Hunger by Kristina

Frederick Buechner writes, “Every once in a while, life can be very eloquent.  You go along from day to day not noticing very much, not seeing or hearing very much, and then all of a sudden, when you least expect it very often, something speaks to you which such power that it catches you off guard, makes you listen whether you want to or not.  Something speaks to you out of your own life with such directness that it is as if it calls you by name and forces you to look where you have not had the heart to look before, to hear something that maybe for years you have not had the wit or the courage to hear”.  

One of my favorite writers, Ken Gire, challenges that we’ve all, at some time or another, had experiences like that.  Often though, we’re in such a hurry or the voice is so hard to hear that we miss what is being said.  But the voice calls…beckons…This voice that calls to us out of the everyday moments of life is called the wisdom of God.

Gire writes that the voice of wisdom may call to us from anywhere - from a side street, through busy traffic of our day or at some crossroads in our lives.  We may hear the voice in a church or a movie theatre, in a quiet moment by ourselves or in a noisy moment with thousand of others.  But it is our name being called…called into a different way of living. 

As we continue our journey to cultivate a heart like Christ, I read a prayer that challenged me and I wanted to share it with you.  It’s a prayer worth analyzing but these are no light words – they are words with great depth and if prayed with honesty, it could help us on the path of Christ-likeness and open our hearts and minds to the experiences that Buechner wrote about…and maybe this time, we won’t miss them.  But it all starts with hunger - and that is something we certainly need to make sure we don't miss!   Take a deep breath now....here's the prayer...

A.W. Tozer writes, “O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more.  I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace.  I am ashamed of my lack of desire.  O God, the Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still.”

How hungry are you friends?

Resources:

The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

The Reflective Life by Ken Gire

The Bible (specifically the Psalms) by God J

what God already does

Hey folks,

I want to go back to Kristina’s earlier post which referenced the last two verses of Psalm 139. For a reminder, here they are:

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me

and lead me in the way everlasting.

It is interesting to note that in the first part of that psalm, King David has already declared that God knows everything there is to know about him. God knows when David sits, when he stands. He knows his thoughts. Tells him where to stop and rest. God knows what David will say even before the words are spoken. There is nowhere David can be without God’s knowledge - and he considers God’s intimate understanding of who he is to be a blessing.

So, why does David ask God to do what he knows God already does?

Perhaps it is because no matter how confident David is in God, he does not trust himself. David knows his own heart and the depth of evil that resides there. This “man after God’s own heart” was a great king, a mighty warrior, a poet and musician, and a loyal friend. He was also a murderer and an adulterer.

The heart is a tricky thing. Jeremiah 17:9 calls the human heart deceitful and desperately wicked. I think David knew that. I think most of us know it, too. How suddenly and unexpectedly the heart can fail us. How quickly we can slip and fall. How treacherous the descent can be. How injurious our path can be to others.

Search me, O God, and know my heart... is an invitation for God to invade our lives, giving Him permission to bring light into even the darkest rooms we think we have locked away and hidden from view.

Test me and know my anxious thoughts... See if there is any offensive way in me... are the words of a servant whose only desire is to please his Master, not wanting to cause Him shame or embarrassment by words and actions made public or by thoughts and motives in private.

Lead me in the way everlasting... These are words of faith. I may not know God’s movement or where He is leading. But I know His heart, that He is good. That His every countless thought about me is precious.

For me, this is a difficult prayer. It opens me up to a vulnerability that I am not especially comfortable with. My careless words and thoughtless actions become more than just “my bad.” The end of my steps often show that I am selfish, headstrong, and petty. These words are difficult.

And yet, they offer us “true north.” Our lives - especially as artists, on public display - become distorted, out of focus. We think of ourselves too highly, too often, too long. These words bring us back into proper focus. We regain our path. We restate our allegiance.

This week, give thought to asking God to do what you already know He can do. Invite Him into your process. Allow Him to be before you, and behind. Be joyous that He knows where you will sit and where you will stand. Be encouraged that He knows what you will say before the words tumble out. Be strengthened by the knowledge that there is no place you can be that He is not. And be blessed by His intimate knowledge of who you are.

