seek – Seeking God's face together

I seek you

June 27, 2022Ruth Kirk

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.
(Psalm 63:1; NIV).

1. Father God, I seek you,
Mother God, I greet you,
Mighty God, transcending all,
Your Spirit falls like dew.

2. Father, I adore you,
Mother, I implore you,
Spirit, intercede for me,
Forgive me, make me new.

3. Father, you defend me,
Mother, you befriend me,
Spirit, plead within my soul
Till I am one with you.

4. Clouds and darkness hide you,
Yet I walk beside you
In the light of your dear Son,
For Christ is shining through.

For you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings. And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.
(Malachi 4:2; NLT).

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life” (John 8:12; NLT).

His face shone like the sun (Matthew 18:2; NIV).

References

1. Transcendent power belongs to God (2 Corinthians 4:7; RSV).

Your life-giving light will fall like dew on your people (Isaiah 26:19; NLT).

Let my teaching fall on you like rain; let my speech settle like dew. Let my words fall like rain on tender grass, like gentle showers on young plants (Deuteronomy 32:2; NLT).

2. The Spirit, too, comes to help us in our weakness. For we don’t know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit expresses our plea with groanings too deep for words. And God, who knows everything in our hearts, knows perfectly well what the Spirit is saying, because her intercessions for God’s holy people are made according to the mind of God (Romans 26:27; TIV).

3. Don’t you realise that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you? (1 Corinthians 3:16; NLT).

So you also are complete through your union with Christ (Colossians 2:10; NLT).

4. Clouds and thick darkness surround him (Psalm 97:2; NIV).

He makes darkness his secret place, around him, his dwelling place, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies (Psalm 18:11; LSV).

You are a God who hides (Isaiah 45:15; CSB).

Walk humbly with your God (Micah 6:8; NLT).

Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God (John 20:31; NLT).

Searching

May 25, 2022May 25, 2022Ruth Kirk

Keep searching…

1. I’m searching, Lord, for perfect bread,
For perfect water; perfect wine.

2. I’m searching, Lord, for perfect truth,
For perfect hope, and light, and love.

3. I’m searching, Lord, for perfect peace,
For perfect freedom from all sin.

4. I’m searching for the perfect way
And finding you, Lord God, within.

…and you will find (Matthew 7:7; HCSB).

Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us
(Colossians 3:11; NLT).

References

1. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever, and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh (John 6:51; NLT).

If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water (John 4:10; NLT).

He took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people – an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it” (1 Corinthians 11:25; NLT).

2. The Spirit is truth (1 John 5:6; NKJV).

I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13; NLT).

I am the light of the world (John 8:12; NLT).

He loves us with unfailing love (Psalm 117:2; NLT).

3. You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you (Isaiah 26:3; NLT).

Now you are free from your slavery to sin (Romans 6:18; NLT).

4. Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6; NLT).

Faith

May 21, 2022Ruth Kirk

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1; NLT).

The Apostles said to the Lord, “Give us faith” (Luke 17:5; WNT).

Please give me, Lord, the faith I need
To talk with you both night and day,
To listen, learn, and grow like you,
By following your way.

Please give me, Lord, the faith I need
To pray for others day and night,
And serve you in all humankind,
By walking in your light.

Please give me, Lord, the faith I need
To worship you unceasingly,
To praise your name, and seek your face,
By trusting you implicitly.

It is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8; NIV).

Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory (1 Peter 1:21; NLT).

Close your eyes

March 30, 2022April 8, 2022Ruth Kirk

The Lord is full of tenderness and mercy (James 5:11; NLT).

1. Close your eyes to seek Christ’s face:
Full of mercy, light and grace.

2. Lift your gaze to catch his smile:
He won’t censure or revile.

3. Look at him, and watch his love
Pouring down from heaven above.

4. Talk with Christ; ask him to heal:
He will know just how you feel.

5. Your faith, your doubts, your hopes, your fears,
Your suffering throughout the years –

6. He sees, and knows, and shares them all:
Each loss, each pain, each grief, each fall.

7. He sees, and knows, and shares each one:
Our Lord, who died for us – God’s Son.

8. At last, receive his healing touch:
Rejoice! He loves you very much.

He loves us with unfailing love (Psalm 117:2; NLT).

References

1. I will see you face to face (Psalm 17:15; NLT).

2. The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbour his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities (Psalm 103:8-10; NIV).

3. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:39; NLT).

4. I love the Lord because he hears my voice (Psalm 116:1; NLT).

5. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all the same testings we do (Hebrews 4:15; NLT).

6. O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me (Psalm 139:1; NLT).

7. In all their suffering he also suffered (Isaiah 63:9; NLT).

God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were sinners (Romans 5:8; NLT).

8. I am the Lord, who heals you (Exodus 15:27; NIV).

Help me to seek you

March 3, 2022Ruth Kirk

When you seek me in prayer and worship,
you will find me available to you.
(Jeremiah 29:13; NET).

Help me to seek you,
And always to love.
Help me to worship you, Father, above.

Help me to find you,
And never let go.
Help me to follow you, Jesus, below.

Help me to serve you,
And always to pray.
Help me to live in you, Spirit, each day.

Help me to trust you,
And never to sin.
Help me, and strengthen me, Lord God, within.

🖤

All who live in love live in God,
and God lives in them.
(1 John 4:16; NLT).

To seek Christ

February 9, 2022Ruth Kirk

If you seek him, you will find him (1 Chronicles 28:9; NLT).

To seek Christ
Is to find him.

To gain him
Is to give.

To serve him
Is to worship.

To love him
Is to live.

🖤

For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him (Philippians 3:9; NLT).

I have come that they may have life,
and have it to the full (John 10:10; NLT).

I am seeking

January 31, 2022Ruth Kirk

Keep on seeking, and you will find.
(Matthew 7:7; NLT).

Jesus,
I am seeking:
Please let me feel your presence.

Mary,
I am thirsting:
Please let me share your faith.

Spirit,
I am listening:
Please let me hear your whisper.

Father,
I am searching:
Please let me see your face.

🖤

For now we see in a mirror indirectly,
but then we will see face to face.
(1 Corinthians 13:12; NET).

Together

January 23, 2022Ruth Kirk

Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all circumstances.
(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; NIV).

When I wake, I worship.
When I rise, I pray.
When I walk, I walk with you:
Together, Lord, each day.

When I eat, I thank you.
When I sin, repent.
When I rest, I rest with you:
Together, Lord, content.

When I seek, I find you.
When I serve, rejoice.
When I die, I die with you:
Together, Lord, by choice.

🖤

Whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord (Romans 14:8; NLT).

The Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion (Isaiah 30:18; NLT).

Choose today whom you will serve (Joshua 24:15; NLT).

I want to hug you

January 20, 2022Ruth Kirk

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.
(Jeremiah 29:13; NLT).

1. I want to hug you, Father,
But I can’t;
Yet when I hug a friend, Lord,
I hug you.

2. I yearn to kiss you, Mary,
But I can’t;
Yet when I kiss my neighbour,
I kiss you.

3. I long to hold you, Jesus,
But I can’t;
Yet when I hold a stranger,
I hold you.

4. I seek you, Threefold God,
With all my heart;
And when I love my foe, Lord,
I find you.

🖤

Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me (Matthew 25:40; NIV).

References

1. No one has greater love than this: to lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13; CSB).

2. Love your neighbour as yourself (Mark 12:31; NLT).

3. Love the stranger (Deuteronomy 10:19; NKJV

4. You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water (Psalm 63:1; NIV).

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you (Luke 6:27-8; NIV).