InTouch 01-30-04

In Touch Daily Devotional 
by Dr. Charles Stanley

January 30, 2004

In Touch Daily Devotional

Seeking the Lord

Hosea 10:12

We all spend some time seeking the Lord, but to be truly successful at it, we must learn to adjust our focus. The reason focus is important is that what we behold, we become. If we fix our attention on the sensual and materialistic, it won’t be long before we ourselves start leaning that way. I challenge you not to sit in front of a television set and allow rubbish into your mind night after night. You think it’s not having an influence, but it has a terrible, gripping effect on you.

On the other hand, if you focus your love and attention on Jesus, you will become like Him. It’s similar to osmosis—He just pours Himself into us. We can focus on Him when we pray, when we study the Bible, and when we meditate on God’s truths. But it involves more than that. We must go deeper, to the point that we are listening and sharing our hearts with Him. If we are open and transparent before Him, He will speak and pour Himself into us.

When we learn to do this, we will find that our hunger and thirst for everything else begins to diminish. It’s not that our desires will disappear; they instead become redirected. You will discover you have a growing hunger for God and a longing to know Him in a warm and personal way. And you will notice your joy bubbling up and overflowing so that it can’t be stopped or stifled. Why? Because once you have begun to seek the Lord, you will recognize Him as your all-in-all.

To delve deeper into this subject and more, visit the In Touch Web site: www.intouch.org.

For a free online discipleship study from Dr. Charles Stanley, visit www.charlesstanleyinstitute.com.