Q9. Seeking the Lord

[Pastor Ralph]

Q9. (Isaiah 55:6-9) What does seeking the Lord entail? If God’s ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking, what are the implications of this for success in our lives? Why is repentance necessary to this process? Why is humility necessary? What happens to us if our seeking is shallow? What happens if we put off seeking the Lord when we hear his invitation? Is it ever too late to seek the Lord? Can any real success be found by other means than seeking the Lord?

[IvoryEagle]

What does seeking the Lord entail?  "Seek" (dārash) means "to seek with care" with the purpose of knowing. This isn't passive but active. Jeremiah writes to people of the same era -- exiles right before God delivers them:

'You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,' declares the LORD, 'and will bring you back from captivity.'" (Jeremiah 29:13-14a)

 

 

 

If God's ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking, what are the implications of this for success in our lives? TRUST GOD EVEN THOUGH WE DO NOT UNDERSTAND HIM.  THE JOB IS TO TRUST AND BELIEVE.

 

 

Why is repentance necessary to this process? WE MUST TURN AWAY FROM SIN TO TURN TOWARD GOD.

 

 

Why is humility necessary? HUMILITY IS THE OPPOSITE OF PRIDE. IT IS WHAT GOT SATAN IN TROUBLE.  WE MUST DECREASE SELF TO CREATE THE PATH FOR GOD.  HE WILL NOT SHARE HIS GLORY.

 

 

What happens to us if our seeking is shallow?  GOD KNOW THE HEART.  HE SAID SEEK ME WITH ALL OF YOUR HEART; HE IS THERE AND WILL REJECT ANYTHING LESS THAN "ALL."

 

 

What happens if we put off seeking the Lord when we hear his invitation?  

1. We cannot come to God at any time. There are times when he is near and we must seize the day and turn to him when we can. We can't assume that we can put this off. "I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2).

 

 

 

Is it ever too late to seek the Lord?  AFTER DEATH

 

 

 

Can any real success be found by other means than seeking the Lord?  NO

 

[charisbarak]

actively seeking Him.

We are to trust Him to reveal His mind to us when He believes we need it and can use it for his glory.

We need to not only agree with God that we are sinners, but that we need to turn from that we know to be sin in our lives.

Humility is necessary because we tend to be prideful and we need to acknowledge that He is the Lord of our lives and whatever we are that is good is because of Him!

We get shallow answers. Only the Lord knows our hearts.

We may never get another chance. We are not promised tomorrow.

No, never too late unless we are dead.

No, He is the WAY! the truth & the life

[RD35]

What does seeking the Lord entail? We must seek the Lord with care with the true purpose of knowing Him and knowing His will.  We must seek his truth to the degree that he reveals it, and then embrace it as our own.

 

If God's ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking, what are the implications of this for success in our lives?  Gods plans are the best for our lives and when we accept God’s plans for our lives we will become successful.

 

Why is repentance necessary to this process? When we repent we not only turn away from sin but also forsake sin.  When we repent we return to the Lord and we will be able to seek him more earnestly.

 

Why is humility necessary? Humility before God in our prayers and our walk, makes us understand Him better and to know him more accurately.

 

What happens to us if our seeking is shallow? When our seeking becomes shallow we will not be able to find him.

 

What happens if we put off seeking the Lord when we hear his invitation? We must actively seek to know God. The invitation has been given. We must respond to it actively or it will pass us by. 

 

Is it ever too late to seek the Lord? No it is never too late to seek the Lord, he is always waiting for us, willing to forgive us and listen to us.  We have time till our death. 

 

Can any real success be found by other means than seeking the Lord? No

[Gerbrand van Schalkwyk]

Q9. (Isaiah 55:6-9) What does seeking the Lord entail?

Actively looking for God and the Kingdom. Asking through prayer anf other believers. Reading the Bible and other books. seeking God in our everyday life.

If God’s ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking, what are the implications of this for success in our lives?

If we trust in Him, the ultimate result will be success for us, even if the world thinks we are failures. Jesus dued on a cross, the ultimate failure in world standards, yet He sits at the Right Hand of God, the ultimate success in Kingdom standards.

