Seeing God More Clearly (Matthew 7:7-12, Psalm 84:1-12)
Rev. William L. Barron, January 14, 2024Part of the Morning Worship at North Greenville Church series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
We have to judge, but we must make judgment righteously. We need discernment with a clearer vision. Now we need a clearer vision of who God is. We are all sinners looking for spirituality and discernment. We find this from God Himself with His answer in Christ. If we look to ourselves, we will always go astray. Does God have answers for all human beings? Only those who have been recreated, or born again. He is our guide, leader and source of convicting. We need to confess, and also to ask, seek and knock. Only by the Spirit of God can we draw near to the Father, a righteous judge and a loving Father. We see His love in Christ all through the old testament. Are you seeking God? No one does without being drawn by the Holy Spirit. Believers need to seek God for understanding, and live for Him wherever we are. In Him, we are not inadequate. We must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees, though not through our own ability. Psalm 24 tells us that anyone who ascends to God must have clean hands and a pure heart--God's heart. In Him, we have the ability to care for others. We will be selfish unless we have changed hearts. Living this out is hard, but it is not impossible with the Holy Spirit. If we are lacking in righteousness, we must ask God to teach us how to live, which is found in His word.
| Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
|---|---|---|
| « Review And Renew | None | The Narrow Way » |
Matthew 7:7–12 (Listen)
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
12 “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
(ESV)
Psalm 84 (Listen)
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.
84:1 How lovely is your dwelling place,
O LORD of hosts!
2 My soul longs, yes, faints
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy
to the living God.
3 Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.
4 Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise! Selah
5 Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6 As they go through the Valley of Baca
they make it a place of springs;
the early rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
each one appears before God in Zion.
8 O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer;
give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah
9 Behold our shield, O God;
look on the face of your anointed!
10 For a day in your courts is better
than a thousand elsewhere.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
the LORD bestows favor and honor.
No good thing does he withhold
from those who walk uprightly.
12 O LORD of hosts,
blessed is the one who trusts in you!
(ESV)