Hungry

As I was reading the Big Book tonight, I kept being touched - moved to Truth about who God is. He is quite a man, I tell ya! Haha - that may sound silly, but as I read, I kept imagining Him surrounded by men, just shining. It was Him who was the one the other men looked up to; who they loved; who they worshipped - in the most beautiful sense of the word. A good little mental picture I'll carry with me always.

Here are some of the verses that stuck out to me - moved me - and often to tears.

"My wrath will not be poured out on Jerusalem through Shisnak. They will, however, become subject to him, so that they may learn the difference between serving me and serving the kings of other lands."

- 2 Chronicles 12: 7-8

This one caught me off guard and made me think. You have to ask yourself when you read this..."Is there a time I can remember being under someone's authority...and not realizing how beautiful God's authority is until I was no longer subject to the former?" It doesn't even compare. When God, my beautiful Lord, turned my heart toward Him - when He caused my heart to desire the things of His heart - well, I'd never been so thankful for anything in my entire life. The sentiment I am talking about is this; it is found in Psalm 119: 167:

"I obey your statutes, for I love them greatly."

It's so beautiful, isn't it? And here is the next one - this caused the mental picture I mentioned earlier:

"For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings? In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him." - Psalm 89: 6-7 of Ethan

I can just imagine Him in his most holy place - whatever that looks like; beyond imaginable splendor I would suppose. Here is the next one - they are so good; I could keep this up all night:

"Lord, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O Lord, you are our God." - 2 Chronicles 14: 11 of Asa from the line of David

Asa, after a long line of disobedient and reckless men in the house of David, sought the Lord and turned his back on the ways of his father, Abijah. It's just so cool. Look at that verse; Asa is just throwing his whole heart and life in God's hands, completely trusting in Him. I want to do that! Here's another - I exceptionally like this one:

"All Judah rejoiced about the oath because they had sworn it wholeheartedly. They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side." - 2 Chronicles 15: 15

Lucky number 15 - because this was also Asa's 15th year reigning over Judah. However, Israel was still subject to the line of Jeroboam, although many under Jeroboam's rule fled to Asa, because they saw that he was seeking God for his people. I love this, because it shows how beautiful an oath is when we make it wholeheartedly. Just think about marriage - many get married, because they think it's time to "settle." But when our oaths come from the pits of our heart - they make us shout for joy, they make us seek God, and they give us rest perhaps sometimes as well.

And lastly, here's one more scripture...I'm only putting it down because it made me laugh. It made Judah sound like a bunch of pirates!

"They plundered all these villages, since there was much booty there."

- 2 Chronicles 14: 14

Because I found so much laughter from the pirate verse, I'm throwing a picture that made me laugh just as hard...hope it makes you giggle!

Master & Husband

The young woman who spoke at church this evening made a great point - and I wanted to write it out for memories sake. It seems to feed off the theme of milk as infants, meat and potatoes as mature adults. I am paraphrasing her here, but it was quite similar to this:

"I was saved when I was young, 11, at a Christan camp. When I went back to my home it was hard, because my family was in the middle of falling apart. When I spent time reading scripture from then through to high school, I felt like God was "pow pow-ing" me right between the eyes every time with a new truth. It was as if he was holding me in his arms, like a child, and it's probably exactly what I needed as everything else in my life fell apart. He was shouting His words at me, so that I couldn't miss them.

But then...it was as if I couldn't hear Him anymore. I thought, 'Did He leave?' 'Where are You?' 'Why aren't You answering my prayers?' But then I realized He never left, He just wasn't shouting at me anymore. He was whispering. He was teaching me to pursue Him."

What do I see here? Intimacy. Growth. A new way for God to show His love to her. To me. To you. Do you ever feel as though He isn't answering your prayers? Perhaps it's time to listen more carefully. God wants us to know Him better. Here is the example she gave:

"Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the desert
and speak tenderly to her.

There I will give her back her vineyards,
and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she will sing as in the days of her youth,
as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

"In that day," declares the LORD,
"you will call me 'my husband';
you will no longer call me 'my master.

- Hosea 2:14-16

Looking at that last verse, this is what I see: God - He is ALWAYS your master, always. He will never leave you. But this is Him shouting - this is Him holding us tight, which we need a lot of the time. And it is good. But there is more. What you have seen that is good...there is much more. He doesn't just want to be your master, but your husband. It doesn't get much more intimate than that. This is God whispering - teaching you to pursue...isn't that beautiful? What does it look like to be intimate with God, I'm not quite sure...but I sure want to find out, because in finding out, I get to know Him more and I can honestly say that there's nothing more I want in this entire Creation.