Let's share!

Hey there Ladies!  I hope this Friday morning finds you aware of the blessings of the Lord that are all around us.

I have found myself lately feeling a bit disconnected from you sweet sisters of mine.  I wish that our schedules weren’t so harried and hurried and we could sit together each week and share our hearts with one another.  In my moments of “missing” you, I have asked God how we can be more connected.  He spoke so clearly to me that communicating with you via e-mail each week is the best way.  So, I've created this blog and here I am in your inbox! Hello! 

You can expect to find me here in your inbox each Friday morning.  I hope to be able to share with you special whisperings that I have heard from our Redeemer as well as some fun and light hearted moments.  I also will be including from week to week different little nuggets of information.  One week it may be home related, the next week it may be a recipe that I have found and just have to share with you.  Sis. Pam Penny is going to chime in once a month with a helpful health tip for us.   I hope it will all be a blessing and inspiration for each of you.

The Lord has been speaking to me lately about desiring more of Him.  I was challenged at a conference recently when one of the speakers was sharing the recent journey that the Lord had taken him on to deeper, richer relationship with Him.  He talked about the changes that began to take place in his heart, mind and life when he began praying that the he would have the Lord’s hearts’ desire.

Desire defined: A strong feeling of wanting to have something or wishing for something to happen

Just at the mention of the word DESIRE I immediately have thoughts of things, developments, successes that I WANT to see occur.  How about you?  What are some desires that you have?  Do you want day to day life to be easier because money is not as tight?  Do you want to be able to lose 10, 15,or 20 pounds?  Would you like to have a better vehicle? Do you want a full night’s sleep ( I have my hand raised high, no wait, I am that kid that has both hands raised saying “ me, me , pick me”) Do you want that pesky, irritating coworker to just go away? What is it?  What do you want? 

Now let me ask you this; when I list the following synonyms, does your list of desires change? Synonyms: ache (for), covet, crave, desiderate, die (for),hanker (for or after), hunger (for), itch (for), jones (for)[slang], long (for), lust (for or after), pant (after), pine (for), repine (for), salivate (for), sigh (for), thirst (for),want, wish (for), yearn (for), yen (for), set one's heart on

 Maybe, maybe not.  I’m not throwing stones.  We are humans with natural (fleshly) desires.  We live in a world that is always pushing us to have something bigger, newer, better.  A quick example is my wonderful IPad that you all so lovingly gave us for Christmas last year.  I love it, but since 2010 Apple has introduced two more IPads that are bigger, better, newer.  People who already own an IPad have rushed to the stores to buy the most recent one and left the one that is only a year or so old lying on the table like last year’s stale bread.  I for one cannot figure out what the hype is about.  My 15 month old IPad is working just fine and does everything I need and more.  Thank you CLC!

What if we were to step away from what this world says we should desire and begin to ask God to give us His heart’s desire?  Look at the synonyms again.  What does God ache for? Psa 51:6 “ Yet, you desire truth and sincerity. Deep down inside me you teach me wisdom.” What does He yearn for? 1Ti 2:3-4  “This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior,  who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  What will He die for? Rom 5:6-8 “ For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Wow!  Quite different from what comes to my mind when I think of my desires and wants.  I want more than ever before to desire HIM!  I want to know HIM!  I want to ache for HIM!  I want to crave HIM!  I want to yearn for HIM! 

What I have come to understand is that if I don’t DESIRE Him, it is usually because something else is temporarily filling that desire in my life.  So I ask you today what might be filling your spiritual appetite so that you aren’t hungry, or desiring more of your Saviour?

See, what He has shown me is that the more I want or desire HIM, the more I want and desire what He wants and desires.  Then I am able to be used by Him in a greater way in my world.  That’s really the point of our salvation experience, not just a ticket into heaven.

So, I leave you with this scripture, but I hope you read it with a different meaning than before.

 Ps 37:4 Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

 Ps 37:5 Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

Ps 145:19 He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them.

Blessings,

Gwen Craft