Tag Archives: Desiring God

Longing for God

 

As you look back on your life from childhood to present day, who has had the greatest impact on your spiritua life? You might think of a Sunday School teacher, a pastor, an evangelist, an author, or a close friend who encouraged  you to “dig deeper.” Whoever it was, they probably had a deep desire to know God and to enjoy his presence.

 

Knowing God and enjoying his presence is not the same as filling our lives with busy ministry activity. In fact, you can keep busy doing all sorts of things “for the Lord” and not come to a close fellowship with him.

 

If Jesus wants you to serve him in some activity, his Holy Spirit will prompt and guide you… Even if it is out of your comfort zone. Serving him in your own power will eventually wear you out. Responding to the Holy Spirit’s call will encourage and energize you and show you how to carry out the great commission of loving others.

 

But it even this comes from an ever-increasing desire to draw closer and closer to the One who knows you, loves you, and calls you to him. Not everyone will respond. After all, people have other things that are more important to them: their jobs, families, craft projects, fantasy sports teams…they know a lot about these things and have a strong desire to pursue them.

 

Are you satisfied with the routines of your life or would you like to experience what it’s like to be fully satisfied with God?

How do you attain the deeper life?

 

You might think that the deeper life would be attained by more bible study, more prayer, more witnessing. But the deeper life, like life itself, is based on desire, not works. The deeper life is marked- by some of the things listed above. But unless you experience in your heart a longing desire to know Jesus more, even to participate in his sufferings, you will not likely find it. It will become a chore and tiresome pursuit.

 

How do you build such desire? It is not unlike your desire for your child or spouse. The more you spend time with them, value them, and learn about them the more you desire them.

 

The more we draw close to God the more we come to trust him and cherish our time with him. We learn that indeed “the Lord is good and his move eqndures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations* – even in painful situations, even in the midst of grief, even in sadness and times of feeling all alone. (* Psalm 100:5)

 

Being honest with yourself will help you with this matter of desire. When I look at where I send my time and money and the things that easily pull me toward them I can quickly scan where my desires are. I can say I love my family but if I am more eager to do something else, my real desire is not for my family.

 

As you spend time with God and pray and read his Word, consider his attributes. God is mighty, all powerful, just, compassionate, and full of mercy. His love endures through all generations. He is patient and faithful. He will not break a promise. You might do a study of the names of God and come to know he is the one who sees you where you are. He is your refuge, your friend, the one who has a good plan for your life.

 

Ask him to reveal more of himself to you. Ask him to show you how to look at people and possessions though the eyes of Jesus, so you can understand his will.

 

Let your desire for God grow in your heart. It’s a lifetime process and right here on the path with you.

 

When God doesn’t want your gift

 

Do you like to give gifts? Most of us do. We give gifts to commemorate special days and sometimes for “no special reason” at all. We love to see the expressions of appreciation when people open our gifts.  They become part of the gift experience. They make the gift complete.

 

But what about when your gift isn’t accepted? When it’s not up to par? Author Gary Chapman proposes that we are each wired to receive and express love according to our “love languages”: physical gifts, acts of service, spending quality time, physical touch, and words of affirmation. You may give physical gifts but it doesn’t hit the spot because what the recipient really wants is quality time with you. You work hard to express your love through acts of service but they really long to hear words of affirmation and respect. Sometimes our gifts aren’t accepted because they don’t speak their “love language.”

 

For some people the size of the gift matters. But if the gift is sincere and the recipient really values the giver, size doesn’t matter. The poor widow put a tiny coin in the offering, yet Jesus said she gave more than the others who were rich. She gave out of her poverty while they gave from their excess.

 

We give from what we have. But have you ever wondered why didn’t God accept Cain’s offering? Why was Abel’s offering considered “more excellent?” Was it the quality of Cain’s gift or the condition of his heart that made the gift unpleasing?

