SEEKING (Asking - Seeking - Knocking)

⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."    (Matthew 7: 7-8) NKJV

 If you've not done so, please take a few minutes and read the previous two articles on "WHY Do You Ask, Seek, Knock?" and then on the first part on "ASKING". They will get you caught up on this discussion that, regardless of what you do or don't believe, STILL have application in your life for today. 

As a quick preview, the strength of your "why" will greatly determine the strength of your search, or your "SEEKING". If, whatever it is that you decided to "ASK" for/about is not that big of a deal to you then, guess what? The effort that you put into searching and/or SEEKING for that will also not be that big of a deal and, as a result, nothing will happen. You can't just ASK and wait for the answer to fall into your lap!

Remember, "Opportunity Does NOT Always Knock!"

One of the main things that I discuss in the podcast version of this particular article is that, when you begin to actually take action and search and/or seek, YOU CANNOT SEEK WITH PREDETERMINED IDEAS OF WHAT THE ANSWER WILL BE FOR WHICH YOU SEEK.

You can't put "guidelines" or "parameters" on that search. If you do, you are not truly SEEKING. You are simply limiting yourself to hopefully finding something that will already fit what you have decided that you actually need at this point.  

I share in the podcast (see links for iTunes as well as the RSS feed below) a TRUE STORY from my own life where I was "asking" and "seeking" a new church to work with/for a number of years back but, at the same time, I had put some specific parameters on where I was willing to look. And, for me at that time in my life, I had actually put the stipulation on my search of, "O.k. God, please lead me to my next location to work in youth ministry BUT...there needs to be a lake nearby!". I literally would get out a map and see if there was a lake nearby if I got a call from a church that wanted to interview me for the job. Be sure to listen to the podcast to find out how this turned out. Hint: As long as I kept that closed-minded approach to my "search" (it wasn't really a true search, was it?) things did not turn out as I had hoped.

Remember what I said earlier about the strength of your "WHY" determining the strength of your search or SEEKING. Another way to word that would be, how VALUABLE is that for which you seek? Take a look at another scripture where Jesus discusses such thoughts...

⁴⁴ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.⁴⁵ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, ⁴⁶ who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it." (Matthew 13: 44-46)

So, to sum this all up, IF YOU TRULY SEEK TO FIND "THE ANSWER"...  

1. Do not put parameters or limitations for that which you seek 

2. Remove the "blinders" that would keep you from truly seeing that "open door" that might appear

In the next podcast and article we will talk about "KNOCKING" in the process of "ASKING, SEEKING, KNOCKING". Think about this between now and then: If you decide to "knock" on a particular "door", WHY HAVE YOU DECIDED THAT YOU NEED TO KNOCK ON THAT PARTICULAR DOOR?

I'd love to get your feedback about this series and, maybe even, this particular article. Yes, you can do so by leaving a comment here but, would you do me a favor and go over to my Facebook page to do so? I'd really appreciate that! 

Until next time, remember, YOU'RE HERE FOR A REASON and, whatever you do, always be sure to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

Future You University   FYU on Facebook!   Podcast on iTunes   Podcast RSS feed

YouTube    Project141 

 

WHY Do You Ask, Seek and Knock?

 

⁷ “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."    (Matthew 7: 7-8) NKJV

Most - if not all - of us, at some point in our lives have or will "ask" and "seek" an answer from God concerning some event or situation in our lives or the lives of those that we love. 

The fact that Jesus spoke the words that you read above should indicate that it is okay and, even "normal", to ask and seek for something which we desire. 

The main question I would like to ask as we begin this new series is simply this: "WHY do you ask, seek and knock?" What is the reason? What is it that you seek and/or desire?

As I mentioned on the podcast by the same title (links at bottom of article), I believe it is important to take a few minutes and actually write down your answer to that question. I'm thinking that, often, we ask, seek and knock because we are "lacking" in some area(s) of our life and we are searching for answers.

So, yeah, take that thought and add it to your activity of answering the questions of "Why?" mentioned above. Answer that part first and then try to break it down even more and get very specific to see if you can pinpoint the area of "lack" in your life.  

Using the areas of life discussed with Project141 , address this question with each area of your life mentioned in the Project141 approach to life. How are you doing with your physical health? How are you doing with your spiritual health? What about your relationships with your spouse, family, friends, co-workers and others around you? How are things with your finances?

What is it that you seek and desire? What is that for which you have a desire to ask?

Address those things and then hang on to those notes as we delve deeper into our desire to "Ask, Seek & Knock". 

On a side note, in case you haven't heard, I have finally updated my website and have even "revamped" things a bit with my podcast (see links below). If you would, please check both of those things out and then go to my FYU Facebook page and leave me some feedback on your thoughts about these changes. I'd love to hear from you! 

Until next time, remember, YOU'RE HERE FOR A REASON and, whatever you do, always be sure to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

Future You University   FYU on Facebook!   Podcast on iTunes   Podcast RSS feed

YouTube    Project141 

Knock and...

Knock and...

...the door shall be opened to you.

WOW! When you take a look at all three of these you SHOULD BE astounded at the promises that come with these action points!

SHOULD BE...but are you?

With each one of these that we have discussed this week you have ACTION followed by a PROMISE of DELIVERY. Why would anyone NOT follow through with the action?

I'm not sure, but we see evidence of it each and every day.

