ASK. LOVE. PURSUE.

 ASK. LOVE. PURSUE.

A Simple Blueprint for Living Faithfully

Matthew 7:7 (NLT)

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.”

Galatians 3:28 (NLT)

“There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

1 Timothy 6:11–12 (NLT)

“But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have so well confessed before many witnesses.”

Sometimes I think we make following Jesus harder than it needs to be.

We read books, listen to sermons, attend Bible studies, search for the perfect formula, and wonder why living the Christian life can feel so exhausting. We ask ourselves questions like, Am I doing enough? Am I praying enough? Am I growing enough? Am I getting this right?

And while there is certainly much to learn about God and His Word, sometimes I believe He brings us back to the simple things.

Stay close to Me.

Love one another.

Keep growing.

When I look at these three Scriptures together, that is what I see.

Ask. Love. Pursue.

Three simple words.

Three lifelong actions.

And perhaps three things that can help keep us grounded when the world around us feels anything but stable.

ASK — Stay Close to God

Jesus said:

“Keep on asking… Keep on seeking… Keep on knocking.”

I love those words: keep on.

Jesus didn't say we had to have all the answers.

He didn't say we had to be strong enough to handle everything life throws at us.

He didn't say, “Figure it out yourself, and come back when you've got it together.”

No.

He said, keep coming to Me.

Ask.

Seek.

Knock.

Prayer isn't supposed to be a fancy speech where we try to impress God with big spiritual words. Sometimes prayer is simply sitting on the edge of the bed and saying, “Lord, I don't know what to do.”

Sometimes it is whispering, “Help me.”

Sometimes it is crying when there are no words left.

And sometimes it is simply sitting quietly in His presence because He already knows what is on our hearts.

Ross and I have certainly had plenty of opportunities to practice this over the years.

There have been times when we had no idea how things were going to work out. Times when the bills were bigger than the bank account. Times when life brought news we didn't want to hear. Times when we were tired, afraid, frustrated, and simply didn't know which way to turn.

And honestly? Sometimes our prayers have been incredibly simple.

“Lord, we need You.”

That is asking.

That is seeking.

That is knocking.

And the beautiful thing is, God does not grow tired of His children coming to Him.

We may have to wait.

The answer may not look like what we expected.

Sometimes the door we are knocking on remains closed because God has a different door ahead.

But we can trust the One on the other side.

Jesus invites us to keep coming.

Not once.

Not only when life falls apart.

But every day.

Prayer keeps our hearts connected to the One who knows the way when we do not.

LOVE — Remember Who Your Family Is

Then Paul gives us these powerful words:

“For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

What a beautiful reminder in a world that seems determined to divide everybody.

We divide ourselves by politics.

By money.

By age.

By race.

By education.

By denomination.

By where we come from.

By what we have.

And sometimes, sadly, even the church forgets that we are supposed to be family.

Paul reminds us that when we come to Jesus, something bigger than all our differences happens.

We become one in Christ.

That doesn't mean we all look alike.

It doesn't mean we all agree about everything.

It doesn't mean we have the same personalities, backgrounds, opinions, or life experiences.

Thank goodness for that! Can you imagine how boring the world would be if everyone was exactly like us? LOL!

But it does mean that the ground is level at the foot of the cross.

The wealthy person and the person struggling to pay the electric bill both need Jesus.

The educated and the uneducated both need grace.

The person who has lived what looks like a “good life” and the person whose past is filled with mistakes both need a Savior.

And when we truly understand that, it should change the way we treat people.

We stop asking, “Are they like me?”

And begin asking, “How can I love them?”

That is one reason I love the idea of our food cupboard garden.

A garden doesn't ask who deserves the tomato.

The green beans don't care about your politics.

The potatoes don't ask about your bank account.

The food simply grows—and when the harvest comes, it is meant to nourish someone.

Isn't that a beautiful picture of the Kingdom of God?

Different seeds.

Different plants.

Different colors.

Different sizes.

But growing together in the same soil.

And eventually producing something that can bless others.

That is what the church should look like.

Not a place where everyone has to be the same.

But a place where people grow together in Christ and use what God has given them to feed, encourage, strengthen, and love one another.

PURSUE — Keep Growing

Finally, Paul gives Timothy some very practical instructions.

He says:

Run from evil.

Pursue righteousness.

Fight the good fight.

Hold tightly.