 

If the heart gives out of obligation instead of joy, the gift may remain unaccepted.  Imagine your loved one showing up on your anniversary and throwing a bouquet of flowers in your lap saying, “Here is your anniversary gift. It’s my obligation to give you this.” (Yikes!)  Now imagine one who stands before you with an offering of flowers saying, “Happy anniversary. It makes me happy to bring you things. In fact, I think it brings me more delight to spend this night with you than anyone I might. I cannot think of any way I’d rather celebrate this day than satisfying my desire with one that I so much admire.” (John Piper speaking to his wife; excerpt from Desiring God)

 

Wow. What a difference! In one scene the focus is on the gift. In the other, the focus is on the relationship between the giver and the recipient. In fact, the gift becomes completely incidental to what is happening between the two lovers.

 

Don’t you suppose that’s how God sees our gifts and “sacrifices?”

“I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.” Amos 5:21-23

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:17

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” Hosea 6:6

“Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” Hebrews 13:15-16

 

You can offer your talents. You can offer your time. You can build magnificent church buildings and write endless books attributed to his greatness. You can speak God’s name continually and fill your agenda with good deeds. You can offer to serve him in foreign lands or in the streets of your home town. You can offer him your very life, your health, and your next breath. But is it what God most wants?

 

Gifts and deeds are important, but not always the greatest expression of our love. What if what God really desires is your complete joy in spending time with him? In delighting in his presence? In meditating on His Word which is his love letter to you?

 

Our love is not reflected just in a gift. It is reflected in the eyes of the one who receives the gift, the eyes that behold the heart of the giver. Ah, may THIS be the gift we bring today!

 

The greatest blessings

 

 

Blessings Beyond Our Dreams (excerpts)
Jonathan Parnell – The Unwasted Life

 

“The biggest impact, as the spiel goes, comes from the biggest dreams, and therefore, if you want your life to really count, you need to broaden the horizons in your mind. Our deficiencies are mainly in our expectations, not our competencies. Think bigger. Invest your best in what yields the maximum payoff. And then, if really true to form, there will come a string of words like “greatness,” “leadership,” and “influence.”

 

“When it’s sincere and given the right qualifications, big-dream messages like this are wonderfully inspiring. We should seek to listen, to learn, to grow. And at the same time, when advice like this is at its worst, and when we are at our most naive, we’ll digest faux-Christian precepts as if they were Scripture and mistake the favor of God to be in all that’s new and flashy.

 

“And if we’re not careful, we’ll think that God mainly cares about us gaining followers and doing action, that mainly he just doesn’t want you to waste your energy on low-impact drivel. We’ll think that God’s real blessing is found in our giftedness, in what we’re able to build and where we’re able to go.

 

But that’s not true.

 

“Undeniably, God wants us to do great things in his name, except it really matters how we define “great,” and what we’re actually looking for in it.  “Great” probably isn’t as glorious as you imagine. In fact, for those men who want to change the world, what you might need most is a wife who wants you home for dinner. Somewhere in the stuff like that is where you’ll find God’s blessing.

 

“Like in an infant whose diaper needs changing, and a toddler who lives for your attention — a toddler, not an audience. The real blessing isn’t found behind shiny platforms, but in the garbage bag that must be taken out. There is God’s favor, there in the mundane, when we’re stuck between two worlds, seated with Jesus in the heavenly places and bent down here cleaning floors. There is where God smiles on his children.

 

“The greatest blessings in life aren’t found in being a great leader, or a great communicator. The greatest blessings are found in being human before the face of God — a human forgiven and righteous in Christ. Didn’t he say that to us? “Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20).

 

“This kind of blessing is much more quiet than the glitz we think we crave, indeed so quiet that we usually miss it, and we’d only long for it if it were gone. It’s the deep blessing that too easily evades us.”

 

“The greatest blessings are found in being human before the face of God.”

 

 

Enjoying love

What if on Valentines Day a husband came to his wife and gave her a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates? That sounds pretty nice. And what if his wife thanked him profusely for the thoughtful gifts. Then what if the husband responded, “Oh don’t think anything of it. It is my duty to give you these tokens of appreciation. I do it because I am supposed to do it.” (Yikes, is there a way to hit reverse in this story?!) How would you feel if a gift was presented in this way? Probably not very honored or loved.