Why is repentance necessary to this process?

We cant come into God' presence with sin. After we confessed our sins we have to walk away from sin. We have to be sanctified so that we dont sin anymore

Why is humility necessary?

We must let go of the old person, and fleshly desires. If we have any pride in ourselves left we will not allow God to sanctify and change us. We will want to stay the same

What happens to us if our seeking is shallow?

We will not be serious in anything spiritual. We will be the seed that fell on soil with no depth.

What happens if we put off seeking the Lord when we hear his invitation?

We waste time to walkbwith God. We also lose time to collect Kingfom treasures. Worsevof all we might not get another oppertunity and be lost for ever. Further we teach our brain to ignore the callingvof the Lord.

Is it ever too late to seek the Lord?

Yes. no good to pospone it till after death. Then I cant accept Him anymore

Can any real success be found by other means than seeking the Lord?

Yea. Success in total failure.

[royk]

Q9. (Isaiah 55:6-9) What does seeking the Lord entail? If God’s ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking, what are the implications of this for success in our lives? Why is repentance necessary to this process? Why is humility necessary? What happens to us if our seeking is shallow? What happens if we put off seeking the Lord when we hear his invitation? Is it ever too late to seek the Lord? Can any real success be found by other means than seeking the Lord?

 

Time to surrender, we simply need the higher power to have peace by focusing on HIM in a quiet place or moment. Repentance is daily or better yet, right after we start to screw up. Humility is the first ingredient, HE is infinite, we are like a speck in HIS kingdom. 

Sadly,

We will be shallow because we are not like HIM, but looking at Jesus life should help. In this busy world, we continually miss his invitation which is 24/7. This is a great work day time out for me. I know things can get screwed up if I don't follow. But the good life is ready for us right now. Praise the Lord!!!

Seek the Lord while he may be found;
    call on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake their ways
    and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
    and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
    neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
    so are my ways higher than your ways
    and my thoughts than your thoughts.

 

[antonate]

Seeking the Lord entails our total surrender to his plans and we cannot lean on our wisdom and understanding.

 

God's ways and thoughts are higher than our thoughts and ways.As the heavens are than the earth so are his marvellous ways and thoughts.

 

The implications of these are trust God at every step and total rely on his wisdom. when i seek him i try to find out his thought over my thought, his way above my way and if i carefully consider it although it may look narrow to follow i am sure my success and prosperity lies in following his ways and allowing him to accomplish his thought over my life.

 

i need to be humble and acknowledge God is my master , my lord and submit to him out of love and humble myself that without him i can do nothing but with him i can do all things. He is my source of everything!

 

if we do not seek him with all our heart and mind  we may be loose his gracious promises fulfilled in our lives.

 

when we put off seeking him when he invites us to come to him  we may be in the danger of being deceived by the enemy.

 

it is not too late to seek the Lord. when we know we have gone far away we can turn around and come to him in total repentance and once again live in his presence and allow him to be our guide in all things

 

There  is no other means in being successful than seeking the Lord and walking in obidience in his ways that gives us true satisfaction and victory over the ways of the world.

[JanMary]

On 8/1/2013 at 10:26 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

 

 

Q9. (Isaiah 55:6-9) What does seeking the Lord entail?

Seeking implies action, diligence, moving toward.....based on hunger for inner satisfaction and fulfillment.

If God’s ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking, what are the implications of this for success in our lives?

Our ways are wanting instant gratification, and to stop the pain,  or what about me?, "my way or the highway".

His ways are for the long term benefit, for eternal rewards, spiritual growth, deeper relationship, building trust and faith, healing brokenness, gaining more and more of a "foothold" in our character until we resemble Christ "at that day". He will be victorious over our failures and giving Him access to our voice and actions to influence others as His ambassadors.

Why is repentance necessary to this process?

Repentance means to change your mind...a 360 degree turn around. This change opens us up to allowing Him to do things His way and in His timing, and letting go of our "program" and our will.

Why is humility necessary?

Humility acknowledges that He is God...and I am not...He's right...and I'm wrong. It says "His ways are better and Higher than my ways, so I'll allow Him to be God and I'll "sit down".