R

I stink by Steve Gompers

Let’s just get right into it people. What do we do with ourselves when we say, “I want to serve God with my gifts” but truly, if we’re honest, we just want to do what WE want to do?

Serving God is only real and effective when it is a natural overflow of our relationship with Him. When we spend time with God, realize His love for us, then when we go to the store we can’t help but want the cashier to know how much God loves her too….. that’s natural overflow of our relationship with Him. Question: Did you do your ‘homework’ last week?  Did you take a long hard look at the state of your heart?  If so, then you’re like me and realize that you’re a mess…or like the title of this blog states, we stink.  When we realize how pathetic we really are and respond to God in the way King David responded in 2 Samuel (read it now! #4), then we’re starting to serve God. We’re gaining a heart like Christ’s. In sharp contrast, wanting to be seen on camera or attaining some title or status, even in a Christian context and attempting to call it “service,” really isn’t serving anyone is it? Except maybe ourselves? Hmm?

When God creates and grows a new heart in us, then our words and actions will reflect that. That’s ministry. All of our other “doing” has no eternal value. Meaning that when I stand before God, only the things He accomplished through my submissive heart will count towards the eternal building of His kingdom. And if we’re going to be bold about it – everything else we do in our attempt to “serve” God is a waste of time in light of the enormous sacrifice God made for us. This isn’t fun, or light, but it’s real.

 

Here are some verses that inspired this blog. Read them. Read around them.

1.       Jeremiah 17:9

2.       Matthew 19:17

3.       Genesis 20

4.       2 Samuel 11

5.       1Timothy 1:15

6.       Romans ch.11

7.       2 Corinthians 5:17

8.       Isaiah 64:6

9.       John 15:16

A heart like His...getting there by Kristina

Honesty. 

The temptation for this first post is to give you loads of links to read, videos to watch and songs to listen to and just jump right into our 'steps to take' to get there.

However, jumping right into the nice and tidy ‘steps’ is not the true first step.  But I have to admit - the first real step, is the hardest because it requires enormous honesty.  In order to cultivate a heart like Christ - a servant's heart - we need to first examine our own heart and identify the areas that cause us to stumble and fall.  Here’s something to think about - Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges point out in their book, Lead Like Jesus, that there tend to be two big barriers to developing a servant's heart:  Pride and Fear.  My knee jerk reaction to those two words is "Oh, I'm good there".  But when I get honest - I struggle with pride...every day.  And fear?  How many times a day I grab the reigns of control out of God's hands and think I can do better...and sometimes I do so in a spiritual context to make myself feel better about it.  

Been there?

As we enter into this adventure together - and it will be an adventure as we seek to INVITE God to shake us up and rock our world...we're going to invite God to show us the parts of our heart, our mind, our spirit and our attitude that need to be transformed to reflect more of who He is and the person He longs for us to be.

The outcome?  Well hopefully we're all going to look a lot more like Christ at the end of the month and not so we can say 'we did it!' but so that we can say, 'Look what God has done'.  This is no small, piffy thing we're about to experience together.  This isn't about just 'reading' a blog.  It's about praying, studying, reflecting, sharing, being accountable and fueling the desire to be more like Christ.  And if that's what we long for - to be more like Christ - it begins and ends with a servant's heart.

So this week, here are some things you can do to start the journey:

*Pray...ask God to lead this time for all of us and to use this technology for His glory

*Psalm 139:23-24 says, ”Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way of the everlasting.” Use this verse as a prayer this week and be open when God shows up in response to it.

*If Blanchard and Hodges are right then it would serve us well to reflect on pride and fear - familiarize yourself with what those words actually mean again and examine your heart, for real, and note where you struggle with one or both.  And then confess and release that to God...as many times a day as necessary :)

*Read Matthew 20...and then listen for what God would have you take away from His word

*Lastly, and only if you’re comfortable doing so, post a comment and continue the conversation on what God is showing you or how He’s challenging you, submit a prayer or prayer request, let others know what you’re learning so we can learn from each other.