Text: Isaiah 55:1-7
Twenty-eight days ago, we began this season with an invitation: O, Come, Let Us Adore Him. Let us adore the King who made His grand entrance in a manger, the baby Son of God who grew to be a man and the Savior of Man.
We have awaited His arrival with joy and repentance, expectancy and hope, and now He’s here. He’s here!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
(Placide Cappeau, 1847)
Our Lord has appeared—the embodiment of the boldest, most beautiful, most personal invitation we could ever hope to receive.
And now, today, we read another glorious invitation in a passage inspired by the Holy Spirit and penned by the prophet Isaiah—a passage which presents the blessed implications of Christmas centuries before the birth of Christ. (Isn’t the Bible amazing?)
[Let’s pause here to read these seven verses together once more. They’re just too rich to read only once!]
As I look back at how I’ve spent this closing year, I see moments and days where I lived as if I believe Christmas is a lie. I see times of displaced hope and misplaced trust. But I also see the steadfast hand of God’s covenant love undergirding all my acts of futility and forgetfulness.
And so, I will offer to you this sweet reminder the Lord is whispering to me through the words of Isaiah—
Those things you spend your spiritual and emotional and physical currency on, in hopes that it will fill you up? They are not bread. They cannot satisfy. They cost all of you, leaving you bankrupt, when the riches of grace are free for the taking.
Oh, friends, the invitation to “seek the Lord while He may be found” is not an ultimatum. It’s not a threat for us to be better or do more. It is a promise!
Isaiah 55:3 says, “I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.” A covenant is the firmest, surest, most lasting kind of promise! And the Lord has covenanted with us to love us with a steadfast love. The promise that came to us in the words of a prophet and in the discomfort of a humble stable still hold fast for you and me, right here and now.
Our God has come to us—Emmanuel! He is here and ours for the knowing.
The invitation does come with one qualification: it is for “everyone who thirsts” (Is. 55:1).
If you aren’t thirsty today—if you have no longings, no fears, no need to be known or loved or accepted or forgiven—then this invitation may not for you. Or, maybe you need to hear that it is okay to be needy and broken. Being thirsty is more than acceptable—it is that blessed ache that drives you to the arms of the One who saves.
So, come, let’s be thirsty together. Let’s seek the Lord while He may be found. And praise God—He may indeed be found! Christmas is true!
For an added layer of worship during this sweet season of adoration and expectation, we’ve created a Spotify playlist for Advent 2014! You can find the complete SheReadsTruth | O Come Let Us Adore Him playlist at this link, or listen to today’s track on the player below. Enjoy!
Leave a Reply
70 thoughts on "Seek The Lord While He May Be Found"
Amazing and good one. Thanks for share.
Thanks for an amazing Christmas devotional. I have so enjoyed it and I am so thankful for this source of encouragement and support as we enter a brand-new year! *amazing!*
6Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. my ways and thoughts have not been good. I have sinned but my hope and faith has always been that I need a savior. Our Jesus who died for us all. Thank you Jesus and I pray that God will continue to work in our lives in, the year 2015.
What a terrific ending to this Advent series! I have enjoyed every reading. It was awesome to read that I’m not the only one who feels the things I feel. Maybe I’m more normal than I think! LOL Thanks ladies of SRT!
Kendra, it is such a joy to have you in our community! Grateful we are in this together!
xoxo-Kaitlin for She Reads Truth
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Just read this verse yesterday in my daughters devotional. I think someone ;-) is trying to tell me something!!
I love the verse “.. For He will endow you with splendor..” Powerful words with a powerful meaning.
Goooood good word :))
Two nights ago, completely broken and in tears begging and pleading with God, wrestling with where I am.. This provided so much perspective. “Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters… Eat what is good, delight yourself in abundance.” He is abundantly available… To me. Wow.
I am in a broken place as well, and these words are giving me hope and encouraging my heart! I needed this and your open heart to remind me that God is uniquely personal. You are in my prayers, Megan.
It’s okay to be needy and broken. This post is just what I my heart needed tonight.
I've been following along here for quite some time but have never commented. Today I had to as my blog post that went live last night so beautifully aligns with this message. Isn't it amazing how God speaks to us. He showed up last night during a game of hide and seek with my boys and reminded me of how he longs for me to seek Him. This has also been a year of sorrow for our family and friends. What an important reminder to seek him not only in the hard times, but also in the happy times. My blog post is titled Hiding and Seeking: http://gogrowgo.com/hiding-and-seeking/
Great post!
This passage was a good reminder to me. Sometimes it feels like God doesn't love me or that he's not looking out for me and guiding my life. But whenever I feel this way it is because I am the one who has walked away. "Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen and you will find life."
(NLT). Seek after Him and He will meet you. I needed this reminder today! Time to get back in track.
Thanks for this beautiful devotions. So grateful for you word of GOD
The invitation does come with one qualification: it is for “everyone who thirsts” (Is. 55:1). I don’t care how convinced I am of Him, how rooted and grounded I feel, it’s amazing how with one word the enemy can shut you down and fear sets it. This is why I thirst for Him daily. In times of trouble the Word stored in my heart will always prevail. Can’t be anything but grateful that He is God with us (me).