What happens to us if our seeking is shallow?

Shallow results, if any. Not much of  a relationship with Him (on the shallow end), fizzling out and fading in hard times. No depth!

What happens if we put off seeking the Lord when we hear his invitation?

Wasted time which could be priceless in our lives....waiting can also be too late! We only have today, as tomorrow is never promised. We're urged to not miss the day of our visitation!

Is it ever too late to seek the Lord?

No, not as long as there is still a heartbeat and breath! Today is the day of Salvation! He came to seek and to save the lost. He's still seeking and pursuing while we're running or pondering.  Many are saved on death beds, in fox holes, in every kind of crisis....but one never knows when the end will come. Yes it's too late when death comes and we've ignored the invitation.

Can any real success be found by other means than seeking the Lord?

Not with eternal value! The world's success brings some pleasure and satisfaction, but turns to dust and matters not in eternity. Only what is done through Christ (Him through me) will last!

[angelbaby]

Q9. (Isaiah 55:6-9) What does seeking the Lord entail?

     Seeking  the Lord entails Reading the Word of God with concentration and purpose, a study of the word alongside is even better and hearing the word regularly in church ,conventions and weekly fellowships...when we do this we will develop a deeper understanding of walking with the Lord

 

If God's ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking, what are the implications of this for success in our lives?

Gods ways are always different and He desires us to BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD....we are to trust in Him whatever the issue is ...take all your cares to Him in prayer and lean on Him and He will give you what is best for you...and you may realise it later ..sometimes you realise it at once that His thoughts are higher and His ways are wiser..

 

Why is repentance necessary to this process?

Worldly vanity is what we are all guilty of ...even the best of us have a wee bit of it ....that is why we are to repent and ask God to sanctify us...by that we realise what is required of us ...repentance refines us not to make the same mistakes again

Why is humility necessary?

Humility was the core nature of Jesus , his servanthood, HE came to serve not to be served but we always want someone to do the job for us , aide , domestic help etc we turn lazy and dependant...Humility instils the nature to treat everyone as better than yourself and  that way you will win the hearts of people ..Humility is a difficult attribute of JESUS TO ACQUIRE 

What happens to us if our seeking is shallow?

Shallow seekers are either doing it for public opinion or not focussed on their goal...you will not achieve any benefit and will not be able to draw on the power of the Holy Spirit in your life and will not be able to develop a close relationship with the Lord   

What happens if we put off seeking the Lord when we hear his invitation?

"Its now or never" as Elvis Presley sang...tomorrow will be to late.  many times we dont get another opportunity. 

Is it ever too late to seek the Lord? 

yes...if we die it will be too late ...you wont get a chance to come to the Lord and it is only in Christ there is NO CONDEMNATION .

Can any real success be found by other means than seeking the Lord?

Worldly success can be yours at the cost of seeking the Lord as you will be spending all your time chasing your earthly goals...at the end of the day you will find it is an empty bubble...no real friends,a  bank balance which matters little after death, your health may be poor, you may have neglected your responsibilities to your elders when you chasing other things ...all these are more precious and SUCH a  success  will not give you treasures in heaven!  

[hanks]

Q9. (Isaiah 55:6-9)

What does seeking the Lord entail?

If God's ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking, what are the implications of this for success in our lives?

Why is repentance necessary to this process?

Why is humility necessary?

 What happens to us if our seeking is shallow?

What happens if we put off seeking the Lord when we hear his invitation?

Is it ever too late to seek the Lord?

Can any real success be found by other means than seeking the Lord?

Seeking the Lord entails turning to God in faith and believing His promise that by His love, His grace, and His mercy, He will pardon us our sins. It entails admitting we are sinners and that we have, in disobedience, strayed away from Him. It entails repenting – turning a complete 180 degrees away from sin. It must be an absolute surrender to His ways and the desire to live in obedience to Him. Repentance and faith go together in that we turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). God’s ways and thoughts are infinite compared to our finite ways and thoughts – they are far beyond our comprehension. There can be negative implications for success in our lives if we insist on doing things our way, without first consulting Him in prayer and waiting patiently for an answer. We often find that He leads us in a path which we had never even thought about, and that this actually ultimately leads to our happiness. Therefore, we must plan with submission to the higher purposes of God. It is never too late to seek the Lord. There are dangers in delaying this. We may never be given a second chance. So we must take the invitation very seriously. In the parable of the Great Supper, God closed the door on those who spurned His invitation (Luke 14:16-24). We should remember 2 Corinthians 6:2, “For he says, "In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation”.