For example, we all know that if we eat better (healthier) and exercise we will lose weight AND likely prolong our life. Pretty good promise of delivery wouldn't you say? Yet how many of us (myself included for right now) seem to struggle with following through with this idea?

Another example: If you spend LESS than you MAKE you will be able to set some money back and, over a period of time, have a nice "nest egg" of money set back and your bills taken care of! Again, another good promise of delivery, right? And, yet again, most of us FAIL to follow through with this course of action.

So, when we look at the three action points behind "the Concept of A.S.K." along with the promises of delivery we can also see that, although the promises of delivery are POWERFUL, not everyone will follow through. Will you?

"ASK and it will be given to you. SEEK and you will find. KNOCK and the door will be open to you."

That's pretty powerful IF we follow through. And that, my friend, is a big "IF"!

So, here we are. We have ASKED the questions that are necessary for us to follow our dreams and move toward our goals (see Tuesday's blog and podcast). And, IF we have done so with the purpose of following through we WILL have the answers revealed to us! Then what?

The answers have been revealed showing us - revealing to us - the PATH that we must take in order to fulfill our life's purpose. However, even as we SEEK this path - this direction - we must still continually be asking those questions to make sure that we do, indeed, continue to follow the right path. By doing so, we WILL find the right path to follow along our life's journey!

By following this path that leads us to the fulfillment of our life's purpose, we will end up at what I call the "door of opportunity". We've been lead down the right path to this door. It's there - right in front of us! You've heard the phrase, "Opportunity knocks" right? Well, here is our chance to knock on the door of opportunity!

But, will you? Will we?

Believe it or not, THIS promise of delivery scares some people! Sure, they've had to step on out boldly so far by following the answers that have been revealed to them and by actually following that path that has been revealed during their search. But now...NOW they have to decide if they really want to knock on that door.

Why? Because the promise is that, if you KNOCK on that door, it WILL open!

And, if that door of opportunity is open for you, what excuse do you have NOT to walk through it? Let me answer that one for you - NONE! No excuses!

Believe it or not (maybe you DO believe it because you have experienced this in your own life) people get to this place every day and fail to follow through by walking through that door.

If you notice, we're not told WHAT lies beyond that door! We're just told, PROMISED, that it WILL open for us - to us. And, perhaps that is the problem - the fear of the unknown.

We have talked about fear at great lengths over the past year or so, haven't we? Yet, we still face that paralyzing fear often.

WALK THROUGH THE DOOR!

This is the path that you've followed. This is the path that was revealed to you when you asked those questions about your purpose in life and how to go about fulfilling that purpose. You are AT THE DOOR!

Knock and walk through with great confidence and security. It is YOUR door that is open to YOUR life and YOUR opportunity.

Claim it. Own it. It's yours!

And, when you do so, as the old Carpenter song says, "We've only just begun to live..." !

How great is that?

And, as always, be sure to remember to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike

"Seek and..."

Seek and...

...you shall find.

Today I'd like to discuss the second of three "legs" behind the "Concept of A.S.K."

Yesterday we discussed the first, "Ask and it shall be given to you." We discussed the importance of asking some vital questions that we MUST be asking if we are serious about following the path of our purpose. And THEN taking action when the answers are revealed to us. And, be assured, they WILL be revealed if we do, indeed, want to know the answers!

Please notice that all three of these words - ask, seek, knock - are VERBS. That being so, they denote ACTION!

We discussed the idea that we must not ask and then wait for something to fall into our laps. No! When you look at it as a VERB then we understand that we must ASK with the intention of MOVING TOWARD the answers.... actively pursuing those answers. And then ACTING upon them once discovered.

Today is the same as we look at the idea of, "Seek and you will find".

Remember that, this too, is a VERB word and that it denotes ACTION! This is not a "passive search" but an "active search".

Why am I emphasizing this so much? Because it is IMPORTANT for us to understand! Too many times we may say we are asking the questions and seeking or searching for the right path for our life when - in all reality - we really aren't!

Many times we are "going through the motions" just to try to pacify either ourselves or someone else and we aren't really serious or we don't really have any intentions on changing ANYTHING in our lives.

Don't waste your time and don't try to do ANYTHING in this area to try to please or pacify someone else.

It is UP TO YOU and it has to be FOR YOU or it will never really work out for you.

YOU have to want it! YOU have to really want to know the answers to the questions we discussed yesterday. YOU have to really want to find the direction for your life so that you can life a life of purpose and passion. YOU!

Here's a fact of life: You will find what you are looking for - good or bad!

If you focus on the negative things in this world then, guess what? You will continue to see and see nothing BUT the negative things in this world. Your life and your world will seem to be nothing but a sea of negativity.

However, the opposite is also true and CAN be true even for those described in the previous paragraph IF they desire to make the needed changes to make it happen. If you focus on the positive things in this world then you will continue to SEE and EXPERIENCE the positive things that this world has to offer!

Oh, you will see the negativity from time to time but, because you are being ACTIVE, in your pursuit of the positive, you will easily overcome any impact the negative might have on your life and you will move on in a POSITIVE direction!

Again, it's YOUR choice!

Ask, and it WILL be given to you... Seek and you WILL find!

Whether this matters to you or not is up to you. For those that say that it DOES matter, answers and direction await!

And, as you travel this journey of life, always remember to...

"Make it an AWESOME day! (Who else is going to do it for you?)"

Mike