My Twelve
“Rs” of the Great Pursuit – Part 1 of 2
What is your great pursuit—that quest that grips you?
You think about it every day. Visions of what it could
look like live continuously in the crevices of your mind.
If you’re an athlete, maybe it’s to break records or win
a championship. If you’re a realtor, perhaps you want to be the top seller in
your agency. If you’re a writer you may strive to write a compelling novel that
will captivate thousands of readers and launch you onto the cover of Writer’s Digest Magazine.
If you’re a serious follower of Jesus—a Christian—maybe
your deep desire is to grow more like Him every day and show others the way of
Salvation. In The Fire That Never
Sleeps, Dr. Michael Brown encourages us to let God be our “great
pursuit.”
Here are My Twelve “Rs” of the Great Pursuit.
1- Remember.
Bring to remembrance things that God has done for you in the past. Do you have
a history with God? If you’re a new believer, you may not have much experience
with Him. Even so, you can probably recall times in your life when He seemed to
intervene in your situation—maybe protected you from some catastrophe.
Now a senior citizen, I have a pretty long history with
God. I can remember many occasions when God has been there for me in small ways
as well as in supernatural ways that amazed me.
Remembering works God has done is mentioned several times
in the Bible. In Psalm 143:5, David wrote, “I remember the days of old; I
meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands.”
Remembering God things we’ve witnessed ourselves, as well
as accounts we learn about in His Word, or from others, is encouraging and
faith building in our great pursuit.
2- Righteousness.
Outside of Christ Jesus, no one is righteous (Romans 3:10). Without His death
on the cross, paying our sin debt, we cannot be righteous. No matter how hard
we try and how good we are, we have all sinned and are separated from our
Creator. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV).
In our great
pursuit, with gratitude, let’s be mindful that in Christ we are righteous
and have access to Father God.
3- Reverence. We
need to have a realization of just Who God is.
Here’s a little exercise. On a piece of paper draw a
picture of yourself. (A stick figure will do.) Next, think of all the
attributes of God you can come up with in thirty seconds. Now, draw a picture
of God next to the picture of you. I have a hard time with this because there’s
no comparison. I’m smaller than a speck next to God.
I don’t know about you, but when I genuinely consider who
God is next to who I am, I’m on my face before Him. God is holy and we’re
flawed, but we are made in His image and as a result of His love and grace, He
provided a way of redemption.
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot
be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with
reverence and godly fear” (Hebrews 12:28 NKJV).
Let us reverently, yet boldly, come to His throne of
grace in our great pursuit (Hebrews
4:16).
4- Rejoice.
“Rejoice in the Lord always; and again I say rejoice” (Philippians 4:4 KJV), is
the first thing that comes to my mind when considering this word.
We who are in Christ have many reasons to rejoice. Even
in our suffering, Paul tells us to rejoice. “Therefore, since we have been
justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we
stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we
rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and
endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not
put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the
Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Romans 5:1-5 ESV).
So, let us continue to exalt our God and rejoice in all
things as we move forward in our great
pursuit. “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing
for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name
may exalt in you” (Psalm 5:11 ESV).
5- Refresh. Rejoicing
in the Lord can help bring about a refreshing to our souls and spirits. To
refresh is to take a breath; rest; take a break; find relief.
A day at the spa can refresh our muscles, skin, and
nails. It’s relaxing and rejuvenating, sending us out with renewed strength.
(Though I’ve never experienced a “spa day” I know many people who have so I
have a general idea of its benefits.)
Daily (not occasionally) soaking in God’s Word, massaging
it into our minds, spirits, and souls renews and refreshes. Applying the oil of
the Holy Spirit, welcoming His involvement in our lives, along with communing
with our Maker through prayer, can bring a refreshing that gives us energy and
power to accomplish mighty feats and to overcome ominous obstacles.
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the
Lord” (Acts 3:19 NKJV).
In our great
pursuit, let us continuously refresh ourselves in our Savior and remember
that, “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be
refreshed” (Proverbs 11:25 NIV).
6- Resist. We
need to recognize and resist anything that comes our way which does not please
and honor God. “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from
you” (James 4:7 NASB).
The best method for avoiding sin is found in Psalm
119:11: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You”
(NKJV). When we know God’s Word—hiding it in our hearts through memorization—we
are much less likely to commit sins.
Speaking of sin, please make it a point to know the
difference between a sin and a mistake. A mistake is doing or saying something
without knowing it is wrong. A sin is doing or saying something, while knowing
that it is wrong.
When someone cheats on their taxes or has sex outside of
marriage, they’re committing sin, not simply making a mistake. When someone
accidently dials a wrong number on their phone, they’ve made a mistake.
People will often call their sin a mistake in order to
minimize their guilt but God knows the difference and we should too. As we
continue in our great pursuit, let’s
give and receive support from other Believers. We can help one another resist
the temptation to sin. “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another”
(Proverbs 27:17 NIV).
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So, here are the first six of My Twelve “Rs” of the Great Pursuit. Please tune in to my next blog
post for the remaining six. Meanwhile, let’s put God in the forefront of our
minds, hearts, and souls and make Him our great
pursuit.
“When He becomes our great pursuit, by
default, anything that does not reflect Him or honor Him will be stripped out
of our lives; we simply will not tolerate it.” –Dr.
Michael Brown *
©Copyright
2019 Connie Wohlford
*The Fire That Never Sleeps: Keys to sustaining
personal revival; by, Dr. Michael L. Brown and John Kilpatrick, with Larry
Sparks; Destiny Image Publishers, Inc.; 2015; page 58.