 

 

[Squirt]

Q9. (Isaiah 55:6-9) What does seeking the Lord entail?
    Seeking the Lord is an active pursuit of the Lord through reading the Word, meditation, and prayer, with a deep desire to know Him.  The more we know Him, the greater is our love for Him.    

If God's ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking, what are the implications of this for success in our lives?
    We need to give thanks every day that His ways and thoughts are higher than ours, that He is a loving and gracious and faithful God and Father, forgiving our sins and accounting us righteous through Christ Jesus.  He is sovereign.  Every aspect of our lives is in His hands.  When we do His will, He will guide us and work through us to achieve His purposes, and He will bless and keep us.

 

Why is repentance necessary to this process?
    He is holy.  In coming to the Lord, we need to put away any known sin, any unforgiveness.  While our sins are taken away through the finished work of Jesus on the cross, any sin or unforgiveness that we harbor in our hearts separates us from the Lord.  

 

Why is humility necessary?
    There can be only one Head of the body, one Master.  Until you empty yourself, He cannot fill you.  Your pride blocks His access.   Your self-confidence substitutes your human effort for His work through you.  He’s the Master.  Surrender total control to Him.

What happens to us if our seeking is shallow?
    We won’t find Him.  Just as the widow seeking justice from a corrupt judge had to keep crying out to him for justice until she wore him out, we need to keep asking and seeking and knocking.  

What happens if we put off seeking the Lord when we hear his invitation?
    There may not be another time. He touches our hearts and waits, lovingly, for us to respond.  We have this present moment and that is all that we have for sure.  We don’t know when He will come, but He says it will be when we least expect Him.  And we don’t know if we’ll wake up in the morning.  In addition to the loss of opportunity, the more we turn away the easier it becomes.

Is it ever too late to seek the Lord?
    The Scripture says to seek Him while He can be found.  We don’t know the day of His coming.  It could be today.  We are to be prepared, and being prepared doesn’t mean “I’ll do it tomorrow.”  But as long as we have breath in our bodies, seek Him!

     While we know that there may not be another time, we also should never give up witnessing to others about Jesus.  Only recently, a dear lady in my Bible class told me that she prayed for and witnessed to her brother in law for close to 40 years without success.  Then one day he came to her home to fix something.  She was on the telephone and showed him what the problem was and started to go back to the phone when he said “You aren’t going to talk to me about Jesus today?”  She told me,  “I hung up the phone right then and I talked to him about Jesus."  There was a quaver in her voice as she added, " I almost missed my chance with him.  I thank God that I didn’t, because, after 40 years,  he accepted Jesus as Lord of his life that day.”

Can any real success be found by other means than seeking the Lord?
    No.   And why would you want to miss knowing the Lord?  Seek and ye shall find.  Wow!  What a promise and what a huge blessing!
 

[wjcargile]

1. What does seeking the Lord entails? Praying often during the day and night; turing away from evil and wickness; turing fully to the Lord.

2. The implications of this succes in our lives is: Not to think or do things in our own way; seek God's guidance to show us the way.

3. Why is repentance necessary to do this process? repentance is necessary for God to forgive us for our sins.

4. Why is humility necessary? For God's mercy and forgiveness. We must have a humble heart before the Lord.

5. If our seeking is shallow, we may not find the Lord. His invitation may pass us by.

6. If we put off seeking the Lord when we hear His invitation: He may not always be near.

7. Is it ever too late to seek the Lord? YES. Life is not promised to us.

8. Can any real success be found by others means than seeking the Lord? NO. God is the only way.

[Lion of Grace]

Seeking the Lord entails acknowledging that we don't know the real or full truth on our own. We have finite minds. God has an infinite mind. We need to be humbly seeking His truths and when He reveals them, we resolve to let go of our truths and embrace His truths as our own.