I am so thankful for this blessed word! When I am feeling spiritually dry, I just have need to run to Jesus and He will quench my thirst with LIVING WATER!!!! These words are so comforting. Praise God for the Son most High!
Thank you, thank you, women of SRT.
WHAT an incredible blessing this advent study has been.
Much needed reminder after the most difficult Christmas I have experienced… “Or, maybe you need to hear that it is okay to be needy and broken. Being thirsty is more than acceptable—it is that blessed ache that drives you to the arms of the One who saves.”
Claire, so sorry you have had a tough time. Praying for His strength and the power of His presence in you as you begin a new year. Remember…God is in us, God is for us…God is with us…Emmanuel. Praise His name.
Oh, and thank you SRT! This has been an awesome study study :)
Elizabeth, I was wondering the same thing for my husband. I feel like there are so many awesome resources out there for women and just not as many for men.
I totally agree. I send my husband SRT stuff all the time and he loves it.
I've also been forwarding SRT emails to my husband.
I absolutely love shereadstruth but is there another devotional anyone could recommend that is similar to this but for men?
Regardless of our circumstances..we can know him. Beautiful. Thanks so much for this ladies.
I honestly cannot describe how perfect this series has been for me. This Christmas season has been the most wonderful for me, because of the thrill of getting to know the King in such a new and living way with the help of these devotions. May God abundantly bless you ladies!
I agree completely!
Thank you SRT for this beautiful gift. My advent season was meaningful this year because I spent everyday in the word. I’m looking forward to 2015 studies. I’m hoping there is a Lenten study, after such a meaningful Advent I’m craving a deep soul stirring Lenten season. God bless you all for your gifts.
Thank you SRT for bringing His Word to my heart & teaching me the beauty of His promise during this season of Advent.
What a perfect conclusion to this Advent study!! The truth of our ‘futility and forgetfulness’ and the promise of His Grace!!! Here’s to a new year full of new mercies!!
My grandma is starting treatment.
She has guillain-barré syndrome which means she is a LONG way away from recovery and it is extremely slow and full of complications. Please continue to pray for her and us, her name is Nan
Praying for your Nan, and yourself, and your family, Heather. Underneath are the everlasting arms – may His strength uphold, and His love enfold Nan and you all.
Thank you Barbara!
Continuing to pray Heather. His peace and comfort to you.
Still praying, Heather! Peace and strength in the name of Jesus.
Isaiah 55:8 sums up what this season of Advent has taught me: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declared the Lord.
Jesus didn’t come as we expected him to. May He do things in my heart–fulfilling His promises– even when I can’t see or expect His ways. They are higher than mine, and He will be faithful to accomplish what He has promised.
This: “Oh, friends, the invitation to “seek the Lord while He may be found” is not an ultimatum. It’s not a threat for us to be better or do more. It is a promise!” For so long I saw God as the biggest threat to my life. He was “out to get me”. Sitting up in heaven, watching me as an angry judge who relished the thought of punishing me! But that just isn’t true! God is the one who promised redemption from the very beginning. He sent His Son to halt the path to disaster that Man was on. And then He paid the price for all the sins of all the people in the world! And then He stepped into my life. He invited me to know Him. And He kept after me for 20+ years. And He forgave me. Brought me out of the darkness and into the Light of His Life and Love. And He still forgives me. And welcomes me back to His house. This.
Thank you to everyone who made this study possible and reminding me what this season of Advent is really all about.
Thank you SRT for a great study!! I’ve learned so much. Lord let me continue to thirst for you, to serve like you,and to shine for you. Thank you Father for being my true hope through all my battles with this dog gone cancer. I pray for all the gals reading this too, to give them discernment,peace,and love in all they do. Happy New Year ladies,,, thank you for your prayers and insight. Xo:)
Thanks to all the contributors. I'm looking forward to studying "John" with you.
Amen amen! I am praying for a year of constant thirst for Him!
He is here! And He loves us with an everlasting, covenanting love. Let me seek Him – be thirsty for Him – and He will more than satisfy!
"The promise that came to us in the words of a prophet and in the discomfort of a humble stable still hold fast for you and me, right here and now."
I am clinging to that promise still today!! January brings 40 years of serving God for me. Forty years? Is that possible? I was 13 when I gave my heart to the Lord and I have failed Him over and over and over again. HE has ALWAYS been faithful!! I have learned so much: the what-not-to-do's and the what-to-do's and yet still I stumbled. But most importantly He was always waiting for me, wooing me back into His presence, gently guiding me in the path I should walk.
This was a beautiful season, filled with Hope and Promise. He came, He gave and He is coming again! Thank you SRT and my study buddies. Much love to you all!
(Several have asked about The Daniel Fast, or ANY FAST, devotional. It is finally available in PRINT form as well as eBook! You can take a look here: http://www.hopeinthehealing.com/2014/12/26/prepar… )
My husband just downloaded the kindle version. We're going to look through it and pray about starting this together this week. Thank you!
