes to his relationship with God; ‘One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that will I seek; it is that I may dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life; To behold the beauty of the Lord, and inquire in His Temple’ [Psalm 27:4] What takes place within you in church ought to settle you and bring about an experience of God’s peace in you, to remove all that had been disturbing and unsettling you in life until then. And, thus it is that, when you are planted in the house of God, you increase and flourish, to prosper in your life, so that you may declare the goodness and faithfulness of God. And in the whole process, there are two key questions that you need to ask yourself. They are,
What do I ask of God ? And, what do I then seek ?
For, if it is by faith that you ask God in prayer, and what you then seek, ought to be your faith expressing itself in works. But, when there is a dichotomy between what you ask, and what you then seek after, the end result would be not what you had asked for in faith. For, as it is written in God’s word, faith without works is dead. You will also find recorded in God’s word how Elijah after praying in faith, for rain that would end the long period of drought, then immediately acted in line with his asking in his seeking. For, he then bid his servant to go and look for a sign of rain; and he also kept seeking till he was able to see the cloud that was the size of a man’s hand; and he knew that his answer to prayer had arrived ! [1 Kings 18:41 and 19:8] Faith always involves focus; a fixing of your eyes upon Jesus who is the author and finisher of your faith.
And, as the book of Hebrews very clearly declares, the Israelites failed in entering and possessing what was given to them by God, to experience His rest in them only because, all but two of them, did not combine their faith with the appropriate action, and hence were led to unbelief that became their downfall. [Hebrews 3:16-19] But, when your mind is stayed on the Lord, or fixed upon God, He will keep you in perfect peace. It is the promise of God. [Isaiah 26:3] Thus experiencing rest and peace within you, requires one thing, an undivided focus, and fixing of your eyes, upon the Lord.
And it is remarkable that Solomon, as a young teenager was able to ask for the one thing that he needed, even as God gave him an open ended choice to ask whatever he wanted; and it was all in a dream, a world in which you can imagine many wonderful things that you do not really need ! A teenager of today, with a worldly perspective may have asked for something seemingly enjoyable, an electronic gadget maybe. And unlike his father David, who had to fight many battles even as a young man, before he was established as the king, Solomon’s upbringing had been a very privileged one even from his childhood, for by then David had become the undisputed king over his people. But, though he had grown up in cushioned comfort Solomon was able to ask for the one thing that he needed, an understanding, so that he may rule over his people wisely. He knew that it was only with understanding that he can stand upright in the challenges that lay ahead of him as the king.
‘Give to your servant an understanding heart’ :
Solomon asked for wisdom, with the right motive, when God promised to give him, anything that he asked for. ‘Therefore give to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between what is good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours ?’ [1 Kings 3:9] And the God who was pleased with his request, promised to give him then, not only what he had asked for, but also much more of all that was good and right, even what Solomon had not asked for ! It all happened in a different time and scenario, but the principle still remains the same even today, in what you ask of God in prayer.
When you desire and ask what is right, the one thing, He will give you even what you did not ask. Solomon as a young man could have asked for many things; but he asked for wisdom or understanding, the one thing that he needed. And today, you may think that you have a hundred problems, but when you have understanding, you will know that you have only one problem, which could sometimes be you yourself, for the human tendency is to often blow things out of proportion ! Wisdom from God therefore, is the one thing that you need to ask of God in order to rule and reign in your circumstances by then seeking it in your life.
Seeking the ‘one thing’:
The Lord has made the dynamics of seeking, and the key components of it abundantly clear in His word. Seeking the one thing involves,
1. Prioritizing :
Seek ye first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you. [Matthew 6:33] It is a familiar verse that establishes how seeking His kingdom needs to be the first in your priority list, when it comes to your life’s agenda. The Lord also makes it clear why it needs to be so. It is the Gentiles, the people who do not have a relationship with God the Father who need to seek after the other things, the material provision and needs. For as David, the psalmist has declared, when the house of God becomes your dwelling place or habitation, the priority in your life, surely goodness and mercy will follow or be added to you. And indeed peace that settles you from within will become your experience, as you receive and possess the promises of God that come to you.
2. Personalizing :
I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living [Psalm 27:13] Goodness and mercy will follow the one who dwells in the house forever. And it became the psalmist’s experience in life, as he believed the promise of God, to receive it and make it his very own, as he declares in the verse above. It was faith, the assurance of things hoped for that enabled him to do it. For, though the majority of the Israelites perished in the wilderness, two of them did have the faith, one that the Lord commended; and it is reflected in Caleb’s words, as he said ‘my land’, even before he had occupied it !
‘Give me this hill country, which the Lord had promised to me on that day’. [Joshua 14:13] They were Caleb’s words of personalized ownership, though many years had passed since God had promised it to him. He knew in his spirit, that when the promise came to him, the land was his. And what kept him strong all through the forty five years that followed it, could very well have been his confident assurance in personalized trust, of the very specific promise of God. Seeking, is not a random hit or miss throw, but one that is very specific and personal, tailor made to be claimed as yours, by your confession of ownership. Time may elapse, but it is then that you need to persist and not give up, or let go of your promise. For, seeking involves persevering.