 

God's ways and thoughts are different than our own because we are so limited to really having a sure truth. We need to embrace His truths for success in our lives because He is all knowing and we would be foolish to embrace our own false truths or even our own partial truths. It would be a lie and unproductive to rely on our own perspectives.

 

Repentance is necessary for this process because it humbles us and causes us to acknowledge we were wrong, in sin and that His truths are sovereign. It breaks down our pride in self and our limited knowledge. We humble ourselves before Him to acknowledge we are in agreement that He is greater than we are and we should therefore listen to Him and that we are willing to be taught by Him and led by Him.

 

If our seeking is shallow, we have not really put away self and have not really submitted ourselves to His ways. We can end up either denying His truths or embracing half truths to please ourselves and to indulge in our favorite sins. We are to be "all in" confessing we wholeheartedly agree with His truths and will seek to live by them.

 

If we put off seeking the Lord when we hear His invitation, He may withdraw from us. He allows us to go on alone in our own self delusions and we will reap the consequences of them and living in non truths.

 

Is it ever too late to seek the Lord?

We are warned to not put this off and to appreciate and accept the day of our salvation, but I wouldn't judge another to absolutely say anyone couldn't seek God after any time period. I think God rejoices over any prodigal and repentant sinner no matter how late.

 

No, no real success can be found by other means than seeking the Lord. All things (and successes) in this world are temporal. Seeking God will give us everlasting success in things that really matter. That we came to know Him and secured salvation for our souls through Him and will have eternal life!

[Jen]

Q9. (Isaiah 55:6-9) What does seeking the Lord entail? If God's ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking, what are the implications of this for success in our lives? Why is repentance necessary to this process? Why is humility necessary? What happens to us if our seeking is shallow? What happens if we put off seeking the Lord when we hear his invitation? Is it ever too late to seek the Lord? Can any real success be found by other means than seeking the Lord?

 

We must repent of our evil ways.  We must be sorry from the heart for our sins.

 

If we turn to Him and look to Him for advice we will be in His favor and know His grace in our lives.

 

If we have sin in our hearts we cannot fellowship with God who is holy and pure and sinless.

 

If we have pride it will prevent us from seeking God.  

 

We are shallow and we don't care about God.

 

There may not be another time and our hearts get hardened.

 

Right now we still live in the day of grace.  It will one day come to an end.  LIke Noah's ark the doors one day closed and they could not be opened by Noah.  It was too late for those who chose to ignore the invitation.  Ignoring it is to their peril.

 

Real success cannot be found in anyone but Jesus.  Everything on this earth is fleeting.  However you cannot tell that to some.  They think they have found fullfillment but it is really empty.  How tragically sad.

 

God Bless

Jen

Romans 15:13

[Guitar Jim]

Q9. (Isaiah 55:6-9) What does seeking the Lord entail?

 

Believing wholeheartedly in the saving power of Jesus' death and resurrection for starters. We also need to actively seek God's will for our lives and that means being open to what is written in the Bible. If we're gonna wait for God to speak directly to us, one on one, we're in for a long wait. He's said all we need to know in the Bible and it's there for us to read and accept.

 

 

 

If God’s ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking, what are the implications of this for success in our lives?

 

We'll only succeed in God's world by getting to know God's ways. We'll never fully understand how The Almighty thinks but we have enough to go on in the Bible if we study that. By following purely human wisdom we're on the wrong track. God's wisdom confounds the wise. He uses the ordinary to shame the extraordinary into humility.

 

 

 

Why is repentance necessary to this process?

 

We have to turn from doing wrong and be genuinely sorry for ever doing wrong. We then have to actively pursue the right path and enter through the narrow gate.

 

 

 

Why is humility necessary?

 

Pride has no place in God's plans for us. We're told to walk humbly before our God.

 

 

 

What happens to us if our seeking is shallow?

 

We won't go the distance. We'll fall away like the seed that fell among the rocks. It sprouted quickly but withered in the hot sun of hardship.

 

 

 

What happens if we put off seeking the Lord when we hear his invitation?