Wonderful, Lori! I pray it is a blessing to you! ♥
Friend, sister, study buddy, HELLO….hope all is well with you and that your MIL is fast on . The mend….Merry Christmas…and praying a God Blessed and Happy New year to you and yours….
Glad the Daniel fast is back…I would like to attempt it with others, as I missed out last year in doing so, trying on my own was okay, but no accountability….Thank you for the link, Candacejo….Blessings…xxx
Merry Christmas to you my UK friend! MIL is doing well in body but her mind is not so great :( Appreciate the thoughts and prayers! Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that the Daniel Fast is a blessing to you too. Fasting is so beneficial in so many ways…I don't do enough of it myself but am looking forward to this season of renewal. ♥♥♥
advent 2014 – the thoughts i am going to keep unwrapping this coming year…..
advent is the gift of time – to be still and wait and anticipate
we are in the middle of the already and the not yet….
light and darkness
•light = result of choosing to believe God’s Word and receive His Son
•darkness = cause not the result of God’s wrath
•there is freedom in being pulled from a darkness of our own making into never ending light (i want to shout amen every time i read this!)
•darkness cannot survive where there is light
•my thick darkness can be forever transformed by the brightness of Christ
repentance and hope
•obeying the law isn’t the same as true belief
•He is my peace
•rending my heart
•repent and believe – if we skip repentance, what do we believe He saved us from?
•the comfort God provides is not an anesthetic
•He is HOPE
•this means when everything around me says impossible I dare to hope anyway.
Christ’s death and my restoration
•the poverty Christ took on so that I could be rich
•Jesus came to do what I cannot do
•i walk into a courtroom a guilty woman, destined to a life sentence or worse, and i walk out free, my slate wiped forever clean (amen!)
•it’s okay that i fall perpetually short because He is my enough
champions of faith
•the quick, unquestioned, undisputed faith of Mary and Joseph
•Mary didn’t ask “if” but “how’
•John the selfless way paver
•Jesus – the supreme example
o He comes humbly, quietly, and to serve
what He wants me to do in response
•make room for Him
•He comes and in return wants me to be still and know that He is God
•follow His leading until i bow before Him
what I want to remember
•Jesus is my Peace
•Jesus is my Enough
•Jesus is my Hope
Love the recap! Thank you! Well said!
Thank you Kendall for your thoughtful, concise summary of this study. You are always reflective and to the point. I cherish your observations, and I too shall keep remembering Jesus is my peace, my enough, and my hope.
Great job Kendall!!:)
Well said. Thank you for recapping this.
Kendall, joining you in that AMEN shout..there is freedom in being pulled from a darkness of our own making into never ending light…AMEN..
Thank you so very much for this recap of all we have studied these past few weeks….seeing it all together certainly helps an 'old mind like mine…Blessings Sister and thank you….x
Beautifully said, Kendall! Thank you for sharing!
I love this ending to this advent season, but may it not be the end only the beginning! I love how this passage of being invited to come by the Lord, requires nothing of us, but to simply come. I love how Scripture connects with each other, Jesus gives the same invitation in Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)- "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Sisters, may we come together to accept Emmanuel's invitation to simply come. _Also, I have been wanting to have a better pray life, so I brought a Val Marie Paper prayer journal which I am getting ready to fill out, does anyone have any prayer requests? Have a great Saturday everyone!_This, should be a lockscreen! _
Well said – may it be a lovely beginning to simply come. Every morning, simply come. What abundance He has provided for us and it begins as we come to Him. I so needed this today. I would love prayer for our finances. I have been a negligent steward in this area and need to choose differently going forward. Thank you. For what may I pray for you?
My cup overflows because I got Jesus!! He is more than enough!!
I love this! Praying to truly come, listen, seek and call on God!
He is here!!! :) I love knowing that there is someone who will love me unconditionally :) thank you God!!! For everything!
Amen, Maria…I love that too….God bless…x
As my family heads into yet another new year with heavy hearts, and I endeavor to help my husband and children grieve well, I find myself so very empty. My well dry. My
Spiritual energy severely lacking. The only way I can proceed is by His grace and with His Strength. Oh, Father, help me seek you like never before, and find you strong and vibrant and true.
A little further down in Isaiah 55, there is a little prayer for you and your precious family…
As the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return to it without watering the earth
And making it bud and flourish…
So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire
And achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace;
The mountains and hills will burst into song before you,
And all the trees in the field will clap their hands.
Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree,
And instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord's renown,
for an everlasting sign that will not be destroyed.
No tear is wasted in the presence of God. Praying that God restores joy in your family in the coming year!
Thank you so much, Kelly.
Lifting you and your sweet family up in prayer today…God is so near even when we don't FEEL Him. Much love.
Praying for God to give you an abundance of His sustaining grace to carry you through and that you feel his presence
Thank you.
Dearest thisgalsjourney, lifting you and your family up in prayer, that you find His arms a comfort, His words true….that He is near…He is near…to the broken hearted…and that He fill you with the strength to guide and be the help your family need at this very sad time…May God be with you all….Emmanuel…He is here…Sending you a hug and love….xxx
Thank you so much.