Desires of My Heart

For all of us who have encountered unexpected obstacles, fears, or pain as we long to be a part of God's plans, Psalm 37:4 is one of those amazing promises: Delight yourself also in the Lord and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart. When the Holy Spirit breathes upon these words, hope can rise from ashes and strength from sorrow. It's like seeing again a glimpse of the finish line and the prize at the end. It is also a reminder that we are not alone on this journey; our Creator is both interested and involved in each detail.

Recently, I began to ponder this verse again. Like most of us, I have dreams that I have carried around for a long time, even decades. Dreams of places to go, activities to do, goals to accomplish. Desires to be a part of a Kingdom bigger than myself. And as I have put my delight in the Lord, these desires have been fulfilled in many unexpected ways. I have even done things I never would have dreamed of - things that only God knew that I would desire. You see, only our Creator really knows our depths and what we would desire if we saw all things clearly.

This time, as I asked myself what my secret petitions really are - what I truly long for - I realized that the answer had very little to do with places and activities. In fact, it had nothing at all to do with who I am or what I like to do. Rather, it had everything to do with my Creator and what He wants for me. Seasons of shaking and pruning and growth have pushed me further into His arms and I am beginning to realize how much deeper my desires lie.

More than the physical, tangible details, I desire an ever-deepening faith to trust my Father's perfection in any situation, regardless of what I see or need. I desire to experience more and more of His peace as I confidently wait for His plans to unfold. I desire to obey quickly and quietly, even when it hurts or makes no sense. I desire to truly display His character: to love endlessly and selflessly.

I am realizing anew that my greatest desire to be one with God and, amazingly, He desires to be one with me (John 17). This being the case, the promise of Psalm 37:4 is even more astounding: The more I delight in my Father, the more I will be one with Him. And the more I am one with Him, the more delighted I will be. What a wise God.

P.S. (...if I can do that on a blog....)
On my drive home from the library, after posting this column, I realized that this stripping away of my physical desires to once again reveal my deepest desire is actually an answer to a verse I recently started praying again:

I pray my love may abound yet more and more, and extend to its fullest development in knowledge, understanding, and discernment. I pray that I will display this love in greater depth in my relationships with both God and man so that I may surely learn to sense what is vital, and to approve and prize what is excellent and of real value. I long to recognize the highest and the best.... (Phil. 1:9-11)

Thank you, Father. You are the highest and the best.
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A New Look at the Armor of God

"A final word: Be strong with the Lord's mighty power. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies and tricks of the Devil." (Ephesians 6:10-11)

Although I have read Paul's description of the armor of God many, many times, it recently struck me very differently. In the past, putting on the armor was more of a mental exercise: speaking or thinking the scripture and picturing myself putting on each piece. Although this exercise has its purpose and place, as I read this familiar passage this week, I saw it in a whole new way.

I don't think Paul had mental exercises in mind when he exhorted the Body of Christ to gird themselves with truth, put on the shoes of peace, and lift up a shield of faith. The armor Paul described is one that grows and expands as we mature in our spiritual walk. Take the belt of truth, for example. Exactly how does truth protect us? It is not so much by just believing that truth exists, but by knowing and holding to what is true in the midst of the battle.

I remember a life-changing conversation I had with my son, Sam, when he was a teenager. We discussed the difference between truth and fact. In the dictionary, they mean basically the same thing. But to those of us who are in Christ Jesus, they become distinctively different.

Facts are all around us. They are what we perceive with our five senses. The fact is that people are hurting and hungry, enslaved in addictions and circumstances. The fact is that the world is full of unanswered questions and unsolved problems. The fact is that we all know people who are sick, even dying, and many who don't have hope for a future.

But in the midst of these facts stands truth. The truth is God's perspective. The truth is God's plans. The truth is God's love and faithfulness and Word, and truth always triumphs over facts. Jesus lived a life of consistently bringing the truth of God into the facts around Him, and the facts changed.

When we put on the belt of truth, we don't just do a mental exercise. Instead, it is a daily walking out of the truths of the Word, through trials and joys, and coming to know that they are indeed irrefutable. When we put on truth, we turn our gaze away from the facts around us, choosing instead to stand firmly on the character and faithfulness of our God. We feed our hearts and minds with the Word and the testimony it manifests before us. We hold onto it in spite of feelings or opinions, believing that it cannot fail. Believing God's love, wisdom, and power cannot fail.

Jesus said in John 8:31-32 that if we obey His teachings, we will know the truth and the truth will set us free. Free from what? Free from the lies and snares of the Devil. Free from fear and anxiety. Free from confusion and doubt. Truth takes us from the realm of earth's impossibilities into the realm of heaven's possibilities. Truth releases joy in the midst of pain, and hope in the midst of darkness. Truth releases the Life of Christ that has conquered death. This is the truth that covers and protects us.

Putting on the armor of God is an amazing journey of growth. Putting on God's armor is walking in truth, pursuing peace, understanding righteousness and salvation, immersing ourselves in the Word, and growing in faith. It is coming to know the One Who is our armor. When we put on God's armor, we desire one thing: the fullness of Christ in us.

  

Prayer of Thanksgiving

Excerpt from  This Beloved Road

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For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

John 3:16 (AMP)

And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ, (the Anointed One, the Messiah), whom You have sent.