 

It just may be that we miss our only chance of redemption. God has said that "My Spirit will not always strive with man".  I prayed for a work collegue years ago and he was thoroughly evil and Godless. Then one day he died of a massive heart attack. Here one minute and gone the next to judgement. God had evidently heard quite enough of his blasphenmous talk and seen quite enough of the way that man persecuted me and decided it was time for him to answer for it. I asked God why He didn't give that man more time to repent and come to Jesus and the answer came in the next couple of months when the company and the whole country slid into a recession. He'd been getting black money, hush money payments from the boss, in the form of overtime pay for hours he just didn't put in. With the recession, there was a ban on overtime from head office. That would have meant he could no longer get paid for bogus overtime. He was really hard on me and mean to me when he was getting a couple of hundred dollars a week extra in his pay for turning a blind eye to the rorts the bosses were pulling. Imagine how much worse he would have been to me when the gravy train de-railed! God killed him so I wouldn't. I was almost at breaking point with that man who was still to this day the worst example of a human being I ever met.

 

Is it ever too late to seek the Lord?

 

Oh yeah, God has said that "My Spirit will not always strive with man".

 

 

 

Can any real success be found by other means than seeking the Lord?

 

Only empty worldly success that we leave behind when we die for someone else to benefit from. Ecclesiastes says just that.

 

 

[Delivered]

Q9. (Isaiah 55:6-9) What does seeking the Lord entail? Seeking the LORD entails the act of pursuing, searching, and making inquisition on a frequent basis while it is yet today; to "seek with all your heart" calls for a constant and earnest effort to find, paying proper attention to the task of finding.

 

 If God's ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking, what are the implications of this for success in our lives? God's ways are not our ways, man would never think of using a "CROSS" that represents humiliation, shame, and "WEAKNESS" to teach us what true "STRENGTH" is, and yet, that is exactly what God did through his Son, this was God's way to show us, “STRENGTH" can come from weakness, it was His way of showing us, all things are possible, if one would only "seeks Him with all their heart"

 

Why is repentance and humility necessary to this process? Repentance is a vital part of seeking, God already knows our "weaknesses" - it is important that God knows that we know, therefore it is important to Him that we confess those areas, and repentance is how we communicate that with Him, "God, I lost my temper again, I need your forgiveness, I ask you to strengthen me so I may overcome my sin."

God can do a marvelous work in us when we humbly confess our needs to him, for it is in Christ we know that when we are weak, it is then we are strong.

 

 What happens to us if our seeking is shallow? God exalts those who humble themselves.

 

Is it ever too late to seek the Lord? While the door is open, while you still have the invitation to come, is the time, for there might come a time when there will be no invitation, when time will be no more and you will find the door to be shut and it will not open, this is why it is important you seek the LORD while it is yet today.

 

 

[humblejon]

Seeking God is an active process. You look for the truth and respond to God's invitation. This is the gift of salvation and promise of an interdependent abiding relationship.

Man's ways may appear wise to us, but compare to God's infinite wisdom, human endeavors to control their own destinies will be futile and vanity. If we don't repent and approach God humbly, our pride and arrogance will hinder us from fully receiving the strenth, knowledge, and peace.

never put off God's invitation for we do not know what will happen to us tomorrow. It is never too late until it is TOO LATE!

Christ is the only way to the Father and salvation.

[WinstonY]

Question 8 - 9

 

Seeking the Lord would include (1) prayer to God so that we can obtain a personal relationship to God the Father, god the Son and Holy Spirit.  (2) study and read the scriptures to know God’s word , God’s way and to be able to recognize the revelation of god when it is revealed. (3) We can mediate prayerfully, thoughtfully and sincerely so that we are good ground in which the seed may grow, and (4) we can seek to provide justice for all so that we will be able to hear the Lord say, “Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me’.” (Matthew 25"34 - 36)

God’s way is different than our way so we must doe all of the above to ensure that we are able to walk in God’s way.  If we do not repent and turn from the way of the world and then we will not be living in God’s way.