3. Persevering :
‘Seek and you shall find’, the Lord has said, His word that bids you to ‘seek’, implies an action that is in a present continuous mode. It is a seeking, that requires you to persist and persevere until you find what you have been seeking after. Bringing it down to a very basic example, it is similar to what happens occasionally in every home, when a key gets lost, and manages to escape your eagle eye however hard you try to find it ! But then, you continue in your search, may be even enlist others to join in your search ! And when does your seeking stop ? It is only when you find the key ! And then, there is no necessity to seek that one particular object any longer.
In a similar but deeper and higher way, the truth in the words of Lord Jesus is ‘ask and you will receive’. And the expressed wish of the psalmist, the one thing that he has asked of the Lord, one that he is determined to seek after, is to dwell or be planted in the house of God. Thus asking plays a key role in being planted in God’s house, an asking that is single minded and specific, and one that is followed by an appropriate action in seeking after the one thing that you have asked. Paul describes in his letter to the Philippians, how he does it in his own life; and he is also the apostle who has also said to you and I, ‘Follow me, as I follow the Lord’ !
‘One thing I do’ :
‘One thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press on toward the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’. [Philippians 3:13,14] ‘One thing I do’, Paul says, and then goes on to point out the three things that form part of it. It is what you and I need to do also in our lives in order to aspire towards attaining the goal of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. And that ultimately remains the one thing that matters, in order to make our lives pleasing in the sight of God, and in the center of His will.
Forgetting the past :
Much like every other person who is alive on the planet right now, you too would have gone through certain things in your past that had wounded you, and caused great emotional pain. It could have left scars that initially may even start bleeding on the inside, when suddenly a memory of it is provoked, even though you may look healed on the surface. Bitter and painful experiences in your past about which you can do nothing now, could indeed seem impossible to forget. But what you can do in the Spirit’s empowering is to develop a godly perspective concerning them. For failing to do it will find you unable to handle your present, and also lose out on the goodness of God in your future, something that is just around the corner !
Forgetting what seemingly cannot be forgotten :
Joseph, who underwent needless harm at a very young age displayed remarkable wisdom, when after all his troubles, he suddenly and very quickly found himself taken from the prison to the throne of Egypt, with only the pharaoh above him in rank and position. And he attributed it all to God, as he named his two sons with names that meant ‘The Lord has made me forget’, and ‘The Lord has made me fruitful’. But, was he able to forget the inhumane work of his brothers toward him ? He spoke harshly when they came the first time to ask for grain in the time of famine, is what the bible records, indicating that he did indeed remember it all in his sub conscious mind in a physical sense.
But, in a higher level though, through the word that had refined him in his years of oppression, he developed a godly perspective concerning it all, to see God’s glorious purposes. And therefore, he was able to reassuringly say to them after the death of their father, ‘What you meant for evil, God has meant it for good, in order to bring about as it is this day, to save many people alive’. [Genesis 50:20] It gives hope and shows the right path to you today. For, bad things may have happened in your life owing to no fault of yours, but when you sit back and regroup your thoughts, you will realize that the good that the Lord has done for you, far outweighs them all. So the time has come for you to shift your focus from the harm that people have done to the good that the Lord has done in your life.
The apostle Paul did not want to remember his past, where on one particular day, he had stood guarding the garments of Stephen, who was being stoned to death, all because he proclaimed the Name of the Lord. He knew that by the abundant grace of God upon him, he could lay it all aside to hold on instead to the one thing that Christ had called him to be, and press on, persevere towards attaining it, to thereby experience the peace of God in him, and in his life.
And, what is the ‘one thing’ that Paul is focused upon ?
A wonderful illustration of it can be seen in the life of Lord Jesus Himself, in the manner in which he dealt with both Mary and Martha, to narrow down life’s priorities toward the ‘one thing’ that makes every other thing flow in your life with ease. ‘But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen the good part, what will not be taken away from her’. [Luke 10:42] Jesus commends Mary for the one thing that she does. It was to sit at His feet to receive His word. For, though you may be battling against many things in life, there is only one thing you need in order to come out victoriously, and that is His word. But sometimes, it may be very difficult to compose yourself, to quiet your thoughts that may be running in all directions, though outwardly you may look very calm ! And, the Lord calms your stormy unrest with His word.
‘Peace, be still’..:
It is how the Lord brings peace and rest within you. He restrains you from giving way to confusion within you, by bidding you gently, ‘Peace, be still; and know that I am Lord’. It is not to give up and do nothing at all, but to wait upon Him, in order to know what to do and then do it. It is to cease from your own fleshly striving that do not profit, but to sit in the presence of the only wise God who is rich in counsel and mighty in His deeds, to be empowered and overwhelmingly conquer. But then, as it ever so happens in the issues of life, even as it happened with Mary, it may even be those within your close circle, who get frustrated at what they assume to be your apathy, and try to disturb your inner peace.
