“I love those who love me, and those who seek me early will find me.”

Proverbs 8:17

The best way to know the heart of God is through His Word. When we study His Word, the Holy Spirit brings revelation to our lives and helps us to understand it. This way, we can truly get hold of what God desires us to do. This is what the author of Proverbs was referring to when he stated that to find wisdom is to find life. (Proverbs 8:35) Who then, is able to understand it? Those who, upon receiving the Word of God, waste no time in diligently consecrating their lives to Him, in order to receive the knowledge of His Word.

If people understood that the only way to prosper in life is by staying in contact with God’s Word, then I am sure that we would all strive to spend more time in His Word. Instead of going around in circles, anxiously seeking to see our needs met, we would turn to His Word. This is what the Lord was talking about when He said, “With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity” (Proverbs 8:18). Prosperity is not obtained with the strength, abilities or the power of influence that we may have. All the things that every human being truly longs for and spends most of his life seeking can only be found in God. These riches are permanent. They don’t just provide us with blessing now, but are passed down to our descendants for several generations. Furthermore, we will no longer have to try and gain positions of honor for ourselves because we will understand that God is the one who actually places us in positions of privilege. “My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver” (Proverbs 8:19). The Lord teaches us that the fruit we receive from the Word has more value than refined gold, and the harvest we obtain by believing in it, is far more precious than choice silver.

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT
“Before I met God, I was raised in a household without a father. From the age of 12 to 14 I began to experience what the world had to offer. The friends I made started influencing me with their lifestyle, encouraging me to consume alcohol and later drugs. Between the ages of 14 and 20 years old I lived in that type of environment, a completely unrealistic world. Despite all this I still had a great emotional void in my life, so I tried to fill it myself. This led me down the grim road of addiction. I was trapped on this path, until one day someone from school shared with me that God could change and transform my life. Shortly afterwards, this friend brought me to church and I loved it. Everything inside me changed when I went to an encounter. My life was truly transformed. At first, when I was invited, I didn’t want to go. I remember the previous night having a dream where a voice told me to read Proverbs 4. In the morning I quickly opened my Bible to find out what this said. God really spoke to me powerfully through this passage, especially verse 13 onwards. This verse seemed to portray my life and the danger of being influenced by immoral friends who speak perverse things. They only think of evil, and delight in vices. After I read this I immediately declared out my faith saying, “Yes, God exists. I am definitely going to go on this encounter.” Even though there were many further setbacks, I ended up going. During the three-day Encounter my eyes were opened to the way God saw me, and this led me to genuinely repent. I also understood that God is my Father and He fills every emotional void inside of me. God totally delivered me! I experienced the fullness of the Holy Spirit and that is when my life was transformed. God awoke a strong desire in me to serve Him and to influence other young people. I desperately wanted to make a difference, especially because of all the wrong I had done in the past.” (Douglas Vergara)

TODAY’S DECLARATION
“God loved me, I loved Him and I met Him because I desperately sought after Him.”

Today’s post is an excerpt from Pastor Cesar Castellanos’ book, Declarations of Power for 365 Days of the Year: Volume Two.

TODAY’S BIBLE READING

• Old Testament: Judges 16; Psalms 89:1-18
• New Testament: Mark 7:24-37; 1 Corinthians 12:14-31