Notice something important here.

Following Jesus is not passive.

We don't simply say a prayer, sit back, and assume there is nothing more for us to do.

God loves us exactly as we are—but He loves us far too much to leave us exactly as we are.

There are things we need to walk away from.

Attitudes we need to surrender.

Habits we need to change.

Words we need to stop speaking.

Bitterness we need to release.

Temptations we need to run from.

But the Christian life isn't only about what we stop doing.

It is also about what we begin pursuing.

Paul tells us to pursue:

Righteousness.

Godliness.

Faith.

Love.

Perseverance.

Gentleness.

I don't know about you, but I could probably work on every single one of those!

And here is where I find hope: God isn't asking us to become perfect overnight.

Growth takes time.

Just like a garden.

You don't put a seed in the ground on Monday and expect to harvest tomatoes on Tuesday.

You prepare the soil.

You plant.

You water.

You pull weeds.

You protect the plants.

You wait.

And little by little, something begins to grow.

Our spiritual lives are much the same.

Some days we may not feel like we are making much progress.

We may still struggle with impatience.

We may still have moments when fear gets the better of us.

We may have to ask God to forgive us for the same attitude more than once.

But if we keep coming to Him, keep loving His people, and keep pursuing the things of God, something is happening beneath the surface.

Roots are growing.

Faith is deepening.

Character is changing.

And eventually, there will be fruit.

A Life That Grows Something Good

When I put these three Scriptures together, I don't see a complicated formula.

I see a way of life.

ASK — Stay close to God.

Keep talking to Him. Keep seeking Him. Keep knocking, even when you don't understand what He is doing.

LOVE — Remember that we belong to one another.

Look beyond the things that divide us and see people as souls deeply loved by God.

PURSUE — Keep growing.

Walk away from what pulls you away from God and chase after the things that make you more like Jesus.

Maybe that is the blueprint we need when life feels complicated.

Stay close.

Love people.

Keep growing.

And perhaps that is exactly what we see in a garden.

Seeds are planted in ordinary dirt.

They need sunlight and water.

They need tending.

Sometimes weeds try to choke them out.

Storms come.

Dry seasons come.

But when they are cared for and remain rooted, they grow.

And eventually, they produce something that feeds someone else.

Ross and I know that life can sometimes feel like tending a garden in difficult weather. There are seasons when everything seems to grow easily, and there are seasons when we wonder if anything will ever come together. But we keep showing up. We keep planting. We keep watering. We keep trusting God to do what only He can do.

And that is what faith often looks like.

Not perfection.

Not having all the answers.

Just faithfully showing up.

Asking.

Loving.

Pursuing.

And trusting God to bring the growth.

Maybe today you are standing at a door that hasn't opened yet.

Keep knocking.

Maybe there is someone God is asking you to love even though they are very different from you.

Love them anyway.

Maybe you have grown tired in your walk with God.

Don't give up. Keep pursuing Him.

The world may be divided.

Life may be difficult.

And our journey may sometimes feel exhausting.

But we serve a God who is still listening when we ask, still revealing Himself when we seek, and still opening doors according to His perfect will.

So stay close to Him.

Love His people.

Keep growing.

And one day, you may discover that the very seeds God planted in the hardest seasons of your life have grown into something that feeds and blesses someone else.

Let us pray

Heavenly Father,

Thank You for never growing tired of us coming to You. Thank You that we can ask, seek, and knock, knowing that You hear the prayers of Your children.

Forgive us for the times we have tried to handle life on our own. Remind us that we were never meant to carry everything without You. Help us to bring You our worries, our fears, our questions, and even the things we do not understand.

Lord, teach us to love people the way You love us. Tear down the walls we build between ourselves and others. Help us to look beyond differences and remember that every person is someone You created and someone Jesus loves.

And Father, help us to keep growing.

Give us the strength to walk away from the things that pull us away from You. Help us pursue righteousness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. When we grow tired, remind us not to give up.

Plant us deeply in Your love.

Water us with Your Word.

Pull the weeds from our hearts.

And produce fruit in our lives that will bless someone else.

Help us to stay close to You, love one another, and faithfully pursue the life You have called us to live.

In Jesus' precious name,

Amen.

The Lord's Prayer (KJV)

Our Father which art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever.

Amen.

BELIEVE. OBEY. BE BLESSED.

AMEN. BOBBA