It was what Martha tried to do, and she went to the extent of complaining to the Lord Himself ! It is then that the Lord gently but firmly pointed out to Martha, that it was her being distracted by many other things that was disturbing and troubling her, while Mary had chosen what was right. [Luke 10:41] It is always choosing to do the one thing, to be in His presence to hear His word that will give you the right perspective, the promise and the power to face your problems though they may be many and also overcome them. It is the one thing that David asked and sought; to dwell in God’s house so that he may behold the beauty of the Lord, and meditate upon His word. Beholding Him is when you shift your focus from your problems, to be upon the perfections of God, and then while meditating upon the word, is when He gives you the empowerment that ultimately settles you and gives you peace.
For, what happens as you sit and listen to the word of God ?
Now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart to heed the voice of God. [Acts 16:16] Lydia at one point, as she was sitting and listening to the preaching of Paul, experienced something wonderful within her, as the inner being of her heart was opened. And, it stresses the importance and the need to keep listening to God regularly and continually for you never know when His specific word will come to you, one that speaks into your disturbed situation to resolve it and bring peace.
When you are going through a problem therefore just keep on reading and meditating upon His word, and you will find something from His word speak suddenly and very specifically into your situation. For, He is a Rewarder of those who seek Him diligently. Your seeking will never be in vain. Lydia, at one point was led to a deeper understanding of the truth of God’s word as the Lord opened her heart. And what took place after that, what can happen even in you, is described in the lives of the group of people who sat listening to God’s word being preached by Peter.
The Holy Spirit came upon the Gentiles :
And while Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell on those who heard the word. [Acts 10:44] As Peter was speaking and the people were listening to the word of God being preached, the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit came upon them, to the wondrous amazement of Peter. Even today, there are two groups of people who come to listen to the word of God. As King Jehoshaphat prayed, there are those who are praying, ‘Lord, we do not know what to do; but our eyes are upon you’. And then there are those who know what they need to do in order to get out of their problem, their addiction or wrong relationships, but do not have the strength to do so.
And, it is why the ‘one thing’ becomes very important in your life and mine. For, whatever category you fall into, as you keep on listening to the word of God, the Holy Spirit will open your heart to show you the truth of what you need to do, and as the next step, He will empower you to do what you need to do, by filling you with His knowledge and His power. Therefore, you may have come to worship in the church, perplexed and discouraged, but you will leave with the confident confession of your heart and mouth being, ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me ’! And also, saying like the psalmist, ‘through our God we shall do valiantly; it is He who will tread down our enemies’.
The world’s psychology can maybe identify your problem, but self help can never get you out of your problem. It is why you need to come to church, sit at the feet of the Lord to hear His word. For, it is by being planted in the house of God, that you begin to prosper in life. However difficult and numerous your problems may appear to be, continue to keep coming to church to sit in His presence, to hear His word to you. You are in the verge of a miracle !
Beholding with unveiled faces :
The one thing that David asked and sought was to behold the glory of the Lord, and to meditate upon His word, in His temple. Though, under the old covenant, there was a veil covering the hearts of the people, as they received the word. But through the glorious Cross, the veil has been removed by God. And Paul describes the wondrously powerful difference, But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. [2 Corinthians 3:18] Now, with the veil covering your heart removed, you can behold Christ, the Bridegroom of the church, very clearly in high definition !
And, the word of God is the mirror where you behold Him. You behold Him as the one who is great in counsel and mighty in His deeds, the One with whom nothing is impossible. And, as you behold this word, you may initially be aware of your own shortcomings. But on continuing to behold His word, the One who has written the scriptures and who is now living in you, begins to transform your inner being, to become closer and closer to the image of Christ described in the scriptures. It is the confident assurance of the apostle John, that when the Lord is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. [1 John 3:2] And being transformed in your inner being through the Spirit, finds you planted in God’s House, planted to prosper and flourish in His courts.
The one thing needed :
There may be many problems surrounding you, but there is only one thing that you need to do. It is to focus and fix your eyes on Christ, the author and finisher of your faith; and the faces of those who look unto Him will be radiant; they will never be put to shame. He will cause your face to shine in the coming days. You are on the verge of a miracle. Keep praying, reading and hearing His word with understanding. The end will certainly be glorious ! It will see you being gloriously conformed to the image of Christ.
May your one desire be therefore, to rest in the Lord’s presence, not rushing away, but to cherish each beautiful moment, and choosing to stay, beholding His beauty. May God the Father, enable you to ask and seek to dwell in His presence until you begin to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. And, offer thanks unto Him for the word that comes to you in His presence; it is the one thing that you need, to make your cup overflow with His blessing of wholeness in you, which is peace.
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
