So...I'm doing a study by Henry Blackaby called "Created to be God's Friend-How God shapes those He loves." I've attempted to do his study "Experiencing God" several times and have never made it through it. Usually I get stuck in the crisis of belief section. This study has much less reading associated with it, but is very applicable to my life. It's a study of Abraham's life.
Henry speaks of God's purposes for us being eternal. When I've thought of that phrase in the past, I've always thought of what I do being for the eternal kingdom, which they are. But what he brought out is that God's purposes for me have been IN PLACE for eternity, that they were in place before He even created the world. What a message! It changes how I live DAILY. God chooses people to do His purpose that are fully obedient and faithful. That is shown throughout the whole Bible. He chooses those who love Him with "all their heart, and all their soul, all their strength" (Deut 6:5, Matt. 22:37) If you don't have that love for God, you end up arguing with Him, rejecting Him, disobeying Him, and ultimately straying from Him.
This truth spoke volumes to me today!! I've been guilty of all of those things! It showed me that my heart has not been in the right place and God ALWAYS looks at the heart. Not our service, but the motivation behind it. Not our words, but our thoughts. I prayed today for a renewed heart. "Create in me a new heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." (Ps. 51:10) That was David's cry after he faced his sin with Bathsheba. Even David, who was a man after God's own heart, failed in this area. The lesson being, he repented and truly desired to have a new heart. That is my cry as well!!!!
After reading the study, I felt led to go to Proverbs. Not knowing where to go, I went to Proverbs 11 (because it's the 11th day of the month). It's contrasting the righteous and the wicked. Then I looked and there are 9 CHAPTERS of this!!! The one that spoke out to me the most? "The blameless in their walk are His delight." Prov 11:20b Nuff said :) If it is soooo important to God to walk blameless in His sight, shouldn't it be ours as well?
Hey, Beth! I am doing the Experiencing God study right now for the third time. What is it that hangs you up about the crisis of belief?
ReplyDeleteHope you and your family are doing good. Hows the MK?
Take care!
The crisis of belief that I experienced was almost 12 years ago. I know see that what God was doing was testing me and I failed :) He called me way back then to mentor and I WAS NOT ready and when faced with what I felt was rejection (it wasn't...just preparation), I turned the opposite way and strayed for many years. Now that I am a more mature Christian and have surrendered, that call is reawakening :) it's AWESOME!
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