Isn't it just the sweetest thing ever that God gives us a whole book filled with His own story told through the lives of broken people so we can know Him and learn to trust Him!?!?
We will glorify Him and enjoy Him in direct proportion to how much we know Him.
We are not going to trust someone we don't know.
We are not going to sell-out to someone we don't know.
We are not going to obey someone we don't know.
The more estranged our relationship with God, the greater our emotional expectations of people. The greater our emotional expectations of people, the more difficult life is; the greater emotional pain we live in, the more difficult we are to live with. (by Rod Pruitt)
May we enter into relationship - a deep and delightful relationship - with the God Who calls our name!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
A Few Thoughts from Class Tonight
A.W. Tozer said that “the most important thing about us is what we believe about God.” Amen and amen!
Two scriptures that have proven to be great meditation points for me are Jeremiah 29: 12-13 and Isaiah 30: 15-16, 18, 20-21.
Jeremiah 29 reads:
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.”
What phrases stand out to you? Where draws the eye of your heart in for a second glance?
“I will listen to you.”
“You will seek me”
“All your heart”
“I will be found”
“Back from captivity”
Don’t you desperately want to dance in freedom…
Through knowing that He hears you?
Through knowing that He passionately wants you to find Him?
Through seeking Him with every inch of your heart?
Through chains being released?
What do we need to pray for the Lord to prune away from us so that we seek Him with all of our energy and strength, focus and purpose?
It doesn’t have to be sin that needs to be stripped. It can be the things that the Lord gave us for good that has become too prominent, too important in our hearts.
Isaiah 30 reads:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
You said, “No, we will flee on horses. Therefore you will flee!
You said, “We will ride off on swift horses.” Therefore your pursuers will be swift!...
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!...
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Let some of those phrases soak in your meditation pool for a bit!
What are the “horses” of today? Could it be they represent anything that gives us perceived power?
Falling in love is only sweet and enjoyed – delightful – when relationship is maintained!
Tozer: The most important thing about us is what we believe about God.
God wants us to know Him and He reveals Himself through giving His people different glimpses into what they could call Him – His names.
Draw us in, precious Lord, to Your heart! May we know You and love You more through the study of Your living breathing Word!
Two scriptures that have proven to be great meditation points for me are Jeremiah 29: 12-13 and Isaiah 30: 15-16, 18, 20-21.
Jeremiah 29 reads:
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity.”
What phrases stand out to you? Where draws the eye of your heart in for a second glance?
“I will listen to you.”
“You will seek me”
“All your heart”
“I will be found”
“Back from captivity”
Don’t you desperately want to dance in freedom…
Through knowing that He hears you?
Through knowing that He passionately wants you to find Him?
Through seeking Him with every inch of your heart?
Through chains being released?
What do we need to pray for the Lord to prune away from us so that we seek Him with all of our energy and strength, focus and purpose?
It doesn’t have to be sin that needs to be stripped. It can be the things that the Lord gave us for good that has become too prominent, too important in our hearts.
Isaiah 30 reads:
“In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
You said, “No, we will flee on horses. Therefore you will flee!
You said, “We will ride off on swift horses.” Therefore your pursuers will be swift!...
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.
For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him!...
Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Let some of those phrases soak in your meditation pool for a bit!
What are the “horses” of today? Could it be they represent anything that gives us perceived power?
Falling in love is only sweet and enjoyed – delightful – when relationship is maintained!
Tozer: The most important thing about us is what we believe about God.
God wants us to know Him and He reveals Himself through giving His people different glimpses into what they could call Him – His names.
Draw us in, precious Lord, to Your heart! May we know You and love You more through the study of Your living breathing Word!
Saturday, September 05, 2009
Seeking Him with All My Heart
Sometime during the first session of marriage counseling, I like to ask the couple to share in telling me how they met, then how they fell in love – that first ‘ahah’ moment when you just know there is something jsut really special about another.
I love this question but most of all I love how it transforms faces and hearts. I don’t get to work with marriages when things are going well but more likely when stress and tension are being experienced by one or both people.
Giving voice to our histories helps us relive them. To recall the sweetness of our history empowers us to claim it in our present.
Another question I love asking: Exactly how did you meet the Lord; how did you fall head over heals in love with Him? Oh to relish in the sweetness of those memories! To claim them in my present!
In my own life, I cannot remember a day that I have not known the Him. My parents taught me all about Him!
But, oh how I remember the season I fell in love with Him!
It was 1994-1995 – my precious friend, Sharmon Ramsey, had just died from a massive brain aneurysm. I knew there had to be more to life – more to life with Jesus – than I had been experiencing. I began to cry out to the Lord to teach me, to show me, how to know Him more, how to love Him more, how to want Him more.
That is when I found the words in Jeremiah 29: 12-14:
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”
Those words continue to be my heartcry: Teach me, Father, what it means to seek You with all my heart. I want to continue to find more and more of You. Thank You, Precious Lord, for releasing me from the enemy’s captivity. May I dance in the freedom of Your love and grace and mercy as long as my feet walk on dirt!
Weekly, on Wednesday nights, I will be sharing thoughts from the personal journey that I went through in 1994-1995 – the study that led me to fall totally and delightfully in love with the Love of my life! It is a study of the ‘names’ of God.
If I handed you a piece of paper today and ask you to write out how you met Him, how you fell in love, some of you could fill the page with details. Some would have blank pages. Oh, sweet friends, don’t let your page set blank. Let’s fall deeply, head-over-hills in love with the Creator of our souls! If your page is full, I am praying right now that you will recognize ways to share your story in the days to come!
To His Name be ALL praise and glory!
I love this question but most of all I love how it transforms faces and hearts. I don’t get to work with marriages when things are going well but more likely when stress and tension are being experienced by one or both people.
Giving voice to our histories helps us relive them. To recall the sweetness of our history empowers us to claim it in our present.
Another question I love asking: Exactly how did you meet the Lord; how did you fall head over heals in love with Him? Oh to relish in the sweetness of those memories! To claim them in my present!
In my own life, I cannot remember a day that I have not known the Him. My parents taught me all about Him!
But, oh how I remember the season I fell in love with Him!
It was 1994-1995 – my precious friend, Sharmon Ramsey, had just died from a massive brain aneurysm. I knew there had to be more to life – more to life with Jesus – than I had been experiencing. I began to cry out to the Lord to teach me, to show me, how to know Him more, how to love Him more, how to want Him more.
That is when I found the words in Jeremiah 29: 12-14:
“Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity.”
Those words continue to be my heartcry: Teach me, Father, what it means to seek You with all my heart. I want to continue to find more and more of You. Thank You, Precious Lord, for releasing me from the enemy’s captivity. May I dance in the freedom of Your love and grace and mercy as long as my feet walk on dirt!
Weekly, on Wednesday nights, I will be sharing thoughts from the personal journey that I went through in 1994-1995 – the study that led me to fall totally and delightfully in love with the Love of my life! It is a study of the ‘names’ of God.
If I handed you a piece of paper today and ask you to write out how you met Him, how you fell in love, some of you could fill the page with details. Some would have blank pages. Oh, sweet friends, don’t let your page set blank. Let’s fall deeply, head-over-hills in love with the Creator of our souls! If your page is full, I am praying right now that you will recognize ways to share your story in the days to come!
To His Name be ALL praise and glory!
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