Humility is necessary because we must put self aside - we cannot serve both God and mannon.  Self gets in the way of God.  If we do not put self aside we cannot see beyond this self and we do not really believe that God’s ways are higher than our ways and that God’s thoughts are higher than our thoughts.  Theologians are in particular danger of this - that their thoughts are higher than God’s, even St. Paul needed to be careful for he speaks of ‘my gospel’ instead of the gospel of Jesus as preached by Paul.

If our seeking is shallow then we fall into the trap that my thoughts and my ways are higher than God’s thoughts and God’s ways.  

If we are to late seeking g our soul may be needed of us ‘ that very night’.

No, it is never too late to seek the Lord for he left the 99 and went to seek the one.

‘NO’ we must only seek the Lord in sincerity and truth.

 

winstony

[Old Jerry]

Seeking the Lord entails us to be reading his word and listening to his word through our pastors. We need to be talking to him daily. Since God’s ways and thoughts are different than our own human way of thinking this means that we have to depend on the Holy Spirit to do our bidding for us. The Holy Spirit knows what we want to say and do and he relays interprets that for us.

Repentance is necessary to this process because we have to see and believe that we are sinners. That is the way that we can humbly go before the Lord.

If our seeking is shallow then we do not repent and we may not be forgiven for our sins. When we put off seeking the Lord and we hear his invitation we become hard hearted and don’t ever want to go near him again. It can become too late to seek the Lord because our hearts become so hard that we don’t want anything to do with him. I don’t see any way that we can have a success by other means of seeking the Lord.

[Krissi]

Seeking the Lord, in a way, is like seeking or striving for anything that I dearly want or value -- it's a commitment of my time, energy, abilities and focus. It's praying as often as possible and begging the Holy Spirit to make my efforts to know Him fruitful. 

God's thoughts must be wholly other than my own, yet I am told to be like Christ, to approximate Him in my behavior and thoughts. I also believe that the fall, as horrible as it was, left a remnant of His Spirit in the world and in people -- a form of grace. So, though His thoughts are wholly other, I can access Him via His Spirit because His Spirit has never completely abandoned the world.

I'm not sure what you mean by "success." Spiritual success? if so, it's the same as sanctification, the slow growth into His likeness.

Without repentance, I have not admitted to God that I have done/thought wrongly, so these things hinder my sanctification. As they are brought to consciousness by the Spirit, I'm commanded to deal with them and the first part of this dealing is being stricken by guilt.

Humility admits failure. Without admitting failure -- repentance -- no Spiritual progress can be made. 

Our seeking is never sufficient, always shallow, yet God continues to draw us to Him. This is why sanctification is a process ... our seeking needs to deepen.

I do not know if God continues to call us after His initial beckoning, or if He knows the future and lets some of us go. Since I cannot know what He knows, I treat all secular people as if they're still redeemable, though at times it seems futile. It may be too late, but I'll never know this, so I treat all people as if it's never too late to seek the Lord.

Success in ways other than the Lords does happen. It's silly to pretend that only Christian people are successful, happy and productive. Still, there's another layer to success that worldly success doesn't include and that's a success in getting to know God, to hear His tiny voice in daily activities, to sense that maybe, just maybe, life has meaning, purpose and direction. To me, this is success (though I admit that I want success in other areas of life, too).

Both sorts of success are "real" but the success in knowing and seeking God seems qualitatively different and ... lasting.

[crissy464]

To seek the Lord means to turn to God, to desire to be in a relationship with him, and to come into his presence for fulfillment, strength and help. It is the most important relationship we have, but we often treat it secondary to everything else Seeking the Lord means we are willing to carve out time every day to seek his presence continually.

 The things that God thinks and purposes are not the things that man thinks and purposes, and therefore, because the thoughts are different, the outcomes of them in deeds are divergent.
Isaiah 55:8-9 = “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways And My thoughts than your thoughts.

We need to seek His truth that he reveals it, and then embrace it as our own

Repentance leads to salvation and is essential to our eternal happiness. 
It is a change of mind and heart that gives us a fresh view about God, about ourselves, and about the world. It includes turning away from sin and turning to God for forgiveness. It is motivated by love for God and the sincere desire to obey His commandments.

If our seeking becomes shallow we won’t be able to find God

We must continue to search for God so we can get to know him and follow his ways.