Let’s hit rewind and consider a different and heartfelt response to his wife:
“It makes me glad to bring you things. In fact, it brings me more delight to spend this night with you than anyone I might. I cannot think of a way I’d rather spend this day than satisfying my desire with one I so much admire. It gladdens me to be with you. I will magnify you by making you the joy of my life.”
(From John Piper, Desiring God)

It is not that duty is wrong. In fact it is a virtue to behold. But loving out of duty is not the greatest expression of love. Loving because there is nothing else which you find more satisfying, now that is love.

Now imagine that instead of man and wife, the scenario is between you and God. “God, look at my good deeds that I do for you. Consider my gifts to the church. Watch how my life is one of service to you, because it is my duty to serve you.” Maybe that doesn’t sound too bad to you, because we have been raised, many of us, to think of our spiritual life as one of service and duty. And it is, but only because this stems from a greater enjoyment of spending time with God, being more satisfied when in his presence than anything else on earth. I think God is as pleased with such an expression of love as you are when a child comes to you simply because they enjoy your company.

Enjoy God. Be fully satisfied in him and celebrate such great love.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever. Psalm 107:1

Fully satisfied

What really satisfies you?
A nice house? A relaxing vacation or exciting adventure? A really good meal? A good run? Time with friends and family? A day at the beach? Singing and listening to music? Doing good? Five minutes in the bathroom without interruptions from the children? 🙂

Did you know God wants us to have joy? He wants us to experience being fully satisfied. But it might not be in the way we expect. We so often seek satisfaction in things, in others, and in physical and emotionally charged experiences. And I’m thankful for the way God blesses us with these experiences. They have enriched my life and provided many great memories.

But I think we were designed to be fully and permanently satisfied only through a close and genuine relationship with our loving God. He is the only one who can fill our need for ultimate satisfaction.

John Piper’s book, Desiring God, has helped me view God, and interpret His Word from a different perspective. Like so many others, I had previously thought my primary purpose was to serve my wonderful, gracious, and loving creator. (And that IS a result of the Christian’s personal encounter with Jesus.) But Pastor Piper challenges us to consider “the chief purpose of man(kind) is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.” That is, to be more satisfied in HIM than in anything else.

Maybe you will ponder this one thought for a moment. How do you feel when your child or grandchild really wants, more than anything else, just to spend time with YOU? Or when you realize it really doesn’t matter a great deal what you and your closest friend do, so long as you can really enjoy each other’s company? Those experiences speak great satisfaction and value to you, don’t they? Imagine how our Heavenly Father feels when we come to Him, simply because it is so SATISFYING to be in His presence!

Like any goal, we won’t hit the mark every time. Just as there are times when we are upset with or don’t feel close to those we love here on earth, there will be times, perhaps even seasons, when we don’t feel satisfied with God. But just as we keep pursuing satisfaction on earth, let’s intentionally seek to find real satisfaction today by enjoying God more than anything else.

Psalm 63:1-5
1 You, God, are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
5 I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

The Desires of Your Heart

What do you enjoy thinking about the most? If your private thoughts were made into a movie, who would be the star and what would be the plot?

The bible and science agree that we become what we think about. We think about the desires of our hearts. We all seek our own happiness. Whether by indulging our own senses, wallowing in delusion or pity, or living sacrificially toward some honorable goal, our thoughts and desires lead our lives. Do you wrestle with the conflict of thoughts and desires in your own mind? We want to do what we shouldn’t and don’t want to do what we should. Sometimes it seems we seek everything except that which brings us true happiness.

CS Lewis said, “It seems that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are too easily pleased.”

Think of something you really enjoy doing now and how your desire for that has increased over time. It could be a hobby, a planned vacation to a favorite destination, the drive for achievement, or spending time with the one you love. The more you think about your desire, the stronger it becomes and the more you want to fulfill it.

Of all these things we desire, where does desiring God fit in? The law of thought and desire still applies. The more we think about God, His character, His Word, His great plan for us, His power, His love and compassion for us; the more we desire Him. The more we desire Him, the more our heart is delighted. The things of earth, even the reality of cancer and heartache and grief, grow strangely dim as our desire for God increases.

We can choose to remain like the child making mud pies in the slum, or realize we could enjoy a holiday at the sea. Having the desires of your heart begins with delighting in God.

Isn’t time to enjoy life fully by pursuing God’s best for you?!

“Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)