Desire for God

Verse: Hebrews 10:25
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Once I became saved, I was often envious of the devotion to God and church I saw in other Christians. These people gladly went to church every time the doors were opened. I did not grow up going to church, so it was not a familiar habit to me. It took some time to develop the desire to go to church every Sunday. However, now there is no where else I’d rather be.

Desire to attend church and revival don’t seem to go together, but without a desire for God, who is found in church, there will be no spiritual revival. Vine’s Concise Dictionary of the Bible defines revive as, “to flourish anew” (p. 317). Excitement can be a great motivator, but eventually excitement wears off and it is important to have good self-discipline and self-control to continue when the going gets tough. So how do we get the desire?

Desire and self-discipline/self-control are closely linked. Sunday morning when the alarm goes off to get up for Sunday School, it is our self-discipline and self-control that gets us up and out the door. Or it is a lack of self-discipline and self-control that makes us turn off the alarm and go back to sleep. Like any other skill we are trying to acquire gaining self-discipline and control takes practice and repetition. The more we are successful at resisting that part of our human nature and Satan’s pull (James 4:7) then the more we will be able to attend church and learn the things God would have us do. The blessings come when we hear His Word and see Him work in our lives and in the lives of other Christians. The Bible says hearing His word increases our faith (Romans 10:17 ). Likewise, seeing His works and blessings in our lives and in the lives of others increases our desire for Him. It becomes a positive yet delicate cycle. Both faith and desire for God are cultivated in church and in close proximity to other Christians. Spiritual revival only happens in church, it cannot happen apart from gathering together with other believers.

Glory to the Righteous One!

Prayer:
Father, give me the strength to persevere in my pursuit of Jesus.

Read More:
Isaiah 58:13-14

Action Plan (James 1:22 & 25):
Think of something you have wanted to do for God. Make a decision to do it for Him this week. Once you have completed it, reflect on what you have learned as a result of your obedience and offer that to Him in prayer.

If God has put something on your heart and you feel comfortable sharing it make a comment below and let us know what it is. We can encourage each other by bearing one another's burdens and praying.

Vanish!

Verse: Psalms 103:12
"...as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

One cold winter evening my husband and I lit a fire in the fireplace. As the wood burned we occasionally threw in a bank statement or other piece of paper that had sensitive information on it. Then we would watch it go up in flames and turn into ashes. The next day in bible study the group sang, 'In the Presence of Jehovah' by Cathy Goddard. Some of the lyrics in the chorus of that song are, '...troubles vanish, hearts are mended...' The word in the chorus of that song that caught my attention was the word 'vanish.' I thought back to the night before, after the fire was extinguished no trace of the paperwork was left, except for the ashes. However, it occurred to me that even the ashes could be swept up and taken outside to vanish in the wind, never to be seen again. Similarly, the Lord is to our sins what the wind is to the ashes; with one word from Him our sins are removed.

Through Jesus' sacrifice and our repentance, He does remove our sins far from us with no traces remaining (Isaiah 1:18). It is amazing that when we genuinely ask for forgiveness our sins are gone, removed, cleansed, they vanish. At http://www.dictionary.com/ the definition for vanish includes, ‘to become invisible, to disappear by ceasing to exist, to become zero.’ If we really stop to think about how our Heavenly Father forgives our sins it is astonishing. Our offenses, insults, and disobedience that cause heartache; or more specifically cause His heart to ache are gone; they ‘become zero.’ They are not counted against us, and the very person whose heart aches because of our sins is the very same person who forgives us and removes our sins entirely. Only a mighty God could do that.

Since He has forgiven us so completely, we don’t have to continue rehashing past mistakes. We can let go and let God forgive, and then rest in His forgiveness. Peace comes when we believe, by faith, in his total forgiveness.

For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does!

Prayer: You are great and amazing O Lord! Thank you for your faithfulness and forgiveness.

Read More: 1 John 1:9, and Colossians 1:21-22.

Action Plan: During your prayer time today confess your sins to Him and lay your mistakes at His feet. Make a decision not to pick them up again. Regret can be debilitating, to combat regret memorize 1 John 1:9 to use against Satan when he tries remind you of past mistakes.

If God has put something on your heart and you feel comfortable sharing it, make a comment and let us know what it is. We can encourage each other by bearing one another's burdens and praying.

I Will! I Think!?!

Verse: Hebrews 12:25

"See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?"

I came to a scary realization recently. I have inadvertently been telling God, 'no.' I had been wanting to have daily prayer time. I knew God wanted me to have one as well. Yet, when my alarm would go off I would push the snooze button for a few more minutes of sleep. That would end up taking more time than I had anticipated, then I wouldn't have time to pray. Sometime later that day I would tell God, 'I will do it tomorrow for sure,' but somehow I would wind up repeating that cycle again.

When we say to ourselves, I will go to church on Sunday, or I will pray, or I will go to Sunday School, or I will stop participating in... yet, we don't follow our declaration with immediate action to actually go and do the things we have stated we will do, that is the same thing as saying, 'No' to our Heavenly Father. Often we deceive ourselves with our own good intentions. We can be absolutely adamant and determined to do what we have said to ourselves that we will do, however, if our actions that follow that declaration are contrary to our decisions then in reality we are saying to God, 'No, wait, later, not yet,' and even 'I won't.'

We mean well when we make these statements and declarations, but it is just talk if our actions don't support our decisions. True repentance and devotion will include the appropriate actions that were preceded by our thoughts and words.

The Lord Almighty-He is the King of glory!

Prayer:
God forgive me. Help me take steps toward repentance by doing what I have said I will do.

Read More:
Matthew 26:41

Plan of Action:
What kinds of things are you wanting to do to draw closer to God?

If God has put something on your heart and you feel comfortable sharing it make a comment and let us know what it is. We can encourage each other by bearing one another's burdens and praying.