John 17:3 (AMP)

Father, thank you for the eternal life you have given me. It is not a gift we open after we die. It is poured in and upon us the moment we trust, cling, rely, believe. No man can fully understand or grasp it except in brilliant pieces, over and over again.

Thank you for your Son. Thank you for your Spirit. Thank you for the security I have found in you.

I hear the ocean of your voice roaring inside me. I feel the thunder of your presence vibrating in my soul. I know the stability of the truth on which I stand and I am again shaken to my depths. You are beyond words. You are beyond all human thoughts can contain.

Stretch my thoughts. Stretch my mind. Open me up. Open my understanding to know you more, my God and Father. Let me see as you see. Let me love as you love. Let me be as you are, even a true ambassador.

Oh holy Father, let me grasp anew the depths of your love. Let me see afresh the heights of your thoughts. Let me taste again the sweetness of you, knowing you never change. Deepen my love. Widen my perspective. Broaden my understanding. Don’t leave me in this place, although it is one of great splendor. Take me deeper into your chambers. Draw me across the rocky slopes and into your secret places. Take me closer into you.

Father, I long for your thoughts to be my thoughts and your ways to be my ways. I long to be renewed completely. I long to walk and live in your grace and mercy without interruption. And as I long, you also long. As you draw, I will come. I will step across deep crevices, climb up steep cliffs, walk through tough places, and swim in rough waters as you teach me and train me in your goodness. And I will rejoice again and again in the abundance of your life in me.

    

Core Desire

We have a black lab named Ruby. She has more personality than any other dog I've ever known. She absolutely loves company, be it human or canine. She always acts like it's her birthday. She rarely has a foot on the ground as she hops and leaps and pounces and spins her way through the day. She loves life. And she absolutely loves the river.

Three times this summer, Ruby disappeared. Each time we received a phone call: She had gone to the river. Twice she swam over a mile beside a boat or tube until the fishermen pulled over at a campground and called the sheriff to come pick her up. Her only thought was to be in the water, and preferably with company.

I have been taking her on my morning walks more lately. Although it can be a bit distracting for my prayer time, it seems that the Spirit often uses her as an object lesson. One thing I can't help but notice is how she acts every time we start in the direction of the river. She gets more and more attentive. Then, when I let her off of the leash at the bridge, she stops every 5-10 yards to stick her head under the bottom rail to get a quick look at the water below. It has her full focus.

I love this picture. There is no doubt that God made her with a core desire to swim, and she has discovered it. She loves to fetch and play and explore, but it is all better in the water. She found her passion. It then begs the question: What core desire did God put in us as humans, and have you discovered it? 

I guess that our talents and gifting and activities pursued could be a part of that core desire. I have a deep love for music and writing, people and traveling, walking and exploring. And yet, I don't think any of these are my foundational passion. Rather, I believe that they are simply avenues to express and explore my true core desire. I believe the one desire that our Creator put in each and every one of us is to know Him. Not to know about Him, but to know Him. To make memories with Him. To spend time talking together and living together and sharing those activities that we love to do.

I almost always talk to God as I'm cooking, asking what ingredients to add or how long to cook something. (He is an amazing cook! Just ask my kids.) I love to tell Him how much I am enjoying the landscape or the song I'm writing or the friendship that I've made. I know He already sees and knows all things, even before they happen, but that's not the point. The point is that He wants to spend time together. He wants us to learn how He thinks and what His voice sounds like and what He sees that we would have missed without Him. He wants to give us new wisdom and ideas that we would have never found otherwise. He also wants to bring the words of the Bible to life in our very own lives - for us to know what love and grace and faith and hope really look like when we live them out deeper each day.

This isn't always an easy process, this getting to know God. Sometimes we make mistakes when we are learning to hear His voice. Sometimes we misunderstand what He says. Sometimes we let our emotions and own ideas get mixed in and He has to bring us back to the truth - usually through the Word. But this doesn't frustrate Him in the least. Just as loving parents get excited to see their children learning to talk and walk, so is God with us. I believe He laughs and rejoices over each attempt made, over each lesson learned. I know His grace covers countless mishaps. As long as we stay soft and teachable before Him, there is no limit to the places He will take us into Himself.

When Jesus prayed in John 17 that we would be one with the Father just as He is, it was not just wishful thinking. God the Father has been arranging for all of time to bring you to this place, today, to know Him as Creator and Father and Friend. To know Him in the most intimate and majestic ways possible. This is that thing that keeps nagging at you from your core. This is what you were created to do. Believe me, it will make everything else in your life come alive.
    
    

Warm Liquid Joy

Why do berries hanging on a bush and moonlight in the middle of the night and grass waving in a breeze make my heart skip a beat as I burst out, “Oh, Father! You do that so well!” How is it that waves pounding the shore echo a sound deep within me and the rising sun means so much more than just a new day? Who is this One who has so captured my attention that He rarely leaves my thoughts? I find myself talking to Him all of the time about everything. I love the sound of His voice, the feel of His touch, the intensity of His gaze. I am consumed with being close to this Friend whose smile is like warm, liquid joy; to know His opinion, to glimpse what He sees, to ask His direction.